I had the chance today to speak with a group of graduate students in Sweden today, thanks to my friend and colleague Dr. Robin Teigland (who is an Assoc. Professor at the Stockholm School of Economics – SSE).  Below are some images from that event, which was held both in a physical classroom in Sweden, and on the virtual SSE island in Second Life.

Sometimes I forget why these technologies are so important – but the positive response of the students and the ability for me to display multiple panels of photos, images, and virtual objects at once; to walk around that space with the attendees together, and to entertain both audio and text questions from Sweden, all from North Carolina – that was impressive and fun.  A very memorable experience.  And that’s the point.

More about Robin’s Nordic Virtual Worlds Network project here.

I titled this “born virtual; live virtual?” because Robin wrote an academic article on the creation of the Peace Train Charitable Trust, a non-profit organization that was conceived and organized (and now operates) completely virtually.  The ongoing question revolves around whether this small organization will remain completely virtual, or if it will evolve into one that blends in-place events and meetings with the virtual.  More about Peace Train here.

My guess today is that Peace Train will continue to grow, and will quite naturally evolve to include more in-place meetings and events.