Second Life Plays Host To Healthcare Hearings

I wrote up the Jan. 25 Copper Robot session for InformationWeek:

Avatars don't need health care, but the people at the keyboard do. That's why a Chicago marketer, who previously worked on the Budweiser "Wassup" campaign, organized a hearing on health care policy for then-President-elect Obama in Second Life.

Susanna Matukas, a Chicago-based freelancer in marketing and advertising, signed up on the Obama transition site, change.gov, after the election. She learned, through that site, that the office of the president-elect was looking for citizens to organize hearings on how the U.S. health care policy should be changed. The reports would then be submitted, including photos and video, to the office of the president-elect.

She decided to hold hearings in Second Life, to allow people to access the meeting who might not be able to make it to a real-life event. "We had people that participated who are suffering from chronic illness, or who have child care issues, or who are traveling on business and can't necessarily participate in a three-hour meeting in their community," said Matukas, who goes by the name "Siri Vita" in Second Life. The Second Life hearing was one of thousands held across the U.S. on health care issues

People telling their story in Second Life included a woman from Omaha, Neb., with a double problem: her health care provider won't pay for treatments for her rare genetic disorder, and she has an autistic son who needs $40,000 annually in therapy. Also speaking out was an Indiana cancer survivor who spoke of the limited medical choices in her area, and a Denver resident with multiple sclerosis who runs Virtual Ability, an area for disabled people in Second Life.

Some additional notes: I am smugly pleased with myself about this post for its social medianess and multimediosity multimedianess and Web 2.0 grooviness: It includes text, images, an embedded YouTube video, an audio file embedded using player code that Yahoo gives away, and I researched it in Second Life. Also, I wrote it while playing the flugelhorn and drinking a glass of water. OK, I made up that last part.

Reminder: Our next session is this Sunday 11 am at World2Worlds Island, guest will be Aliza Sherman/Cyergrrl Oh (more about that), so it's sure to be a great time. All are welcome.