Blog Bot

“You can read about a tsunami in a textbook or you can experience one in a virtual world; I believe that experience has a greater impact,” said Eric Hackathorn, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) Virtual Worlds Program Manager. Makes you want to go play in a tsunami now, doesn’t it?

NOAA’s long-standing mission in real life is the same in Second Life—to create an informed society that understands the role of the ocean, coasts, and atmosphere in the global ecosystem to make the best social and economic decisions. By incorporating Second Life into their multi-media communication and educational programs including inworld events and a vast array of immersive simulations and 3D exhibits, NOAA has found meaningful and profound ways to reach new audiences—in the virtual world and in the physical one.

The NOAA areas in Second Life—Meteora and Okeanos are wonderful examples of how government organizations and enterprises can create compelling content that takes full advantage of contextual, experiential learning. Many of you have heard of—or visited—the NOAA spaces. However, here’s something that you may not know. By creating interesting and novel experiences such as the tsunimi exhibition or the interactive real-time 3D weather models, NOAA has created a powerful word-of-mouth buzz effect that has raised their general brand awareness. It’s viral marketing 101—create something remarkable and the pass-along factor within social networks will do the brand awareness work for you. Ultimately, it’s just so cool—you have to go check it out and let your friends know, too.

The proof is in the numbers. Roughly 40 percent of visitors to NOAA in Second Life reported that they hadn’t heard of the organization prior to their Second Life visit and 94 percent recommended that NOAA expand their virtual presence. And, the NOAA presence in Second Life extends beyond the borders of Second Life; over 49,000 YouTube viewers have watched . By any standards—remarkable results.

To read more, check out our new NOAA case study here. (This case is in English only; additional translations to come shortly.)




More...

Aimee Weber

yay!

__________________

All the cool kids are following me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/aimee

Khamon

grats and all

__________________
I'd rather be playing Minecraft.

"Not only should you learn to be more precise in your choice of words, you should learn to pay attention to others words too. That way you can reply to actual posts and not the fictional ones in your head" - Myf

Aki Shichiroji

And Thetis!