trevor smith over at transmutable, posted a little note about his participation in the virtual worlds management industry forecast 2008.

so i didn’t get a chance to contribute this year, but here are the questions:

1. What are your top 3 trend predictions for 2008?
2. What business goals have you set for 2008?
3. What challenges do you expect 2008 to bring for the virtual worlds industry?
4. A number of new platforms are launching in 2008. What are the biggest impacts this will have on the industry?
5. How will the above changes affect your specific segment of the industry in 2008?

and my responses:

1. my top 3 trends for 2008:
   1. more media companies in virtual worlds; less retail, manufacturing
   2. more virtual worlds moving to the web, meaning fewer thick clients
   3. more mash-ups, especially with blurred line stuff. i happen to have a few insights into this area, but i can’t quite share them yet.
2. business goals for 2008: well, i work for a virtual world company, so our goals are to get every single member we can
3. challenges for the industry for 2008 are going to be much the same as this year. technology is still a big deal, and we’re back to facing problems like platform support with thick clients. another challenge will be justification. aol and pontiac have pulled out, other corporations are not sure. companies will need to see good reasons to go into virtual worlds.
4. new platforms, like ours, will accomplish a few things in 2008, i think. first, they’ll get more and more awareness out there. each new platform will probably appeal to a new demographic or network of people. second, they’ll push each other to develop new approaches and new technologies. but most importantly, they’ll force us to think harder about true innovation, and i mean that mostly in the area of business model
5. the changes above will have a large impact on us, because they all ultimately shape what our business does and how we work. but for the most part, it’s kind of more of the same – we’re a young and flexible company, and we’re constantly watching all these factors and the whole industry, and making adjustments where we need to.