3pointD.com

MacArthur Foundation president Jonathan Fanton will appear in the virtual world of Second Life on June 22, at 9am SL Time (noon Eastern), for a conversation with Linden Lab CEO Philip Rosedale on the role of philanthropy in virtual worlds. 3pointD hears that the appearance may be precursor to the MacArthur Foundation establishing a more permanent presence in SL in order to explore native, in-world culture. Regardless, my sense if that when Fanton is talking about “the role of philanthropy in SL,” it’s the in SL bit that’s important. As Fanton puts it on the MacArthur site, “I believe that the importance of virtual worlds may be less about their growth as economies, and more about their capacity for collaboration and human development. Activities in virtual worlds already are supported by MacArthur and other foundations, but we have much to discover about the right role for philanthropy itself in virtual worlds. We are interested in learning about virtual worlds and how to operate within them. We look to the residents to help us determine how to be helpful and are eager to share our on-going work in such areas as affordable housing, urban renewal, and human rights and international justice.”

No details yet as to where the event will be held, but look for it to take place on the USC Center for Public Diplomacy’s »Annenberg Island«, which is my guess only because this is where previous MacArthur events in SL have happened, if I remember correctly. USC also has a couple of events of its own coming up this week, but I’ll cover those in more detail in an upcoming D-Briefs.

[UPDATE: There’s a good post on this up at Philanthropy 2173.]