Secondlife.com: Get your free ticket into this burgeoning “Wild West” virtual world occupied by millions of users who interact with each other socially and commercially. Register, get your avatar and visit Orientation Island, where you’ll learn how to design your clothes, face and body, fly, teleport, and other nuances of navigation.
Youtube.com: Learn about virtual worlds by searching out video demos. Second Life (SL) is represented here in thousands of segments. A search by business name, such as IBM, Cisco or Apple, yields demos on how business is going virtual via SL and other platforms. Recommended: “Introduction to Second Life” (business oriented) and “Educational Uses of Second Life.”
Virtualis Convention Center: An SL site creation by Dan Parks, president/creative director (cpu@corporateplanners.com) of Corporate Planners Unlimited Inc. (CPU) team. Trade shows and educational events such as CMP study groups headline the Center’s events for 2008 in the grand ballroom, Eisenstodt Learning and Community Matters Center and exhibition hall. MeCo Mansion is CPU’s other SL site relating to the meetings industry.
Qwaq.com: Creator of QWAQ Forums, a secure virtual workspace application on a 3-D platform. One answer for businesses who don’t want the “open” culture of SL.
Inxpo.com: Producer and manager of online communities and shows including trade shows, events, educational seminars, networking conferences, and conventions.
Activeworlds.com: Platform for delivery of 3-D Web content in standalone worlds separate from Active Worlds’ Universe of Worlds. Also licenses the technology to clients who create their own worlds.
Learningtimes.net: Provider of online conference communities, webcasts, events, and training and education conferences on its SL Squirrel Island site. Also uses QWAQ, another 3-D platform.
Virtualworldsmanagement.com: Trade events and media provider for the virtual worlds industry. Sponsor of Virtual Worlds 2008, an April 3-4 “real-life” event in New York City for media, consumer entertainment and youth brands, advertising agencies, and virtual worlds platforms and developers.
