A number of blog readers have pinged me to ask me more about this conference I am organizing. I don’t want to give away all the details yet, but I did want to provide everyone with some context for what I’m working on and why. I go to a lot of conferences and lately have felt like a lot of the conversations and panel discussions are on topics that have gotten plenty of exposure. There is one area, however, that I find fascinating and believe has largely stayed under the radar (aside from Second Life) and that’s the whole emerging market for virtual goods and virtual economies. Traditionally, virtual goods have been restricted to the world of hardcore online gaming (Ultima Online, WoW, etc), but that is changing. Facebook, Gaia Online, and lots of other companies are deploying virtual goods, be it gifts, clothing for avatars, or some form of currency, in interesting ways that both complements the user experience they’re trying to create and provides a revenue opportunity that doesn’t rely explicitly on ad serving. I am personally curious to learn more about how these folks have achieved success and wanted to put together an event that would bring together leading thinkers in the space to share their insights for the day. I am including the basic logistics below:
Virtual Goods Summit 2007
Date and Time: June 22nd, 2007 from 10 AM – 5 PM
Location: Annenberg Auditorium Stanford University
In the next few days we’ll be announcing our first batch of speakers and panel topics as well as launching the conference website for the public. In the meantime, feel free to email me if you’d like to suggest a speaker, topic, or have a suggestion about the event. Even better, just post it in the comments.
I’ve tended to write off virtual goods as ludicrous – but what’s the benefit a virtual good consumed on Second Life – perhaps entertainment? Entertainment is a virtual idea. You can’t touch it, smell it, feel it. Virtual has been present in our economy for a long time. Because of it’s omnipresence it’s overlooked.
This should be a fascinating conference – I would suggest trying to find where ‘virtual ideas’ have really taken root in the physical world and looking at what sort of corollary they might have online. What do we pay a lot of money for in the physical world – status and acceptance (we all want to be loved). So brand name clothing in Second Life?
I’ve tended to write off virtual goods as ludicrous – but what’s the benefit a virtual good consumed on Second Life – perhaps entertainment? Entertainment is a virtual idea. You can’t touch it, smell it, feel it. Virtual has been present in our economy for a long time. Because of it’s omnipresence it’s overlooked. This should be a fascinating conference – I would suggest trying to find where ‘virtual ideas’ have really taken root in the physical world and looking at what sort of corollary they might have online. What do we pay a lot of money for in the physical world – status and acceptance (we all want to be loved). So brand name clothing in Second Life?