Link: http://blogs.synapse3di.com/index.php/SynapseBlog/2009/06/#item_102

Last week at the ASTD (American Society for Training and Development)International conference, one of the keynote speakers was Renee Mauborgne , co-author of Blue Ocean Strategy. She was fabulous. One of the highlights for me. She discussed the need for us to be different. Not just tweak things here and there different—but RADICALLY different. Wii versus Nintendo different. Cirque de Soleil versus Barnum and Bailey different. Out of the box-blow the walls off the classrooms different. I was inspired and challenged to think about radically different approaches to learning and building business. Sadly, someone from this same conference commented through the Twitter back channel after the keynote, “What does Blue Ocean Strategy have to do with the Training and Development industry?” I immediately sent a tweet flying back saying that it had EVERYTHING to do with Training and Development and that I believe the T&D groups should be helping to LEAD the way to radical change. I shut my beak after that and got back in my nest.

In the past few years I have radically changed the business model of Synapse 3Di. Well, for starters we rebranded the entire company from Pinnacle Achievement, after 13 years, to Synapse 3Di, to reflect the fact that we are about connections—learning connections and even using connections through social media tools to connect with a broader audience. The 3Di part of our business is obviously in regards to the work we are doing with companies in 3D immersive spaces, like Second Life, to deliver learning programs and simulations. But is that DIFFERENT ENOUGH?

Renee really got me thinking about our approach to everything in our businesses. Are we simply trying to be better than our competition in one area or another, or are we looking at business problems from another view—perhaps from upside down or inside out—to find a unique way to deliver solutions? She said a Blue Ocean Strategy is to question why we are doing what we are doing and if it is even necessary any more. Any why AREN’T we doing something that could be beneficial just because we have never allowed that before?

I’m always amazed by the fact that technology has changed the way we run businesses from the manufacturing of products to the way we sell things on line. Just look at the way we are entertained. We download movies onto our television sets, mobile devices like iPods, and even onto our phones. We used to have to go down to Blockbuster, rent the big VHS tape of the movie and then pay $387 when we realized 6 weeks later that we still had it tucked in the sofa cushions! Technology has changed the way we live. Our cars speak to us giving instructions (that we usually ignore, causing the poor GPS lady to “recalculate”), our clothes washers and dryers, steam, dry clean and pour their own soap into the loads (if only they would put the clothes away after) ….but why do our classrooms look so eerily the same as ancient Roman classrooms?

In our schools we still tell students they can’t have their cell phones out during class. In our work places we still tell employees they can’t get online during work hours. We still put flat 2D PowerPoint slides onto poorly lit screens and read a text book to grown adults, with no pictures or bouncing ball to follow. It’s mind numbing. (See my next post on 3D data visualization and the amazing “data garden” that is on the Think Balm island in Second Life for examples of RADICALLY different approaches to delivering data in an interesting and interactive way.) Perhaps it’s time for those of us in education- academic and corporate- to get out of our stagnant, mucky red ocean water and discover the refreshing learning that can take place in Blue Oceans that are waiting to be discovered!

Share your Blue Ocean ideas with us here or contact me to talk about ways Synapse 3Di can come and blow the walls of your classrooms off to free the learning.

I’m on Twitter http://twitter.com/Ginaschreck or you can email me (I know…it’s so 08) Gina (at) Synapse3Di (dot) com

Link: http://blogs.synapse3di.com/index.php/SynapseBlog/2009/06/#item_101

I love going to conferences. I love learning new, cutting-edge information; you know the stuff that makes you think long and deep; that challenges current processes and makes you go AH HA!

Well this week was the big, monstrous ASTD ICE conference (American Society of Training and Development International Conference and Expo). This is a huge conference with 10-12,000 people coming from all over the globe. There are 300+/- breakout sessions and 3 general session keynotes. I delivered a program titled “Training Today’s Techno-Lovin’ Learners” Monday, Tuesday, and again on Wednesday to packed rooms each time.

In between my sessions I was free to romp the halls; to frolic through classrooms soaking up all the big juicy droplets of learning that would surely be showering the entire crowd of 10,000 learners. I was excited… I was ready… I was…filled with dismay and disappointment, when one of the first speakers, who grant it, has been in the training industry as long as Larry King has been broadcasting, got up to begin and flipped the switch of an OVERHEAD PROJECTOR! The light bulb blew out, but not before the crowd caught a glimpse of the foil laid on the glass top UPSIDE DOWN! There was a delay as the AV crew had to go back to the Smithsonian Museum to find another bulb in the box of “Training Archives from the 19th Century!”

Now the quiet gasps and waves of eyeballs rolling from the 30-50 year old crowd told me that I was not the only one who felt sadness and embarrassment for our industry that should be teaching us relevant and cutting edge information. Those in the room under the age of 30 had more of an excited look on their faces—--the kind of look you see in a child’s eyes when they walk into a wax museum and see the exhibit of the first prairie-dwellers in Nebraska eating a pheasant, caught by the trapper-father, who is standing life-like in front of them with his coon-skin hat on. I couldn’t take it, and I walked out, in search of a modern session.

The next session I gave my precious hour and fifteen minutes to sounded great in the catalog. It was listed as an AWARD WINNER for best in practice. Surely there would be some BIG learning in there. The woman who spoke was sharing the case study, and obviously not a professional speaker or facilitator, so I was forgiving of her soft voice and oversight in repeating questions from audience members, but it did make it extremely difficult for anyone seated from the middle of the room all the way to the back “jump-seats” where I happened to be sitting. The positive side of this was it caused us to get to know our neighbors as we asked “What did they ask?” “What did she say?” Her cutting-edge information was that their company took a popular management book and broke it into modules, creating 2-hour sessions to bring the entire organization through. The first session included bringing diverse teams together to share a personal story from their childhood that was challenging for them to help foster a deeper trust and understanding for each other. Now I am all for that. I agree that the more we know about a person the more we see them as a team mate instead of, what I call “a knowledge bank,” only there when I need to deposit or withdraw information. BUT THIS WAS AN AWARD WINNING BEST IN PRACTICE? I opened my laptop and read two blog posts sent to me via Twitter and learned 8 ways educators can use Twitter to share knowledge—it was great!

So was the entire conference a waste of intellectual capital? NOT AT ALL! The Twitter feed from the 20-30 (out of 10,000) conference tweeters was rich with comments, suggestions, links and even photos. Of course using Twitter, we coordinated a wonderful Tweet Up where I was engaged in deep, thought-provoking conversations with Clark Quinn, http://blog.learnlets.com who I follow on Twitter as @Quinnovator, http://twitter.com/Quinnovator regarding ways to improve virtual world learning through better simulations that help people practice and gain context for bringing the learning back to their jobs. He is a guru in the learning games (and we’re not talking Jeopardy here!) field. I also had the pleasure of meeting fellow “wise-guy” and fabulous storyteller, Dave Ferguson, LIVE for the first time. We’d been exchanging humorous and educationally-rich tweets for quite some time. On Twitter Dave is @Dave_Ferguson http://Twitter.com/Dave_Ferguson. We discussed focusing on identifying client problems and then created GREAT learning programs that solve the problem along with learning some Gaelic phrases and the true origin of the Blarney Stone! The guy can tell a story! http://www.Daveswhiteboard.com

I also shared hallway exchanges with good friend Amy Hand from Pinnacol Assurance http://Twitter.com/Smart_and_Happy and a fabulous dinner at Legal Sea Food talking about how technology is changing our businesses and our learning delivery. She is tech-savvy and looks for ways to use new tools to sharing knowledge at Pinnacol. We discussed their use of the great Wiki tool, Confluence http://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence.

Ironically, the main theme of this year’s ASTD ICE09 conference was “Informal and Social Learning.” Tony Bingham (@TonyBingham on Twitter—but I don’t see him actually using Twitter) delivered a powerful opening keynote and even moved me to “near tears” when he showed an emotional video about today’s tech-savvy learners. He was right. We must find ways to incorporate the tools that learners use into our learning programs or they will have a more difficult time engaging!

All in all—it was a FABULOUS conference!

Contact me to brainstorm on ways to bring informal and social learning pieces to your organization. We have experts that bring their content to organizations through live and virtual events as well as in byte-size pieces through video, podcasts, articles and more.

Grab a cup of coffee and browse through our media library.

Connect with me on http://Twitter.com/GinaSchreck and LEARN SOMETHING EVERY DAY!

~Gina

Link: http://blogs.synapse3di.com/index.php/SynapseBlog/2009/06/#item_100

I just spoke to a fabulous group of folks from the Colorado Wedding Association last week about how to build business and manage your company brand using today's crazy technology. Here is a recap of what we covered:

The first thing I like to look at is our approach to technology, and while we can divide into the four generations in the workplace, I simply look at those who have grown up in this digital landscape (digital natives) and those, like myself, who are a tad older and have migrated into the digital landscape (digital immigrants), some seeking adventure and new learning and some kicking and screaming as they are pulled by employers, employees or customers. Now not every digital native enjoys or adapts easily to technology, but they are familiar with it almost from birth.

Recognizing your approach to technology is important. It is no longer acceptable in today's business environment to say, "I don't do technology" any more than it is acceptable to say, "I don't do electricity!" We might not enjoy having to learn all of the "new ways of marketing" and we might not know HOW to begin crossing that ever-widening digital divide, but we must be willing to take that first step. If we wait too long, the divide will be too great to even jump over.

The Colorado Wedding Association is made up of RELATIONSHIP people! Of course they are- its all about romance, face-to-face interactions, that special look and touch, but you can only touch so many people in person at time (Ok, that sounds creepy and there might be some sort of harassment suit coming on, but you know what I mean), your marketing has to be scalable and sustainable.

The Wedding industry, like so many industries, is targeting a fairly young, tech-savvy buyer. These people don't even know what the yellow pages are, let alone sift through brochures and postcards to find bridal resources. Today's consumers ask their social network for recommendations, they Google keywords, check tweets and read blogs.

It is no longer working for us to push our marketing materials on consumers, we must pull them to us with content that is relevant, helpful AND makes them feel as if we are looking them in the eyes, listening to their needs and giving that personal touch.

Here are the top 4 Social Media tools I believe will help you build your business and manage your brand:

1. A Blog- If you are an expert in your field, who knows about it? How are you engaging potential customers in dialog about your industry? Many hands went up in the room to tell me they had e-newsletters and email lists that they send helpful information out to. Here's the problem with that; When you send out an e-zine or e-newsletter, you are limiting who sees it. Only those who have subscribed to your letter (unless you are sending out unsolicited emails, and then that would be SPAMMING!), and a few who have received it passed along from someone else are reading about your expertise and resources.

What if that same content was placed online- LIVE- in a blog where you can receive feedback, comments, or additional resources from your readers? What if that content was now Google searchable and able to be found by anyone at anytime...forever? If you have not started blogging, two of the favorites are wordpress and Blogger. Don't wait until you feel you are an expert blogger. Just start and you will tweak and perfect as you go along.

2. Facebook- Although most people still believe Facebook is for teens, it is the one to get on NOW and start learning. Facebook started as a college connection tool for Ivy League schools, like Harvard, and has grown up from there, adding more and more business applications. There are over 200 million users on Facebook, making it the LARGEST social networking site in the WORLD! The average age on Facebook is 35 and that number is going up every day. Our kids will ahve to find another playground...we are taking over.

If you own your own business, you can certainly add a business page to an existing personal profile page or you can start from scratch and create your personal and business page together. If you work for another company you would not want to create a business page on your personal profile, but you can certainly help to manage the content and discussions on the company page.

To add a business page to your Facebook profile, simply go to the very bottom of your page and find the icon that looks like a double talk bubble-one blue and one green. When you hover over it, you will see ADS and PAGES. This is where you can see your stats, analyze keywords, create an advertising campaign that is extremely targeted or add a page by clicking the PAGES link and then CREATE A PAGE. Once you have your business page, you can invite your current contacts to "become a fan" of your business or make new connections from there. Adding your blog into your Facebook page will keep fresh content coming in for your fans. (See my next post on adding your blog to your Facebook page) Your business page (and you can have several) can hold photos of events, videos, and you can create and invite contacts to events.

3. Twitter- Yes the poor misunderstood, yet growing in popularity, Twitter! If you have resisted getting on the Twitter Twain because you heard that the only thing people tweet is what they had for lunch or how many strokes they used to brush their teeth this morning (hmmm, I wonder how many I give my pearly whites? I will count tonight and let you know!), well if you are getting lots of useless blathering, you are simply following the wrong people. Twitter is a SOCIAL communication and a micro-blogging tool. Follow the right people and you learn about cutting edge information and connect in meaningful dialog.

Twitter allows you to follow the updates of people, you might otherwise not have access to (writers for your favorite business magazines, CEOs and most importantly, potential clients). The basics are- Grab your name before it is taken by some other twit. If it is already snatched up, you will have to get creative to come up with something snappy and short. Load a photo or headshot of yourself. Don't leave the default brown "owl of laziness" that tells the world you are not really ready. People want to connect with other people. There are instances where a logo works for the photo, but if you can, go with a headshot. Lastly, start following other people. Go to http://search.twitter.com or if you are using TweetDeck (which I highly recommend! Go to http://TweetDeck.com and download this FREE and helpful tool)you can use the search tool built in to find great people to follow. Type in a keyword for your business and see who is talking. Follow them and engage in conversation. It's that easy.

Tweet Deck is the tool of choice (in my book anyway) for managing your brand on Twitter. Keep a search column open with your company name or industry keywords, so you can monitor what is being said. To monitor all blogs and web-content for conversations about your company or industry, go to Google and set up alerts. http://Google.com/alerts Enter whatever word or phrase you would like to have searched and it will send you an email with any notices as they occur.

4. LinkedIn- This is still a very popular social networking site and goes beyond the job search or recruiting tool that it was first intended for. LinkedIn is the easiest of the four to get set up on. Simply create your free account and fill in your profile with as much or as little of your personal information as you'd like. You should think of LinkedIn as a brochure for your business. Make sure you have a link to your website, and if you don't have a website, link to your blog or your Facebook page. Tell the world about what you do and why they should work with you.

Now if you want to make LinkedIn work for you beyond a static brochure or resume, join and become active in a few groups. Search for groups in your area of expertise. Do you belong to an association? They probably have a LinkedIn group already established. If not...create one and invite others to join. Groups are a great place for you to post questions, answer questions and allow people to discover your expertise.

Now right about now you are probably asking, "HOW MUCH TIME WILL ALL OF THIS TAKE?" Well, how much time will it take to market your business if you DON'T get on board now? How much time will you spend kicking yourself because you fell so far behind those who chose to get on the train when it was leaving the station?

Set aside 30 minutes a day or at least a couple hours a week to LEARN and GET ENGAGED in the social media pool. Don't wait another day. Set up your account and connect with me to let me know--I'll give you a shout out!

Follow me on http://Twitter.com/Ginaschreck
Find me on LinkedIn and Facebook to - would love to connect!

Link: http://blogs.synapse3di.com/index.php/SynapseBlog/2009/05/#item_99

This is a big week.  My daughter is graduating from High School.  She will be heading off to college in a few months to begin her next chapter in learning and growing.  I remember when she graduated from kindergarden, and from 6th grade and from Junior High (they called those ceremonies continuation).  These milestones are great to measure the progress of our kids development (and for the dress makers who sell the overpriced dresses that every girl MUST have to wear for one day.), but what happens after college?  How do we continue to measure whether we are learning new things and ready to graduate or move up?

A small percentage of people set goals for themselves each year (the statistic most quoted is that less than 3% of Americans have written goals for themselves) and perhaps their on-going education is one of the goals they set, but shouldn't we all have a way to track what we are learning and what we would like to learn? 

Within your organization, are there learning programs you can sign up for to keep your knowledge base fresh and relevant or is training only reserved for those special new employees? Kind of like banks that offer specials for NEW CUSTOMERS ONLY.  Do we have to quit and get rehired to deserve continuous growth and education?

Some organizations have a few "required" programs such as sexual harrassment or diversity training, that they force everyone to go through so they can check it off of a list, but that is the extent of the eduational offerings to tenured employees.  Of course there are some extremely progressive companies that offer everything from foreign language class offerings, to project management certification programs, and encourage employees to manage their career growth through these offerings.  

If you are on your own, searching for ways to squeeze in classes to learn something new, check out your local community college, see what the community centers in your area offer, or jump into a virtual campus in Second Life to meet up with other progressive learners!  If you have never thought about virtual environments for learning, come in and tour the over 600 Universities that are using Second Life for education. 

Attend an informal class at one of our regular meet ups and classes or those of the many other learning companies bringing education to a global audience in amazing virtual spaces.  TBD Consulting offers many educational sessions and you can even learn to speak a foreign language through classes like those held at Language Life!

How about other ways to stay sharp and continue learning?  Are you on Twitter and following great bloggers who provide content that is fresh and relelvant for your industry? Even on LinkedIn or Facebook, you can get involved in groups to learn and engage with new information. If you have not thought about these tools for learning, think again.  Getting involved with a smart learning community can bring many new skills and a fresh knowledge base.  

Challenge yourself and set some educaiton goals.  Whether you sign up for a semester at your local community college or attend a single class on how to manage virtual team members, these are measureable steps in your ongoing education. 

My favorite question to ask is "What have you learned today?"  At this time of year when students are preparing to walk across stages to grab hold of that diploma, proving they indeed, learned something, take some time to refect upon your learning progress.  When was the last time you graduated?  

If you would like to check out some of the classes we have coming up, pop in on Wednesday's (9am PST) by clicking here:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/MSIT/219/149/37       We have classes that last one hour and some of our upcoming topics include: Exploing Learning Styles; Negotiation and Conflict Management; Creating and Managing Your Personal Brand; Legal Isues Surrounding Social Media and Virtual Environments; Presentation Skills for Technical Presenters; Dealing with Difficult People at Work and many more.

the event time.

If you need help to breath new life into your organizaiton's learning culture, give me a call...I'd love to help you learn something new everyday!

Gina

Twitter.com/Ginaschreck

Link: http://blogs.synapse3di.com/index.php/SynapseBlog/2009/05/#item_98

This is just a quick ranting to share a great lesson on how Twitter got 7th graders learning BIG things.  Yesterday I got to go on a field trip to Denver's Museum of Nature and Science.  I was one of 7 parents who volunteered to lead a small group of students through exhibits and have FUN! 

The 7th grade science teacher who led this group has been on my "How NOT to teach" list since early in the school year (and she will go unnamed and I feel pretty safe that she doesn't read blogs or use any modern technology...afterall she still has an overhead projector in her room!).  

At curriculum night, in September, she shared with parents how she puts the info she expects the kids to learn on a PowerPoint slide (in black and white small font with NO PICTURES) with blanks and they sit and fill in the blanks as the kids COPY the material down!  Ok, so at least she is preparing these kids for corporate life where you sit and look at boring PowerPoint presentations all day! I'll give her that...but don't get me started on that HORRIFIC teaching method!For GOODNESS SAKE...THIS IS SCIENCE...SCIENCE IS FUN!

Anyway...back to Twitter and the field trip.  I was walking beside the science teacher and commented on how I wish I had taken the time to create a scavenger hunt to help the kids find specific things and write down interesting facts as they learned them.  She turned to me and said "I know the kids are just running aound here not paying attention so I write down facts that I know they wil NOT have caught and then when we get back I give them a test on those facts!"  The look on her face was evil!  What good is it AFTER the fact? It's too late, the leanring opportunity is lost. I was appauled and yet deep inside me I felt a challenge rising up. 

I told her that I could get my group to learn interesting facts by making it a game.  It is a game that we play in our house almost daily, called "What did you learn today?"  We have to go around the table and each share one thing we learned that day.  It is fun to see what the kids have actually learned and I love having to make sure I am intentionally learning something new every day too.  This intentional focus on learning is a great method for teaching...kids AND adults.

I pulled my group over and whipped out my cell phone.  I told the kids that I wanted to share with the world (or at least those following my updates on Twitter and Facebook) what we all learned today.  I explained that I do this every day, but that this should be easy since I had 5 brains to draw from today.  I then told them that we had to look at things differently.  Not just to look and say "That's cool," but we had to look and see if there was something new that we didn't know before.

They took on the challenge and we scoured each display looking and reading things to each other.  Pointing out somehting interesting and new.  Suddenly they were hungry for new information to share with my Twitter friends...and we did!

At lunch we sat with the other groups and my group came alive sharing all of the new things they learned.  "Did you know that we urinate more as we climb a mountain because our liver pushes the water out to condense red blood cells to help with the lack in oxygen?" (Always a great topic to share at lunch!) "Did you know our moon doesn't have a name and the other planets' moons do?"  (We have decided to launch a campaign to give our moon a name, like Titan for Jupiter or Oberon and Titania for Uranus) "Did you know that our brains give off electromagnetic waves that can actually move a ball across a table when we are hooked up with a special headband that has metal probes in the front of it and we relax our mind?" (That was really cool!)  "Did you know hummingbird nests are made from spider web?"  (This fact got them discussing the fate of a hummingbird if they got stuck in a web and which spiders would be able to eat a hummingbird, which then turned to animal feces and other 7th grade deep conversation)  Well the learning went on and on.  

I shared my challenge with the other kids and told them they had to come and teach me something new that they learned and I would Tweet it out.  They were all so excited to get their words, their new nuggets of learning put out through Twitter and Facebook that they worked harder to learn and share.I think I will create a test to give the teachers on Monday on this method to see if they were paying attention!

So what did you learn yesterday?  Better yet, what will you learn today and how will you share that with your tribes, peeps, family and kids?  Let me know here--share your knowledge with the world.  If you want to learn something new everyday you can follow me on Twitter, or check out some of the RAPID FIRE Learning nuggets on our site.  Each video is 20-60 seconds --what can you learn in under a minute.  We are also excited to add a new feature to our RAPID FIRE learning channel that will allow YOU to record a RAPID FIRE tip or learning nugget.  Come on...Let's learn something together!

Let me know how we might be able to help your organization change the way your team members learn.  Through podcasts, videos, Second Life events and more, we will help you create a learning culture that is filled with FUN and SHARED KNOWLEDGE.  

~Learning BIG Things,

Gina

http://Twitter.com/Ginaschreck

Link: http://blogs.synapse3di.com/index.php/SynapseBlog/2009/04/27/3d-training-learning-aamp-collaboration-?

This week was the big 3D Training, Learning and
Collaboration Conference held in Washington DC at the beautiful campus of Gallaudet
University.  

Yes, it was a virtual worlds, or environment, or whatever we
ended up saying we would call it (more on the name debate later) conference but
it was held LIVE.  So let’s first examine
the fact that I flew almost 3 hours from Denver to Washington DC and stayed in a
pricy hotel to attend a 2-day conference where some of the top virtual world
experts came to discuss better ways to use virtual platforms for learning and
business application.  Ahh…I love irony!  

There are obviously times when getting together live just makes sense, and this
conference was definitely one of them, although many of us argued that there were
certainly ways we can now incorporate more “mixed reality” or “augmented
reality” pieces to allow those who could not attend the entire event live, opportunities
to  participated beyond our extremely
lively Twitter-feed.  The Twitter back
channel provided a forum for the audience (live and virtual) to submit
questions, challenge ideas, and, yes, even add in the occasional sarcastic
comment (I’m still trying to deny several comments that got posted…Hey just
because it had my name and photo next to them doesn’t prove anything!). 

The other reason to hold a virtual conference live…well…let’s
just say it involves politics, and we were in DC.  There are so many great virtual world
platforms to choose from (Second Life, Forterra, OLIVE, Qwaq, Protosphere, just
to name a few), the conference producers would have to have selected just one
to host the event and then they certainly couldn’t expect the others to pay top
dollar to exhibit, but then again would they need sponsorship dollars? Hmmm,
this is just one of the concepts that got debated over the two days in DC. 

I did enjoy hearing and seeing demos from the many vendors,
some I knew a lot about and had used and some were brand new to me.  It is important to keep an open mind when
looking at virtual environments and tools, and to know that they are each tools
in your bag that are used to solve different business problems.  It’s easy to get caught up thinking everyone
should be using Second Life or Qwaq or Protosphere, but the (virtual) reality
is—they all have strengths, challenges and a long way to go in making it easier
to adopt by mainstream users.    

The conference was broken into 10 categories with panels or
individuals addressing one of each: Analyze, Leverage, Teach, Learn, Design,
Explore, Improve, Connect, Extend, and Convince.

The speakers that were packed on each panel came from organizations
like Chevron, Intel, IBM, KPMG, Cisco, Sun Microsystems, Ernst & Young,
Johnson & Johnson, Electric Sheep, BP, and several Universities.  They shared lessons learned from virtual
programs, platforms used and some even gave dollars and estimated work hours
spent to produce the amazing learning projects.  

Erica Driver, Co-Founder of ThinkBalm, led the first panel
and began by explaining the stages of adoption and most agreed that we are in
the innovator, or in some cases, the early adopter stage.  Her predictions of when we will move through
these different stages were:

Innovator stage ---------Early adopters --------Early majority -------Late majority------- Laggards 

             2009                                           2013                                      2018

Some moments that made the highlight reel (as well as the
Twitter Backchannel discussion) were when Sarah Robbins (aka Intelligal), from
Indiana University, shared an example of how she used the immersive environment
of Second Life to conduct a cultural awareness experiment with a group of
students. She had them “put on” giant Kool-Aid pitcher avatars and go into a
dance club to interact with others.  It
was a wonderfully innovative approach to allow students to experience what it
feels like to be different and feel out of place.

Another panelist, Margaret Regan, president of The FutureWork
Institute, showed us how Second Life allows her to create unique learning
experiences in the area of diversity training. 
Participants “wear” different skin colors and interact with the groups
to challenge beliefs and have the opportunity to walk in the shoes-or skin-of
another. 

The panelist that got the tweets flying was Jaque Davison,
of Davison & Associates.  All I can
tell you after hearing him is that I now know what happened to GI Joe when he
retired from the army...he changed jis name to GI Jaque and got into fighting for truth, justice and a clean vocabulary!  Jaque created a
volunteer security force that patrol Active Worlds for foul-mouthed, misbehaving avatars and
other war criminals. 

The exec from Chevron, Kevyn Renner, STUNNED the crowd, when
he stood up and walked out from behind the panel table. Not only did he share
great information about how Chevron is using virtual spaces, but he taught
everyone in the room a thing or two about presentations.  Mainly, that it doesn’t take much to impress
and engage a crowd!  He held up a kaleidoscope
and used that as an analogy for the many perspectives that are experienced in
using virtual spaces. 

Joe Little, Chief Technology
Officer,  from BP, showed how they
reduced safety risks by using immersive environments to train refinery workers
in a simulated environment before having to go into the real locations.  Joe Little shared an interesting project they
did using Protosphere to prepare a group of 50 individuals for a real trip to Antarctica
to study climate change issues.  During a
7 week period, they were immersed into climate change scenarios and heard from
experts twice a day to help ready them for their real trip.  When these 50 people actually boarded a ship
together, they said they felt as if they already knew each other. 

Mentioned several times in the conference, was the need to
call this “tool” by the right name if you want to get corporate buy-in.  Is it a virtual world, 3D virtual space, a
virtual environment, an immersive environment or a game?  Unanimously, game was crossed off the list.
Even if the learning environment has a feel of a video game and is considered
fun by most, it is an environment where serious business collaboration and
learning takes place and this word was met with such disdain that they couldn’t
even mention it from that point on—anyone referencing “the word” called it the “G-word.”  It felt kind of like 4^th grade
when someone first used the “A-word.” 
You know, you had to tell on the kid who was saying it, but if you said “it”
you would be putting yourself right there with him in the corner.   

The panels shared some obstacles to getting corporate buy-in
and how to overcome them.  Here were
three:

1. Start at the very top or
   at the bottom, but don’t start with middle-management!  Someone in a middle management position
   will have more fear of presenting new technology ideas than those even on
   the front line.  On the front line
   they are more likely to just do it for efficiency sake, and let the
   results do the selling up to the top. 
   Many times, the use of immersive technology starts in small pockets
   (sales, project teams, etc) within a company, and when other groups get
   wind of the successes, it spreads.
   
   

   
   
   

2. Never call it a game (the “G-Word”).
    Businesses don’t play and they
   certainly don’t pay money for employees to play with “G-words” so never,
   never, never call it a G-word, and just don’t let me hear that come out of
   your mouth again, or I'm calling Jaque!
   
   

   
   
   

3. Make it easy.  Even when the cost and efficiency
   benefits outweigh the business problem, if it is hard for people to use
   they will not adopt it.  This was a
   very important part and the panelists shared how their teams prepared for
   events and went to great lengths, recruiting many volunteers, and
   evangelists to ensure the first experience was positive for people.  Lots of hand-holding and flexible time
   slots to get newbies oriented or on-boarded (which became one of the words
   debated—should it be called on-boarding- orientation- mentoring?  On-boarding , we joked, sounds too much
   like water-boarding and people might immediately associate the new
   technology with a form of corporate torture).  
   
   
   Karen Keeter, Marketing Executive,  and Joanne Martin, President IBM Academy
   of Technology, both shared lessons learned from their large Academy of
   Technology (AoT) event, where they had to “make it easy” for 400 newbies
   to Second Life, including Joanne, who had never been in Second Life until the
   AoT event. 

As the conference came to an end and the Twitter roll
slowed, I believe everyone agreed that this was an excellent conference!  Information shared, lessons learned, and most
importantly…new friendships formed.  Yes there
is still a place for live events, and I hope to meet my old and new friends in world
soon to continue teaching, learning and collaborating with one another!

If you would like more information on how Synapse 3Di can help change the way your organization learns and connects, contact Gina (at) Synapse3Di.com or follow me on Twitter!

Link: http://blogs.synapse3di.com/index.php/SynapseBlog/2009/02/27/how-are-companies-dealing-with-travel-re?blog=1&title=how-are-companies-dealing-with-travel-re&disp=single&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

Using virtual world spaces like Second Life saves companies BIG dollars as they bring global employees together for meetings and learning events,

Come check out Second Life at one of our weekly networking and educaiton events, held every Wednesday at 10am (MST). We hold REAL learning events in virtual spaces: Corporate learning events, leadership coaching, presentaiton skills and more. Visit our presentation simulation room, our bookstore, collaborative team meeting tools and so much more. Contact me on Twitter/GinaSchreck or email me to set up a virtaul tour: Gina@Synapse3Di.com

Link: http://blogs.synapse3di.com/index.php/SynapseBlog/2009/02/22/technology-takes-time?disp=single

"Patience young grasshopper...patience."

This is the response I usually give to people when they call or email me with their frustrations over technology.  I think next week I will install a separate line just for Twitter Help Desk questions.  "How do you delete something you Tweeted?"  "What is the # that I keep seeing in tweets that come across my screen?"  "How do I get my background changed on Twitter?" 

Technology is frustrating when we are learning it and the frustration continues even after we master it.  Most of the frustration I hear is from impatient people who can't figure out why they can't get it all down in the first two days.

It took me a couple of months to figure out how to effectively use Twitter, and then another couple of months before I saw the value of doing so.  After almost 2 years using Second Life and other virtual world platforms, I finally feel somewhat proficient, although there is still so much to learn.  It takes time and patience.  Be willing to spend a few hours a week learning one new gadget or program, and after a month, you will be pleased with your progress.  

Will you still need help?  Well let's take a look at this 2 1/2 minute video and you will have your answer!

If you still need help on Twitter, Second Life, Facebook, LinkedIn, or your microwave oven, contact me or one of the GIANT brains that work at Synapse 3Di.  We are excited to help you open the book on learning!

Let us help you change the way your organizations learn! Gina@Synapse3Di.com  

Link: http://blogs.synapse3di.com/index.php/SynapseBlog/2009/02/21/technology-plays-big-part-in-informal-le?blog=1&title=technology-plays-big-part-in-informal-le&disp=single&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

A group of students are hanging out at a beach, wind-surfing and swimming with sharks as they discuss the lecture they just heard on neurons by their professor.  Another group of students hang out at the bar just a few yards away discussing the homework assignment.  All of this is taking place at the Second Life campus for Wharton University and INSEAD.

While the formal learning also took place in the "uber-cool" environment of Second Life, where you log on as an avatar, along with 30 or 40 other students, and listen to your professor who is showing a PowerPoint slide and answering quesitons just like a live event, the bigger share of learning takes place BEFORE and AFTER the class.  

Informal learning makes up for over 75% of all we learn.  We learn more by talking with co-workers in the hall and hanging out in their doorway asking for help, than we do sitting in a classroom. (I know, it's painful...I've been in the training industry for over 15 years...it hurts to hear that!) We gain new information through reading blogs, Twitter feeds, or listening to a podcast as we work out.  Informal learning happens every day, all day long.

How are you creating those informal learning opportunities for your organization?  While it's great to have students fill out little smiley faced evaluations after a training class, wouldn't it be better to create a discussion board for them to post thier feedback and share their successes in implementing the ideas covered?  What if the trainer continued posting discussion questions or offered to meet with students in Second Life to coach them through the implementation challenges, a week or two after a class? An instructor can have students follow their Twitter feed to continue providing blog posts and tweets on the topic long after the formal class was over.  Students can share what is working and what he or she is still struggling with.  

Think back across your career, whether it is a short glimpse back or one that requires a telescope to span the years, how have you gained most of your knowledge?  Was it in formal trianing classes or standing around the water cooler?  Did you learn mostly sitting behind a desk or perhaps chatting with clssmates while windsurfing?

Share your stories with me.  And if you would like to have someone help you and your organization create a learning culture using both formal and informal learning events, call and speak with one of our brilliant staff members at Synapse 3Di.  If they don't answer, it's because they are probably out windsurfing!

Connect with me on Twitter: Ginaschreck and let's learn something today!

Link: http://blogs.synapse3di.com/index.php/SynapseBlog/?blog=1&title=twitter-do-not-start-following-people-un&disp=single&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

I know there are books, articles, videos and other blog posts all covering the "How To's" of Twittering, and that's just on my site (how's that for a shameless self-promoting plug?), but I want this post to serve as a Twarning!  That's right a Twitter Warning.  If you have been contimplating setting up your free Twitter account and joining the masses flocking to that big Twitter nest in cyber space, WAIT! 

Here are some very important things you need to know.  Just like Stacy London can save your career by telling you WHAT NOT TO WEAR, I'm going to save your Twitter reputation by telling you what you need to do BEFORE you start clicking your little heart out, following people who see you as a spammer or worse (yes there is worse). 

1. DO NOT FOLLOW ANYONE UNTIL you have a headshot of yourself loaded.  Not a photo of your cat or your foot, but of your head (thus the name, "headshot!) And yes, there are a few people who can get away with using a picture of a cute furry animal (My personal favorite is @Lilpecan but you'd better be REAL CUTE and use it in a clever way like she does!)  I want to connect with a person--not a book cover--not your company logo--but with you.  If you don't have a headshot and don't own a camera or cell phone that can take a picture, you probably shouldn't be on Twitter anyway since technology doesn't seem to be your thing, BUT putting any digital photo up is better than the brown owl head that is the Twitter default.
2. DO NOT FOLLOW ANYONE UNTIL you write something in your profile.  Before I follow someone's updates, I want to have an idea of what you will tweet about (especially if you haven't posted any tweets yet). Do you love art or traveling the world? Then put that in there.  Are you all about marketing or do you coach French Poodle owners on trimming techniques? Tell us that. 
3. DO NOT FOLLOW ANYONE UNTIL you put a few posts up.  I am always amazed when I click over to follow someone and they are following hundreds or thousands of people and yet have nothing posted.  Spend some of that time posting something interesting. Perhaps a link to a blog post you enjoy, or a tip relating to your expertise.  Tell me that you just cut your toenails so I know what to expect if I'm following you (at least you have good grooming habits).

Okay you are now free to go and follow the world.  A few more tips include putting a link to your website, blog, or even Facebook or LinkedIn page.  Be sure these are active links by putting the "http://" before the www.  Without that in any tweet or on your profile, it will not be a live link.  Remember, the best way to get others to follow your updates is to BE INTERSTING and BE HELPFUL. If all you do is pitch your products or services, I don't want to follow you for very long.

Do you have something that chaps your Twitter hide? Is there a Twitter tip that you need to pass on to the world?  Let me know and of course connect with me on Twitter at http://Twitter.com/Ginaschreck

If you would like to know how you can