Whyville to Host Virtual Concert for Tweens Starring Virgin Records Artist Stacie Orrico

Whyville.net a virtual world targeted at children 8-15, will host a live Stacie Orrico concert on Saturday, December 9th at 2 p.m. for all citizens of Whyville, dubbed "Whyvillians." Orrico will appear in avatar form on stage at Whyville's virtual Greek Theatre. As if at a real concert, the tween citizens will be able to use their Whyville currency "clams" to purchase virtual merchandise, MP3s and ringtones at the virtual tailgate.

Similar to MySpace, Facebook, Friendster and other popular online communities for Generation Y, Whyville has seamlessly found a way to engage the growing tween population, with over 2 million virtual citizens signed up on the site. The expansive virtual community focuses on educating 8-15 year olds on real-world economics—the community even has its own Senators, beach, museum and City Hall.

Advertisers such as NASA, Scion, Toyota and Sun Microsystems have taken advantage of reaching the Whyville community early with product placements inside of the community destinations and activities. (No worries- the site notes, "Whyville exceeds all standards established by COPPA.")

Read the press release.