Capgemini in Secondference
May 16th, 2008 — Claudio Lobos
Capgemini will participate in Secondference, the first meeting of Second Life’s users and professionals in Spain, which also includes the participation of Linden Lab.
Companies and users will speak about Second Life as a business, educational and entertaining platform.
Everett Linden, director of community initiatives and social networks from Linden Lab, will travel to Spain and participate in the event, which will be attended by major industry and user groups.
Almost anything is possible in Second Life. Entering the world for the first time, a person has to choose a name and a look for their avatar, and then they free to roam. Entry is free for individuals although additional goods and services can be bought using the virtual currency, Linden Dollars, which are exchangeable with real currencies. In SL people and businesses occupy virtual land. And just like the real world, building rights have to be agreed and buildings must be constructed and furnished (an industry in itself), paid for or rented. Companies tend to establish their offices on islands in order to control access and to build and protect their brand.
Tim Kelly, based in our office in Sale, UK, even publishes a regular newsletter for the community. Last year he managed to get a small investment to set up Capgemini UK’s presence in SL and is trying to encourage other parts of the business to get involved. “SL has enormous potential for communication,” he says. “It provides a ‘3D immersive experience’ – in other words, it feels like being there. People can meet, chat, attend presentations, hold meetings and even host virtual trade fairs. It’s a great way to bring together colleagues from all around the world, while saving the company money and time, and reducing our CO2 emissions..”
The UK’s Technology Services (TS) obtained an island just a few days before the end of 2007. Its meeting rooms are now being furnished and equipped with communication links. “We are now at a point where we can trial UK TS meetings and invite people with creative ideas to make use of the testbed environments we have created,” explains Tim. However, unfortunately it’s not possible for everybody in Capgemini UK to access SL through the company’s firewall at present.
Capgemini Spain even has its own Virtual Worlds team. In March 2007, the team started doing business development, introducing their customers to opportunities in branding, marketing and communications in Second Life and other virtual worlds. “It’s a convenient environment to welcome clients and introduce our offerings,” says Gemma Vallet (right). “Clients are certainly interested in attending conferences and events in SL and in making a real time connection to their customers.”
After one year of business development, the Capgemini Spain Virtual Worlds team, led by Claudio Lobos (left) in Madrid and Gemma in Barcelona, are achieving real results and winning real business. They are working for two brand new customers - a well-known wine company and a prestigious business school in Spain - in their strategy, creativity and visuals in order to make their brands more notorious in virtual worlds and Web 2.0, improving with this strategy its interactive marketing.
Gemma says there’s a big potential for a mashup between SL and Google Earth and other Web 2.0 platforms. “We are in discussions with Capgemini Netherlands and a Real Estate firm,” she explains. “The idea is to show potential buyers a location in Google Earth and then take them on a tour of the property in SL.”
Sogeti Sweden is using SL to attract and interact with new recruits, and raise brand awareness. Rasmus Bodin Löfgren and Rita Fernandes work on this initiative on a voluntary basis outside of work hours. “We started the project in September 2007 and have since been working to engage fellow Sogetians to explore this exciting new media and raise awareness of its possibilities and development,” says Rasmus (right). “Our current focus is to build a base for recruitment and branding. Second Life boasts a large relevant target group of users in the age group 18-25 with high knowledge of and interest in computing.”
Rasmus and Rita (left) have set up Sogeti Sweden’s island as an informal meeting space to meet and welcome potential new consultants. The island holds some impressive facilities including an open air lecture hall for exhibitions and demonstrations where streamed media such as video or PowerPoint can be shown to guests. There’s even a games room and a marina with boats using Second Life’s physics to simulate real sailing.
Johan explains how the office will be used: “This year we intend to start experimenting offshore projects and training exercises through SL. I’ve also been talking to a few companies about disaster training because SL offers a safe environment for emergency services and other organizations to practice escape procedures in times of floods and fire.” Such a service could interest the Dutch Government, which runs national training for floods every two years. Johan thinks this is another area where a SL-Google Earth mashup could work really well.
One Sogeti executive has also begun using SL to reach out to employees. From the virtual world, Sogeti Netherlands CEO Jeroen Versteeg held a Kick Off in January, to all staff in the business.
