In it, Rhonda talks about the revolutionary new ways a networked society works, which include her experiences in Second Life, both as a VP for Turner (she was responsible for getting CNN to create an SL-based meeting site), and as Grace McDunnough, the avatar whose live music performances in SL regularly draw capacity crowds.

In SL she's still largely known only as Grace, but in recent years, Rhonda has quietly connected her real life identity with her SL avatar. (In her talk, she has a great story about "coming out" as Grace at an academic conference.) I've long heard rumors that Grace was actually a major corporate executive with Turner, a division of Time Warner. But far as I know, this TEDx talk is the most prominent public venue where she talks about that relationship. She is just the latest example of talented SLers with prominent real lives enjoying their alternate identity. (She's a good songwriter with an excellent voice, but is too debilitated by stage fright to sing in front a live audience.)

Beyond that, she has also written some of the best analyses of SL, such as this one, in which she argues that its killer app is being a platform for binding loose social ties. In other words: The executive who understands Second Life best does not work for Linden Lab, but one of the world's largest media corporations. Which reminds me of the time she remotely attended an SLCC panel on live music in SL, and tried to suggest to an overwhelmed Linden staffer ways it might be improved. In retrospect, that was a bit like Lady Gaga walking unrecognized into a small town bar and modestly advising the owner how he might fix his live music stage -- and being ignored.

Speaking of Beverly "Bettina Tizzy" Millson, who first sent me this video, you may want to read this interview with her: "Why SL Artists Should Credit Works With Their Real Life Names".

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