Inside a Virtual Meeting

(cross-posted from scottmerrick.net) I post regularly at Oh!VirtualLearning! about news and events relating to virtual worlds for learning and teaching, and as I talk with friends and colleagues (and sometimes complete strangers) about this avocational interest I often mention last year's PBS Frontline episode called "Digital Nation."

Periodically, I present about the topic to interested educators. One of the things I invariably mention is the segment in the program where the narrator, co-producer Douglas Rushkoff, wanders through the empty halls of IBM's physical office building, his footsteps echoing not because no one is "at work," but rather because everyone is working from their home offices, their dinner tables, or their hotel rooms--meeting in virtual worlds rather than in the physical one.

How does a virtual meeting go? I've taken gigabytes of video snippets to help share that with others, but perhaps if you'll take 86 seconds to view this video, the work of professional film documentarians, you may walk away with a better notion. From Digital Nation's extensive website, packed with footage that didn't make it into the 90 minute Frontline episode:

Inside a Virtual Meeting

More than 10,000 IBM employees collaborate in virtual worlds. Take a look inside a meeting in Second Life from the home of IBM V.P. of Innovation, Francoise LeGoues.