Q&A with Anshe Chung, virtual philanthropist

Improving virtual collaboration
[22:43] SCOOP: Do your activities in SL create more interest in nonprofits and philanthropy?

[22:44] ANSHE: Yes, some. But you know, when you look at how people describe me — ”real estate tycoon” — you don’t immediately think of nonprofit projects.

[22:45] SCOOP: True. But that’s why I want to understand more about why and how you’re pursuing philanthropic work.

[22:54] ANSHE: I hope that both nonprofits and businesses will come to better understand the potential of using virtual worlds for global collaboration. I hope businesses will get more involved in helping NGOs and nonprofits.

[22:55] SCOOP: How do you see this evolving over the next year or two?

[22:58] ANSHE: My long-term vision is that donors, nonprofits and aid recipients all will be able to meet and collaborate in virtual worlds.

[22:58] SCOOP: That seems to be evolving in the Nonprofit Commons. Do you think your philanthropic example will encourage others to donate their time and money to worthy causes?

[23:01] ANSHE: Possibly. I think there are a lot of people who want to help and feel encouraged when they see that others are doing something. But it’s important to do it in a way that has some sort of seed effect, supporting something that develops an internal dynamic.

[23:02] SCOOP: What other philanthropic efforts are you considering?

[23:03] ANSHE: I’m considering some real life projects at the moment, but it’s still too early to talk about them.

[23:04] SCOOP: Can you give me some clues?

[23:04] ANSHE: What I have been doing a lot recently is funding small virtual businesses with risk capital. That doesn’t fall into the nonprofit category, but for me it is almost like that, given the lack of security in the financing system of SL. I think I am probably the first who has done virtual VC on a large scale. I did not invent the concept, even though from the beginning I would actively support virtual stock exchange projects.

[23:08] SCOOP: Is SL popular in China?

[23:08] ANSHE: Not very. But when Hipihi will be released, the metaverse in China will become popular. Hipihi is the Chinese version of Second Life.

[23:08] SCOOP: Do you think philanthropy will grow in Hipihi the way it is in SL?

[23:12] ANSHE: Yes, I expect even more such activity there, given that many nonprofits in China have a strong member base of teenagers. The release is scheduled for the end of this year

[23:18] SCOOP: Are you involved in Hipihi?

[23:19] ANSHE: In RL, I have been talking to several platform providers, besides Linden Lab. We are not developing platforms at my design studio, but as soon as a platform provider supplies the option we can make it successful.

[23:33] SCOOP: As new nonprofits come into SL, they can turn to the Commons for a better idea about how to get things going quickly.

[23:33] ANSHE: Yes, I hope that there will be some network effect of nonprofits helping nonprofits and sharing resources.

[23:34] SCOOP: What makes SL a good forum for giving?

[23:38] ANSHE: I think it is a good collaboration tool. SL is a good place to visualize projects and to bring people together to discuss and collaborate on efforts. Time here is cheaper, in part because there is no overhead of traveling and complex scheduling. If I can log on for 30 minutes, meet people all over the world to discuss projects, and even examine some 3-D model, that is far better than spending days traveling. I see SL in the same league as telephones and email, only that SL adds more options for collaboration and communication.

[23:40] SCOOP: Collaboration is, in many ways, a donation of time.

[23:40] ANSHE: Yes, but in Second Life, the important aspect is that this can be optimized.

[23:44] SCOOP: SL offers an opportunity but there are limits, including some that we have experienced in this interview, such as long delays in the transmission of responses, and long rendering times. Does that frustrate you?

[23:47] ANSHE: No, because I know this is only the very early version of the metaverse. If you consider this and the fact I am connecting from Wuhan, this is working astonishingly well!  :-)

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