N.J. Realtors still building their virtual office in Second Life

Tag : Building Glass
"We look at it as an opportunity to market ourselves to the peoplein Second Life," Grasso said, adding that the offices cost "a fewhundred dollars" (in real money). The virtual office space is Grasso's favorite in a comprehensiveprogram by the Realtors to use online communications to reach "thenext generation of consumers and Realtors." NJAR has also: n Created a Facebook profile where visitors to the online socialnetworking site can view photos, read about upcoming events andrecruit new members; n Made a profile on LinkedIn, similar to the above only forbusiness networking; n Implemented RSS feeds for members that alert them to updates onthe association's Web page ( www.njar.com ) and to its newsletter; n And created podcasts of its newsletter for downloading andlistening on portable media players and computers. "We can't limit ourselves to the typical magazine or weekly e-mail.We have to go way beyond that," Grasso said. A black helicopter atop NJAR's Second Life offices looks ready togo way beyond, but as with all of this new technology, itsusefulness has yet to be determined. Virtual people may not be interested in helicoptering in a worldwhere they already can fly like Superman. E-mail Kevin Post: KPost@pressofac.com