Team Chat, Nov. 24

Team Catalyst members Jen, Megan, Elizabeth and Catharine met in Second Life on the UWM island to discuss our final team project. In addition, Tanya was there to help us in the beginning of our chat.
First, we chatted about our appearances and Tanya helped Jen get some hair. Also, Tanya suggested checking our slexchange.com to find free clothes and accessories for your avatar.
Next, and for the remainder of the chat we discussed which sections each person would be assigned for the final team project.
Unfortunately, I do not know exactly what each person was assigned, because Team Catalyst experienced problems with being able to log their first chat. Tanya told us to click the "log chat" button and Megan did so, but it did not log the chat.
The log chat button has been tested since and it now works. This is a problem that the team experienced, but it is normal to encounter problems such as this in the virtual world.
The picture is of Tanya (right) speaking to Jen (purple), Megan (blue) and Elizabeth (dress) during the early stages of our first Second Life chat.

Our team has decided to do Option 2 for our final team projects.

I am Squirrel

My avatar's name is Squirrel Michigan. So far, I like SL. I went to an Israli inspired temple. My snapshot is from when I was there.
I am having trouble teleporting to the UWM island. SL tells me that it is an "invalid location."
I noticed that there are lots of people that are always trying to talk with you, so I think that the people are quite friendly from what I have seen.
I think that the colors could be a bit brighter, everything I have seen seems somewhat drab.

Catherine Lohr

My avatar's name is Calohr Sorbet.

~I'm having a hard time getting used to Second Life. There are a lot of useful tools but it's hard to access a lot of them. Also, it may be my computer but my environments do not load until I am near the object. I wish it would run smoother. It would not allow me to view the rules on the UWM island. I think a lot could be improved on the user interface. Changing the appearance seemed too complicated too. I'd prefer being offered different options for a hairstyle/color rather than using the scroll bars to get to the look you want.

~My first impression of Second Life was that it has a lot of potential to business. I liked that wide range of people I met right away from all over the world. This program will provide a whole new medium of communication beyond instant messaging or email. It'll help further develop global communication.

Name of Avatar: Meganellen Muggins Second Life is challenging in that it is difficult to move and to travel to different locations easily. Using objects is also a challege in that you have to click them and then scroll through options. In fact, the use of menus for just about everything interfers with the fluidity of the experience.

I think that organizational communication is impacted in the fact that your avatar is "speaking" for you and that you are a sort of faceless person behind the scenes. There is a feeling that you can do or say anything without real concequence.