This came across my desk recently from my friend Beth Offenbacker and it seems very interesting:

Using Virtual Reality for Stakeholder Engagement: An Online Conference in Second Life®

Thursday, 16 July 2009, 11:00-17:00 EDT

Why just talk with stakeholders about environmental management (or any other subject)? Let them experience it!

Conducted entirely in the virtual world Second Life, this conference will allow attendees to experience and explore the possibilities of hosting stakeholder learning events using virtual reality. You’ll participate in presentations, discussions . . . even “field trips.”

You’ll learn:

• The benefits and drawbacks of working with stakeholders in Second Life, including when it’s appropriate, efficient and effective—and when it’s not
• How Second Life differs from other technologies used for citizen engagement
• How Second Life can be used for a range of subject areas, including—but not limited to—environmental management
• Tips for using Second Life effectively, including how to access existing “islands” or spaces within Second Life’s virtual world and how to create your own space

I was a Second Life early adopter and experimented with it a great deal about two years ago. (My Second Life name was Bradrourke Dynamo.) At the time, it was a fairly unpopulated place just a few institutions were beginning to have presences there. I recall Reuters made big news by having a Second Life bureau.

But now, I am bettng there’s a critical mass and this conference intrigues me. With more people much more accustomed to online experiences, does the Second Life experience “work” better for people?

There are something like 13 million users of Second Life now, and it is growing at (I am told) a 25% rate. That’s significant.

Furthermore, there are good uses of virtual reality, that could make it a great tool — tours, looks inside things that people can’t visit, comparisons of different structures, or activities that would be too dangerous to do in person (flying).

On the other hand, there are significant barriers to Second Life. It’s a contained experience — more so than most online things. I recently re-signed up (my new name is Bradrourke Ordinary). I had forgotten what a rigmarole it was. I had to download software, get used to moving my avatar around, and I can’t really link in and out easily. I found myself wishing the navigation worked more like a console video game, and thinking that the Zelda environment would be easier to navigate. But maybe that’s just me.

What do you think? Is this the kind of thing you’d be into? Are there still too many barriers?

Comment!