Tag: SL News

Last week, Dawny Daviau (Sylvia Thevissen in rl) nudged me about a project she’s involved in, and which is being developed by a team led by SL machinima maker Chantal Harvey and the creator of R2D2, Tony Dyson, working under their Netdreamer Publications brand. At the time I made a note of things – and then promptly forgot in the rush to sort-out bits and bobs for Fantasy Faire coverage.

Fortunately, Saffia Widdershins over at Prim Perfect didn’t, and she has a good write-up on the project, which Chantal and Tony call BobbekinWorld.

This is a series of children’s e-books which use advanced animation and combine video, music and still images of cute little characters called Bobbekins. The team use a range of media – including Second Life –  in which to create the stories, with “Toy City” being an actual sim inside SL.

The books are designed to be immersive, fun and have a teaching exercise or theme to the stories, the idea being to make full use of the digital medium to engage children in a visual, interactive style.

Currently, the first book in the series has been developed, and an Indiegogo kickstarter has been set-up to help with financing the project. Some $15,000 is required to bring the project to life. Those donating to the cause receive a range of benefits according to their level of contribution. The indiegogo page includes an excellent Q&A to the project, featuring Tony Dyson. In it, he not only explains why the team believe that e-books are an ideal medium for children, he also explains why the team has turned to Indiegogo rather than presenting the concept to a large publishing house:

Over the last 2 years, we have invested a considerable amount of money and time in this project. It has been very difficult to stay independent. We know that if we sell to the large publishers too early, we will most definitely lose control over matters we find very important and are close to our heart.

We now need to market and develop the full range of e-Books and printed material. At Indiegogo we have the perfect opportunity not only to pre-sell our publications, but to also offer exciting bonuses to families and teachers who share and appreciate our concept.

As a part of the team, Dawny is the Graphics Artist, responsible for designing the cover of the first book in the series. Another long-term SLer, Slim Warrior (or “Slimmie” to her friends – Leo Wolff in RL) is responsible for the music within the books.

In terms of Second Life, the project – as Saffia points out in the headline to her piece – highlights another unique way in which environments such as Second Life can be used to help develop real-world projects.

As well as incorporating the team’s own belief in the digital medium in which to engage young children, the project has received support and input from a panel of advisors, including Dr Tracy Harwood, a National Teacher Fellow and a Senior Researcher at the Institute of Creative Technologies, De Montfort University, UK, Dr. Phylis Johnson (PhD, Instructional Technology), a professor of media in the College of Mass Communication & Media Arts at Southern Illinois University and Elizabeth Spezia, education services and community engagement manager at WSIU, the public television and radio stations for southern Illinois, who leads the station’s Ready To Learn initiative, which reaches thousands of local children and families each year through media-based learning.

Related links

• The Netdreamer website
• BobbekinWorld Indiegogo project
• BobbekinWorld on Twitter
• BobbekinWorld Facebook Fan Page
• Supporting BobbekinWorld – a new case use for Second Life – Saffia Widdershins

With thanks to Saffia Widdershins, and sincere thanks and an apology (for the late write-up) to Dawny Daviau.

They say there is no such thing as an original idea.

In the Lab’s case, there appears to be no such thing as an original marketing campaign.

Three years ago, they ran a campaign “Become Your Avatar“, asking people to “star” in ads which put them up with their avatar in an attempt to draw-in new users.

It was a campaign which was – both within and without SL – somewhat ridiculed. The message itself, to the uninitiated, appeared confusing and ultimately and the whole thing appeared to be something of a flop in most people’s eyes.

Nevertheless, that didn’t stop the Lab trying it again in late 2011 – and it received about as much “positive” feedback from observers at the time as the original.

Now in fairness, we don’t really have any way of gauging how well either campaign actually did; they could actually have done remarkably well, despite the jaundiced eye many of us (myself included) cast over them.

Well, guess what? The Lab are looking to run it a third time, and are calling for people willing to “star” alongside their avatar in a new campaign to be launched in the near future.

The announcement reads in part:

We are now casting both humans and their avatars for a new promotional campaign that will be featured on SecondLife.com and across the web.

For this campaign, we’re looking for people who are comfortable revealing their “human side” alongside their avatars in Second Life, like in the image above. Specifically, we are looking for those whose avatars do not physically resemble their owners.

This promotion aims to spotlight the diverse and creative communities in Second Life, so please apply if you’d like to share your passion for Second Life with the world!

To be considered, please fill out this application form by 11:59 PM Pacific on Wednesday, May 1, 2013. All submissions will be reviewed by the creative production team for the campaign, but no personal information provided will be disclosed publicly unless you are selected and specifically consent to participate.

We look forward to hearing from you!

I’m not sure what to make of this – other than the fact I won’t be applying. As noted above, just how well the original and follow-up campaigns did is hard to say; we just don’t get enough data on sign-ups and retained users nowadays to make a realistic assessment. This means it is easy to err on the “not very” side of the success equation.

For my part, however, I just wish that someone at the Lab would put more thought into finding something that is fresh and original and which might find broad-range appeal rather than constantly re-running the same ideas. The talent pool within SL is as deep as it is broad, and there would seem to be plenty of opportunities for the Lab to work more collaboratively with users to promote the platform than this approach, as I’ve mentioned myself in the past and also more recently.

While “tried and trusted” may appear to be the safe / easy / assured option for the Lab, it does tend to come with a problem beyond its perceived success. A problem I would hope the Lab take time to note.

Many out in the world – gamers, pundits, et al, already regard Second Life as one of “dead”, “dying” or “past it and not worth the effort. In constantly re-treading the same ol’, same ol’ by way of marketing efforts, the Lab is actually doing very little to dispel such views.

Still, if you feel like having a go – don’t forget the application form and the closing date of 23:59 SLT on Wednesday, May 1st.