Oftentimes, it is the policy of big corporations to execute plans and decisions without consulting and informing its employees. Such is true when big companies including Toyota and Sony entered the virtual world of Second Life. We all know by know that the growing community of Linden Lab's MMO has become profitable for these companies, but still it is always good to know the nitty-gritty of things.

As we've mentioned before, IBM joined the above mentioned rank of companies joining SL. However, unlike the others, the multinational computer corporation has always been open to discussion with its people as Chairman and Chef Executive Sam Palmisano is set to visit Second Life this coming Tuesday. Prior to this is a "town hall" meeting which involves 7,000 workers in China and 250 IBM employees in one of SL's island.

"We always ask the question, 'If you knew 20 years ago what you know about the Web today, what would you do differently?' The Web took decades. This will likely take half that time," maintains Sandy Kearney, IBM's Director of Emerging 3-D Internet and Virtual Business. IBM has always been transparent of its virtual worlds investment of roughly U.S. $10 million over the next 12 months.

Also, IBM claims that as of now, they have been using the virtual environment for meetings and Wimbledon simulations and development, together with telecommunications and aerospace firms, a petroleum company and a major U.K. grocer.