SLENTRE.COM

by Avarie Parker
Second Life resident Hack Richard gave a big smile and words of thanks as he accepted his $10,000 Linden prize Saturday at the 2008 SLentrepreneur of the Year Award Ceremony. His real life identity is Richard Hackathorn and he lives in Boulder, Colorado USA. His name was chosen randomly from the list of thousands of SLENTRE.COM readers that currently subscribe via email to SLentrepreneur Magazine. Interested in winning 2009’s cash prize? Make sure you have signed up and receive SLentrepreneur weekly emails. To register, just enter your email address on the homepage or sidebar of the SLENTRE.COM website.

(SLENTRE.COM Reader $10K Giveaway Winner, Hack Richard, collects his $10,000 Linden Prize from Magazine Editor and Publisher, Avarie Parker.)

SLENTRE.COM had a chance to ask Richard a few questions about his experiences with Second Life and what he plans to do with all that cash!

SLENTRE.COM:    How were you first introduced to Second Life? How long have you been a resident?
My DOB is August 11, 2005, so my avie joints are starting to crack! SL was very flaky in those days. Forget Wednesday mornings since SL was surely down. I was immediately struck by the kind and open interactions with residents in those early dates. We were all pioneers who believed we were glimpsing the future. And this future was to be a global community. The creativity of residents was amazing, which is still true today.

SLENTRE.COM:    What was your initial interest in SL? Have your goals and interests changed as you grew more experienced?
I attended a talk at a Teach with Technology conference at the University of Colorado, Boulder (CU). Dave Thomas and associates gave a great presentation of SL. I was returning to full-time teaching at the CU School of Business and was challenged to teach a massive required class on Information Systems. Visualize a huge gray cement auditorium packed with 350 poor students. My hope was to get all those students into SL. Well, I quickly realized that SL was not ready for prime time in this regard. Someday SL (or its successor) will be used for large university classes.

SLENTRE.COM:    Do you conduct any business in SL? OR real world business that utilizes Second Life in any way? Please elaborate.
I introduced my son Eric Hackathorn (SL: HacksHaven Harford) to SL a few years ago. He took it and ran with it! He works for NOAA and created NOAA Island, which was an early example of science education along with the International Spaceflight Museum (ISM). This was the catalyst for forming SciLands, which is now a continent of 30+ science organizations.
As a spin-off of that experience, Eric formed Maya Realities, an in-world metrics service company, in April 2007. Check out http://www.mayarealities.com/. The company is currently monitoring over 900 regions accounting for about a million hours of avatar activities. We’re monitoring the largest SL project so far. The CSI game by Electric Sleep Company chose Maya Realities to collect metrics on 100 shards of a 4-region estate. We also monitored the Burning Life event for Linden Labs.
I am helping Maya Realities with special studies.

SLENTRE.COM:    What inspired you to start your meet-up group in Boulder? Please describe the group’s activities, goals, members, etc.
Serious Second Life Meetup of Boulder (http://secondlife.meetup.com/9/) is where it is at! Take a look at our website. We have over 130 members, we started two years ago, and we have blended meetings on every fourth Thursday 5:00pm to 7:00 SLT.  There is also an SL group with the same name for in-world notices and group chats.
Out last meetup was our holiday party in my living room in RL and at the ISM Galaxy Dome in SL.

SLENTRE.COM:    What kind of impact do you feel virtual worlds might have on real world business?
I have no doubt that there is huge potential for VW technology with RL businesses. It is just a question of when. Part of the timing depends on getting the appropriate technology stabilized. The other part depends on finding the ‘killer app’ for VWs. All I know is that it is not what we currently expect. So, fasten your seat belts. We have not seen anything yet!

SLENTRE.COM:    How will you spend the 10K Linden cash prize?
That is a good question! I am not spending it on land, castles or sex toys. I think I am going to sponsor a contest for the best in-world data visualization. I am a member of the SL Data Visualization group (http://sldataviz.pbwiki.com/) and suggested a competition several months ago. This prize may be the spark to get that moving.

SLENTRE.COM:    What are your favorite SL pastimes and locations?
Wandering to new builds is a constant source of amazement and pleasure for me. I pay attention to new entries on SecondLife showcase and the SLENTRE Top 10. The creativity on display often blows me away. I feel like hugging the builders’ avies.
In the past, I have found quiet places for my avie to sit and think. I actually get a lot of writing done that way. Lost Gardens of Apollo is an example. The sound of the surf breaking on the beach is inspiring.

SLENTRE.COM: How much time do you spend in Second Life? 100% business? Or a combination of business and personal time?
Not that much. A few hours per week. Mostly business. Mostly scheduled talks like Metanomics, Train for Success, Science Friday and the like.

SLENTRE.COM:  Has Second Life impacted your real life in any measurable way? Extra income? Lack of sleep? New social outlet?
Positively. The SL experience for me has enhanced my creativity with RL projects. It seems that I can now imagine possibilities that are not so constrained by space and culture. At times, my RL colleagues probably think I am smoking something! “Let’s TP over and see what’s happening. Or, could you rez that for me. You really should have edited your appearance before coming to work. Sit there, and turn your AO off.”

SLENTRE.COM: If you were going to invest in a Second Life business, which one would you choose? Sex/adult industry? New club? Clothing? Publication?
I would suggest that you find ways of enhancing real-world businesses. For instance, architects could prototype a resident house or a commercial office building and then let clients wander around.
I blogged on an example of this at http://www.b-eye-network.com/blogs/hackathorn/archives/2008/03/modeling_the_fu_1.php It is the Palomar Medical Center West hospital that will open in 2011. Sponsored by Cisco, the build has the potential of giving the hospital staff a realistic experience of the RL facility.
I strongly suggest tracking Erica and Sam Driver with their ThinkBalm project (http://thinkbalm.com/). They recently released an analyst report of the Immersive Internet that listed current proof points of meetings, conferences, training, collaborative design and eventually, business activity simulation/management. See http://thinkbalm.com/2008/11/17/thinkbalm-releases-its-1st-immersive-internet-report/