This past Monday, my company held a day long leadership retreat in Kingston. That required people from Toronto and Ottawa to trek from Ottawa and Toronto to a hotel mid-way between the two cities. Almost as much travel time as face time.

Neville Hobson last night participated in a meeting that may well point to the way that companies like Thornley Fallis cut out the travel time in the future.
Neville reports on a panel session that was conducted in Second Life. The session drew marketing and new media professionals like Joseph Jaffe and Mitch Joel for a serious discussion of avatar-based marketing.

This is a picture of the meeting taking from Neville’s perspective. That’s him in the foreground.

According to Neville,

… this was something quite extraordinary. Here was a group of people getting together in a virtual world for a business meeting. You didn’t know who anyone really was, whether who they say they are is who they really are, where they’re from, and whether it really is a man or a woman you’re talking to.

But none of that matters. It’s part of the experience and interactions in a virtual world.

Neat. And for the folks at Thornley Fallis who are reading this, don’t be surprised if the next interoffice meeting you’re invited to requires only that you travel as far as your computer to sign into Second Life!