Me by my pond

In Second Life people often refer to life outside SL as RL, for real life. But according to the dictionary, the word real has these definitions: (more…)

Twitter Searches in Seesmic

In The Usefulness of Twitter, I talked a bit about the useful of Twitter concerning finding great product reviews, getting product support, and finding communities of  interest. All of this is done through saving Searches. (more…)

I was hesitant to use Twitter. It seemed like just a wild stream of useless blather and banter, people throwing their boring thoughts out into the ether. There is that in tweets. But there is more. (more…)

I must admit, I really enjoy my job, and the industry that I’m in. This week I went to the Virtual Edge Summit conference in Santa Clara. Today, I am attending that same conference, but I’m participating while lying on the couch, in my jammies, and getting some other work done at the same time.

Virtual meetings and conferences are wonderful. I’m not saying this replaces face-to-face interaction, but there are many advantages to attending meetings and conferences virtually:

1. Convenience — no traveling; easy to join in; can squeeze in between other tasks because you don’t have to go anywhere
2. Increases productivity — you can do other work when parts of the meeting don’t apply to you, or during conference sessions of no interest to you
3. Document share — you can share documents or other computer assets instantly
4. Increased communication — while one person is talking, you can IM others pertinent information
5. Expense — virtual conferences and trade shows cost a lot less to run than physical ones, or extend the physical
6. Increased Participation — Folks from all over the planet can join since no physical travel is involved
7. Near face-to-face – Video and avatars, plus live chat or voice, provide a near face-to-face experience that is immediate

I’m looking into various software applications for CollabNet to use for virtual conferences and trade shows. Yesterday while at the Virtual Edge Summit in person, I had a chance to talk to a few vendors. My experience has been mainly with Second Life, so this was a nice opportunity to see what other folks are using, and what features are provided.

Some of the software was mostly 2D, some of it 3D similar to Second Life, and one ran in the browser, using graphics and a menu system. I was impressed with all. Some are quite pricey but have a lot of features. I’m also looking online for less expensive alternatives, and to see what is available.

I welcome suggestions from you folks who have experience with particular software that you really like. I’d also welcome hearing your experiences with virtual conferences and tradeshows.

I must admit, I really enjoy my job, and the industry that I’m in. This week I went to the Virtual Edge Summit conference in Santa Clara. Today, I am attending that same conference, but I’m participating while lying on the couch, in my jammies, and getting some other work done at the same time.

Virtual meetings and conferences are wonderful. I’m not saying this replaces face-to-face interaction, but there are many advantages to attending meetings and conferences virtually:

1. Convenience — no traveling; easy to join in; can squeeze in between other tasks because you don’t have to go anywhere
2. Increases productivity — you can do other work when parts of the meeting don’t apply to you, or during conference sessions of no interest to you
3. Document share — you can share documents or other computer assets instantly
4. Increased communication — while one person is talking, you can IM others pertinent information
5. Expense — virtual conferences and trade shows cost a lot less to run than physical ones, or extend the physical
6. Increased Participation — Folks from all over the planet can join since no physical travel is involved
7. Near face-to-face – Video and avatars, plus live chat or voice, provide a near face-to-face experience that is immediate

I’m looking into various software applications for CollabNet to use for virtual conferences and trade shows. Yesterday while at the Virtual Edge Summit in person, I had a chance to talk to a few vendors. My experience has been mainly with Second Life, so this was a nice opportunity to see what other folks are using, and what features are provided.

Some of the software was mostly 2D, some of it 3D similar to Second Life, and one ran in the browser, using graphics and a menu system. I was impressed with all. Some are quite pricey but have a lot of features. I’m also looking online for less expensive alternatives, and to see what is available.

I welcome suggestions from you folks who have experience with particular software that you really like. I’d also welcome hearing your experiences with virtual conferences and tradeshows.

My Twitter

There is a lot of noise in social networking. I mean a lot! But the definition of noise depends entirely on personal opinion. What one perceives as noise, another will find valuable or enjoyable. When I first created a Twitter account, it seemed like all noise. I have a Facebook (FB) account, and Twitter simply seemed a repeat of the status line in FB. Why read tweets of the same nature? (more…)