I am very interested in Second Life. I’ve created a character and am actively reading everything I can about it. For those of you who don’t know, Second Life is another world online. I don’t think calling it virtual reality does it justice. It’s reality. There is a thriving economy, land ownership and trading, and avatars that represent real people. Major brands have started to move to Second Life. They are buying property and paying for ad space. And there is convergence between the Second Life world and the “real world.” For instance, events at Harvard’s Berkman Center are actually simulated in Second Life.

In a recent panel discussion on Second Life, savvy marketers offered excellent comments about the challenges of marketing in this world:

• · Marketers need to be playful, need to embrace the fantasy aspect, need to embrace the ability to suddenly morph into a squirrel with a jetpack or just like I did, jump on the table and start playing air guitar
• · If I might make so bold the key to reaching today’s end users in this marketing space can be summed up in the words: don’t sell me, play with me.

In the next several months, I’m going to explore Second Life.

I invite you to join me by signing up for a free account here.