This is big! And definitely one of the most exciting virtual events we’ve worked on to date.

We are designing and managing the Death of Distance, a unique mixed-reality debate exploring how distance should not be a barrier to business communication. The event takes place on Tuesday 27 April, in Manchester’s MediaCityUK. Hosted in a 3D environment and taking place in real-time, a panel of leading business experts from around the world will participate either as avatars, by live video conference link or in person. The event will also be available to watch live online and the conversation can be followed on Twitter using the hashtag #DofD.

We believe this is the first time a mixed-reality debate has taken place in the North West and we’ve got an impressive line-up from the international business community to take part. Professionals from businesses such as IBM and BP will discuss their experiences of how new technologies can enhance collaboration, create new business opportunities, and stimulate the creative and digital supply chain. Our panel of experts will participate from the far corners of the globe including San Francisco, Brisbane and Newcastle.

Guest speakers include Adam Nelson, Executive Director Business, Linden Labs (attending as an avatar from San Francisco, USA), Joe Little, Senior Technology Consultant, BP (attending as an avatar from Sunbury-on-Thames, UK), Neil Katz, Distinguished Engineer, IBM (attending as an avatar from Fort Lauderdale, USA), Stuart Smith, CEO, Woodholmes (attending by video conference from Newcastle, UK), Professor Justin O Connor, Queensland University of Technology (attending as an avatar from Queensland, Australia) and Donna Davidson, BRC Imagination Arts (attending by video conference from Durham, UK)

The panel of experts will be chaired by Phil Jones, sales and marketing director at Brother UK. He says: “In a globalising world that has its foot hard on the accelerator, finding new ways to connect with people have to be explored.  In many cases distance is irrelevant and it is these areas the debate will look to explore. I’m particularly keen to hear about how businesses are using avatars to communicate virtually and how this affects the overall experience when compared with video conferencing. I’m really looking forward to pulling it together on the night.”

There are three ways you can take part in the event. To find out more go to www.virtualnorthernnet.co.uk and register your interest. But hurry – places are limited and are being offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

The event is being delivered through a collaboration between ourselves, The White Room and The Hamilton Project.

Following the success of last year’s pilot ceremony in Second Life we have just held the first full scale virtual award ceremony for over 30 of BP’s senior executives who have completed The University of Manchester’s Managing Projects programme.

The ceremony took place in the Whitworth Room of Manchester Business School’s Second Life Island on Thursday 4th March and is the culmination of the year-long Managing Projects programme, delivered by experts from across The University of Manchester. The programme enables BP executives from the UK, USA, Canada, Angola, Indonesia, Alaska and Russia to apply the latest business thinking to practical challenges they are facing in their business life.

Last year’s virtual ceremony proved the real value of using virtual world’s to bring geographically dispersed people together. BP experienced the benefits for themselves, rewarding senior executives for their achievements without the enormous costs and environmental impact of delivering a real life ceremony. It simply made the impossible possible.

There are lots of prototypes in virtual worlds and companies who dip their toe in the water, but this event with BP demonstrates how Second Life is very much alive and well in the corporate world. We’re really looking forward to this year’s ceremony which is on a much larger scale than last year’s.

Alan Johnston Director of Manchester Programmes at BP said: “The innovative use of Second Life by MBS delivers recognition of our worldwide delegates’ achievement in completing the Managing Projects programme while enhancing our community of practice.”

Professor Michael Luger, Director of Manchester Business School said: “MBS is committed to working closely with clients, such as BP, to deliver original executive education programmes that combine real time teaching with the latest e-learning technology. We’re delighted that we can bring the BP cohort together again to celebrate their achievements in this way.”

On Wednesday 4th November Linden Labs announced the public launch of ‘Second Life Enterprise’, their behind-the-firewall solution which until now has been codenamed ‘Nebraska’.

Second Life Enterprise (or SLE for short) allows large organisations to run a completely self contained version of the virtual world technology on their own network with no external links to Linden Labs or the main Second Life grid. The technology has all the features and benefits of the main grid with the added benefit of a completely secure environment with full administration tools including backup and recovery. Up to 800 avatars can interact concurrently and real names can be used. For educational establishments the solution also has the benefit of having no restrictions on age use (on the public grids users under 18 cannot log in to the same grid as users over 18).

As Second Life Gold Solution Providers we are resellers for Second Life Enterprise. Contact us for more information.

Today I attended the public launch of Manchester Business School’s Second Life island.

We’ve been working in close partnership with the Second Life Stakeholder Group at the School developing the island and its associated web microsite and until now the island has been closed to public access and the microsite, which allows you to register an MBS avatar and book a virtual meeting room, has been sat on our development servers. Now, 18 months after we first began working with the School, the island is open for all to see.

At the launch Professor Linda Macaulay gave an overview of the island and its uses whilst Dr Kathleen Keeling described some of the international research projects MBS are undertaking in Second Life. Dr Cliff Mitchell outlined the very successful virtual graduation ceremony we delivered for BP Project Managers and Andrew Wilson, e-learning support officer, demonstrated how the microsite works.

For me it was a proud moment and felt a bit like sending your first born out in to the big wide world. We’ve really enjoyed working with the business school and guiding them through the in and outs of creating content and managing virtual real estate. Now they have all the tools and knowledge in place to move the island forward themselves and use it across all departments in the business school. Like anxious parents we’re here if they need us but we’re proud to see them take control of the future of the island.