An approach that provides transmission and notification of a real-world event to a virtual universe user is described. In one embodiment, there is a method for notifying a resident that is on-line in a virtual universe of an occurrence of a real-world event. The method includes receiving an indication of the occurrence of the real-world event, mapping the indication of the real-world event into one of a plurality of communication representations, and notifying the resident in the virtual universe in accordance with the mapped communication representation.