The Second Life Grid: The Official Guide to Communication, Collaboration, and Community Engagement [Paperback]

Kimberly Rufer-Bach (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 11, 2009

Corporations, non-profits, and educational institutions will welcome this official guide that shows how to establish and maintain a successful virtual presence in Second Life. Written with the full support of Linden Lab, this is the perfect resource for organizations entering Second Life. Topics discussed include the technical and social issues of participating in Second Life, including integrating corporate culture into Second Life, in-world marketing techniques, selecting a solution provider, and how to conduct real-world business in Second Life. Plus, you’ll get hands-on solutions, smart tactics, and practical techniques, such as setting up useful meeting spaces and planning and moderating events. The book is filled with actual case studies of how top organizations have leveraged Second Life and offers analysis of their SL presence.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Get your group on the Grid

This complete reference will guide your organization toward a successful and compelling presence in the amazing virtual world of Second Life. Written by an innovative, expert Second Life Solution Provider who has helped corporations, educational institutions, nonprofits, government agencies, and others establish and maintain their Second Life presence, this official guide walks you through the entire process of creating, refining, and maintaining your organization's presence in Second Life.

You'll explore the infrastructure of the Second Life Grid and decide whether you should go it alone or work with a Solution Provider. You'll learn about Grid features and how to best take advantage of Resident-created tools. You'll see how to manage your virtual space, staff, and inventory; run well-attended events; and launch effective marketing campaigns. Written with the full cooperation of Linden Lab, this book also reveals how to integrate your organization's culture into SL's culture, while providing valuable insights into how organizations such as NASA, University of California Davis Medical Center, IBM, and others have thrived in Second Life.

• Understand the Second Life Grid: Explore the platform your organization will inhabit
• Study what educators are doing: Try remote learning, lectures, simulations, and collaboration
• Learn from NASA and other government agencies: See new ways to inform, educate, and get feedback from the public
• Get virtual business sense: Find out how nonprofit and for-profit organizations conduct real business in SL
• Marketing in the virtual world: See what works and what doesn't
• Take control of events: Set up and publicize successful in-world events
• Design and build effective learning environments
• Hold in-world conferences, meetings, and classes
• Understand Second Life's diverse culture

About the Author

Kimberly Rufer-Bach founded and operates The Magicians (www.themagicians.us), one of the oldest and most innovative content-development companies in Second Life. She has worked with NASA, British Council, University of California Davis Medical center, and Wiley Publishing, Inc. Kim also coauthored Creating Your World: The Official Guide to Advanced Content Creation for Secong Life, also from Wiley.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Sybex; 1 edition (May 11, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470412917
• ISBN-13: 978-0470412916
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,235,734 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must read for serious SL'ers, July 31, 2009

By 

Robin Snelson (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Second Life Grid: The Official Guide to Communication, Collaboration, and Community Engagement (Paperback)

Anyone serious about doing something serious in Second Life really should read this book. It's thousands of dollars worth of consulting for the cover price!

Virtual pioneers from industry, academia, government and non-profit institutions who may be fighting an uphill battle for funding will find plenty of evidence here that others are doing cutting edge research, development, experimentation -- and even communication, collaboration and community engagement in the serious sectors known as The Second Life Grid.

Unfortunately you often see a new organization setting up in Second Life with unrealistic, uninformed project plans... and then they wonder why their wonderful creation is not living up to expectations. The best advice for anyone developing a project in SL is to get an account and log in, explore around. Understand the medium, if only as a semi-competent user. The book is an excellent tour guide to the interesting areas on the grid. After you've done at least that much, the fine points, funny stories and excellent practical advice will make a great deal more sense to you. It's the essential guide to making a success of your serious project.

Just to be clear, being serious does not mean you're not supposed to have fun. If you're not having fun, you're not using the platform right. So, if you are contemplating spending my tax dollars or non-profit donations to develop a project in Second Life, please read this book!

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars limited use for business, July 25, 2009

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Second Life Grid: The Official Guide to Communication, Collaboration, and Community Engagement (Paperback)

The book is touted as explaining how to use or function in Second Life. Careful readers who have been following Second Life for several years, and have read other books on it may note the following. This book doesn't play up [much] the use of Second Life for doing business. The sections about it are relatively restrained compared to books of just 2 or 3 years ago.

The bloom is well off the Second Life rose.

If you want to use it for an educational context, then the book can have some merit. But just don't be a company looking to set up a storefront. The book's advice about how to do this is accurate, but the business rationale is now very dubious.