(3) 
Steven is a person with lots of requests and demands for his time, for interviews and other apperances.
He was all set to help out American Airlines and do an interview for their in-flight radio station.
I will let him tell the rest of the story...
"It’s rare that an interview request catches my attention. I got one today, though, that did. It read as follows:
My name is [REDACTED] and I am a independent producer for the special in-flight radio program “America’s Innovators and Entrepreneurs,” which will air worldwide on American Airlines’ “FORTUNE In-Flight Radio” Channel during the entire month of December 2007.
This special on-going radio series spotlights compelling profiles of innovators and entrepreneurs — from small businesses to large enterprises — the people and companies that make up the backbone of business in America and are rarely heard from. This show will feature stories of hope, ideas and success stories in ways you’ve never heard before.
I fly American Airlines quite a bit, I think to myself, and they have done some very nice things for me in the past. I wouldn’t mind helping them out. On the other hand, I turn down every interview, so I would need some compelling reason to do this one. Eventually, my thoughts turn to how infuriating it would be to all the economists and others who despise me to stumble accidentally onto the interview while relaxing on the airplane. I decide I will do it.
Then I read a little further:
Since we’re on deadline, we’re offering our last few spots on our December 2007 edition for only $3,995 (normally $6,995). Please note we are recording interviews no later than August 17th and due to our tight deadline, we need a commitment to secure your spot no later than Friday, July 27th.
What?! This is not an interview request, this is a sales pitch! They want me to hand over $3,995 (normally $6,995) for the privilege of doing it."
Posted by Ed Cotton
Recently, we asked Reuben three questions.
1. What has Millions of Us been up to in the last 6 months?
We've now brought one-third of the Fortune 50 into Second Life. We've grown to almost 30 full-time employees, and we've been enhancing our programming, incorporating early lessons and taking advantage of new resources. One example is a recent Microsoft campaign where we achieved participation rates of up to 74 hours for participants in a contest - these numbers are unheard of. We've also officially become a cross-platform social media agency, with a specialty in virtual worlds - this includes but does not limit us to Second Life. We've just announced a partnership with Gaia Online, a very hot teen online community with virtual world elements. Gaia delivers a much sought-after teen audience to our clients, and they provide a venue for some really cheeky programming. Gaia clocks up 2.5 million unique users per month, spending an average of 2-3 hours online per visit - amazing.
2. Is the recent criticism of Second Life as a branding tool warranted?
Not really - it's an inevitable part of the media cycle. Some of the criticism is partially warranted, but a lot of it is poorly contextualized and opportunistic, in the sense that pundits love to tear down technologies that have ridden a wave of hype. IT analyst firm Gartner calls this the hype cycle - new technologies spark a wave of initial excitement, expectations inflate, the technology is found to be imperfect in some ways, and there is a backlash - but in the long term, a good technology will overcome the hype cycle and enjoy long-term adoption. Long-term adoption cements opportunities for marketers. All of the possibilities that made industry-watchers so excited about Second Life are still out there, and just a few have been realized, while many are just around the corner. People taking the long view understand that as digital natives come to dominate marketing spend, virtual worlds are going to be critical - and the virtual worlds phenomenon is much bigger than Second Life. That said, we continue to be very optimistic about Second Life; our clients' investments today will yield solid benefits in the short term, and huge dividends in the long term. Another thing to consider is Second Life's growth vector internationally - it's huge in places as diverse as Germany, Brazil, Poland, the Netherlands and South Korea, with higher per capita usage figures than those in the US. When the client is released in Japanese- and Korean- language versions later this summer, we expect to see turbocharged growth in Asia. In sum, Second Life has gone from obscurity to world domination in less than a year, making it an irresistible target for professional skeptics.
3. What do you think brands have learned from their Second Life experiences and where do you think it's headed?
Brands have learned that they have to engage as opposed to merely planting a flag - those that have been willing to join in dialogues, experiments, and games with users have been much more successful than those that have just thrown up buildings and expected people to pay attention. The Microsoft campaign we mentioned above is a perfect example. There are a couple of big trends for 2007 and beyond that we see. The first is the use of Second Life to market films and TV - it allows people to walk on to sets and to interact with characters in a way that's been impossible up to now. Our Warner Bros. Gossip Girl project is evidence of this, and the trend will only strengthen as several studios make a big push into distributing more 3D films (Dreamworks has stated that all of its animation output after 2009 will be in 3D). The second trend is in virtual goods, which are already generating US$1.5 billion per year in sales. These goods can be exchanged in environments ranging from Facebook to Second Life, and many others. There are big opportunities here for brands.
Posted by Ed Cotton