PithyPedia.com - Searchable Quotes
March 19, 2007
I like to include quotes when appropriate in presentation decks. The challenge of course is to find one that is appropriate to the subject matter.
PithyPedia.com is a very useful tool you should bookmark and visit. You can search the database by keyword, phrase or author. Plus a variety of category and topic lists makes it easy for you to initiate your search for a suitable quote.
I hope you find it useful as I do.
-Roland
Give Brand Evangelists Access to Your Assets
March 16, 2007
Here’s something extremely smart. A clever PR / marketer arranged for mommy bloggers and podcasters to come for a special day on the set at the CBS comedy The New Adventures of Old Christine, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus. They got to hang out on the set, mingle and have a Q&A session with the cast.
Why?
Because the protagonist, Christine, is a working mother. In fact, of the shows currently on air, it’s extremely rare to have a show centered around the character of a working mother where you actually see her also dealing with family and personal issues. Most of the time, you see the “working mom” doing her lawyer or doctor duties — no family in site.
Think about the after effect. Those mommy bloggers head back home, tell their respective audiences about the experience, more and more may tune in to watch. Get the picture?
So, embrace your audience or fan base. Throw them some swag. Create an event or special offer for them and their listeners.
It’s a great grass roots approach to spreading your message.
Check out this behind the scenes video by the Manic Mommies podcast.
-Roland
Credibility
March 14, 2007
Iconoclast posted this interesting quote:
“Since I’ve been blogging, morning shows feel like they’re staged, whereas the mommy blogs are pretty authentic — to the point of being almost too honest sometimes. It’s a way to get fresh information from other moms, like a virtual moms group. I don’t see a need to watch the morning shows.
Beth Blecherman, a former Today viewer and mother of three, Los Angeles Times | 2.9.07″
Vandalizm in Second Life
March 8, 2007
Wikipedia is a notorious stalking ground for overzealous, nasty political shenanigans and vandalism. But this high profile defacing is the first I’ve heard of in Second Life:
Edwards’ Second Life Headquarters Vandalized
by Shankar Gupta, Tuesday, Mar 6, 2007 6:00 AM ET
THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE JOHN Edwards campaign in Second Life suffered an attack by vandals last week, when shortly before midnight, the virtual building was defaced by a group of Second Life users bearing “Bush ‘08″ tags.
Although the Edwards campaign on its blog identified the vandals as Republicans, a commenter on the blog claimed responsibility in the name of a Second Life griefing group called “Patriotic Nigras.” The group claimed to have simply done it for laughs–or, in their own words, “lulz.”“Guess what: we’re not Republicans. In fact, I’m one of the most hard-core liberals I know,” a pseudonymous commenter wrote on the Edwards blog. The commenter’s affiliation with Patriotic Nigras was discovered through his pseudonym, “Mudkips Acronym,” by the webzine 10 Zen Monkeys.
The Edwards campaign said that an abuse report against the perpetrators had been filed with Linden Lab, Second Life’s developer.
The vandalism of the Edwards campaign HQ isn’t the first high-profile attack Second Life has seen. In December, when CNET interviewed controversial Second Life businesswoman Anshe Chung, a virtual real estate dealer who has been described as Second Life’s first millionaire, the theater was attacked by griefers who bombarded Chung with flying, animated phalluses.
Source: MediaPost
Okay, I visited the John Edwards ‘08 — a very small parcel consisting of a one story open air building with helicopter landing pad on top, and an open area with podium, two TV cameras, billboards and (love this) virtual folding tables with free John Edwards t-shirts in the corner. Plus campaign posters promising that “John Edwards ‘08. Tomorrow Begins Today.”
I saw no defacements by the time I arrived, but I heard a Nazi “sieg heil” off in the distance. I spin around and diagonally connected is another area and building similarly decorated. Yet there were goose-stepping black dressed avatars marching along to the seig heil chant. 
The campaign posters were similar except they read: “John Edward ‘08. He Can Read Minds.”
It’s a clever spoof promoting celebrity “psychic” John Edward.
UPDATE:
I did a bit more digging into what vandals do in Second Life. Of course, they post videos on YouTube (who doesn’t?). I couldn’t find an Edwards one up (yet), but other examples are there: Bombarding a location with hundreds of animated Mario (from Mario Bros), or dropping cubes all over a couple dancing on Valentine’s Day.
I know it’s wrong, but I have to laugh. It’s like a college prank. Location owners can eject items left behind on their property, so nothing is permanent. Of course if these pranksters came every day, that would be harassment and akin to a Denial of Service attack.
Cost of Building a Second Life Presence and Campaign
March 7, 2007
According to this article on what agencies are charging to develop marketing programs for brands in Second Life:
“An initial build might cost a client between $75,000 and $100,000. Another $50,000 might pay for six or so events at the site. Monthly support fees could add another $10,000 a month to the cost.”
Why so high you might wonder? Consider the following…
- Start with your Strategy and Creative brainstorming, which will determine what your destination may be. Then factor in labor for Design, Developers, Project Management and Quality Assurance.
- How will you promote the destination and what will that cost? (Promotion both inside Second Life and in the real world.)
- Do you need to hire virtual staffers to appear at your destination and interact with visitors?
- How “permanent” is your destination in SL and how often will you stage events to drive traffic to your destination?
- Finally, don’t forget these basic costs:
- You need to create a member account ($10/month, $22.50/quarterly, or $72/annual)
- The price for portion to entire region ranges from $5-$195/month based on the number of square meters you want. Here is the land pricing chart
- Want more land? You can own a private island, which costs $1,675 for 65,536 square meters (about 16 acres) to setup. Then monthly land fees for maintenance are $295/month.
It adds up quickly, doesn’t it?
In my travels through Second Life, I come across so many vacant places. You can’t have a Field of Dreams attitude about it. Just because you build it, it doesn’t mean they will come. You need to constantly work at promotion and improvements to make it a premier destination.
What’s your experience with planning for Second Life? Please let me know.
Thanks.
-Roland
