The Virtual Worlds BusinessCast

Hello there.

I recently started a new podcast series of audio interviews, The Virtual Worlds BusinessCast, investigating how Virtual Worlds are increasingly being used in a business context.

If anyone here has an interesting take on this topic and would like to appear as a guest on the show, just ping me a message.

Cheers
Mike

Tags: interviews, podcast

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Permalink Reply by Mike O'Hara on December 18, 2007 at 9:34am: Hello

Episode Eight of The Virtual Worlds BusinessCast, brought to you by Voices in Business, is now online at www.virtualworldsbusinesscast.com

Today, we talk to Nic Mitham, Founder and CEO of K Zero Ltd, a firm that specialises in virtual world consulting and research.
Nic is also a prolific blogger on the topic of virtual worlds, and is fast becoming one of the most authoritative sources for anyone who wants to keep their finger on the pulse, not only of what businesses are doing in virtual worlds, but also what’s working, what isn’t and why.

Detailed show notes for this episode:

00:12 - Mike O’Hara introduction
00:52 - Start of inteview
01:30 - Nic’s background & the birth of K Zero
04:28 - Metabranding
05:25 - Where are we in the Hype Cycle?
06:30 - Why would a business want to be in a virtual world?
07:50 - Experimentation & soft-launching
08:29 - The danger of just creating “venues”
09:51 - Taking the right strategic steps
10:52 - Examples of successful campaigns
12:04 - Which is the right virtual world for a particular brand?
14:51 - Where to find out more
15:32 - Wrap-up

Listen now at http://virtualworldsbusinesscast.com; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mike O'Hara on January 16, 2008 at 1:38pm: Hello

Episode Nine of The Virtual Worlds BusinessCast, brought to you by Voices in Business is now online at http://virtualworldsbusinesscast.com

On today’s show, we talk to David Naylor, a Partner in the Technology Law Group at Field Fisher Waterhouse, who specialises in new media, internet, technology, communications and intellectual property

Field Fisher Waterhouse were the first major law firm to set up a presence in Second Life and part of David’s role is to advise firms on the legal implications of doing business in virtual worlds.

In this interview, which runs a little longer than usual, he talks about some of the key issues firms need to take into consideration when moving into this space.

Detailed show notes for this episode:

00:12 - Mike O’Hara introduction
01:10 - Start of interview
01:25 - Why did FFW establish a presence in Second Life?
03:03 - Intellectual Property issues - who owns what?
04:28 - Unauthorised replicas of real world goods & brands
06:49 - Anonymity issues
10:22 - “Goods” versus “services”
11:41 - Which laws actually apply?
12:56 - How much regulation should there be in virtual worlds?
15:33 - Employment law
17:48 - Contracts, consumer protection, e-commerce law
20:24 - FFW’s activities in Second Life
22:29 - Where to find out more
23:26 - End of interview
23:47 - Lister feedback from Dale Johnstone
24:29 - Preview of next show, featuring Nick Wilson
25:07 - Wrap-up

We welcome all feedback, so please leave a comment on the website at http://virtualworldsbusinesscast.com, call us to leave an audio comment at +44 (0) 20 7193 1295, or send a message to mike@voicesinbusiness.com

Thanks for listening

Mike; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mike O'Hara on January 22, 2008 at 11:11am: Hello

Episode Ten of The Virtual Worlds BusinessCast, brought to you by Voices in Business, is now online at http://virtualworldsbusinesscast.com

Today, we talk to Nick Wilson, CEO and Founder of Clever Zebra, known to many as the guiding light of Metaversed.com and the voice of The Virtual Worlds Podcast.

Clever Zebra, launched in January 2008, is Nick’s latest initiative. The firm’s mission is to demolish the barriers for corporates who want to enter Second Life, by providing them with a free, open source development kit.

In the interview, Nick talks in detail about his decision to discontinue Metaversed.com and focus his energies on Clever Zebra.

Show notes for this episode:

00:12 - Mike O’Hara introduction
00:57 - Start of interview
01:28 - Nick’s background & a brief history of Metaversed.com
03:32 - The Virtual Worlds Podcast
04:17 - Background to Clever Zebra
05:14 - Business issues facing firms moving into SL
07:43 - What virtual worlds can do for corporations
08:50 - Bringing down the barriers to entry
09:41 - The Clever Zebra proposition
12:14 - Land fees
13;25 - Designers and builders
15:42 - How does a firm get access to this?
16:20 - Second Life business resources
17:55 - End of interview, contact details & wrap-up

We welcome all feedback, so please leave a comment on the website at http://virtualworldsbusinesscast.com, call us to leave an audio comment at +44 (0) 20 7193 1295, or send a message to mike@voicesinbusiness.com

Thanks for listening

Mike; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mike O'Hara on January 29, 2008 at 11:37am: Hello

Episode Eleven of The Virtual Worlds BusinessCast, brought to you by Voices in Business, is now online at http://virtualworldsbusinesscast.com

Today, we talk to Roo Reynolds and Ian Hughes, Metaverse Evangelists at IBM.

Roo and Ian, who work out of IBM’s UK development centre at Horsley, explain what a Metaverse Evangelist actually does, and discuss in detail why corporates should be taking virtual worlds seriously.

Show notes for this episode:

00:12 - Mike O’Hara introduction
00:40 - Start of interview
01:01 - What is a “metaverse evangelist”? (Roo)
02:16 - What is IBM actually doing in virtual worlds? (Ian)
04:35 - Events for IBM’s partners and customers
05:32 - Customer builds and retail opportunities
06:48 - Why should firms take this seriously?
09:21 - The scale issue
11:15 - Human interaction in the 3D environment
13:10 - Mistakes to avoid
15:24 - Demographics
16:01 - Ian’s predictions for the future
20:10 - Roo’s predictions for the future
22:59 - Web 2.0 style of adoption
24:36 - End of interview
24:42 - The Eightbar blog
25:19 - Wrap-up

We welcome all feedback, so please leave a comment on the website at http://virtualworldsbusinesscast.com, call us to leave an audio comment at +44 (0) 20 7193 1295, or send a message to mike@voicesinbusiness.com

Thanks for listening

Mike; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Brett Carl on January 31, 2008 at 12:37pm: Mike, check out www.simuality.com , my name is Brett Carl and our company is dedicated to bring real Business into Virtual worlds we have been working with some very large company's in Chicagoland and we also are starting to broadcast.

bcarl@simuality.com

www.avatrait.com

847 877 8440; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mike O'Hara on January 31, 2008 at 1:13pm: Excellent, thanks Brett, I'll check it out...

Mike
www.virtualworldsbusinesscast.com; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mike O'Hara on February 6, 2008 at 11:05am: Hello

Episode Twelve of The Virtual Worlds BusinessCast, brought to you by Voices in Business, is now online at http://virtualworldsbusinesscast.com

Today, we feature a conversation with Linda Zimmer, CEO and Founder of Marcom:Interactive.

Linda is also the author of the the popular blog “Business Communicators of Second Life“, which explores the culture and potential of virtual worlds such as Second Life for business communications and information dissemination.

Linda herself is an award-winning speaker and writer, with more than 25 years experience in using contemporary media for marketing and reputation management.

Show notes for this episode:

00:12 - Mike O’Hara introduction
00:49 - Start of interview
01:50 - Linda’s background
04:45 - Business Communicators of Second Life
06:01 - Virtual Worlds as Social Media
07:34 - What is unique about virtual worlds?
09:34 - Advantages of immediate feedback
10:23 - Focusing on the avatar
12:20 - The issue of segmented identities
14:04 - Practical strategies for businesses moving into virtual worlds
16:22 - Two things NOT to do
17:08 - Predictions for the future
19:22 - Some useful resources
21:58 - End of interview and wrap-up

We welcome all feedback, so please leave a comment on the website at http://virtualworldsbusinesscast.com, call us to leave an audio comment at +44 (0) 20 7193 1295, or send a message to mike@voicesinbusiness.com

Thanks for listening

Mike

Mike O'Hara

Voices in Business Ltd

www.voicesinbusiness.com; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mike O'Hara on March 31, 2008 at 4:56am: Hello

Episode Sixteen of The Virtual Worlds BusinessCast, brought to you by Voices in Business, is now online at http://virtualworldsbusinesscast.com

Today’s show features an interview with Jeff Barr, Web Services Evangelist at Amazon.com.

As an evangelist, Jeff travels both the real world and the virtual world talking to people about the Amazon Web Services. I was fortunate enough to catch up with him in real life on his recent visit to London, and spoke to him about Amazon Web Services’ activities in Second Life.

Show notes for this episode:

00:12 - Mike O’Hara introduction
00:42 - Start of interview
01:28 - Jeff’s role at Amazon.com
03:18 - Where do virtual worlds fit in?
04:40 - Second Life as a development platform
06:15 - Communicating with software developers
08:27 - In-world conferences and chats
11:00 - Barriers to entry
13:48 - Amazon’s author events
16:02 - Keeping it real
17:57 - What does the future hold?
19:58 - Some resources for listeners
20:46 - End of interview and wrap-up

We welcome all feedback, so please leave a comment on the website, call us to leave an audio comment on +44 (0) 20 7193 1295 or send an e-mail to comments@voicesinbusiness.com

Thanks for listening

Mike; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by wholebit on September 22, 2008 at 9:35pm: This sounds great! I'm just getting back into this community so I will be listening! :); ▶ Reply to This