DnB NOR

As we move into June and start hurtling towards the Summer solstice, it seems appropriate (OK, it feels like stretching a point) that my rambles should take me Northwards, to the Land of The Midnight Sun. Well, to one of them, at any rate. Tonight we are off to a Norwegian sim, belonging to the banking and finance group, DnB NOR.

DnB NOR is Norway's largest financial services group, formed in December 2003 through the merger of the financial services groups DnB and Gjensidige NOR (Union Bank of Norway). It has more than 2.3 million retail and 198,000 corporate customers, and is behind Norway’s largest Internet banks, dnbnor.no and postbanken.no, which have more than 1.4 million users. It also has one of Norway's largest private art collections, with over 12,000 works of art dating back from the end of the 1800s up till today. A tiny fraction of this is available for viewing in Second Life. According to the notecard I picked up: "these are works which normally decorate the many DnB NOR offices and meeting rooms at home and abroad, and are a source of pleasure to both the Group’s staff and customers."

This is another sim where I appear to be about a year late (D'OH!). Mindblizzard, and many others, covered it at the time. Still, I am here now - so I shall plough on, undaunted.

The sim is terraformed as a number of small islands. From your arrival point you can elect to use a large teleport map to move around, or take the more leisurely option of waiting for one of the small ferry boats to stop and pick you up. I opted for the latter and sat back as we chugged between the islands. I disembarked at the presentation auditorium, with its ultra-polished floor that - as with all other such "shiny" surfaces - reflects the furnishings and surroundings, but never the people. Are we all vampires?**

A glass walkway takes you to the next island, which plays host to a large floating sphere. Here you will find formal meeting areas, links to the company website and, if you fancy it, a free coffee. The next island houses the art gallery, which I found a little confusing. It seemed to feature no more than a dozen fairy mundane art works - from an even smaller range of artists. Am I missing something? Outside the gallery there a casual meeting area, though not quite as casual as the camping ground, where you can sit around a campfire to warm up, after taking a quick windsurf among the islands. The final feature is the Nobel Peace Centre, reflecting the real life centre that exists in Oslo, where you can experience and learn about the various Peace Prize Laureates and their activities. AS you will gather, itis supported by DnB NOR, among others.

The implementation is by Norwegian agency, Design Container, using contractors for much of the build. And I have to say, I think they've done a pretty decent job to get so much in, and provide a pleasant sunny, Summer's ambiance to the place. I have no idea if the island is actually used though. I'm guessing not - because it has a number of minor glitches that would normally get sorted if there was much feedback. Simple things like overlapping textures that lead to a jittery, "migraine-y" look; too much repetition of the same texture, when it only needs sliding slightly between prims to make them look different and a more up-to-the-mark teleport system where you don't arrive rotated thru 90 degrees. Anyway, here's my slideshow. The fact that there are 9 pictures suggests I do like the place!



** BTW, I do know how it's done really. That's why the island on which the auditorium sits is also, by no coincidence, the highest land on the sim. ;-)

Cofidis

While I would not consider myself one of the World's greatest sports fans, there are one or two sports and sports events that I enjoy watching. One of these is that annual en masse outing of masochist cyclists - the Tour De France. One of the most gruelling sports events on the planet, and one that can only be won as a team. Sure, one bloke walks (or perhaps limps) away with the Yellow Jersey - but he couldn't do it without a team - and teams cost a lot of money, which means sponsorship.

The company behind the sim I want to mention today, Cofidis, I only know through its cycling sponsorship. Cofidis was founded in France in 1982, offering the concept of credit by telephone. Its website tells us it now offers a "complete range of consumer credit products including revolving credit, instalment loans, COFIDIS credit cards and Internet payment solutions." But in addition to this they take great pride in their cycling team, whose calendar for 2008 already looks quite packed.

They opened their sim in mid-2007 (so this is hardly a scoop then) or so the company history tells me. I found it by accident - and found it to be still decked out in its Winter/Christmas togs ... snow, igloos, Santa hats. With Easter not so far off, they should perhaps call in their builders to get it ready for Springtime!

The sim, aside from a link to the company website, contain little or no information about the company. Instead it focuses on the cycling team. There is a track (with a shortcut to create a sprint track) that goes round the island. You can help yourself to a freebie pack of cycling clothes, if you fancy the rub of red lycra! And you can rez a bike to race around the island. Beyond that, there's not a lot else. A relaxed open-air meeting area, a marquee with more formal seating and a dance floor. Here's a few snaps - too few to make it worthwhile loading through Flickr:



There is little to get excited about here. The build is OK, the ideas are not exactly inspired and there seems no sense of ongoing community. Maybe more will come when they get around to defrosting the sim.

Itau

Brazil, as you may be aware, was the first country to get a Second Life Grid Global Provider, in the form of Kaizen Games. There was an expectation that this locally-supported service would see Brazillians flocking into Second Life, but I'm not sure it has really done so. Nevertheless, many of the busiest residential sims in Second Life are Brazillian, and it is perhaps surprising that there does not appear to be an equivalent level of commercial interest.

Tonight I stumbled across one such Brazillian commercial sim: Itau. It belongs to Banco Itau, a privately-owned bank with its headquarters in São Paulo. It is the second largest private bank in the country, accounting for around 11% of retail banking services. However, the sim does not appear to be pitching itself as a major promotional tool for the bank. I really need one of my Portuguese-speaking chums to translate it for me, but at least part of seems to be concerned with environmental and ecological matters. Thus far, the build extends across half the island and comprises 3 buildings - an arrival zone, an auditorium and a "conviviality suite", where you will finding rolling displays, presenting a variety of eco-stats. A pathway winds through hilly woodland, linking the buildings. For freebie-chasers it looks like you might be able to grab a T-shirt or 2 - though I wasn't able to prise one out.

I don't really have much more to add - but you might want to go and figure it out for yourself. Oh, I've just been back for another look, and there is a quiz in which you can participate, on the subject of "sustainability."

Nikko am sl

I'd be among the first to admit that asset management is not exactly a huge turn-on, but despite this I thought I should introduce you to Nikko am, whose English-language webpage includes the rather jarring strapline "global expertise, Japanese execution." While out on my regular rambles tonight - all spruced up with my fancy, new OnRez viewer - I happened upon their month-old sim in Second Life. Before I go any further, though, I should point you at their Japanese website, which is rather more relevant in that it actually shares motifs with their Second Life presence.

A bit of digging turned up this press release, in which they talk about using new media - including Second Life - as a way of talking with customers about opportunities for investment. The build itself falls into 3 zones: the game; the office block and the stage. It is my assumption that the notion of "the nest egg" seems to transcend cultural boundaries, as the game zone seems to be a matter of collecting as many chicks (feathered, that is) as possible before your time runs out. I think, though I'm not entirely sure, that if you hit the target you get a prize. I certainly seemed to hit the target and did receive something - I've just not yet checked out what it might be! If you don't fancy that, then there is a range of freebie T-shirts to peruse.

The office zone is nicely rendered and, as is the norm for Japanese companies, is full of cutesy-pie anime. Inside, the office is sub-divided to give you information on specific aspects of the company's portfolio of offerings. Here you will find the only piece of English in the place, which to my British eyes clearly states that nothing available on the site is available in the UK. On the uppermost floor is a boardroom (see picture below). I noticed that each office area had what seemed to be a rather conspicuous rubbish receptacle outside it. I first assumed this was an ashtray, but now I'm not so sure. Anyway, whatever its purpose this receptacle (oddly enough) detracted from the experience for me, even though I think it was put there purely to add "texture."

The third zone is an outdoor stage, complete with grand piano, presumably for social events. Not much more to say about that, so on with the photos!

The Office Block


Specialist Areas Inside the Office:


The Stage:


Verdict? A nice build, with a good attempt at engagement through the game and the outdoor stage, but... somehow it does not seem to me that it is going to generate much traffic. Although sharing motifs with the website, the 2 channels seem to be separate entitites, and that (to me) breaks some kind of unstated, yet cardinal, rule. I don't get much sense of engagement here either - and that is a definite requirement in Second Life.