Peer Promotion Charter - Interest Level?

Hello virtual worlds visionaries!

Since the inception of the VW Developers group, I've pondered how it might provide real, practical value to its members.

The AVW has already done some great work in terms of promoting its members, with the Green and Blue Books, member directories, and marketing that has kept AVW in the industry media (thanks Dave and Edita!). And there's plenty of informative discussion to be had here.

But I think there may yet be even more actionable opportunities, right in front of us.

We Are the {Virtual} World?
Look around the membership of this group - the combined reach and resources of our organizations is significant.

Among us, we probably represent 40% to 80% of the key forces in this industry: Big names, little names, new, old, and tomorrow's names - are all gathered in this little virtual club house. Between us, we cover pretty much every platform, aesthetic and business model.

That's some seriously long reach!

Especially when one considers that the industry in question is the next Internet.

The Public Bell Tower?
Here's another way we're connected: We all need to announce our various debuts - for projects, events, releases. You know the drill: Press contacts, social networks and other venues all play their part - as do caffeine, Advil and (hopefully, later) champagne.

And this is where we might find the "low-hanging fruit" of inter-agency collaboration. No, I'm not talking about a champagne fund.

Consider this: How often are we releasing projects on the same day? Not very often, I suspect. So if my firm isn't announcing anything today, and yours is - why not pass along your Twitter tweet, or blog post link, or press release?

After all, if I'm not completely filling my audience's "attention budget" today, they will appreciate the information anyways. And this occurs already, to some extent - in the natural flow of information through our industry's network.

But since we're all here, why not agree to pass-along our neighbor's message - and raise a mightier collective voice, each time?

Because the fact is, it's the promotion of this entire industry that we all need.

Some Sort of Charter?
So, if this makes sense to more than a couple of us, perhaps we could next make a simple, one page charter. AVW has already provided us with sufficient structure - we should probably only need to write down the basics of "playing fair".

I would go into what I think that should look like, but I'd rather wait and hear your feedback first.

What do you think?

Or, we could revisit the Champagne Fund idea. Hmm...

Best wishes,

Gary Arthur Douglas II
Founder | The Wishfarmers
People. Art. Innovation.