A second opportunity to succeed

Mazda launched a new car model inside that was initially only available - for free test drives - in Second Life. Amongst others on an ever-expanding list of firms are Philips and Nike

SAMANTHA KOTEY HAS a split personality, and both of them are on her business card.

There's Samantha Kotey, the director of a small technology company in Dublin called V Ltd. And then there's Samantha Saiman, her avatar, or virtual character, who is also the director of a small technology company called V Ltd, also in Dublin - but a virtual version of Dublin created within the online world Second Life, mostly by Irishman John Mahon and his company Picksl.net.

In both real and virtual worlds, Kotey's company helps other Irish businesses create a Second Life presence.

Second Life, created by Linden Labs, is a virtual world in which people can buy property, create buildings and move around using an animated character, or 'avatar'.

It has its own currency, the Linden Dollar, which can be converted to real world currency, and its own economy in which both small businesses and international corporations have become increasingly active.

"There's lots of businesses in there, and lots of reasons they go in," says Kotey. Some go in for the publicity. Others hold meetings or offer product demonstrations, sell virtual goods such as clothing for avatars or other items, or use their virtual presence to sell real world items.

Mazda launched a new car model inside, that was initially only available - for free test drives - within Second Life. Amongst others on an ever-expanding list of companies, Ericsson has a presence, as do Philips, Nike and Adidas.

The entertainment and music industries have been quick to see the advantages of a net-savvy audience. Even the not-for-profit sector is there - the American Cancer Society has raised thousands in funds in Second Life.

"But in Ireland it's really only just kicking off," says Kotey, who saw a niche for a company that can help businesses venture into a place that is, she says, as foreign to most as setting up in a strange country.

Seminars she has held for businesses have attracted a wide range of interest from large companies like IBM, which already has a significant Second Life presence, to advertising agencies and small businesses.

Most recently, she held an afternoon workshop for businesses during the Dublin Darklight Festival in June. During the workshop, V also had its Second Life office open and helped create an online presence for the festival, which was attended by plenty of Second Lifers. In this case it was like being in two places at once, using a clone of yourself, your avatar.

Kotey starts her seminars at the most basic level, by first explaining a bit about Second Life - what it is and why people use it. Most of her audience will never have even seen it, hence she uses lots of video clips. Business attendees always have lots of questions, she says; for example, they want to know how much traffic will come to their site within Second Life. But, she explains, Second Life isn't like a website.

Visitors don't just click in to read static information or buy something. Instead, an international audience comes to a company's location, or Second Life URL (Slurl) and is exposed to a brand or products in a highly interactive way, she says. That means businesses need to think out a Second Life strategy separate from a website strategy.

A big question is where to locate. Virtual Dublin is where Kotey suggests Irish businesses would be comfortable testing the virtual ground first, so to speak, and it is apparently one of the more popular areas of Second Life.

In partnership with Mahon, V has built a simulation (sim) of Dublin's Digital Depot, the building that houses many of the businesses within the Digital Hub, and will be leasing out space to businesses that want to try a rental before considering buying land and setting up a sim.

But she recommends a full sim build - which can take a few months to create - as the ideal space in the longer term. Some companies have spent huge amounts on sims, she says, and hold events that can attract thousands of Second Life residents.

Right now, because the whole concept is so new, businesses tend to generate media interest and publicity simply on the basis that they have a Second Life presence.

"But give it a couple of years and everyone will have a Slurl on their business cards," says Kotey. Or, it may be their location within some of the other growing virtual worlds such as Netropia or ActiveWorld. Second Life is the best for business right now, however, because of its size and its established economy, says Kotey. Linden says avatars - or rather the people behind them - spend about $500,000 (€403,827) daily at the site.

So what are business meetings like in a virtual world of avatars? "At first it can be weird. You're sitting there having a business chat with someone wearing wings."

Isn't that a bit . . . unbusiness-like? "Not when you are in a place where people are more at ease about expressing themselves," she says.

"You're in a virtual world," she laughs. "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."

What is Second Life?

Second Life (www.secondlife.com) is a 3D virtual world.

Unlike a computer game, all the characters are avatars of real people who control their actions.

Second Life opened to the public in 2003 and almost eight million people have signed up since. Land, buildings and other virtual goods and services (including virtual sex) can be purchased using the in-game currency called Linden Dollars which can be exchanged online.