Yesterday, Comcast announced the opening of Comcastic Island in Second Life, officially becoming the first major North American communications company to establish a presence in a virtual world environment. Comcast, a client of OTOi, started planning a Second Life initiative at the end of last year. OTOi developed the strategy and outsourced the build to Million's of Us. There was a concerted effort to not do anything overtly marketing. Instead, efforts were focused on creating value for the overall Second Life Community by developing a massive entertainment venue where in-world residents may go to play and have fun.
Comcastic Island, which may be accessed by typing in the Keyword "Comcast" within Second Life's World Map search bar or by visiting the following SURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Comcast/128/128/0, contains a futuristic race track, jest ski course, jet pack course (where the jet packs may be acquired for free and used by residents as transportation anywhere within Second Life), parachuting, an entertainment complex, cafe, and a secret lab (which you are going to have to try to find on your own).
This is the first of many initiatives planned by Comcast within Second Life. Ultimately, this project will help inform them on how to engage with individuals in this and other up and coming virtual worlds (see Dr. Bardzell's post titled "Tourist vs. Resident Research"). This learning is vital for Comcast has they continue to transform themselves into one of the worlds leading entertainment companies.
Additional articles and posts about this launch may be found below:
Press:
Forbes.com
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/06/14/ap3822528.html
MediaPost
http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=6239
Multichannel News
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6452096.html
GameDaily BIZ
http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/news/?id=16508
Blog Posts:
3pointd
http://www.3pointd.com/20070605/comcast-parachutes-into-second-life/
MOU blog
http://www.millionsofus.com/blog/
SL Universe
http://www.sluniverse.com/pics/Default.aspx?Name=Kumi%20Kuhr
Blog Spot
http://slambling.blogspot.com/2007/06/comcast.html
ScottSecondLife
http://scottsecondlife.blogspot.com/2007/06/enter-comcastic-island.html
MindBlizzard
http://blog.mindblizzard.com/2007/06/comcast-plugged-in-sl.html
RipTen
http://www.ripten.com/2007/06/15/current-life-got-you-down-comcast-has-the-answer
mySecondLife.it (Italians are into it)
http://www.mysecondlife.it/comcast-apre-un-parco-a-tema/20070615.html
Slandreamedia (the French too, dammit)
http://slandreamedia.wordpress.com/2007/06/06/un-fai-dans-second-life/
Virtual Worlds News
http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2007/06/whos_new_to_sec.html
Jeremi Karnell-President, One to One Interactive
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