I would like to try a virtual workplace meeting.

[dtwilder]

 Can my co-workers and me just get avatars and find a place to meet? Or do we have to build our own place? 

[Alwin Alcott]

you can meet at public places, but won't be able to have privacy or any special features that you would have on owned land.

[Rolig Loon]

Many colleges and libraries in SL have meeting spaces and auditoriums where you could hold meetings.  It's polite to ask first, but you will generally find that those space are empty much of the time and that the organizations will be glad to let you use them.  Try using Search to look for "library", for example, and then visit some of them to see what's there.  With a little detective work, you should be able to identify a contact person to ask.

[ChinRey]

On the startup screen, check out the "What's Hot Now" list. Those places are always empty.

Seriously, there are lots of empty places in Second Life if you need a place for a one-time meeting. Take a look at this one for example:

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Conference%20Center/120/92/22

That one is actually a demo of one of LL's ready-made themed sims but nobody buys those anymore (they're a bit outdated unfortunately) so it's not used for anything at all these days.

 

This is if you're thinking about a one-time occasion. If you want to have regular meetings in-world, you really want your own place for it. Borrowing space may be cheaper but it's rather impractlcal in the long run.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

There are offices that you can rent that include conference rooms or even larger meeting spaces. Some of them are on seperate parcels where you can restrict sound carrying outside the parcel and/or even close the parcel to people on an access list if you don't want any people dropping into the meeting or want to discuss private matters.

I'd try a meeting or two in a free space first and if you would like to continue, then rent an office.  If you see a future in it, you may eventually want to buy or rent land and erect your own prefab office or have one built to your specifications.  Depending on how many people are meeting at a time, you may not need a big place or even much land if you eventually decide to go this route. 

[Lindal Kidd]

D.T., you have gotten some good advice.

If you'd like to see an example of a meeting, attend any of the many classes offered in world.  I'm teaching a class today on Second Life shopping skills at Caledon Oxbridge University, at 10 am SL time.  It's free to attend (most classes are!)

There are some social, and some technological things to consider.

• Your participants will need to be led step by step through the account signup and registration, and also taught at least a few basics about Second Life, like how to dress (if they accidentally take something off), how to use both local chat and IM (and voice, if you plan to do that), and how to teleport (to get to the meeting location).  Plan on doing this orientation in at least a couple of sessions BEFORE your actual meeting.
• If your attendees are signing in from remote locations, be sure they have actually tested this out beforehand.  Not all computers and internet connections are robust enough to run Second Life.
• You may want things like a virtual PowerPoint presentation.  Devices to do that are available at a reasonable cost.
• Meetings are subject to unwanted visitors, unless you are on land that is protected in such a way as to allow your people to be there, while excluding gate crashers.  You'll need to learn something about land, or the person loaning you the venue will have to set things up for you.
• Even if you keep other avatars out, your meeting is NOT private.  Linden Lab records logs of all typed chat and IMs.  These records could be subpoenaed by law enforcement.  And of course, the NSA is probably listening to everything that everyone is doing on the internet.  I would not discuss anything that you would not want a competitor or a government regulator to know.