September 2007

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Be All You Can See

Greetings, earthlings. No, that’s not right. I’m from cyberspace, not outer space. I’m still getting used to being an avatar, having only recently come into being in Second Life, the virtual world with 8 million inhabitants. My name is Jardin Juran, and I’m a cyber editor.

To exist in this digital world, you need, oddly enough, a body. Second Life offers four generic choices for women, including one called “furry animal.” No thanks. I toyed with the idea of looking Goth—one of the other choices. Spiky blue hair, boots with enormous platform soles, and artfully draped chains. But it didn’t seem prudent to wander in cyberspace dressed like Cher. I might run into Sam Palmisano, the CEO of IBM, who also exists as an avatar in Second Life. What would he think if I asked him for an interview dressed like that? So I chose “girl next door,” and click, there I was looking like I’d just stepped onto the dock in an L.L. Bean catalog.

In Second Life you can be your own plastic surgeon, using a series of tools to adjust the length and muscularity of your limbs, the slope of your forehead, the slant and shape of your eyes, and even the size of your love handles. It is really easy to create something age-inappropriate or to just completely fake it. Twenty percent of the female avatars in Second Life are actually operated by men.

So I did a little work on myself. A haircut. Bluer eyes. But I have been unable to close the gap between the bottom of my shirt and the top of my jeans. Where is the slider tool with the choice between Paris Hilton and Lauren Hutton? And I’m still deciding on my shoes. As in real life, I’m a work in progress. And I must begin to acquire some skills, like teleporting, if I am going to explore my new world and report on it.

So why am I going public when I’m not yet fully formed? Because ASTD asked me, as a guest editor from Second Life, to announce the debut of the T+D e-magazine, a completely virtual form of this magazine, with pages that “turn” and links to the authors, sources, and advertisers. It’s searchable, printable, and easy to read. To try it out, visit tdmagazine.astd.org. And to tell us what you think, mouse over my virtual photo and drop me some bits and bytes.

Jardin Juran
Cyber Editor,
Second Life

FEATURES

FACILITATING ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
Training a Green Workforce
By Jenni Jarventaus
With companies such as Wal-Mart and Toyota leading the way, a growing number of organizations are training their employees to think green.

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CAREER DEVELOPMENT
Switching Gears Leads to New Careers
By MIchael Laff
Despite being more than 50 years old, Kirkpatrick's four levels of evaluation are still relevant in today's training world.

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MANAGING ORGANIZATIONAL KNOWLEDGE
Reshaping the Learning Function to Bridge Talent Gap
By Josh Bersin
A new kind of learning department is evolving—one that focuses on organizational capabilities driven by competencies, not performance.

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IMPROVING HUMAN PERFORMANCE
Using 360° Feedback to Predict Performance
By Tracy Maylett and Juan Riboldi
Many organizations today use 360-degree feedback as a way to gauge and identify elements of organizational culture.

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MANAGING THE LEARNING FUNCTION
Making or Breaking Outsourcing Success
By Debbie Friedman and David Giber
When outsourcing a learning project, an effective partnership is as important as the project.

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TALENT MANAGEMENT
Accelerating Executive Leadership Development
By Bill Ott and Matt Motherwell
By developing a common leadership infrastructure, organizations can focus their resources strategically and position themselves for future success.

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Executive Summaries

DEPARTMENTS

INTELLIGENCE
The Politics of Responsibility
How proposed Capitol Hill legislation will help those who help others.

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RE:SEARCH
Performance Management Gives a Shaky Performance
A survey reveals that many organizations are frustrated with their performance evaluation methods.

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TECHNOLOGY
Learning and Networking with a Blog
A blog can be a great learning tool.

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FUNDAMENTALS
Spicing Up Classroom Training
Workshop leaders can employ several tips to add zing to a dull leader manual.

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DEVELOPMENT
Facing Retirement—Now What?
It’s never too early or too late to start planning for the next stage of your life.

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IN EVERY ISSUE

WHAT THINGS COST
What Does an LMS Cost?

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THE LONG VIEW
T+D profiles Ruth Colvin Clark, president of Clark Training & Consulting in Cortez, Colorado.

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BOOKS

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