Anshe Chung battles ‘PR hype’ with some of her own
By Adam Reuters
MENGJING, Second Life, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Real estate and development magnate Anshe Chung struck back against what she called “PR-vapor-hype” with a public relations barrage of her own on Tuesday, holding a press conference to discuss her recent claim that she has amassed US$1 million worth of assets in Second Life.
Chung (Ailin Graef in the real world) appeared alongside her husband and business partner Guni Greenstein (Guntram Graef) before several dozen reporters, bloggers and other Second Life residents. She talked about how she placed a big bet on the Second Life real estate market with funds she had accumulated since entering the world in 2004.
“Before November 15th I used profits from this business and made one big investment of 250,000 US$ to expand Dreamland, our largest residential project,” she said . “After November 15th the land market changed, we experience big boom in Second Life now. This has pushed value of my assets above (US$1 million).”
“Most of the assets I currently own in Second Life are so-called estate simulators. With the new purchases these amount to about 550 simulators, also sometimes called ‘regions.’ Each simulates 256×256m of virtual land,” she added. “Prices of these have increased, to 1675-2000 US$ per sim, depending on the evaluation method.” Chung also owns some property on the mainland, plus various other Second Life assets.
So why make the announcement now? She said that it had recently become easier to verify the value of her real estate assets, but that the increasing hype around Second Life also played a role.
“Another reason for the timing is that soon somebody would have PR-vapor-hyped himself/herself to this,” she said at the press conference.
She said that some real-world companies were creating a backlash by making outsize claims about their entry into Second Life. Earlier this month, Dreamland residents voted to ban public relations firms that made false claims.
“There are many RL companies and other organizations coming. I think most of them are very smart and try to have positive impact on the community. … There is also much PR, often very valid and honest PR, also often useful to help people realize opportunity,” Chung said. “But like everywhere there was some who went too far. Companies making first claims about things lesser known community members did before upset many people here.”
Anshe Chung Studios has projected Second Life revenues of L$630 million in 2006, according to figures provided by company, equal to about US$2.3 million at Tuesday’s exchange rate. Chung (standing, right) said the Wuhan, China-based company plans to double in size to about 50 employees.
There were a few questions at the press conference that Chung declined to answer, including one query from resident Sphere Gasser, who asked: “You’ve been called the SL Donald Trump. How does it feel to know you have more realistic hair?”
