MIT Graduate Program in Comparative Media Studies

Studying Media and Making Media

by on

From the CMS archive: “Not the Real World Anymore”

We’ve been steadily reformatting older content here on the CMS website so that all of our audio and video is available for download, both on the site and through iTunes.

One of the gems transferred to iTunes in this process was a video from the very first Futures of Entertainment conference.

(FOE4 is coming up in November.)

This “From the CMS archives” post features video from that first conference, from a session called “Not the Real World Anymore”. John Lester, from Linden Lab; Ron Meiners, Developer Relations Manager at Multiverse.net; and Todd Cunningham and Eric Gruber, from MTV Networks discussed how virtual spaces are becoming platforms for thought experiments—some of which involve fantasies we would not like to enact in the real world, others involve possibilities that we may want to test market before putting into practice.

About Andrew Whitacre

Andrew directs the communications efforts for CMS/W and its research groups. A native of Washington, D.C., he holds a degree in communication from Wake Forest University, with a minor in humanities, as well as an M.F.A. in creative writing from Emerson College.

His work includes drawing up and executing strategic communications plans, with projects including website design, social media management and training, press outreach, product launches, fundraising campaign support, and event promotions.