Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Second life homeworking

This subject came up earlier this week so I was interested to see that internet consultancy depo consulting have taken on their first (and possibly the world's first) virtual employee on Second Life. Marissa Meltzer will be running the depo office from 3 to 5pm every day as a virtual contact helping businesses in this new environment (and according to the press release even helping them with free clothes which is jolly nice of her). She will be paid in the local currency of Linden Dollars and all her work for depo will be in the virtual world. Peter Dunkley of depo, which in the real world has offices in Northants and the Cotswolds, says: “Although large businesses are moving onto Second Life in increasing numbers, we feel that they are missing a real opportunity by not actually manning their offices and shops. Second Life is not the Internet, it’s a social environment and to make the most of the opportunities you have to be there." Ms Meltzer adds: "As a mother, working in a virtual office has real benefits – and I’m really looking forward to meeting the visitors to the depo office and working with them to develop this new world.”

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for taking an interest in our Second Life adventures. Since December we have built a virtual office, designed by a New York architect who has work for REM's Michael Stipe and Woody Allen in his portfolio. It is due to be featured in the next edition of Building Magazine.

    If you or your readers are interested, all the facilities are available free of charge to anyone looking to experiment with holding meetings and events on Second Life.

    We have meeting rooms that hold up to twelve, and a really rather attractive auditorium that will hold about 30 people. We also have an underwater coral meeting room for those looking for something a little different. The main rooms have multimedia screens, so you can give presentations.

    We really think that the virtual office is the future and are keen to have people try out the facilities. Hopefully it will open the possibility of shedworking for many more people.

    You can find us by searching for depo in places on Second Life, or our contact details are on our website (www.depoconsulting.com) - please book before using the rooms, and we will make sure there is someone to set you up with all the permissions and to show you how to use everything.

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