Office Gnome also trains hostesses, teaching them as much what not to do as what makes a good chat hostess. "It's a personality thing. On iFriends, you can't be yourself. Those chat farms usually have a performer sitting in front of four or five computers. We have full video and audio, and we're on a network that brings visitors to model. So talk and appearance are very important."

And who will have to prepare an acceptance speech? "Oh, who knows at this point? This is on September 4th," said Office Gnome. "When we win it'll be a shared award. Every one of these chat hostesses is partly responsible for making us what we are."

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