Clever Zebra: Virtual Conferencing Growing

WASHINGTON, Jun 12, 2008 (ASCRIBE NEWS via COMTEX) -- KELYB | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- According to Clever Zebra, a company that focuses exclusively on enterprise use of virtual environments, over 170 companies gathered for a conference, yet not one of them got on a plane.

Clever Zebra stated this was possible as the conference itself, the vBusiness Expo, was held in a virtual world. Attendees "teleported" from their offices to a virtual conference center, where speakers from companies such as Sun, IBM, Kelly Services, and Gartner spoke about how virtual worlds are changing business.

"I am learning as much here as on most real life conferences," said Roland Legrand, Newsroom Editor at Mediafin. "And the possibilities for interaction are as important here as in the physical world."

Indeed 8/10 of those who attended the conference expressed similar views according to Clever Zebra, organizers of the vBusiness Expo. Some even rated the virtual event better than a physical conference.

"We think flying to a virtual worlds conference misses the point," said Nick Wilson, CEO Clever Zebra. "Companies that really want to learn about virtual worlds in the enterprise need to experience them, not just talk about them."

Wilson, who holds regular seminars on virtual worlds use in business from the company's offices in Second Life, sees a growing support for the no-fly stance his guests took at the recent conference.

"I can't imagine why anybody would want to fly half way around the world for a conference when they could just login from home." Wilson said. "Sometimes I think we're so busy talking about how virtual worlds will revolutionize the web that we forget that this isn't tomorrows technology, it's today's."

Speakers from IBM, Forrester Research, Sun Microsystems, Kelly Services, Gartner Group and more than 30 others came together to discuss virtual worlds at the April event. Use cases such as on-boarding new hires, training, simulations, business process rehearsal and distance meetings featured high on the conference agenda. There was even an entire session dedicated to pitching the case to stakeholders.

The organizers, Clever Zebra, plan to hold the next vBusiness Expo July 29th to August 1st. Attendees can expect to hear from companies who have experimented in virtual worlds, discover the practical uses and opportunities available to them today, and how to take their first steps into the emergent 3D web.

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((Distributed via M2 Communications Ltd - http://www.m2.com))

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