Larry Johnson's Visit and Farewell Note

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Last Friday, April 25th, 2008, Robert Bloomfield and Metanomics hosted a special event as part of Clever Zebra's vBusiness Expo. Rob will interview Dr. Larry Johnson, CEO of the New Media Consortium, which, according to its website, is "a community of hundreds of leading universities, colleges, museums, and research centers. The NMC stimulates and furthers the exploration and use of new media and technologies for learning and creative expression," and is the largest educational project of any kind in virtual worlds.

Dr. Johnson recently testified to the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet of the US Congress. In addition to discussing his recent testimony and government policy to develop virtual worlds, the event focused on issues surrounding education activity. In particular, this event included suggestions to overcome the "game taint" of academic activity in virtual worlds and the new liabilities universities face, such as online harassment of students.

On a personal note, this will be my last official post for Metanomics. It has been an honor and a pleasure to gain exposure to the business and policy issues of Second Life and other virtual worlds. I would like to thank Rob for this great opportunity and hope to stay engaged with the Metanomics community, informally, while I gear up to begin a doctoral program in marketing at Columbia University in the Fall. I will be continuing to research on topics related to marketing, experiments and behavior in virtual worlds, and continue to welcome anyone interested in these subjects to contact me at Curric Vita in-world.

Starting next week, Bjorlyn Loon will be responsible for the weekly pre- and post- event blogs as well as the Metanomics group announcements. I am pleased that Metanomics will continue with an exceptional team of individuals who will make great contributions to the study of virtual worlds.

Farewell and best wishes,

Steve Atlas