25 March 2008
ABC and Telstra survive a virtual year
Telco discusses achievements while broadcaster hosts virtual party.
Australia’s national telecoms provider, Telstra, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) have both celebrated their first year of existence in the virtual world of Second Life.
Telstra, often criticized for the quality and cost of its services, leapt into the blogosphere over 2 years ago, allowing public employee blogs as part of its Now We Are Talking website.
Second Life a waste of time?
At the time of its launch into Second Life in March 2007, and at the peak of media interest in the virtual world, a presence in Second Life was deemed by many as a waste of time.
One year on from launch, Craig Middleton, BigPond’s group manager of corporate affairs, said to David Holloway that the achievements of the BigPond branded Telstra site were many, including, “85,000 people registered, and a leading position as the most popular real-life brand presence in Second Life in the world, which has continued to reach record levels in early 2008.”
Virtual benefits for broadcasting
For the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, whose ambitions were modest in comparison to Telstra, a year in Second Life was met with a party “to raise and explore ideas for the future of ABC Island and collate those ideas to be presented to the ABC management.”
Internal use for virtual worlds
Banking organization Westpac is another well-known Australian organization with a presence in the virtual world, using it for employee communication and professional development, including new-staff inductions.
Speaking on the subject in late 2007, Westpac chief technology officer David Backley said the simulation-esque software “meant that geographical and hierarchical barriers could be removed and new staff from a branch in Tasmania and a branch in Brisbane could be inducted in the same session by a trainer in Sydney.”
Further organizations involved with Second Life include Vodafone, ABN Amro, IBM and Dell.
Related news and resources:
Q&A: Should I get a Second Life?
Launching into a brave new world at IBM
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