Interview: Linden Lab Certifies CMP Technology as First Global Media, Full-Service Developer

CMP Technology announced that it is the first global media company certified by Linden as a full-service content developer."We got into Second Life last year because we were excited about using it for trade meetings," John Jainschigg, Editorial Director of CMP's Software Development Media Group, told VirtualWorldsNews. "And we launched Life 2.0. In the process of creating collateral for this event and learning well enough to teach developers, it seemed sensible for us to expand. We were beginning to get a lot of interest from customers at various levels about how to build events and locations."

 

"It seems to me we're in the third phase of second life development," said Jainschigg. "The first phase was led by big companies doing branding without thinking about ROI and how it was integrating with Web efforts. The second phase was more individual focused; the current phase is more ROI focused. That's where I think CMP will play in."

While Second Life already plays home to some major content providers like The Electric Sheep and Millions of Us, they're more consumer focused than CMP.

"The kinds of companies CMP is dealing with are not the Coca Colas and AOLs of the world," said Jainschigg. "We're much more in the business of finding the ultimate decision maker in respect to particular high tech products being purchased by governments and companies. And Second Life doesn't present the same sort of scaling problems with that that it does for bigger companies."

Stuart Bowen, Director of Internet Business, added that "We also have a connection to the B2B space and connections to what is important to them. CMP is really in the business of connecting the buyers and sellers. We've always stood as the third leg of the stool there. And that is, I think, what differentiates us. We have a deep understanding of what the customer and user wants. That's something that is working well with IBM, Sun, and Cisco."

Right now the metaverse division is focused on preparing for the Life 2.0 event in September, but  "beyond that, there's a custom builds business, custom events business, and a number of scalable industries based on proprietary technologies that we think will help our customers exploit the world," said Jainschigg. "We certainly don't believe that Second Life is going to be the only viable platform, but I do think that if there is an endgame."

He added that the company is in talks with several other clients right now to organize events and builds inside of Second Life, but none that they could disclose.

With its base in print media and other Web-based outlets, CMP has a media history. Does this mean that more media companies will begin exploring the virtual worlds development space?

"Honestly we're not sure," said Jainschigg. "Second Life is hard for a lot of people. Historically the larger global media firms have not been leaders into the domains of technology. If not followers, they've been conservative and slow in investing. They're like many of the companies who walked in with a very Web 1.0 way of thinking about traffic and engagement. But I do think that publishers are great copycats. When they see what we've done and take it apart in their strategy meetings, they may want to get involved."

Full press release:

CMP Technology is First Global Media Company to be Certified as Full-Service Second Life Developer

MANHASSET, N.Y., Aug. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CMP Technology today announced that it is the first global media company to be certified by Linden Labs as a full-service content developer in Second Life, the popular and fast- growing multi-user virtual reality environment. CMP can now offer a broad range of Second Life services as well as turnkey project management, including asset conceptualization, design, scripting and building; custom application development; multimedia engineering; virtual event production; proactive asset and audience management and comprehensive engagement metrics.

"The media-rich, 3D world of Second Life is part of an emerging metaverse of immersive social computing environments offering powerful new ways for buyers and sellers, learners and teachers, teams and workgroups to connect and collaborate," said John Jainschigg, Director of Online Technology and New Business for CMP's Software Group. "By 2011, Gartner expects that 80 percent of Internet users will be participants in some quadrant of the 3D metaverse and CMP's goal is to lower the complexity barriers, cost and risk of metaverse engagement so businesses of any scale can play profitably with these powerful tools."

CMP's metaverse division will work with customers to create unique builds and events that promote deep engagement and nurture community. The division will integrate Second Life and the web to reach global markets while leveraging CMP's trusted brands to acquire highly-qualified audiences and bring them inworld.

In addition, CMP Technology continues to expand its events in Second Life, following the successful April launch of Dr. Dobb's Journal's Life 2.0 Spring Summit, a "deep tech" event on metaverse development, which featured keynotes by Mitch Kapor and Philip Rosedale, and drew over 1,000 software architects from the Fortune 500 companies, universities and federal government.

The next Life 2.0 Event will be held September 15-21, 2007, with a focus on the "Opensource Grid" and once again the program will feature a full set of keynotes, tutorials, presentations and panels from the most innovative metaverse players. Currently, Dr. Dobb's Island is hosting discussion groups held Tuesday and Friday of each week focusing on technology, trends and business topics.

About CMP Technology (www.cmp.com)

CMP Technology is a marketing solutions company serving the technology industry. Through its market-leading portfolio of trusted information brands, CMP has earned the confidence of more technology professionals than any other media company. As a result, CMP is the premier provider of access, insight and actionable programs designed to connect sellers and buyers in ways that yield superior return on investment. CMP Technology is a subsidiary of United Business Media (http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com/), a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $3 billion.