depo consulting is a RL business with an office in SL. They offer, through their website a set of documents to support other RL businesses planning to move in to SL and, of course, to advertise themselves. I caught up with Chester Orbit and Marissa Meltzer in their current offices earlier today.
The firm is in the midst of moving to an island which surprised me a little because their guide to businesses extols the virtues of living on the mainland. Chester was quite sure that their initial mainland home was a good move, it let them get to know SL and their neighbours. Sadly, as others have experienced, their sim now hosts a mall and a casino and lag has become an issue. That isn't their only reason for the move though, depo has grand plans for a business park.
Their vision for this business park sounds grand: "a community of businesses, academics and others who wish to explore the possibilitires of the virtual world where people can work together and start to understand the implications of SL for business in the future especially the virtual office - but also new business models." Their first island will be the centre of their anticipated continent forming this park, providing meeting spaces and the like as well as offices for the depo consulting team, offices that will soon be opening, thanks to demand from clients, 24 hours a day rather than the two for which their office is currently staffed (although they will meet out of hours by arrangement, as they did with me).
The people from depo consulting have a track record of helping RL companies increase their revenues from old-fashioned Web v1 internet. They are seeing returns from similar activities in SL too, but they are embracing the new things that they see SL brings. The potential end to commuting, central offices and the like, as people work from home and do their bit to save the planet as well as feeling happier with their work environment. In fact, just to emphasise the point the planned trip round their current venue was cut down to Marissa and I. Chester was in Starbucks IRL and the battery on his laptop died!
They see lots of potential issues that will arise. If they employ people from all over the world, how will employment law affect them? Will the Linden Dollar become a viable means of paying their staff? The answers to these questions might not be obvious, or pertinent, for a while, but it bodes well for them that they are considering such a thing, and I, for one, will be following the future of their business park with interest.
