Second Life: the New Trend in Events?

   This post is by Kena – Check out her blog here on twitter. Meet the rest of the team!

We talked in the past about Second Life (SL), a virtual, online world where members interact through avatars.

How has it developed for the industry?

It’s interesting how Second Life has grown according to different circumstances. The first hotel chain to be part of SL was Starwood in 2006. They actually built the Aloft prototype there while the first hotels were being constructed in real life. This was mainly to engage people and make changes on architecture or design according to real time feedback.

The Chelsea Hotel (highly recommend to see the video of the link) showed up in SL to raise awareness about their history and involvement with the community. The Crown Plaza Hotel leveraged on virtual worlds specifically for meetings.

Events

And of course the fun part couldn’t be missing! There you go, a few pictures of social events.

[All the pictures are from Second Life]

Photo by rafeejewell via Flickr
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Corporate Incentive Travel: What’s wrong with this picture?

This post is by Anne Thornley-Brown, President, Executive Oasis International, specialists in incentive travel, sales rallies and sales incentive trips. Meet the rest of the team!

Why fly your team halfway across the world just to lie on the beach and get drunk at the bar? You can do that at home. Transform your sales incentive trips into a rich and memorable experience by providing a glimpse into the local history and culture of your incentive travel destinations.

Photo by Executive Oasis International

Question: Where are you? (Hint: This is not a trick question.)

Day 1: The members of your team arrive in the evening from various countries. They are immediately whisked to a 5 star beach resort. You have a brief orientation to set the stage for your incentive. Some people head for the beach. Others head over to the bar. You meet for dinner. The menu consists of western cuisine. After dinner, some head over to the resort’s discotheque. Others return to the bar and eventually head back to their rooms drunk. Some stragglers arrive just in time to go to bed.
Day 2: Some people spend more time on the beach. Others play golf, go shopping or opt for spa treatments. That night, you have a lavish awards banquet with a gourmet western menu.
Day 3: Early the next morning, people head for the airport and fly home.
Answer: You could be just about anywhere

So, What was the point?
I have often wondered what is the point in blowing ones budget to fly executives and sales professionals halfway across the world and give them little or no exposure to the local people, culture, history, or business practices. The company could have created the same experience, at a fraction of a cost, by staying at a lakeside or beach resort close to home. In fact, in these tough economic times if that is all a company wants to achieve with a sales incentive trip, staying closer to home may be the best option. You’ll help boost the local economy and give shareholders and company owners a higher return on investment with the money you save.

Sales Incentive Trips: A Better Way

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Why The Invisible Festival is a Fantastic Idea

 This post is by Julius Solaris, your Editor in Chief. He is @tojulius on twitter . Meet the rest of the team!

Invisible Festival is a virtual festival right in your backyard. Powered by Spotify and with a noble cause.

I was immediately hooked while listening to my favourite music player by the Invisible Festival ad.

The idea is simply marvellous. Following the trend of user generated events, the Invisible Festival adopts extremely well Social Media to deliver a powerful message in a great way.

What is it?

It’s a virtual event that leverages on the power of Spotify, flickr and twitter, to raise awareness for Cancer Research UK.

As from Matt, Mark and Paul – the organizers – describe it:

The Invisible Festival is an online virtual music festival, hosted by you but soundtracked by us. It’s the world’s only 100% mud free, crowd-free, rain-free, tout-free, queue-free, free-free virtual festival.

It’s a terrific idea

This is one of those few initiatives that really grab my attention. We’ve extensively been talking about the power of user generated events and the changing role of event planners.

The Invisible Festival brings together all of the above with a great, balanced Social Media mix.

A Contaminated Concept

This is a great example of a contaminated concept. Ac concept that is born and develops around Social Media, Although there is no actual event, not even a virtual one, the aggregation component becomes the event in itself, leveraging on existing platforms. All of the above with a relatively small budget.

Congratulations to Matt Mark and Paul for the terrific job and a great lesson for all of us about creativity and delivering real value to the end user.

Can You Bring Your Event to My Mobile?

 This post is by Julius Solaris, your Editor in Chief. He is @tojulius on twitter . Meet the rest of the team!

If you can’t, you should think about it. It’s free after all…

Photo by Carlo Nicora via Flickr

Mobiles are not like Desktops or Notebooks. Of course it’s all technology. What differs is the degree of emotional involvement we have with them, as well as the extreme mobility.

Perception

Mobiles are indeed more personal. We store our family, friends and important business contacts there. It’s the people we want to talk to, it’s our real contacts. It’s not the hundred people we follow on twitter or the junior high classmate on Facebook.

The personal connotation we have with mobile phones sets apart every activity we do with them. Your family is more important than your acquaintances. Think of your mobile as a member of your family and of your Notebook/Desktop as a random acquaintance or a colleague. Who would you trust more?

The Rush to Mobile Applications

We are experiencing an unprecedented rush to mobile technology. The 1 Billion iPhone Apps downloads in 9 months mark and the move from Nokia and Vodafone to open their own application stores are the most prominent examples.
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Corporate Team Building: Getting the Name Right

This post is by Anne Thornley-Brown, President, Executive Oasis International, team building and incentive travel specialists. Meet the rest of the team!

The economic meltdown is giving our industry and its clients an opportunity to clear up confusion and return to a bottom line oriented approach to team building.

Photo by Executive Oasis International

In the coming weeks and months, we will be examining team building from various angles. Before we embark on this exploration, let’s pin down some definitions.

Question: What do these headlines have in common?

Northumberland council criticized over team building courses (from the Journal, July 24, 2009)

“Thousands of staff working for Northumberland’s new super-council are being sent to special team bonding workshops – at which they are asked to say what animal they most closely resemble.

Part of the session involves participants being asked to tell other group members what animal they would describe themselves as given their personal characteristics. Some employees have been less than impressed by the initiative, which is being held at a time when the council has axed hundreds of posts and is facing major efficiency savings to balance its budget.”

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