Hello Hyro!

While wandering aimlessly from island to island I was struck by the appearance of Snow Dome, which appeared to be sporting some kind of corporate logo - see the satellite view below:

On inspection it turns out the logo belongs to Hyro, a "creative business solutions" company "helping you define how Online Services can create value for your business" and based in the Antipodes. They provide a full range of online services for customers in Oz and SE Asia.

I gleaned the following from another website:
Hyro’s Chief Operating Officer, Richard Lord says that Hyro looked to Second Life to assist in finding high quality web, mobile, and virtual, design and development staff to keep up with its rapid growth and client demand in the real world.

“Second Life offers the potential to communicate with prospective employees in a way that offers an interactive and fun experience. And given that we are targeting people with skills in creativity, innovation and applying digital channels technology, Second Life is a good fit,” said Richard Lord. “The sorts of people we are looking for are likely to be engaging in these virtual worlds, so it is important for us to market the opportunity in these places.” Hyro is also working on a number of projects for its clients that wish to establish a presence in Second Life.

So what about the island? Well the first thing I noticed was the "recruitment blimp", which offers you a TP to their recruitment hub. Follow the instructions to post your CV. Its conference centre offers 3 themed rooms (beach, forest and space station) and there are showrooms showcasing their work in mobile and web/interactive, plus a news and awards gallery.




And that's about it, as far as I can see. It's all very nicely branded, and as a means of targeting recruitment, it seems like a reasonable idea. The place itself is professionally executed, but appears to lack soul. There is certainly nothing I could see that would engage with the average rambler... but then it is quite new, so perhaps that will come in time. There was no evidence that they use greeters, and no schedule of events. Just a bunch of empty rooms, really.

I read, however, that they plan to use the space for promotions and information sessions and as a resource for engaging with the ‘Hyro community’. I suppose time will tell...