The upcoming Engage Expo in NYC has a strong focus on toys and virtual goods this time around, much like our evolving client base.

I’ll be speaking on the Virtual Worlds and Games by the Numbers panel which is part of the Online Games and Virtual Worlds track.

Other speakers on the panel (the usual suspects ) are:

Michael Cai (VP of Video Games, Interpret)

Barry Gilbert (VP and Research Director, Strategy Analytics)

Anita Frazier (Industry Analyst, Toys and Video Games, NPD Group).

If you’re attending and would like to meet up, let me know.

KZero services:

Strategy

Business Planning

Marketing/Media

Product Development

I’ll be in London this Friday (5th Dec) at theEuropean Funding & Investment Summit for virtual worlds. Here’s a link to the registration site if you’re interested in attending and here’s the session run-down.

1.30 – 2pm: Data and Trends. Focus on the Growth and Opportunity in Casual Online Games, MMOs and Virtual Worlds.

2 – 2.20pm: Spotlight on Media Tie-Ins

2.20 – 2.50pm: Early Stage Public & Private Support, Finance & Funding

3.05 – 4.30pm: Financing Growth – The Legal and VC Perspective

4.30 – 5.40pm: Financing Growth: The Developers’ & IP Owner Perspective – Case studies and panel discussion

Fresh from the stage, here’s the presentation I’ve just delivered in the Numbers and Growth panel from Virtual Worlds London. I’ll be expanding on all of these points (for age-segmented growth areas and market issues) in posts this week.

Update: growth areas for 5 to 15

I’ll be on three panels next week at Virtual Worlds London.

1. Trends and Numbers – Where Is It All Going?

This session lays the groundwork giving you the numbers you need to understand how to take advantage of Virtual Worlds today. We’ll also look at forecasts for where Virtual Worlds are going. What are the growth projections? And what are the factors that will promote or inhibit growth.

2. FastPitch London

Launching a product takes time. Media tours can take countless days to arrange, conduct and cost untold dollars, and distract team members. FastPitch accelerates the launch process. It puts you in front of the right crowd, in one location.

3. Virtual Worlds/Web Integration: Rise of the 3D-Web?

This panel will look at the growing intertwining between virtual worlds and the web which might lead, according to many, to a 3D Web, an evolution of the web as we know it today, where web pages are empowered with immersive, presence-based features and virtual worlds become more and more part of a global network of 3D spaces.

Full session and panel run-down is here.

?جø¬?

NOTE: VWF LONDON HAS BEEN CANCELLED. If you would like a copy of the presentation I was going to deliver as referenced below email me: nic @ kzero .co .uk

………

That’s a mouthful – and also the title of the workshop I’ll be running next Wed (Oct 8th) at Virtual Worlds Forum. Here’s the overview.

(more…)

‘The Second Life Community Convention (SLCC) is an opportunity for people of all interests to learn about the many activities within the metaverse. The SLCC is a volunteer ran and managed convention, headed by the members of The Future United, Inc, a volunteer, non-profit 501.c.3 organization aimed at presenting avenues for people to discuss, explore, and learn about the technologies of virtual worlds.’

SLCC08 is theannual conference, taking place in Tampa. The Reuters Second Life blog reports that attendance is down 50% from last year in Chicago (a drop of 400 to 400). An extract from the Reuters story….

‘Notably absent from the conference were any real-world businesses from outside the virtual worlds industry, or the consulting firms that only last year built Second Life presences for real-world brands. We invited the Electric Sheep Company and Rivers Run Red, but both apparently decided they didnt want to attend, said SLCC organizer Peter Lokke (Second Life: Crucial Armitrage).

In terms of external business use of Second Life, what we see now isnt marketing but businesses using Second Life for things like training and meetings, said Linden Labs Glenn Fisher at a panel on SLCCs sparsely-attended business track. Unlike last years conference in Chicago, most of the discussions revolved around issues of relevance only to in-world L$-based enterprises.’

So, why is this?

(more…)

Ending day one of the VW Expo show in LA next week are theVirtual Worlds Innovation Awards. Here’s the categories:

* Overall Innovation, 1 winner

* Innovation in Virtual Worlds for Consumers (Adults), 2 winners

* Innovation in Virtual Worlds for the Enterprise, 2 winners

* Innovation in Virtual Worlds for Youth, 2 winners

* Virtual Worlds Pioneer Award, 1 winner

We’ve decided on all the winners and I’ll be presenting the awards to the two winners in the Virtual Worlds for Youth category.

Yesterday I was interviewed by Huw Leslie from VW Worlds Forum in the first of a series of podcasts leading up to their conference. The discussion focused on the marketingopportunitiesavailablein virtual worlds and an assessment of the ever evolving sector. I’ll also be running a workshop on metrics and ROI at the conference in October.

Here’s a link to the podcast and an extract from Huw’s summary:

In the interview, we discussed the best way for brands to engage in virtual worlds now that the initial hype has died down. There’s no longer a reliable quick PR gain to be had from announcing a presence in Second Life, leading brands to finally think about virtual worlds with the long term in mind. We talked about how brands can measure return on investment, and whether that’s even possible to do at this stage. We also discussed the situation which brands in virtual worlds are enthusiastically working towards: where their virtual presence becomes a lucrative additional revenue stream, as well as giving them advertising benefits.

(more…)