http://socialdegree.com Strategy of online communities, virtual goods, and entrepreneurship. Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:39:33 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en SocialDegreehttp://feedburner.google.com The Virtual Goods industry is growing extremely quickly. Some estimate the size of the industry to reach $5.5 billion globally this year, and it is just beginning. There is no escaping the fact that consumers spend money on virtual goods, even in economic down times. Others in the virtual goods ...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SocialDegree/~4/O41rwHTnKTs" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SocialDegree/~3/O41rwHTnKTs/ http://socialdegree.com/2009/07/16/top-3-reasons-people-buy-virtual-goods/ Social Gaming Summit is coming up in June in San Francisco.  This is one of a few small conferences that Charles Hudson of Serious Business organizes.  Others include Virtual Goods Summit and iGames Summit.  Charles and his crew always do an amazing job at bringing together some ...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SocialDegree/~4/3Ok6OxEEZ2o" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SocialDegree/~3/3Ok6OxEEZ2o/ http://socialdegree.com/2009/04/28/join-me-at-social-gaming-summit-in-june/ Andrew Chen has a good post that reviews some of the things you need to consider when deciding between a user generated content and first party (in house) model for your virtual goods implementation. I posted some additional thoughts in the comments, but thought I would re-post and expand ...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SocialDegree/~4/yyMBhzp3p8c" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SocialDegree/~3/yyMBhzp3p8c/ http://socialdegree.com/2008/10/22/ugc-is-vital-for-expressive-and-behavioral-virtual-good-models/ This post may be a day late with yesterday's market rebound, however it still doesn't fully repair the sting from last weeks massive drop. There was certainly questions and buzz at last weeks Virtual Goods Summit on what effect the economy will have on the virtual goods industry. ...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SocialDegree/~4/NgL2R8mVzL8" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SocialDegree/~3/NgL2R8mVzL8/ http://socialdegree.com/2008/10/14/what-does-a-bad-economy-means-for-virtual-goods/  This Friday you can find myself and a good portion of the Viximo team at the Virtual Goods Summit in San Fran.  I'll be speaking on a panel with a great lineup titled "What Users Want — Branded and User-Generated Virtual Goods."  You can get a 10% ...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SocialDegree/~4/gpWSEaPZxLM" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SocialDegree/~3/gpWSEaPZxLM/ http://socialdegree.com/2008/10/06/join-me-and-viximo-at-virtual-goods-summit-in-sf/ Last Friday I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel at Tiecon East (thanks to Raj Bala) with Fred Wilson, Don Dodge, Nabeel Hyatt, and David Cancel. The topic was “Web 2.0, viable business model or bust?” and we spent a lot of time discussing developing business ...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SocialDegree/~4/0zxb9WFhBP4" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SocialDegree/~3/0zxb9WFhBP4/ http://socialdegree.com/2008/06/04/tiecon-east-panel-lagging-innovation-of-web-20-business-models/ Hopefully you were able to grab an RSVP spot to the POPSignal party on May 15th. Over 400 people have RSVP'd in less than 48 hours. We will be opening up limited spots over the next couple weeks, so if you still want to come keep checking out ...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SocialDegree/~4/X0_s3LAMRCY" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SocialDegree/~3/X0_s3LAMRCY/ http://socialdegree.com/2008/04/25/popsignal-sold-out-in-less-than-48-hours/ Last Fall I helped organize a party for the tech and startup community called Tech Cocktail. It was an overwhelming success with over 300 people in attendance. Well, I'm at it again, and I'm happy to invite you the POPSignal Party on Thursday May 15th, 6:30 - 9:30pm ...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SocialDegree/~4/nXxqdBDN4Lc" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SocialDegree/~3/nXxqdBDN4Lc/ http://socialdegree.com/2008/04/23/inviting-you-to-popsignal-party-may-15th-630-930pm/ Everyone knows that the Facebook application gold rush is long over.  Facebook continues to impose restrictions, users have application fatigue, and as a result conversion on distribution methods has fallen through the floor. In fact, if you look at most of the early successes such as Free ...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SocialDegree/~4/Es1VwRn6iEc" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SocialDegree/~3/Es1VwRn6iEc/ http://socialdegree.com/2008/04/07/facebook-applications-features-to-destinations/ I can't even say virtual worlds are the future of social communities, but rather the present. Virtual worlds have proliferated among internet users younger then 18 here in the US and especially internationally. Sites such as Gaia Online, Cyworld, Habbo Hotel, Barbie World, Webkinz, and Club Penguin blow ...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SocialDegree/~4/WqJmqftGXIs" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SocialDegree/~3/WqJmqftGXIs/ http://socialdegree.com/2008/03/18/virtual-worlds-the-present-and-future-of-online-social-communities/