Q & A

Alex: Thank you for agreeing to this interview.

Erde: Just glad we could find a time and place that worked for both of us. It seems that either one or the other of us is usually asleep or off doing something.

Alex: Yeah, I know what you mean. It’s crazy. OK, to start off with, where should I be looking for stuff: on the blog? In the in-world group? On Facebook?

Erde: I try to make sure things show up in all three. Certainly, the blog-posts are automatically put into Facebook. But the blog is the place where official announcements are made.

Alex: Where are we on the schedule? What’s going on?

Erde: We are on week 6. At this point, I was hoping that we would have some building under the belt, and maybe be getting started with scripting, but we’ve done a couple of visits (and another today), and that’s introduced some particular disruptions. So, we are off schedule a bit.

Alex: What about the readings?

Erde: Well, my thought is that getting up to speed with acting in the world is the primary aim, and so that has taken priority. That said, I do want to hit on the Hemp piece, for sure, and talk a bit about branding more broadly. To that end, I’ve posted a new round-up of the schedule here on the blog. That schedule is pretty solid at this point.

Alex: OK, readings aside, we’re all a bit anxious about the final project. What’s up with that?

Erde: Sure. As noted, we will address that at the midpoint of the semester, which is officially in a week, but we’ll be getting started on it today.

The basic idea is that in groups of 1 to 10, I expect folks to be creating projects in Second Life that provide a campaign for a product or idea. That’s very broad, so I’ve sketched an outline of the process here.

Alex: So, I can work alone?! Oh, that rules! I hate other people.

Erde: Brother, I hear that. I mean you’re cool and all, and I think we work well together, but these other yahoos.

Alex: No, it’s not that, it’s just that the costs of coordinating group work outweigh the benefits sometimes. That, and I want to avoid free-riders. Anyway, really glad I can work alone. What’s the catch?

Erde: The catch? Only that no matter what the size of the group is I will have the same expectations of the final product: that it produces some measurable change in the target audience. So if we have a “group” of 1 and a group of 6, the six might have a real advantage in terms of scope. That’s especially true if a large part of the campaign involves personal interaction or an event.

Alex: Oh, so it’s like Ikea instructions: “For this step you must be two people.”

Erde: Something like that, yes. Although I think we may have lost the audience with an in-joke that only the two of us recognize from an Ikea assembly instructions page from the mid-1980s.

Alex: Oops. Now, what’s up with the blogging? I’m blogging, of course, because that’s how I roll. But I need to know what your expectations are there.

Erde: I’m thinking of it as a virtual diary and field notebook. So, I’m looking for observations about your experiences inworld, your conversations, your problems, your interactions. Like any field notebook, I expect to see overheard conversations and snapshots. And some of the participants in the seminar are good about sending me emails/IMs about interesting stuff, but not blogging it. They should blog it…

Alex: But in the syllabus, it says, and I quote “I will distribute a topic, activity, or question” each week. I’m waiting.

Erde: It says that? Oh. Well, I’ve missed a week, but at the end of each class, you’ve had something you’re supposed to be doing in prep. This week it was building the set. You should have a blog post up about what you have been doing to that end. When I don’t see a post about it, I assume the answer is “nothing”–whether or not that is the case. As you can see in the updated schedule, I’ve been more explicit in what I expect each week. If I expect you to keep up with the blogging and I’m not, our heads may asplode with hypocrisy.

As we move forward, I’ll expect daily updates on your progress toward your final project.

Alex: Daily!? OMG! NFW! YGTBK!

Erde: Are you OK? Did you just fall on your keyboard? OK, not daily, but at least once a week. Short of spying on you, which isn’t as easy as it might appear, I don’t have a good way of knowing what you are working on if you don’t report it.

Alex: I have an awesome headset; why aren’t we using it?

Erde: I’ve used voice for meetings in-world before, but the truth is both of our attempts have yielded annoyingly bad results. Some of that is being in the same room (for many of us) and getting the delay involved. We could try Skype, or one of the other options, for better sound, but that doesn’t solve the echo issues. I’ll happily go to voice for our group meetings moving forward.

Alex: Group meetings?

Erde: Yep. If you look at the schedule, starting with week 8 (10/18), you’ll be meeting in your final project groups each week. Most weeks, it will be in addition to our (foreshortened) class meetings, but some weeks it will be just those short meetings. Most of these weeks, I’ll ask to meet with each group for a few minute to see how things are going.

Alex: But isn’t that what the blogs are for?

Erde: Sure, but sometimes more interactive communication is worthwhile. Otherwise we would be offering an MS in Blogs. Ha. I crack myself up.

Alex: Lolz. You crack me up too. But if that’s the case, why can’t we just meet in person. I mean, after all, most of us are already in the same room.

Erde: If you look at the schedule, you will see that I’m asking you to be there a couple of times (Week 9 & 15) to do RL presentations. I’m happy to meet with the groups in person if you prefer, especially if we are meeting during class-time.

Alex: What about this whole machinima thing. What does that have to do with our final project?

Erde: It need not have anything to do with it, although some of you have suggested it could feed into it, and that’s great. Some of you may want to do a more full-blown machinima project for the final project, and that too is great. But this is the last of the “getting to know SL” projects?

Alex: What about our scripting project? Or making clothing? Or voice-changing? Or overriding gestures? Or Gorean ethnography?

Erde: We’ll be touching on scripting, and some of the other bits as well, but not as substantial projects. For example, you will see that during week 9, we’ll be doing a little light scripting, but that will be limited to class. Of course, you may need to pick up those skills for your final project.

Alex: OK, I have more questions, but I can’t think of what they are right now.

Erde: That’s fine, just comment below.

Alex: Oh, OK. Thanks answering all these questions.

Erde: Always a pleasure to chat with someone so charming and handsome.

Alex: Why, thanks! Likewise.

Class Schedule: Today Onward

Week 7 (10/11) IN SL: In-World Media

Blog by 10/9:

1. Post about making your video: what worked, what didn’t, etc., and (of course) link to the video.

2. Group leaders post your group composition (i.e., who’s in it) and a short abstract of your planned project.

Week 8 (10/18) GROUP MEETINGS / Branding

Read:

1. Paul Hemp, “Avatar-Based Marketing”

2. Deeeep Witte, “Selling to an Avatar”

3. (Optional) Au, Marketing in Second Life doesn’t work

Blog:

1. Write about your group meeting (where & when, agenda, what is decided, who is researching what) and how you are putting together your proposal.

2. Respond to the readings for the week. Is there a business case for a RL company to engage in Second Life? What helps to determine an appropriate match? What are the steps to creating a good campaign in-world?

Week 9 (10/25) IN REAL LIFE: Project proposals, virtual work groups, basic scripting

Prepare:

1. A polished, 10-minute presentation of your proposal. Be prepared to answer questions. (Bring a hardcopy of your proposal.)

Read:

1. SLOG 8

2. IBM, “Virtual Worlds: Real Leaders”

Blog:1. Your proposal

2. Response to the IBM article: Is World of Warcraft the new golf? What function do MUVEs play in the formation of groups? In building leadership? Is it useful as a practical tool for collaboration?

Week 10 (11/1) IN SL: Event Management, Live Events, & In-World Representation

Read:

1. Weber, The Next Step: Second Life Professionalism

2. 10 easy rules for events management

3. Second House of Sweden FAQ4. Look over the sites for Metaversality and The SLAgency

Blog:

1. Progress on project: What is the role for integrated marketing in SL? What are the particular skills needed to succeed? Who is doing it well?

2. Response to readings:

Week 11 (11/8) IN SL: Political & Social Campaigns

Read:

1. Scola, “Avatar Politics”
2. Mark, “Virtual Lobbying”

Blog:

1. Final steps of project

2. Response to readings: Is there a difference between branding of products & services in SL and the building of political, health, or social campaigns? What kinds of social campaigns have been attempted, and why or why not is SL a particularly good place for these? Are there “utopian” possibilities for SL?

Week 12 (11/15) IN SL: Future of SL & Social Concerns

Read:

1. SLOG 13

2. Herman, Coombe, & Kaye, “Your Second Life?”

3. Wagner, Linden Lab to Open Source SL Servers

Blog:

1. Final steps of project

2. Response to readings: How m

Week 13 (11/22) AT HOME: Giving thanks, gobbling birds

Week 14 (11/29) GROUP MEETINGS / Assessment & presentations

Blog:

1. Notes on what you have done this week on the project.

Week 15 (12/6) IN PERSON: Final presentation of projects

Prepare:

1. 20-30 minute presentation of project and its assessment. Be ready for questions

Blog:

1. Reflection on your contribution to the project

2. Reflection on the course

3. Materials for final presentation of projects