Thought this article might be of interest "The New Avatar In Town Cyndi Lester, 20, recalls her first meeting with future husband, Frank: "My avatar walked past his. He noticed me and typed: I like your hair." After their real-life wedding last year, Cyndi and Frank bought digital rings and staged a second, virtual-world wedding.It all happened in MapleStory—a fantastical online game where players hunt cartoon monsters and communicate in text. For Lester, a Huntington (W.Va.) homemaker who devotes three to six hours a day exploring this two-dimensional universe, the allure of MapleStory is more about show than shoot-'em-up. She spends up to $100 a month buying new clothes (at 9 cents to $7 apiece) and hairstyles ($5.70) for her digital double.Suddenly it looks as if Second Life, that 3D virtual world that last year became a favorite hangout for hard-core techies and trend-watching corporations, has competition. A new crop of online multiplayer games is coming, targeting a broader audience with simpler navigation and customization than Second Life. These games also rule out lewd behavior. The companies behind them have a novel way of making money, selling digital goods such as avatars and their outfits. The games themselves are free......" http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_13/b4027047.htm?chan=technol...

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"Marc Fetscherin" <MFETSCHERIN@Rollins.edu> 20/03/07 8:38 AM >>> I would like to share this with you

CALL FOR PAPERS 3rd International Second Life Community Convention (SLCC07) August 24-26, 2007, Chicago, USA Track: *Business in Second Life* http://slcc2007.wordpress.com/ SCOPE The emergence of virtual worlds and Web 3.D change the way of doing business. Web 3.D is the synonym for Internet-based virtual worlds, where people can create own 3-D *virtual* personalities. One of the most famous of these virtual worlds is Second Life. It is undergoing an evolution similar to that of the Internet in the mid nineties and it might impact profoundly the way people cooperate, communicate, collaborate, and conduct business. The recent entering of companies such as Toyota, American Apparel, Nissan, or Adidas on Second Life is a first indication for the upcoming role of this platform for the next generation of conducting business online. The conference provides a forum for industry, academia, and government to present their latest findings in virtual worlds like Second Life and the underlying technology to support these applications. Therefore, we invite contributions (research paper, working paper, work-in progress) from a broad spectrum of disciplines including economics, management, business, marketing, finance, information systems, and computer sciences. TRACK TOPICS The track focuses on but is not limited to the following topics: - Product Testing in SL - Image, Branding, Advertising in SL - Marketing in Second Life - Selling, Cross-Selling Real and SL - Intellectual Property, Copyright, Trademarks in Second Life - Business Planning for Non-profits in SL - Promotion, Fundraising Tool and SL - Customer Integration and SL - Technology & Business, Strategy in SL - Financial Systems, Investments, Currency Exchange in SL - Emerging Media Presence in SL - Fashion Industry in Second Life - The Future of Second Life and Beyond - Second Life as a Web 3.0 Technology IMPORTANT DATES Submission Papers: June 1, 2007 Notification of Acceptance: July 1, 2007 Final Paper Submission: August 1, 2007 SUBMISSION PROCEDURES Submissions should describe original research work not submitted or published elsewhere. The author is responsible for correspondence, including the author*s name, mailing address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address has to be identified. One of the authors of each paper must register and present the paper at the conference. Submitted papers will be double-blind reviewed and evaluated on significance, originality, quality, and exposition.y, finding its relevance to Second Life. Accepted papers will be presented at the conference and published in the Conference Proceeding. Best papers will be published either in a book or in a Journal. There will also be *Best Paper Awards*. In order to have your proposal considered, please submit it no later than 1st June to christoph.lattemann@uni-potsdam.de or mfetscherin@rollins.edu using the following guidelines. - Follow the *Guide for Authors* from the Journal of Electronic Commerce Research (www.csulb.edu/journals/jecr/s_g.htm) - You need to submit the file as a Microsoft Word-Format file - Your email should use the subject line "SLCC Business Track" LOGISTICS & TRAVEL INFORMATION We will release registration details and hotel rooming information in the coming weeks. We can share that the cost of registration will be in the range of about USD 200 and will include breakfast snacks and lunch on both Saturday and Sunday as well as some awesome musical performances and conference materials. The event is being held at the Hilton Chicago and the hotel rates with our block is $159 per night before tax. THE ROOM BLOCK IS NOT SET UP YET SO PLEASE DO NOT CALL TO BOOK A ROOM AT THIS RATE YET! We are all very excited about SLCC 2007 and will get you all details as soon as we have them (for updated information, http://slcc2007.wordpress.com). COMMITTEE Marc Fetscherin, Rollins College, USA Christoph Lattemann, University of Potsdam, Germany Guido Lang, University of Bern, Switzerland Peter Lokke, CEO Crucial Armitage Inc., (Crucial Creations (SL)), New York, USA FURTHER INFORMATION More Information and details at the conference website on http://slcc2007.wordpress.com or http://secondliferesearch.blogspot.com/ General inquiries and requests about the track: *Business in Second Life* should be sent to mfetscherin@rollins.edu _______________________________________________ The air-l@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/