For months we have been engaged in a continuously evolving conversation about how social networking and other emerging technologies provides an opportunity for organizations to think differently about how they connect with their people, but it was moving from the theoretical to the practical that kept halting the conversation. Those roadblocks have now begun to disappear.

We recently attended the Virtual Worlds Conference in NYC to learn more about how Virtual Realities could help us add value to the services we provide our clients. We met speaker Ron Burns, president of ProtonMedia, who spoke of “macro-communities within an organization,” “crossing cultural divides” and “bringing cultures together where there are inherent differences in how people communicate” and it was then we knew that this was the reason we had attended the conference. Ron spoke our language.

We recently invited Ron to our offices where he demonstrated his Protosphere Platform and some other custom courseware. What impressed us about Ron was the human element with which he approached his technology and how he balanced it with the importance of collaborative and social virtual environments in providing a competitive advantage to organizations in the 21st century.

Ron said at one point. “You can’t put a technology band-aid on a social injury” and for me that said it all; more than any demonstration or PowerPoint presentation, more than any numbers, more than any well-written white paper copy. Though virtual world technologies can create new spaces to connect, dialogue and co-create, the endeavor of transcending cultural, hierarchical and generational divides without establishing inclusive mindsets and behaviors within organizations will only result in the “old” behaviors forming in a new technology container.

At least that’s how we see it.

Read more about how we see Web 2.0 technologies creating new possibilities for achieving inclusive work environments.

Read about KJCG’s  recent strategic partnership with ProtonMedia.