Outworld tools for promoting for inworld events

I have been testing various outworld networking tools to see how adequately they can replace SL groups for various purposes.  For one purpose, I think I have found a replacement: 

Blog/reader can supplant  group notices for motivated users. 

Vio has a website where it regularly posts (blog fashion) notices of upcoming events.  I have subscribed to it with my Google Reader.  As result, I get all Vio notices in a place where I routinely look.  Since I subscribe to several other blogs, I check my Google reader contents several times a day. That is quick and convenient because I can immediately see any content that has been updated.     

The blog notice is better for me than a group notice in SL because:

• I get the information when I want it. 
• I can access again whenever I want.
• I can easily pass it on to my friends.

The blog notice works better for Vio because

• A blog takes fewer steps to post than does a group notice in SL.
• The blog is reliably available to all subscribers.
• People can subscribe to the blog on their own.

The main disadvantage in using the blog/reader method is that it requires several extra (possibly unfamiliar) steps on the part of the subscriber.   A blog by itself is not reliable.   People will forget to check it unless the blog has compelling daily content 

The RSS reader solves that problem.  The reader checks for you.  You only open one reader page.  You see all the upates on blogs you have subscribed to.

But watch out for that first step.  I always cringe when I see another step added to something I want to get people to do.  You lose people at every step.  In the past, I would have said using RSS was too geeky.  That was my conclusion years ago. I clicked a little button that said “RSS.”  I got a whole page of Geek speak.  Even though I am half Geek, my reaction was “I really don’t want this after all.” 

Sure, if I had called up my Geek subsystem, I could have figured out what to do next.   But I only do that when I really want something.   So I did not use RSS for a long time.  Finally I found  Google Reader.  A geek-free environment.  Already available in my G-mail screen.   Usually I can subscribe to a blog by clicking the “Add a subscription” button in the Google Reader.   All it needs is the url for the site.  Or I can subscribe on the site page by clicking on a button that says "Subscribe."  Some blogs offer the specific option of subscribing with the Google Reader. 

The Google Reader method was easy for me, because I was already using G-mail.  For people not using any Google account, the first steps will be:

• Go to the Google Reader sign-up page.
• Sign up for an account.
• Maybe download/install software.
• Bookmark the Reader page.

The whole process is geek-free, but with too many steps for casual readers.  The people in Vio are there for business purposes and so are likely have the motivation to set up the Reader, if necessary, to follow VIO notices.  Probably most of them already have a Google account for other reasons (G-mail, Blogger, Chrome, etc.).  So this may be viable plan for business and some education groups. 

Would this system work for entertainers?  I think only partially.  It depends on the Google and Google Reader penetration in the fan group.  People who are already using Google Reader or other Google features can shift easily if the notification service is available.   So a lot depends on Google penetration.  That may go up a lot when Google Wave goes public.

Service?  What service?

A blog service to supplant the current group notices about events needs a format and style different from the traditional pattern.  The Google Reader will present the first few lines.  The key information needs to be there.  That will generally be the standard “Who, What, When, Where, Why,” although the why should be about why the subscriber will want to come, rather than the traditional news content.  Like this:

• Lauren Live
• Comedy, Open stage
• Wed. Sept. 16 4:30 pm SLT
• @Lauren’s Place, Cookie (Slurl here)
• Hear Lauren work on new material. 
• Take the stage with your material. 
• Listen to new comics trying to make you laugh.

Additional content – promo and other -- could be in the rest of the blog, which can be opened by the user with a click on the title.

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Video

Burns and Allen?  Or Abbott and Costello?  You decide.
Starring Madame Thespian Underhill  and Kayden Oconnell

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Outworlder parties

Here is a promo for a new service to be offered by Thinkerer Studios, managed by Jwheels Carver:

You have a party in the physical world.  You invite your local friends.  You connect your computer output to your big TV screen.  You arrange for entertainment in Second Life that fits the interests of your guests.  That's an outworlder party. 

You get professional entertainment at the time you want it.  The entertainers interact with your guests.  You set the price you want to pay.  (Probably nothing for a charity event.) 

Can't be done, you say?  Already has been.  Several times.  Just ask Jwheels Carver.  

Asking Jwheels might be a good idea, anyway  Make things easier on you.  Jwheels can find you performers in any genre and fee level.  He can find you:

• the kind of entertainment you want for your guests
• the kind of venues you want
• at the time you want them and
• at prices you want to pay (including free)  

Some entertainment possibilities

• Savannah Coronet (Patsy Cline Special or other)
• Lauren Live (The best comic in Second Life)
• EvaMoon Ember (Best comedy singer in Second Life)
• Tamra Sands  (Tamra Hayden in the outworld -  Google on the name)
• Comedy and serious theater by the Avatar Repertory Theater troupe.

Jwheels can tell you how to catch their acts.

See the Burns and Allen video above for a sample of the comedy.
Live streaming on the web may also let you reach other people at a distance
 
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Recent Outworlder Party

Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, sponsored a symposium on innovation in healthcare, starting with a reception on Sunday evening 9/13.  In the opening event, the goal was to have a casual interaction between participants.  Mayo Clinic particularly wanted to highlight their efforts to integrate Second Life into their education, patient care and research activities.

They converted a conference room to a coffee house atmosphere, with a 50 inch screen and sound system.    They wanted people to see how a Second Life interaction can work, so they made arrangement  with Jwheels to have PhoebeAnn Theas (Seasoned singer in Second Life) perform in this time period.

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A Broadway STAR Studded Evening  On Broadway Live Island

What you missed in Second Life this week and what you may be able get as outworlding entertainment in the future.

Several hours of music and conversation by well-known (Google them) stage performers. 

• Natalie Toro (Tale of Two Cities, Les Miserables)
• James Van Treuren (The Scarlet Pimpernel, Camelot)
• Stacia Fernandez (Drowsy Chaperone, Beauty and The Beast)
• Tom Polum (Broadway Performer, Author, Producer)
• Tamra Hayden (Les Miserables, Cabaret)
• Eugene Gwozdz (Broadway Music DIrector/Arranger)
• At least 5 computers.

Followed  by a few hours of music from DJ CheckersSpeech Low

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Education

The University of Texas Initiates a System-Wide Rollout into Second Life:
Sixteen Campuses will Serve as Virtual Learning Model for Other Statewide Systems

(From press release)

Today, Linden Lab announces the first statewide rollout of a virtual learning environment in the world.  The Transforming Undergraduate Education Program, at the University of Texas System, recently awarded a grant to fund the initiation of a pioneering statewide virtual learning community of students, faculty, researchers and administrators in Second Life, that offers an innovative, low-cost approach to undergraduate instruction.

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Tejano tech live in Second Life

TejanoTech was established by the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) to provide a platform for the virtual exploration of technology-rich interdisciplinary and culturally situated STEM education.  Although the sim is currently under development, areas that interweave STEM content with art and cultural content are taking shape. The intent is to create an environment that provides opportunities for learners to engage not only with learning content that is directly accessible in the outworld, but to extend these possibilities to content which is "not possible in real life".

STEM: The Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Coalition works to support STEM programs for teachers and students at the U. S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, and other agencies that offer STEM related programs.

More on Tejano Tech in future episodes.