Znetlady Isbell: Algernon, thanks so much for being here.
Alicia Encinal: hi JhonT
Kamichat Watson: hey John
Znetlady Isbell: I was just doing a tour of your island
Alicia Encinal: sorry, JohnT
Znetlady Isbell: Shall we do over to the seats?
Algernon Spackler: sounds good
Kamichat Watson: nice place, we were admiring the Christmas Tree
subdigit Tesio is Offline
There is no suitable surface to sit on, try another spot.
Alicia Encinal: i miss a flag...
There is no suitable surface to sit on, try another spot.
mmmmmrob Shojo: hey, who's coming on?
mmmmmrob Shojo: looks busy enough to be Britney!
JohnT Randall: kFed ;-)
mmmmmrob Shojo: wow, still take me ages to sit down
JohnT Randall: funny, in RL, it takes me ages to stand up ;-)
Weiss Plessis: LOL
mmmmmrob Shojo: lol
Torley Linden is Online
mmmmmrob Shojo: are you folks actually waiting for something?
JohnT Randall: yes, this is a meeting of the Second Life communicators
Znetlady Isbell: Hello everyone. This is the Bus Communicators Meeting.
Znetlady Isbell: We have Algernon - aka Roo Reynolds here with us
JohnT Randall: i'd guess that most of us are marketers / PR people / advertising ppl
Znetlady Isbell: He is the IBM Metaverse Evangelist.
Znetlady Isbell: He's been kind enough to give us 30 minutes of his time to talk about what IBM is doing in SL.
Blue Vale: hi Roo
Algernon Spackler: hi everyone
Kamichat Watson: thanks Roo
Torley Linden: thank you for the TP, Algernon, nice to see you inworld!
Alicia Encinal: Hi torley
Znetlady Isbell: He wants to keep this informal, and he's very interested in your views so feel free to jump in, right Algernon?
Algernon Spackler: finally, we meet :-)
Algernon Spackler: that's right
Torley Linden: hi everyone, hi Alicia
Blue Vale: hi torley
Znetlady Isbell: Please Algernon, take it away
Algernon Spackler: thanks for the introduction
Algernon Spackler: hi everyone. Nice to see you all here
Algernon Spackler: so yes, I'm Roo Reynolds in RL, with the rather interesting title of "metaverse evangelist"
Algernon Spackler: I'd like to share with you what that means to me, what IBM is up to at the moment, and anything else you'd like me to cover
Algernon Spackler: I have about 30 minutes, so I'm keen to be driven by your questions
Algernon Spackler: maybe I should start with some history? Do chip in with any questions as I go
Algernon Spackler: I've been an IBMer for 9 years now, starting as a sponsored student
Algernon Spackler: (e.g. sponsored through university)
Immerito Foley is Online
Algernon Spackler: in that time, I've done testing, development, customer facing work, ...
Algernon Spackler: and more recently got involved with Emerging Technologies
Algernon Spackler: often web 2.0 stuff
Algernon Spackler: some time at the start of this year, around February or March, my friend Ian Hughes (another IBMer) suggested I should get into SL
Algernon Spackler: and since March I've been hooked
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Algernon Spackler: I began to push my Emerging Tech job heavily in the direction of virtual worlds
JJ Drinkwater chuckles
Algernon Spackler: and from a small core of 3 or 4 of us in those "early days" IBM now has a big community in SL
Jett Chambers is Online
Algernon Spackler: 950 at the last count
Algernon Spackler: rising fast
Alicia Encinal: wow
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Algernon Spackler: Ian (epredator Potato) and myself have been busy sharing the good news of virtual worlds with as many people internally as we can
Algernon Spackler: and of course some IBMers were involved before us
Algernon Spackler: so finding them and getting to know them has been fun
Kamichat Watson: IS that 950 employees?
Algernon Spackler: that's right. 950 IBMers *that we know of* use SL
Algernon Spackler: I've done plenty of work with our VPs, technical leaders, the whole technical and business community to make sure everyone stays in touch
Kamichat Watson: How is that changing the internal environment in IBM?
Algernon Spackler: we now have a "Virtual Universe Community" within the company
Kamichat Watson: Are you talking about it at the water cooler, for instance
Algernon Spackler: and it really has made a difference to the environment here, yes
Algernon Spackler: so many of us use it to keep in touch
Algernon Spackler: for many of us it has overtaken internal IM as a way of keeping up with each other
Algernon Spackler: and yes, it's the subject of many conversations with the company
Algernon Spackler: we have an internal blogging system for example..
Seth Witte is Online
Algernon Spackler: and many of the most commented posts there this last couple of months have been about SL and virtual worlds
Kamichat Watson: How do you feel that 3D environments will impact the core businss in the future?
Algernon Spackler: possibly. I'm optimistic that there's a lot of potential, but I'd also acknowledge that it's early days
Blue Vale: has IBM drawn a vision for the metaverse & if so what is it?
Giovanni Tweak: thanks Znet
Algernon Spackler: the customers I meet with are interested to know more, and how they should best get involved
Algernon Spackler: the "vision" is encapsulated in something we are calling "3d Internet"
Algernon Spackler: and we can come on to that in a minute
Algernon Spackler: if that's ok
Blue Vale: ok
Algernon Spackler: let me share some more of what we've been doing already
Algernon Spackler: some of it is rather exciting
Algernon Spackler: so, back a few months ago, Ian decided we needed some room to play
Algernon Spackler: this when there were 5 or 6 of us that we knew of
Algernon Spackler: mainly our local friendship group, and some people we'd discovered were already users
Algernon Spackler: so he bought some first land, and I got the plot next door
Algernon Spackler: that gave us somewhere to build and experiment
Algernon Spackler: eventually, we out grew it
Algernon Spackler: and Ian paid (out of his own pocket) for an island
Algernon Spackler: Hursley, named after the RL IBM location we both work at
Weiss Plessis: Is your role as "evangelist" primarily as an evangelist within the company, or do you deal very much with external clients?
Algernon Spackler: it was (and is) an internal sandbox
Blue Vale: in england, right?
Algernon Spackler: I'll come back to that if I may
Weiss Plessis: okay, thanks
Algernon Spackler: Hursley is for IBMers to mess around and build things and experiemnt together.
Algernon Spackler: which may sound insular, but it fills a useful role
Algernon Spackler: we also have another sandbox island, called IQ
Algernon Spackler: and a public one called Almaden
Algernon Spackler: which is named after the research lab
Algernon Spackler: and is a public meeting space. It's nice. You'd like it.
Algernon Spackler: so..
Algernon Spackler: there have been other spaces IBM and IBMers have bought and set up
Algernon Spackler: a couple of purely residential ones
Algernon Spackler: for example.
Algernon Spackler: But, and this is very new news, we are announcing 12 new sims today
Blue Vale: i see
Alicia Encinal: 12?
Blue Vale: open to the public?
Algernon Spackler: the IBM innovation complex is a rather large land mass, split into three big islands (of 4 sims each)
Stephen Arnold shouts: Everyone! Let the man speak!
Algernon Spackler: 6x2 grid = 12 sims. It's pretty enormous :-)
Blue Vale: will it be open to the public?
Algernon Spackler: I'm happy to get the input actually, helps me decide what to say next
Algernon Spackler: heh
Algernon Spackler: yes.
Algernon Spackler: starting soon
Stephen Arnold: Ahh... Sorry about that...
Algernon Spackler: we're announcing today, and opening to the public soon. Hopefully either late tonight or Monday morning
jeremy Neumann is Offline
Algernon Spackler: depends on whether the people involved need a weekend or not :-)
Blue Vale: exciting
Algernon Spackler: very
Algernon Spackler: I'm personally thrilled to be a part of this
Znetlady Isbell: I was just over there and it is amazing!
Znetlady Isbell: Be sure to visit.
Algernon Spackler: so, to answer the question about is it public.. yes. Most of it will be (soon) public most of the time
Algernon Spackler: there may of course be times we need to have areas locked down for private events
Algernon Spackler: or customer projects or whatever
Algernon Spackler: but the majority of it will be open most of the time.
RickOShea Courier: Is there any talk in IBM about the PROCESS by which the 'community' decides what SL and by extention the 3D web is to become?
Blue Vale: will the ibm efforts be worldwide or HQ'd at one place in RL
Algernon Spackler: the process is a good question.
RickOShea Courier: There is some concern about big corporate takeover
Algernon Spackler: it has to be public, and involving people from around the world
RickOShea Courier: amen
Algernon Spackler: by that I don't just mean companies around the world, but people
Christopher Express is Online
Algernon Spackler: standards are important here, for the future of virtual worlds, and either we need to drive the ones that exist or help the community in forming new ones
Algernon Spackler: regarding the location within IBM of the virtual worlds work, I can say for sure it's outgrown any one location
Algernon Spackler: we're now a global community
RickOShea Courier: sounds good, but it's a huge power shift
Algernon Spackler: regarding a takeover, I don't know about that. Corporates and brands have been getting involved for a while. I *hope* the results have been largely positive, but obviously those of us interested in these things learn from what doesn't work too
Kamichat Watson: I am wondering, what does IBM see as tehy future of teh 3D internet. Does it trancend SL, for instance?
Algernon Spackler: one that that seems obvious to me is that coming into SL (or any viortual world) for the publicity is a short term move and doomed to fail
Alicia Encinal: i agree
Algernon Spackler: any presence needs to give something back to the wider community. Something I keep in mind a lot.
Blue Vale: Can you tell us if there are opportunities for independent contracttors & small biz working with IBM. And if so how they will work together?
Altyn Zeddmore: You said earlier that you may close areas for customer work - what type of customer work do you foresee?
Algernon Spackler: THe future of virtual worlds (the virtual universe? the 3d internet?) is probably greater than any one instance of a virtual world, yes
Algernon Spackler: well, we have some customers already
Algernon Spackler: some clients have approached IBM in the past weeks and months looking for help
Algernon Spackler: one is Circuit City
Algernon Spackler: and we've been developing a retail store of the future for, and with, them
Algernon Spackler: it's very early days, but it's already pretty interesting
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Algernon Spackler: there's an interactive sofa upstairs for example,. which you can use to visualise which sized TV you would need based on the distance of your sofa from the wall
Algernon Spackler: it's fun
Stephen Arnold is Online
Blue Vale: Can you tell us if there are opportunities for independent contracttors & small biz working with IBM. And if so how they will work together?
RickOShea Courier: 3D internet like so many things isn't good or bad - it's just a next generation communication tool - it's how we use it that makes it what it becomes. - not to confuse the 'steak' with the 'sizzle'.
Altyn Zeddmore: Is most of it aimed at futuristic development? Or are you using SL for proof of concept opportunities?
Algernon Spackler: well, most of what we've done so far has been done by IBMers (there are loads wanting to get involved with building etc). For one project we've teamed with AImee Weber, which has been fun
Sifu Moraga is Online
Algernon Spackler: I want to see more of those sorts of parterships too
Algernon Spackler: Some of what we're doing is to do with collaboration: how we work together as a company
Algernon Spackler: some is to investigate new applications and business models and services
RickOShea Courier: Colab - one of my favourite words :)
Znetlady Isbell: We have about 5 more minutes
Algernon Spackler: as I said, it's early days and we really are exploring and experimenting at this stage
Kamichat Watson: How far off do you think it is before 3d Internet, in which many could participate (maybe through a browser), is?
RickOShea Courier: We're pioneers!
Swirler Giles: What would you say is most lacking in SL in its current state, or what do companies coming into SL need that is not available yet?
Algernon Spackler: I think the 3d internet is probably a blurring of the lines between the best bits of Web 2.0 and the best bits of virtual worlds
Algernon Spackler: Swirler: thank you. Good question.
Algernon Spackler: (all the other questions have been good too of course)
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Algernon Spackler: my biggest issue with SL today is the fact that I can't run an internal server
Alicia Encinal: yes!
Swirler Giles knows that pain also
Znetlady Isbell: That is important for enterprises.
Algernon Spackler: that might not sound like a big deal, but when you're behind a firewall all day you are very aware of these things
Kamichat Watson: and from the client side, access is linted to those with fast enough machines to run the software
Algernon Spackler: we can't talk openly on SL as we can't treat any area as confidential
RickOShea Courier: They would need an understanding that it's more than just a "game" - for one. Surprisingly many people think just that - and it's almost impossible to persuade them otherwise unless you can get them IN it. Tough paradigm shift.
Algernon Spackler: Yes.
Blue Vale: i guess that's true in a pure client-server model
Algernon Spackler: somone mentioned earlier in IM that I look like an alien.
Algernon Spackler: I do look like an alien here, that's right.
Torley Linden: :D
Davee Commerce: surely not!
Algernon Spackler grins
Altyn Zeddmore: hmm, we're all aliens in this world...
Algernon Spackler: so, have I missed any questions?
Algernon Spackler: I need to go soon
RickOShea Courier: r
00trader00 Harrison: SL is a good sandbox to try out and sort out all these concepts being discussed. I think too many are focused on events but that is very limited as to scope unless parallel events are run together. The real power of SL is being able to broadcast/syndicate out....maybe via video players in clubs, apartments, etc and help people connect with web info and stores from whereever they may be at.
Giovanni Tweak: you don't sound like one
Kamichat Watson: thanks Roo
RickOShea Courier: We'll miss you! :)
Algernon Spackler: I've really enjoyed this
Znetlady Isbell: Algernon, thak you so much!
Stephen Arnold: /memo
Algernon Spackler: many days I meet with people who don't yet "get" SL or virtual worlds
Altyn Zeddmore: Thanks, Algernon
jeremy Neumann is Online
Znetlady Isbell: We are delighted you have shared the time with us!
JohnT Randall: /clap
Algernon Spackler: so to meet with residents is a lot of fun
RickOShea Courier is Online
Znetlady Isbell: Please come back!
Stephen Arnold: /memo Talk to Torley Linden... Get to know him a bit
Blue Vale: it was too short
Hank Hoodoo is Online
Altyn Zeddmore: Someone should have flowers for you
Torley Linden: thanks so much for the presentation, Algernon :)
Blue Vale: we need another meeting
RickOShea Courier: the use of that word "evangelist" is strangely appropriate.
Davee Commerce: Thanks Roo - look forward to seeing the new sims
Znetlady Isbell: Thanks Roo. We may stay around and chat a bit.
Torley Linden: i like that title a lot, "Metaverse Evangelist"!
Stephen Arnold: I agree with RickOShea
RickOShea Courier gave you Anvil Dropper.
Znetlady Isbell: Roo blogs at eightbar and at rooreynolds.com
Weiss Plessis: are the new sims searchable under "IBM"?
Swirler Giles rolls eyes at altyns refference
Algernon Spackler: cool. Look out for the "IBM" region very soon
Weiss Plessis: Thanks!
Stephen Arnold: Thanks...
Alicia Encinal: ty
Algernon Spackler: tonight, or next week
Alexandra Rucker: when will it be ready?
Altyn Zeddmore: : )
Znetlady Isbell: Is there anything in the chat that I can publish, Roo?
Algernon Spackler: it's looking amazing already, though will never be "finished" of course
Algernon Spackler: it's part of the fun
Robbie Kiama: :)
RickOShea Courier: nicest alien I ever met... not that I've met a lot of aliens....
Stephen Arnold: That is the best part... Is putting the finishing touches on the master peice
Algernon Spackler: ZnetLady: as far as I'm concerned everything I just said is bloggable
Algernon Spackler: even the customer has agreed to be identified
Znetlady Isbell: Excellent. I will be posting the transcript.
RickOShea Courier: hi Mom!
Algernon Spackler: and it's all in the public domain
Algernon Spackler: cool
Weiss Plessis: LOL
Algernon Spackler: I may put a copy at eightbar.co.uk too
Algernon Spackler: I've enjoyed this a lot
Znetlady Isbell: lol
Algernon Spackler: thanks everyone
Altyn Zeddmore: How can we find the IBM location(s)?
Stephen Arnold: I think RickOShea has lost his mind... I know him in Real Life... I think he snapped
Torley Linden: always nice to have an archive for future reference!
Blue Vale: thanks roo
Znetlady Isbell: THANK YOU
Alicia Encinal: thank you!
JJ Drinkwater beams
Altyn Zeddmore: ** applause **
Stephen Arnold Smiles and Starts clapping
Stephen Arnold Yell
Giovanni Tweak: thank you
Algernon Spackler: bye everyone. See you again I hope
Blue Vale: bye
Stephen Arnold Yell's YA MAN! You go girlfriend... Snap snpa...
Stephen Arnold: lol
Blue Vale: good seeing you
Altyn Zeddmore: Bye, thanks
Stephen Arnold: Have a good one
Alicia Encinal: bye!
Znetlady Isbell: If you aren't in the Bus Comm group and want to keep up on our meetings, join SL Business Communicators
JJ Drinkwater waves the nice alient on his way
Znetlady Isbell: Bye Roo