1. An apparatus providing for virtual communication and collaboration, the apparatus comprising: a collaborative virtual environment application executing within a distributed data processing system and accessible to a plurality of users through one or more client systems communicatively connected via a network, the collaborative virtual environment application providing a persistent virtual world represented as a grid of an interconnected set of locations each divided into a set of zones and each having an assigned context, the users of the plurality of users simultaneously and continuously perceiving and interacting with the persistent virtual world through a user interface provided to the plurality of users through the one or more client systems, the collaborative virtual environment providing each user of the plurality of users with a respective avatar representation for navigating and interacting with each other user of the plurality of users and objects within the locations of the persistent virtual world; and a shadow module implemented within the collaborative virtual environment application, the shadow module providing a first user interface element implemented within the user interface for each user of the plurality of users through which a first user of the plurality of users can create and leave a shadow object representation of the avatar representation for the first user within a zone of the set of zones of a location of a subset of the set of locations when the avatar representation for the user is currently located in that zone, the shadow object representation of the avatar representation for the first user persisting in the zone after the avatar representation for the first user has navigated away from the zone, the shadow module providing a second user interface element implemented within the user interface for each user of the plurality of users providing a second user of the plurality of users with one or more selectable options for corresponding with the first user when the avatar representation for the second user is located in the zone with the shadow object representation.