The first week of September is shaping up to be a really interesting and exciting time.  Not only is the Second Life Community Convention being held from September 5-7 in Tampa, FL with a track dedicated to education, but the Virtual Worlds Conference being held in Los Angeles, CA on September 3,4 is also now featuring education as one of the focuses.

It’ll be a busy week with some pretty fantastic ideas, inspiration and connections. I can’t wait.

I just read a blog post that I saw posted on twitter related to Second Life and businesses. The article refers to McKinsey & Company (a managment consulting firm) and how they are saying that companies and businesses that are not engaging in the use of virtual worlds are doing so ‘at their own peril’.

I found this section of the article really interesting:

“The next phase of Second Life’s development, analysts said, would involve businesses developing very specific 3D applications, which for instance would enable them to conduct virtual meetings, saving on transport costs, and to undertake advanced staff training.

Trucking companies, for instance, are teaching drivers how to parallel park their vehicles using simulations built in Second Life; Hilton, the hotel chain, is collaborating on a tool to train receptionists in virtual lobbies, and energy giants are developing applications that can help them to train staff on how to deal with a hostage situation on an oil rig.”

For me, that’s the difference that virtual worlds bring to the table. It’s experiential. You *do* things there. I had someone tell me in a meeting one day that he’d “rather look at a real photograph than look at that same thing built in Second Life”, because it seemed “fake” to him. I understand what he’s trying to say, and nothing in a virtual world will ever be truly exactly as it is in RL (at least not for the foreseeable future) and so perhaps to some folks it can feel like we’re not being honest or truthful in what we’re representing in a virtual space. The ability, however, to *experience* these spaces is what makes it so powerful. Looking at a photo of a dorm room, for instance, is much different than having your avatar walk into that room and experience the space. That experience, in my opinion, actually IS more real than looking at a photo of the space.

For people not aware of or using virtual worlds to conduct business, meet and socialize with other people, or as a creative outlet, then perhaps these environments do seem ‘false’, but for those of us actively using the space it’s incredibly real.