Knowledge Networking

Meet with the Knowledge Networking group of the Association of Virtual Worlds in Second Life.

“Wednesday at Work” WED 1100 a.m. SLT
(check the AVW site for location)

With all the talk, blogs, twitters, ads, chat, etc., about Social Networking, a la FaceBook, MySpace, YouTube, and the rest… it has occurred to me that what we (myself and my colleagues) are really pursuing is better described as Knowledge Networking. Since we are in business, government, education and other serious pursuits, the ’social’ part of the Web 2.0 worlds seem to scare our managers, and somehow imply that we are playing games or watching TV (or worse) instead of doing real work. The totally serious and productive attributes of the new ‘web’ can be lost when we are briefing our bosses on the travel or training we just took and we pop up a browser of FaceBook or Second Life web pages and the silly stuff hides the good.

Like when an FB app like “Craig Ferguson’s Naughty Monkeys” pops up when you are trying to demo FB groups. Another really bad one is finally convincing your boss to join you in an SL meeting with “Serious Feds for Justice”, or whatever, and a mermaid flops down next to you. Now, this is not someone in a Norma Kamali mermaid outfit, like Bette Midler in Vegas, but a real fish tailed person/avatar. I know that serious folk inhabit the World of Mer, but my boss doesn’t. It’s also a little hard to talk to someone about nanotechnology when they are a bushy tailed rodent, albeit with a Phd. in micro-engineering. In spite of the sometimes silly, there is real value in the these networking, collaboration and knowledge collecting sites.

Knowledge Management

As I was leaving my organization’s Web Conference last week, I was handed a business card from a colleague, whose job title was “Knowledge Manager”. Oh yeah, I’ve seen that before. One of my new network contacts is a Knowledge Manager with NASA/JPL, and others are with IBM, in the same role. The discovery, cataloging, organization and caretaking of knowledge resources is a more holistic pursuit of information management, collaboration, and synergy, as practiced by professionals with multiple skills background, and their feet in many rooms. My job is Web Infrastructure and Information Security, and I also am a Web 2.0 champion. Some people prefer the term ‘cat herding’ or ‘fish juggling’. This is not necessarily bad, especially for those of us in organizations of diminishing budgets and staff who have found ourselves doing more of the multi-tasking in a multi-discipline position.

Real Life Networking

After only a short 6 month journey into the enhanced Web 2.0 world of new media, virtual world collaboration, and community networking, I find myself member of a number of serious groups of professionals pursuing similar paths. My new (and old) individual contacts are from all parts of the world, in business, government and education. The number of events being sponsored and generated by this ever expanding group grows weekly, and would be impossible to include in my schedule and travel budget, were it not for the digital venues in which we meet.

In the course of a recent Saturday, I began tree planting with my family in real life, listened to an interview of my new colleagues by a radio station in the UK, had a wonderful lunch at home, attended an art gallery opening in SL of another colleague, watered in the 62 trees we planted, and attended a lecture and discussion on Quantum Mechanics in SL. Now that’s Real Life Networking that will keep me working (and contributing) far longer, and will help us all do all the green things that are important. Any questions?