How Sun Microsystems found value in Second Life

Welcome to Melcrum's Social Media Newsletter.

Last year we covered Sun Microsystems' social media efforts in some detail. Terry McKenzie, senior director of global employee communications and communities at Sun, even guest-spotted on the Melcrum Blog.

There's no doubt that Sun Microsystems is a leader in the use of new technology for communication purposes, so it's of little surprise to learn more about the company's latest efforts with virtual worlds and internal communication. (Other fresh initiatives by the Sun Microsystems team include pranking the CEO to get the message across.)

Getting a Second Life
While the hype around Second Life may have disappeared, the development of online, 3D virtual environments continues apace. McKenzie and her team spent dozens of hours creating a meeting hall in Second Life, to host a full day of senior executive forums that staff could either attend in Second Life, or simply watch via their computers.

During the course of the event, and from a range of geographical locations, over 2,000 employees tuned in.

Career magic
In an interview shortly after the event, McKenzie said: "Nothing beats face-to-face communication, but as a virtual meeting experience and compared to a regular webinar or webcast with instant-message-style chat, the Second Life experience was far, far superior."

This was a far cry from the "you've got to be kidding" questions from colleagues and mild worries of career suicide that had concerned the communication manager during some of the tougher moments of the planning process.

A viable option for dispersed workers
Another notable highlight of the event was the fantastic interaction between executives and employees with some great questions. All in all, this virtual environment, seen as little more than a game by some, provided a viable option for the gathering of dispersed workforces. And despite the hard work and hours involved in setting it all up, the expertise gained and the overall success means it's something that will definitely be used again.

Best regards,

Alex Manchester
Senior Consultant
Step Two Designs
alex@steptwo.com.au

P.S. Want more on virtual worlds? Check out these related Melcrum articles:

Launching into a brave new world at IBM

ABC and Telstra survive a virtual year

Virtual worlds can offer internal comms benefits - Gartner

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