Virtual dive information center in Second Life allows residents to try diving and links to eLearning.Constantly seeking to increase business for PADI Members, PADI has launched an “Information Center” in the popular online virtual world, Second Life® (www.secondlife.com). This makes PADI the first diver training organization to set up an information center in this alternate reality. And, with links to eLearning, the virtual information center has the potential to bring some of the eight million Second Life residents out of the virtual world and straight into PADI Dive Centers and Resorts.
An online community, Second Life allows the user to create a character and interact with other Second Life users. Second Life has its own currency that exchanges for real world money and residents can buy virtual things ranging from clothes to yachts. There are also many activities: Residents can go to a night club and dance or attend a concert transmitted live into Second Life. And now, they can go diving.
PADI’s Information Center in Second Life lets users learn about everything from scuba gear to the world’s greatest dive destinations. The Information Center directs users to contact their local PADI Dive Center or Resort for more information and links to PADI’s Open Water Diver Course Online, enabling Second Life users to begin their real life dive adventure with a PADI Dive Center or Resort with the simple click of a button.
The plan to enter the Second Life community was spearheaded by PADI International Limited Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Douglas Nash. "A PADI Information Center in Second Life is big news," says Nash. "One great thing is that it ties in so nicely with eLearning program on padi.com. By appealing to the more than eight million Second Life users, this has the potential to get more new people from all over the world into diving. And there are already loads of beautifully designed coral, marine life and scuba gear in Second Life, so scuba diving will definitely appeal to the residents. Forget about surfing the internet – now you can dive it!”
Although PADI is the first diver training organization to plunge into Second Life, many other major brands, including Reebok, Dell and IBM, have already done so. Even Hollywood has a Second Life, with Warner Bros. Music present.
As Nash further notes, “Second Life isn’t a here-today, gone-tomorrow kind of thing. It’s great because - like no other medium - it provides an alternative environment for those who use it. Setting up a PADI Information Center in Second Life is good for PADI Members - and of course, for showing more people how to become divers in the real world.”
To find out more about Second Life and its new PADI Information Center, go to www.secondlife.com, create a free character, search for PADI inside Second Life, then click teleport. If you’d like to experience the real deal, contact the PADI International Resort and Retailers Associations and take advantage of all of the PADI Membership benefits by calling 800 729 7234 (US and Canada), +1 949 858 7234, ext. 2260.
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