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Virtual Business Research |
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Exercise details |
Current activitiesEnrolment (e-mail / Second Life) · Short description of the research is sent to potential participants. · Even if you have already an account and avatar in Second Life, it is advisable to make an alternate account (new avatar) for the duration of this research. · As soon as the groups have been formed, all the members are encouraged to start familiarizing themselves with the virtual world Second Life. A short tutorial about the Second Life economy will be arranged shortly after the enrolment. Before the Second Life Tutorial (see below) you should have an account and an avatar — more information about making an avatar can be found from these links: video tutorial or pdf tutorial. · If you have any technical problems, please contact the researchers as the technical help will be given only when needed. You can consult these Second Life support pages also. · If you are unable to participate the Tutorial event, you can go through the material by yourself in these tutorial pages. · Before the actual start (Orientation stage), one member of the group (group leader) should send an e-mail to sami.ahma-aho(at)tkk.fi, where s/he states the avatar names of his/her group members. If the group doesn’t participate the Tutorial event, the group leader should also arrange as soon as possible an in-world meeting the researchers so that s/he gets the permissions to use the communication center’s ATM (where the group’s Linden dollars are stored). · In the Tutorial event, we will also activate the scripts used in this research. All the enlisted group members should have active scripts by the start of the exercise (Orientation Stage — see schedule below). If you do not participate the Tutorial event, you can find the script in the communication center.
Next eventxx.xx.2010: The exercise starts officially (week 1 on the schedule below) xx.xx.2010: Q&A session in communication center on every Monday 9-11. This session is general Q&A session concerning the exercise — we won’t give feedback on the business ideas in these sessions,
Deadlines
xx.xx.2010: End of Orientation stage. Deadline for Market Opportunities feedback form (see left column). xx.xx.2010: Business projections Excel sheet (see left column). xx.xx.2010: End of Search stage. Deadline for Business idea feedback form (see left column). |
Overall schedule and budget |
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Limit — the amount of Linden Dollars (L$) that the group is given in different stages of the exercise. All the money that is saved can be used later in the exercise. In the end of the exercise, the money left on the groups account is counted and is part of the criteria for prize venture capital. Account — the amount of Dollars ($) (+ VAT) that the group leaders have to pay to Linden Lab during the exercise. This money is refunded to group leader upon receiving certification / receipt for the payment Stipend / Signup — the amount of Linden Dollars (L$) that the group leader receives from Linden Lab after upgrading to premium account. This money is counted for the group budget. |
