January Point/Counterpoint: Second Thoughts on Second Life

People who know me well consider me pretty high-tech, but I must admit that I haven't ventured into Second Life yet. My perception is that the folks that are primarily drawn to this technology are people who work at home and are mostly self-employed. Second Life, for some, helps fill the networking void and collegiality that they may have had when they weren't self-employed.

I think Jeff DeCagna is trying to make the point that associations are running behind the times (big time). Many do not have Web sites with Web 2.0 features. Many are not repurposing the content from their annual meeting. They do not have RSS feeds or member blogs. They have bigger priorities than Second Life to take care of.

Once they improve their Web traffic, associations can test the waters by scheduling certain Webinars in environments like Second Life and benchmark that attendance versus those offered via other mediums.

My guess is that many associations will attract more folks to a Webinar via WebEx than Second Life.

Dave Lutz
Velvet Chainsaw Consulting

Jeff DeCagna is taking the perspective of the association model and he is dead-on in his comments. Dan Parks' comments are also great and he speaks in the broader perspective of "organization" than DeCagna.

I don't really see them as being point/counterpoint at all but two good discussions of a topic that addresses different organization types. Anyone in the association model knows how difficult it is to get most associations into the real world of technology, let alone the virtual world. Will they get there? Probably ... eventually, and we will drag them there kicking and screaming.

MaryAnne P. Bobrow,
CAE, CMP, CMM
Bobrow & Associates

The Best Meeting Idea

Since Convene is all about meeting ideas that work, I wanted to share with you the best idea I have seen at a meeting in a long time.

I recently presented an afternoon workshop in St. Paul. The client, Primacy Relocation, took everyone by bus to a very fine dinner. We were then split into teams at the Mall of America. Each team had a $200 gift card and a shopping list from a local women's shelter.

We only had about an hour to shop. All purchases would be donated to the women's shelter - so everyone wanted to see how many great deals they could get for their $200. My team really scored when we negotiated an extra 20 percent discount at one clothing store.

You should have seen the bags of merchandise brought back to the bus. I wasn't there the next day when representatives of the shelter accepted the donation, but I heard they were overwhelmed with the amount of merchandise.

The event was a great way to spend time with other attendees, network, have fun, and give back to the local community.

Joel Zeff
Professional speaker and author,
Make the Right Choice: Creating a Positive, Innovative and Productive Work Life, www.maketherightchoicethe book.com.