Hiro Pendragon Lecture chat log

Guest Lecture Series - Hiro Pendragon - One Foot in the Future

April 7, 2009 6pSLT

Molaskey's Pub, Wichi, SL™

 

[18:04]  Nasus Dumart: Welcome to the Guest Lecture Series at Molaskey's Pub!

[18:04]  Nasus Dumart: This Lecture Series has welcomed professionals using Second Life in the fields of design, architecture, fashion, real estate, specialty marketing, art and education.

[18:04]  Nasus Dumart: This evening, we are going to delve into the mechanics of the grid; the engine and the engineers.

[18:04]  Nasus Dumart: Ron Blechner is a 2003 graduate of Stevens Institute of Technology and current Chief Technology Officer with 'Involve, Inc', a young, interactive media company.

[18:05]  Nasus Dumart: In the virtual realm, Ron is known as Hiro Pendragon, a remarkably skilled and passionate virtual world professional.

[18:05]  Nasus Dumart: He is a forward-thinking development expert at the core of the Metaverse, but many of you have never even heard of him.

[18:05]  Nasus Dumart: 'Big picture' planning is Ron's specialty.

[18:05]  Nasus Dumart: He is in charge of all software development for interactive multimedia projects LONG before they come to fruition for everyday use.

[18:05]  Nasus Dumart: His clients include Dell, General Electric and Fidelity, to name a few.

[18:06]  Nasus Dumart: These companies, and now many others, are beginning to understanding the vast and creative potential of using virtual worlds.

[18:06]  Nasus Dumart: In a way, it is reminiscent of the introduction of the Internet twenty years ago.

[18:06]  Nasus Dumart: Now that virtual worlds have gained the interest of millions of willing users, everyone is trying to figure out how virtual worlds will suit their personal and professional needs.

[18:06]  Nasus Dumart: Ron not only intricately works on a complex grid system, he's thoroughly enjoying the challenge and the thrill of doing innovative, ground-breaking work.

[18:07]  Nasus Dumart: That is why tonight's Guest Lecture Series is titled, 'One Foot in the Future'.

[18:07]  Nasus Dumart: This interesting and informative lecture will begin shortly. Let me just remind the audience of the structure of this event.

[18:07]  Nasus Dumart: This will be a type-chat event.

[18:07]  Nasus Dumart: I will ask the audience to refrain from room chat until your host and Lecturer have completed their presentations.

[18:07]  Nasus Dumart: At that time, the audience will be encouraged to participate in a lively period of Questions and Answers.

[18:07]  Nasus Dumart: TIP: prepare your questions on a note card and then copy and paste them into chat at the appropriate time.

[18:08]  Nasus Dumart: Tonight’s lecture will go according to a schedule.

[18:08]  Nasus Dumart: As moderator, I will give prompts as to when we will proceed.

[18:08]  Nasus Dumart: This transcript, including audience participation, will be made available on http://Molaskeys-Pub.com immediately following the lecture.

[18:08]  Nasus Dumart: Please use this time to invite others to join you. You may offer this SLurl™ as a landing spot - http://tiny.cc/XPgAi

[18:08]  Nasus Dumart: If you are taking any snapshots of tonight's event, please share them with the Molaskey's Pub Group on Flickr at http://tiny.cc/AULDo

[18:09]  Nasus Dumart: OK, Let's continue...

[18:09]  Nasus Dumart: While writing our book, 'The Unofficial Guide to Building Your Business in the Second Life Virtual World', we had the opportunity to speak one-on-one with some of the world's foremost experts on business AND virtual worlds.

[18:09]  Nasus Dumart: During that time, I gained a unique perspective on the evolution of not only Second Life, but of the Internet itself.

[18:09]  Nasus Dumart: I recently posted an article on http://Molaskeys-Pub.com called From Mainframe to Mainstream - Raising the Internet.

[18:10]  Nasus Dumart: It's about 'big-picture' perspective in terms of life online.

[18:10]  Nasus Dumart: While many of us are enjoying the challenges and triumphs of developing our social and professional presence in the virtual world, we should never loose sight of HOW we have come this far, creating a fulfilling personal life and/or profession through emerging technology.

[18:10]  Nasus Dumart: When we met Hiro through the NJ Metaverse Meetup in RL as Ron Blechner, we had a great conversation about all things great and small, figuratively speaking.

[18:11]  Nasus Dumart: As software developer, coder, 3-D artist, blogger, business owner, tester, marketer, speaker and event host, Ron is a pioneer developer in the emerging Metaverse well-grounded in its many aspects.

[18:11]  Nasus Dumart: I was pleased to learn that Ron has worked on one of my personal favorite experiences in SL, 'The Weather Channel'.

[18:11]  Nasus Dumart: He also participates in 'forwarding the Second Life community', and serves on a 'Developer Council' advising Linden Lab on Second Life technology.

[18:11]  Nasus Dumart: He has been a speaker on business and technology panels for virtual worlds, and has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, Wired, and NY1 News.

[18:11]  Nasus Dumart: Although it was too late to include him in our book, we invited Ron to appear as a Guest on this Lecture Series.

[18:11]  Nasus Dumart: Please welcome one of the 'big picture' planners of the Metaverse, Hiro Pendragon.

 

[18:12]  Nasus Dumart: (Big Applause)

[18:12]  Hiro Pendragon: *chuckles*

[18:12]  Georgianna Blackburn: Clap Clap Clap

[18:12]  Nasus Dumart: ♪♫♥ Cheers!! ♥♫♪

[18:12]  Apple MacKay applauds

[18:12]  Crap Mariner: yay

[18:12]  Corcosman Voom applauds

[18:12]  Hiro Pendragon: I haven't had an intro that sensational since I did my own! :)

[18:12]  Nasus Dumart: Hahahaa

[18:12]  Nasus Dumart: :)

[18:12]  Mitch Wagner: clapclapclapclapclapclapclapclapclap

[18:13]  Hiro Pendragon: Thanks, Nasus, that was ... extraordinary. It's a pleasure to be here and to be with the fine folks tonight in the audience

[18:13]  Nasus Dumart: Tell us what you've been up to.

[18:13]  Hiro Pendragon: Lately? Paperwork!

[18:14]  Apple MacKay: damn class 6 server NDA's huh?

[18:14]  Nasus Dumart: You were speaking on a panel earlier today?

[18:14]  Hiro Pendragon: Yes. I met Hydra Shaftoe through volunteering to run the business track at SLCC...

[18:14]  Hiro Pendragon: (that's officially a first announcement - here - that I'm doing so)

[18:14]  Nasus Dumart: yay!

[18:15]  Apple MacKay: WOW!

[18:15]  Apple MacKay: congrats Hiro

[18:15]  Hiro Pendragon: And he invited me to speak at Nokia earlier today. Was a great panel with Blue Linden, ePredator potato, and others... the topic was use of avatars with business purposes.

[18:15]  Apple MacKay: I am sure you will do an amazing Job!

[18:15]  Hiro Pendragon: Hydra will be doing an amazing job as well, I hope :)

[18:16]  Hiro Pendragon: When Boliver's not keeping me too busy, I do volunteering as best I can. So. yeah.

[18:16]  Hiro Pendragon: So, a little background, I guess...

[18:16]  Hiro Pendragon: let me pull out my "slideshow"

[18:17]  Hiro Pendragon: This was my first creation in SL...

[18:17]  Hiro Pendragon: *chuckles*

[18:17]  Nasus Dumart: :)

[18:17]  Hiro Pendragon: a plywood box

[18:17]  Nasus Dumart: how original

[18:17]  Nasus Dumart: :)

[18:18]  Hiro Pendragon: I'll just add pictures as I talk... so this isnt' a canned presentation.

[18:18]  Nasus Dumart: I recognize that - The Epic Wave

[18:18]  Hiro Pendragon: So I got into SL by accident, in 2004 in January

[18:18]  Hiro Pendragon: I had been planning on breaking into game design.

[18:19]  Hiro Pendragon: That's like hollywood nowadays to break into, so I took a detour, and found SL.

[18:19]  Nasus Dumart: :)

[18:19]  Hiro Pendragon: By 3/4 the way through 2005, I had built a little bit of a good reputation, and a lot of contacts... so I saved up a little cash, quit my night-shift telcomm job, and went full-time virtual world developer in Jan 2006.

[18:20]  Hiro Pendragon: Here's anothe shot from weather, in the desert. Yes, that's me on the bike I scripted. (stunts, too!0

[18:20]  Nasus Dumart grins

[18:20]  Hiro Pendragon: I poked around with a few developers - Electric Sheep Company, Rivers Run Red...

[18:21]  Hiro Pendragon: Met Boliver, and he was the first CEO business type I found that had a good view of where the technology was going and how to sell it.

[18:21]  Hiro Pendragon: So in Aug 2006 I merged with Involve, then Infinite Vision Media

[18:21]  Hiro Pendragon: Infinite Vision Media had gotten its start doing the architecture for Dublin sim.

[18:22]  Hiro Pendragon: Pictured here, behind me.

[18:22]  Nasus Dumart: there's Blarney!

[18:22]  Hiro Pendragon: Soon after, we were joined by award winning documentarian and radio producer, June Peoples (Quirky McArdle)

[18:22]  Hiro Pendragon: and brilliant creative genius, Ian Tepoot (Ethan Thereian)

[18:23]  Hiro Pendragon: Ian joined right after we did Dell (pictured behind me)

[18:23]  Hiro Pendragon: By late 2006 the market was heating up. Big brands like Dell, Scion, and NBC were entering Second Life

[18:24]  Hiro Pendragon: It was a bit of a madhouse, lots of developers joined and --- well, there was no rulebook telling us what needed to be done. No one could say for sure what worked and what didn't.

[18:24]  Hiro Pendragon: 2 1/2 years later, the industry has shed a lot of people.

[18:24]  Nasus Dumart nods

[18:24]  Hiro Pendragon: But SL keeps growing, as do other virtual worlds, and game-virtual worlds like WOW, etc.

[18:25]  Hiro Pendragon: Our focus as a company has been looking at virtual worlds and asking the question, "What's so great about Virtual Worlds?"

[18:25]  Hiro Pendragon: Why do a job in Second Life?

[18:26]  Hiro Pendragon: Many developers, and most of the companies interested in a presence in Second Life, did not have an answer. They wanted to be here ... to be here.

[18:26]  Nasus Dumart nods

[18:26]  Hiro Pendragon: I'm sure Nasus and many of you here realize that getting a community to show up regularly takes more than building pretty walls.

[18:26]  Nasus Dumart: :)

[18:26]  Nasus Dumart: indeed it does

[18:27]  Hiro Pendragon: Doing the Tech Museum of San Jose was a landmark build for our company, approach wise.

[18:27]  Nasus Dumart: nice

[18:27]  Hiro Pendragon: The client wanted a 1:1 model of the building - which normally we shun.

[18:27]  Hiro Pendragon: In this case it was perfect, because they were prototyping actual exhibitions in a simulacrum of the space.

[18:28]  Hiro Pendragon: We consulted and started their outreach program, along with the talented Nina Verbeck Simon who served as virtual curator for about a year.

[18:28]  Hiro Pendragon: This was a project where an organization reached out for input from people and really truly accepted it.

[18:28]  Hiro Pendragon: There are several exhibitions in the physical museum in San Jose that were prototyped by average Joe users around the world - here in SL.

[18:29]  Hiro Pendragon: Recently, our two most recent projects were almost polar opposites.

[18:29]  Hiro Pendragon: We did a museum exhibit for the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC,

[18:29]  Hiro Pendragon: and we did a project for a Greece-based multi-billion dollar snack food company, Vivartia, and their snack food brand 7 Days

[18:30]  Nasus Dumart: interesting

[18:30]  Hiro Pendragon: The prior was an interactive, in-world exhibition that puts the guest in the shoes of someone investigating the aftermath of Kristallnacht

[18:31]  Hiro Pendragon: The latter is a virtual village, where you can explore a Willy-Wonka-esque factory and town, and create your own magical pastries.

[18:31]  Nasus Dumart: lol - mmmm

[18:31]  Hiro Pendragon: Both have one thing strongly in common - they are led by storytelling.

[18:31]  Nasus Dumart: :)

[18:31]  Hiro Pendragon: In Second Life, the user is part of a story, whether you're part of a learning experience or an ad campaign.

[18:32]  Nasus Dumart: right.

[18:32]  Hiro Pendragon: Due to the inherent immersive quality to an destination here, you become part of the environment, rather than a passive witness - like in TV or radio or even the internet.

[18:32]  Hiro Pendragon: So our company focuses on the storytelling element to drive the whole design.

[18:33]  Hiro Pendragon: You don't just have diaramas and discreet activities, you have a full 360 experience built for the user to be involved in. (Hence, our name)

[18:33]  Nasus Dumart: :)

[18:33]  Hiro Pendragon: One final thing I'll touch upon about our company

[18:33]  Hiro Pendragon: is that we use traditional advertising, 3-D design, and programming methods in our work.

[18:33]  Hiro Pendragon: Here's an early concept drawing of the 7 Days factory

[18:34]  Hiro Pendragon: There is a *huge* expectation gap with most clients entering virtual worlds for the first time.

[18:34]  Hiro Pendragon: They aren't sure of the quality, the tone, the feel

[18:34]  Apple MacKay: robots meets the sydney opera house

[18:34]  Hiro Pendragon: To really keep your client on track, it's important to lead them along from the very beginning

[18:34]  Hiro Pendragon: this is not the final product - it's about 2 weeks before launch, and the smokestacks are missing

[18:34]  Hiro Pendragon: but you get the point. ;)

[18:35]  Nasus Dumart: yes.

[18:35]  Hiro Pendragon: Here's an image from inside the factory... this is a pastry customized by a visitor to the factory.

[18:35]  Hiro Pendragon: It's purple dough, looks like chocolate topping swiss roll :)

[18:35]  Hiro Pendragon waves at Kalania. :)

[18:36]  Kalania Bookmite: *waves back*

[18:36]  Nasus Dumart: You have great pics from your work.

[18:36]  Nasus Dumart: :)

[18:36]  Hiro Pendragon: Thank you.

[18:36]  Hiro Pendragon: That's pretty much it for me talking about myself and my team.

[18:36]  Hiro Pendragon: There's machinima up on YouTube

[18:36]  Nasus Dumart: Shall we open the floor to Q&A?

[18:36]  Hiro Pendragon: you can search for our channel "involveinc"

[18:36]  Apple MacKay: yes

[18:36]  Azwaldo Villota: What advice would you offer to a fledgeling pair of content creators who focus on educational content?

[18:37]  Nasus Dumart: if you have any links to share, Hiro, please do

[18:37]  Hiro Pendragon: Azwaldo, the biggest issue we've had is that educators have the most red tape, and are often very very hands on.

[18:38]  Hiro Pendragon: It's important to budget extra time to handle educational clients. And it's worth it, because they usually reciprocate with great reviews and compliments.

[18:38]  Hiro Pendragon: And while they may pay slowly, they always pay. :)

[18:38]  Nasus Dumart: :) important part of the equation

[18:39]  Hiro Pendragon: Links: http://www.youtube.com/user/involveinc http://involve3d.com (also facebook, search for the Involve group)

[18:39]  Nasus Dumart: Questions for Hiro - keep them coming

[18:39]  Hiro Pendragon: (oh, and I suppose I'll plug my blog: http://secontense.blogspot.com )

[18:40]  Azwaldo Villota: thank you

[18:40]  Azwaldo Villota: you mentioned an expectation gap; do you find that a consistent proportion of time is spent helping a client to "get it" ? or, does that amount of time vary greatly?

[18:41]  Azwaldo Villota showed up with notes ready

[18:41]  Mia Kitchensink: ;D

[18:41]  Hiro Pendragon: It does vary. We prepare for the worst, but sometimes you get an internal champion who really takes an active part in learning the technology and really gets it.

[18:42]  ploneglenn Yalin: How do you mitigate SL's streaming media glitches in large turn outs for a smoother user experience?

[18:43]  Crap Mariner: QUESTION: Let's not pull punches - some developers have thrived, some have survived, and a lot have gone bye-bye with big flameouts. What do you feel makes the difference between success, struggling to stay on, and striking out?

[18:43]  Hiro Pendragon: Prep people ahead of time, provide standard support notecards that explain how to fix issues, have a contact for any event that will answer questions, and when possible, archive the stream / have it viewable by web browser.

[18:43]  Hiro Pendragon: @Crap - that's the key question, ain't it?

[18:43]  Hiro Pendragon: Part of it is endurance for pain.

[18:43]  Crap Mariner: I keep my key in my back. ;)

[18:44]  Hiro Pendragon: Being an entrepeneur is painful, but exceedingly worthwhile if you put your back into it.

[18:44]  Nasus Dumart agrees

[18:44]  Hiro Pendragon: That said,

[18:44]  Hiro Pendragon: I don't think that anyone starting a business in SL thinks it will be easy.

[18:44]  Hiro Pendragon: The people who have left SL developing

[18:44]  Apple MacKay: 85% fail in the first year .... virtual or otherwise

[18:44]  Hiro Pendragon: MoU, RRR, Esheep - who used to be the "big three" and barely have a presence in SL anymore -

[18:45]  Hiro Pendragon: Most people who "failed" at developing in SL have a fundamentally different view of what SL is good for.

[18:45]  Hiro Pendragon: There's the "it's a game" mentality.

[18:45]  Hiro Pendragon: There's the "build it and they will come" mentality.

[18:45]  Nasus Dumart nods

[18:46]  Corcosman Voom: QUESTION: As far as the big picture, do you work in spaces other than Second Life? Any impressions you'd like to offer?

[18:46]  Hiro Pendragon: As for what makes our company still here and still nabbing clients - we spend a *LOT* of time researching the technology, and we combine that with tried and true development methods from advertising, marketing, software, etc.

[18:46]  Crap Mariner nods

[18:46]  Hiro Pendragon: @Corcosman - The internet, for one. I think there's this idea that SL is a walled garden.

[18:47]  Apple MacKay: Question: would you say involve is as busy today as you'd like to be?

[18:48]  Hiro Pendragon: We are a developer in / are proficient in / are waiting for a good client to use: VastPark, Multiverse, Qwaq, Metaplaces, Facebook, iPhone... etc

[18:48]  Crap Mariner: ty

[18:49]  Azwaldo Villota: Does OpenSim have a place in your plans?

[18:49]  Hiro Pendragon: The economic slowdown in Q4 last year slowed our growth. We anticipated having more software packages available and doing more of our own IP work. Certainly the number of clients looking for virtual world work is also down, but of them, we aren't having difficulty winning contracts.

[18:50]  Hiro Pendragon: OpenSim we're ready to work in, if a client project suits it... however, my official feeling about OpenSim is that it's not yet proven to be long-lasting.

[18:50]  Apple MacKay: well said, thank you

[18:50]  Apple MacKay: Gwyn had a nice post recently regarding that

[18:50]  Hiro Pendragon: Linden Lab has recently announced that they have a behind-the-firewall program in early Beta. That's a game-changer for OpenSIm, I believe.

[18:51]  Apple MacKay: LL still needs model interoperability

[18:51]  Hiro Pendragon: Yes, though we actually have some software that lets us import Maya ;)

[18:51]  Apple MacKay: that could also be a game changer in that arena

[18:51]  Apple MacKay: not just maya

[18:51]  Hiro Pendragon: But forgetting import...

[18:51]  Apple MacKay: civil 3D

[18:51]  Apple MacKay: etc

[18:51]  Hiro Pendragon: If LL had a standardized import, there's a TON of 3-D models out there online.

[18:52]  Hiro Pendragon: Most people enter SL and never even realize there has been 3-D virtual worlds for a decade before SL went Alpha.

[18:52]  Nasus Dumart: That's the key to interoperability - standards

[18:52]  Apple MacKay: :)

[18:52]  ploneglenn Yalin: Question: what's your take on the future of LSL?

[18:53]  Hiro Pendragon: Hm, not sure I have specific opinions about the future of LSL. I think LL will at some point have better access so you can use standard scripting languages like PHP, Perl Python, etc...

[18:53]  Hiro Pendragon: I think that'll come with the behind-the-firewall program.

[18:53]  Hiro Pendragon: But that's just a guess.

[18:54]  Nasus Dumart: We have a few more minutes....any further comments or questions?

[18:54]  Apple MacKay: interpreter type stuff that will resolve to LSL?

[18:54]  Hiro Pendragon: In any event, you can't exactly eliminate most of LSL. You still need some sort of custom API to work with SL.

[18:54]  Hiro Pendragon: Apple, I don't think so.

[18:54]  Apple MacKay: wouldnt that need a core rewrite to a certian extent?

[18:54]  Hiro Pendragon: I think we're more likely to see data-flow to other languages, so you'll just do data crunching and such there, and still make LSL calls

[18:55]  Hiro Pendragon: .We'll see LSL-call libraries in other languages.

[18:55]  Apple MacKay: ok

[18:55]  Hiro Pendragon: But that's my guess. I think that's a ways off.

[18:55]  Nasus Dumart: :)

[18:55]  Apple MacKay: php Library for LSL

[18:55]  Nasus Dumart: One Foot in the Future

[18:55]  Nasus Dumart: ;)

[18:55]  Nasus Dumart: Thanks for coming to the Guest Lecture Series

[18:56]  Nasus Dumart: ♪♫♥ Cheers!! ♥♫♪

[18:56]  Nasus Dumart: We can continue casual conversation

[18:56]  Hiro Pendragon: Hey, thanks for having me here :)

[18:56]  Nasus Dumart: I just wanted to give the chat log a point out

[18:56]  Apple MacKay: Our Pleasure Hiro

[18:56]  Crap Mariner salutes

[18:56]  Apple MacKay: Thanks for the time

[18:57]  Corcosman Voom: Nasus, Apple, Mia thanks for hosting us tonight

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