A short time after last year's Burn2, Kev Sweetwater sent me an IM out of the blue. He said he understood why I did things on a small scale.
At the time, I wasn't sure if it was a compliment or just an acknowledgement. During the last Temple burn in October, he said we should do more burns. And I declined. He must have wondered why. I figured he did some research and found all the other things that I did.
I wanted to clarify why he said it anyway, but I was very busy then with the holidays approaching, so I said, "Let's chat sometime." He agreed.
Unfortunately, we never did. And we never could. He passed away in real life this week.
I hardly know Kev. I met him as one of the coordinators for Burn2 in 2011. So when he said that he understood me, I was intrigued. It isn't often that you get a mere acquaintance who says they understand you and mean it sincerely. It stuns you. It leaves you speechless. It is a very potent form of acknowledgement. With a single sentence that probably seemed benign to him, he honored me, he honored my being, he honored my existence.
Tonight, we burn the Burn2 2011 Temple again during his SL memorial. To honor a man, to honor his being, to honor his existence.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Burning%20Man-%20Deep%20Hole/145/135/25
It wasn't a gift
[2011-10-09 11:26:59]
Kev Sweetwater: Thank you for this gift, Treasure
Treasure Box: My pleasure.
Treasure Box: It was more a personal tradition.
Kev Sweetwater: =)
Kev Sweetwater: maybe we can burn some other stuff more often
Treasure Box: lol
Treasure Box: I said "tradition".... Not "psychosis".... ;)
Kev Sweetwater: hahaha
It wasn't a gift.
A gift comes from an overflowing cup. My cup is empty. When you give up something that you need, it is a sacrifice. So, it wasn't a gift. It was a sacrifice.
But it was not a sacrifice for the event or for the principles of the event or for anyone at all. It was a sacrifice to That Which Is. It was my rite of worship.
 |
| 2011 Burn2 Temple, built by Damanios Thetan |
When Kell contacted me this year about burning the Temple again, I was already swamped. I told her it would take at least a week out of my schedule. It took three solid weeks.
In those three weeks, I wrestled with design decisions, cussed at bugs, berated myself for making a commitment I could not afford, and cried in anguish for falling short of my own expectations.
When I scripted the burn for the first time in 2007, it took me four or five very long days to script and to test. The day before the event was to start, we were left without Man or Temple, so I was scripting as the event was going on. And I had to burn both The Man and the Temple.
It's not that simple anymore. In the quest for a more realistic burn, I've tried to innovate and create some new technique or new way to do some part of it.
I raised the bar for myself every year.
In 2008, Damanios added glass to the Temple design, so I experimented with breaking glass. The broken shards were particles.
It was the year my grandmother passed away and I was triggering the burn from a little Internet cafe in a small rural town in the Philippines. The trigger wasn't coordinated by script. Poid Mahovlich had to help me trigger each piece.
In 2009, I coordinated the trigger by "cocking" the scripts to listen for a code, switched to prim glass shards, added sparklers for the "bones" inside the temple at the start of the burn, and introduced the megaprim fire, which was a disobedience of the explicit rule that megaprims not be used in the event that year. But there was no way I could achieve the same effect with 10x10x10 prims. The flexy prim was a simple and elegant way of simulating the movement of fire. And with glow and transparency, the dark silhouettes of the objects inside created a dramatic effect. I overheard someone in the audience say that it was the best use of megaprims he had seen yet. Somehow, that comment justified my transgression.
But the burn had now become much more complex.
It was also the year I became disillusioned about the whole event. I was reprimanded because I blogged about my disagreement with their plans to desecrate the Temple and turn it into another party venue. That reprimand made me feel like a hired hand who should shut up and just do as we were told. Except we weren't really "hired" because we weren't paid. Neither did we volunteer on our own; we were asked to do it. I could have left; instead, I chose to stay because I had made a commitment. But the work became emotionally painful.
After the burn, Damanios said, "I was worried your heart wasn't in it, but you proved me wrong." It wasn't that my heart wasn't in it. It was that my heart was broken.
I didn't think I could handle another burn.
When Kell asked me this year, I was torn. I really couldn't afford to do it, but it felt as though a long-lost lover was asking to be taken back. Damanios already agreed, and I had told Poid in the past that I'd burn any Temple Dama builds, so I chose to say yes.
This year's coordinators are much nicer; the issue this year was time and personal resources. I had to give up a timeshare week that I had scheduled months ago. I had to postpone projects that I am already behind on. And because it was on such short notice, I didn't have time to think about the design or to experiment.
There had been significant improvements in the Linden Scripting Language to make scripts more efficient, so I knew that I had to rewrite all the scripts at the very least. But there had to be something innovative somehow.
So this year, the censer played an important role in the burn itself. I started with the idea of paper boats and I changed my mind. It was serene, but standing water doesn't make sense in a desert. I was playing with llTargetOmega on child prims when the objects in their orbits reminded me of planets, and that, in turn, reminded me of an old collectible Christmas ornament that I created for the International Spaceflight Museum in 2007. Touching the ornament would change the sphere into the sun or moon or any of the planets. And that's where the Lotus Suns idea came from, except I used the texture map of Venus instead.
 |
| Messages in the Lotus Suns inside the Temple. |
If you didn't witness the actual burn, this is what happened....
When the burn was triggered, the messages were shouted out in public chat, which is the tradition. In the past, each pod burns by itself after the messages it holds are shouted out. This year, the lotus sun pods were pulled into the center sun which grew slightly with each pod crash. At the same time, the lava-like fluid in the censer bowl started rising at the center towards the sun. By the time the last pod crashed, the tip of the rising fluid had already reached the center sun.
The rest of the fluid was then "slurped" into the sun, which grew even faster and finally burst, as flames shot out towards the four outer structures of the Temple. A few moments later, the outer structures burst into flames and the glass broke into pieces. And the fire started.
In the past, I had always wished I could add a "story" about how the fire starts, instead of chalking it up to spontaneous combustion. This year, I finally did.
I used megaprim fires again, and even though we could edit megaprims now, I decided to let the fire prims fade in, instead of growing in size. That was an aesthetic decision. This year, I also added fire licks, which took me a while to experiment with, and I'm still not entirely happy with it.
 |
| Start of burn, soon after the whoosh. |
I had to cut some corners, so to speak, with the main burn, because I was short on time and because I was keeping the whole burn efficient. Even on the day of the burn, I was tweaking settings and rewriting code.
[2011-10-09 12:03:44]*sigh*
Treasure Box: I wish I had more time.
Kev Sweetwater: well you got a year till 2012 is needed =)
Treasure Box: lmao
Treasure Box: Only if Dama is building.
Treasure Box: And he already said he wouldn't again. :)
Kev Sweetwater: eh we'll see
Treasure Box: lmao
[2011-10-09 12:10:10]
Damanios Thetan: He's asking me for next year too... and told him i don't do it unless Treasure can burn it ;)
Treasure Box: omg
Treasure Box: That's practically a commitment!
Damanios Thetan: no... not really
If Dama and I keep pointing at each other as the condition for agreeing to doing it again next year, we're in trouble. Thankfully, Dama won't commit because of his schedule.
It isn't so easy for me. The burning of the Temple has acquired a spiritual significance. To be asked to do it feels like a higher calling. I cannot say no. Even if it requires me to make a sacrifice. Even if it consumes me. All I can do is require conditions to be met.
I have a whole year to think up conditions to be met.... :D
Burning again
Kell Babenco: Greetings. I am contacting you on behalf of Damanios Thetan. Damanios is once again building the Temple for Burn2. You were the brilliant scriptor in the past for the Temple and message leaving device. Would you be able to help out one more time? I look forward to your reply. Kindest regards.Now, how can you turn down someone who calls you "brilliant"?!? ;)
Actually, I had told Poid Mahovlich once that I would burn anything Damanios builds. I've burned every Burning Life Temple that Dama had built. And there's no point in breaking the tradition now.
I thought that Kell meant for next year.... I was wrong. She meant for next month.
Burn2 starts on Oct 1. The Temple burn is scheduled around Oct 9, my RL birthday. I have reservations for a trip that week. And I have a lot of projects that I'm already juggling this month, including finishing the book, creating two more stereoscopy tutorials, doing my taxes, job-hunting, and lots of other little commitments.
But, this is significant to me. Burning the Temple is a spiritual rite. It is deeply meaningful in ways I cannot articulate. And being the one to burn it, I feel like a priestess. How can I turn down that honor?
Before anybody gets any ideas, I only committed to burn Temples that Dama builds. And he said this is the last time he's building a Temple for Burning Life / Burn2.
So there.
New [ad]venture
Okay, I'm back. It's been more than a year since I last posted here.
The past week was spent setting up VirtuaSapient, a new venture that will cover everything I do related to virtual reality worlds. That includes the book(s), the consultation, coaching, speaking, marketing, and, of course, the content creation.
The week prior was spent anguishing over the company name, registering a slew of domain names in the process, most of which I probably will never use now. And, naturally, I've had to create the associated email addresses, websites, Facebook accounts and pages, Twitter accounts, Second Life accounts, Blue Mars accounts. And then link them all together with gadgets and whatnot.
It's quasi-organized right now. There's a lot more content to be written, a company logo to design, a book cover concept to implement.
But I'm rediscovering some school friends with my new Facebook account because only a few knew about my nickname, which I used with my original Facebook account. But now, in spite of what Facebook prefers, I have three accounts: my original personal account, my Second Life account, and my new professional account.
I swear I'm the Internet Sasquatch. I have a big footprint.
And now that I've outed my (formerly mostly anonymous) main persona in Second Life, people who knew me only in real life would find out what I have really been up to the past four and a half years, and people who knew me only in Second Life would find out out what I have been up to before Second Life. I would probably shock the first group more, but both groups would probably be surprised.
Here I am, laid bare to all the online world. But at least, nobody can blackmail me anymore, because, well, it's all public information. :D
So, why don't I integrate all of them into one personal brand? Well, it's very difficult to sell a company that is tightly bound with your personal brand. And the idea behind selling a company is so you can move on to something else. At least, that's what I'd probably do, being well aware of my tendency to get bored every few years.
I'm reading a book called "Crush It!" by Gary Vaynerchuk (a gift from the Quantum Leap program by Steve Harrison), and Gary proposes that your business and your personal brand should be the same. And for your followers to know everyday information about you is better because you become three-dimensional to them. I agree wholeheartedly.
However, I also know that I tend to hit that Too Much Information boundary with a lot of people, so I'm giving friends a choice of my personal FB if they can handle the dirty laundry, or my professional FB if they prefer to stick with the "safe" conversation topics, or my Second Life persona FB if they don't really care to know about my real life.
After all, a lot of people *do* go into Second Life to take a break from real life. Or maybe they just prefer to think of me as a seven-foot-tall redheaded glamazon Barbie. Whatever makes people happy. Hey, even *I* prefer to think of myself as a seven-foot-tall redheaded glamazon Barbie.
The reason I'm outing Opal is because the book I'm writing is based on experiences I had as her. And it would just seem a disconnect if people didn't see the side of me where that came from. And that's where the shock would come from. I'm sure people never thought of me that way. Heck, five years ago, *I* never thought of me that way.
But one of the benefits of anonymity is that it gives you courage to try things you may never dare to do, because you have been cornered into a restricted sense of self that is very difficult to break out of, until you take on a new identity. So, in the past four and a half years, I have been able to pay attention to and develop many sides of me without worrying what people would think.
And, in a sense, I bloomed. I thrived. I found full expression of hidden parts of me, like my creativity and, yes, even my sensuality.
I've never truly lived until I lived in Second Life.
Ironically, my world has expanded tremendously while sitting in my office chair. My life has been touched deeply and intimately by people from all over the world, even those who have to use a translator in order for us to communicate.
Complete anonymity on the internet is near impossible. And although I have several other alternate personas (or alts) in Second Life that are still anonymous, I don't delude myself that they won't be outed eventually. But I know that most people would be respectful enough to allow me space to be.
There'll be lots more to discuss about this blending of realities, but I'm on two deadlines in three weeks, so I'll blog when I can, either here or in Opal's or in Twitter/Facebook. Somewhere. :)
The past week was spent setting up VirtuaSapient, a new venture that will cover everything I do related to virtual reality worlds. That includes the book(s), the consultation, coaching, speaking, marketing, and, of course, the content creation.
The week prior was spent anguishing over the company name, registering a slew of domain names in the process, most of which I probably will never use now. And, naturally, I've had to create the associated email addresses, websites, Facebook accounts and pages, Twitter accounts, Second Life accounts, Blue Mars accounts. And then link them all together with gadgets and whatnot.
It's quasi-organized right now. There's a lot more content to be written, a company logo to design, a book cover concept to implement.
But I'm rediscovering some school friends with my new Facebook account because only a few knew about my nickname, which I used with my original Facebook account. But now, in spite of what Facebook prefers, I have three accounts: my original personal account, my Second Life account, and my new professional account.
I swear I'm the Internet Sasquatch. I have a big footprint.
And now that I've outed my (formerly mostly anonymous) main persona in Second Life, people who knew me only in real life would find out what I have really been up to the past four and a half years, and people who knew me only in Second Life would find out out what I have been up to before Second Life. I would probably shock the first group more, but both groups would probably be surprised.
Here I am, laid bare to all the online world. But at least, nobody can blackmail me anymore, because, well, it's all public information. :D
So, why don't I integrate all of them into one personal brand? Well, it's very difficult to sell a company that is tightly bound with your personal brand. And the idea behind selling a company is so you can move on to something else. At least, that's what I'd probably do, being well aware of my tendency to get bored every few years.
I'm reading a book called "Crush It!" by Gary Vaynerchuk (a gift from the Quantum Leap program by Steve Harrison), and Gary proposes that your business and your personal brand should be the same. And for your followers to know everyday information about you is better because you become three-dimensional to them. I agree wholeheartedly.
However, I also know that I tend to hit that Too Much Information boundary with a lot of people, so I'm giving friends a choice of my personal FB if they can handle the dirty laundry, or my professional FB if they prefer to stick with the "safe" conversation topics, or my Second Life persona FB if they don't really care to know about my real life.
After all, a lot of people *do* go into Second Life to take a break from real life. Or maybe they just prefer to think of me as a seven-foot-tall redheaded glamazon Barbie. Whatever makes people happy. Hey, even *I* prefer to think of myself as a seven-foot-tall redheaded glamazon Barbie.
The reason I'm outing Opal is because the book I'm writing is based on experiences I had as her. And it would just seem a disconnect if people didn't see the side of me where that came from. And that's where the shock would come from. I'm sure people never thought of me that way. Heck, five years ago, *I* never thought of me that way.
But one of the benefits of anonymity is that it gives you courage to try things you may never dare to do, because you have been cornered into a restricted sense of self that is very difficult to break out of, until you take on a new identity. So, in the past four and a half years, I have been able to pay attention to and develop many sides of me without worrying what people would think.
And, in a sense, I bloomed. I thrived. I found full expression of hidden parts of me, like my creativity and, yes, even my sensuality.
I've never truly lived until I lived in Second Life.
Ironically, my world has expanded tremendously while sitting in my office chair. My life has been touched deeply and intimately by people from all over the world, even those who have to use a translator in order for us to communicate.
Complete anonymity on the internet is near impossible. And although I have several other alternate personas (or alts) in Second Life that are still anonymous, I don't delude myself that they won't be outed eventually. But I know that most people would be respectful enough to allow me space to be.
There'll be lots more to discuss about this blending of realities, but I'm on two deadlines in three weeks, so I'll blog when I can, either here or in Opal's or in Twitter/Facebook. Somewhere. :)
Teach what you know
Years ago, I approached Ana Forrest at the end of one of her yoga seminars in Seattle. I was considering being a yoga teacher on the side, but I didn't feel ready. I felt I had a long way to go in my own yoga practice before I could start training as a yoga teacher. I expressed my concern and her response struck me. She said, "Teach what you know."
I am at that junction again. I'm at the start of a marketing venture, learning about network marketing myself, and knowing that I'll have to teach people about it.
But what do I know? Two months into this venture and I've read many articles and blogs and a book about network marketing. So many advice floating around, all saying the same things, all selling their own "system". All of them differentiating themselves by saying they don't do it the traditional way. And they claim that, if you buy into their system, you'll distinguish yourself as an expert. How can you be distinguished from the other "experts" if you're buying into a turn-key marketing system?
So far, all I've really learned are these things:
We've seen the power of the web. We've seen how blogging and self-publishing online is now threatening the paper-based publications. I think network marketing has the potential to do the same in the marketing field.
Certainly, network marketing has been around for centuries. But network marketing on the internet is a recent development and it's still a big jumble out there. I don't think people have really figured it out yet. If they have, it would be easy to teach and duplicate. However, that's a good thing. An industry in its infancy (in this case, again) holds great potential.
So, we observe and we experiment and we learn. And we teach what we learn.
I am at that junction again. I'm at the start of a marketing venture, learning about network marketing myself, and knowing that I'll have to teach people about it.
But what do I know? Two months into this venture and I've read many articles and blogs and a book about network marketing. So many advice floating around, all saying the same things, all selling their own "system". All of them differentiating themselves by saying they don't do it the traditional way. And they claim that, if you buy into their system, you'll distinguish yourself as an expert. How can you be distinguished from the other "experts" if you're buying into a turn-key marketing system?
So far, all I've really learned are these things:
- I'm working with a very good company. Several people have told me so, fellow network marketers who are in other companies themselves.
- Network marketing is less about about marketing the company and the products, and more about marketing yourself.
- Network marketing is a highly competitive market.
We've seen the power of the web. We've seen how blogging and self-publishing online is now threatening the paper-based publications. I think network marketing has the potential to do the same in the marketing field.
Certainly, network marketing has been around for centuries. But network marketing on the internet is a recent development and it's still a big jumble out there. I don't think people have really figured it out yet. If they have, it would be easy to teach and duplicate. However, that's a good thing. An industry in its infancy (in this case, again) holds great potential.
So, we observe and we experiment and we learn. And we teach what we learn.
BL09 - Hallowed virtual ground
First, a brief background about my involvement with Burning Life. I joined in 2007 as part of the Interactive Architects team and ended up being the scripter for the burn of the Man and the Temple that year. In 2008, I was asked to burn the Temple again, which was all I got done due to a death in the family that took me outside the US. In March this year, Poid Mahovlich asked me again to join the Temple crew and she said she also got Damanios Thetan to join again. Dama built the previous temples and I am honored to burn anything Dama builds. And I'm sure I'm not the only Damanios Thetan groupie out there.
Yesterday, Dusty Linden contacted me to invite me to today's kick-off meeting. She heard from Dama that we had both agreed to work on the Temple.
After the meeting today, I had a brief chat with Dama and he mentioned that he was expecting to receive "a notecard with stage demands" because the "temple is being used more as an events stage this year". My reaction was "Nooooooo". I had to talk to Dusty soon after that convo.
I told her, "I thought that the reason the burning of the Man is separate from the burning of the Temple is that the burning of the Man is more of a party atmosphere and the burning of the Temple is very solemn." My point was that the Temple is hallowed ground. It is not the place for partying.
Dusty clarified that "the idea is not to design a temple that is a stage... it's to incorporate performance space into the plan... so that we can make it the focus of all the fire related activities". When I asked if all the fire-related activities were solemn, we got into a discussion about what "solemn" means. It seems that she associates solemnity with sadness, and I disagreed with that definition.
She added that the Temple is a place to be spiritual and I agree with that. Her reasoning for doing fire events at the Temple is because "fire is an ancient ritual among us humans ;-) ... tends to evoke the spirit". I agree that fire is used in ancient rituals, however, fire is not always spiritual. As an example, I mentioned that fireworks on the 4th of July is not spiritual. In fact, the burning of the Man itself is not considered spiritual.
She finally admitted that "Basically, we wanted Yman to be able to have a pole star for her fire performances... and the drummers always ebed up there drumming... and where the drummers ars are , the fire dancing begins" [sic]. I think her logic broke down there.
I won't even ask why Yman is so special that her group gets to perform at the Temple, the most hallowed ground in all 34 sims. Or why the drummers couldn't be moved.
My question is: Do we behave differently inside hallowed spaces if they're virtual?
Even those of us who are not religious ourselves understand that temples and other places of worship are for religious rites and for quiet contemplation. When we go in, we behave a certain way, out of respect. If I were to enter a Buddhist temple, I would take my shoes off, out of respect. If I were to enter a Moslem mosque, I would cover my head with a veil, out of respect. If I were to enter a Catholic cathedral, I would briefly kneel on one knee before sitting quietly in a pew, out of respect. Even if I were an atheist, I would not go to those places and start fireworks and talk loudly and play loud music and have a party. No, I show respect for the people who go there to commune with their God.
Why then are we showing disrespect in a Temple simply because it's virtual?
Yesterday, Dusty Linden contacted me to invite me to today's kick-off meeting. She heard from Dama that we had both agreed to work on the Temple.
After the meeting today, I had a brief chat with Dama and he mentioned that he was expecting to receive "a notecard with stage demands" because the "temple is being used more as an events stage this year". My reaction was "Nooooooo". I had to talk to Dusty soon after that convo.
I told her, "I thought that the reason the burning of the Man is separate from the burning of the Temple is that the burning of the Man is more of a party atmosphere and the burning of the Temple is very solemn." My point was that the Temple is hallowed ground. It is not the place for partying.
Dusty clarified that "the idea is not to design a temple that is a stage... it's to incorporate performance space into the plan... so that we can make it the focus of all the fire related activities". When I asked if all the fire-related activities were solemn, we got into a discussion about what "solemn" means. It seems that she associates solemnity with sadness, and I disagreed with that definition.
She added that the Temple is a place to be spiritual and I agree with that. Her reasoning for doing fire events at the Temple is because "fire is an ancient ritual among us humans ;-) ... tends to evoke the spirit". I agree that fire is used in ancient rituals, however, fire is not always spiritual. As an example, I mentioned that fireworks on the 4th of July is not spiritual. In fact, the burning of the Man itself is not considered spiritual.
She finally admitted that "Basically, we wanted Yman to be able to have a pole star for her fire performances... and the drummers always ebed up there drumming... and where the drummers ars are , the fire dancing begins" [sic]. I think her logic broke down there.
I won't even ask why Yman is so special that her group gets to perform at the Temple, the most hallowed ground in all 34 sims. Or why the drummers couldn't be moved.
My question is: Do we behave differently inside hallowed spaces if they're virtual?
Even those of us who are not religious ourselves understand that temples and other places of worship are for religious rites and for quiet contemplation. When we go in, we behave a certain way, out of respect. If I were to enter a Buddhist temple, I would take my shoes off, out of respect. If I were to enter a Moslem mosque, I would cover my head with a veil, out of respect. If I were to enter a Catholic cathedral, I would briefly kneel on one knee before sitting quietly in a pew, out of respect. Even if I were an atheist, I would not go to those places and start fireworks and talk loudly and play loud music and have a party. No, I show respect for the people who go there to commune with their God.
Why then are we showing disrespect in a Temple simply because it's virtual?
SLCC 2009 - Sunday
This was a quieter day. Fewer people were around since there were fewer presentations today.
I caught the second half of the Project Management presentation in the business track, and I'm thinking of working on a version control tool for objects.
I also caught the second half of the Building a Community session in the fashion track, but I didn't learn much there and the talks tended to go off on a tangent.
At noon, I rushed over to the Avatar Design session, which turned out to be presented by Kaz, whom I met yesterday. We got a good look at her new Dravyn Hatchling project. Her work is very impressive and she makes it sound easy to make. Artists of her caliber are the ones who are changing the face of Second Life by bringing professional game quality into SL.
As I headed to the registration area to look for the location of the next session I wanted, I met Ina Centaur coming up the stairs and she turned around to ask for a picture with both of us. She wanted pictures with the women of Second Life. I think I ruined that picture. :D
Then off I went to the Benefits of Virtual Worlds for the Physically Disabled, and I saw JanythKU Techsan by the door. Janyth did the presentaion on online learning in the education track last Friday, but as I was reading through the bios later, I realized she was also Saxet Uralia, whom I met at Burning Life 2007 and who is still in my friends list. So I went to say hi and she gave me a hug after she read my name tag.
Inside the room, I found Ina Centaur again and Mia Kitchensink, who turned out to be a close friend of JamesLarken Supply, the presenter. I (as my main alt) know James only in passing, since he also used to go to Capos Calderwood's shows frequently. It was a very informative session from a disabled person's standpoint. I wanted to say hi to James at the end, but I had to rush off to catch the bus to the Exploratorium.
I overheard the doorman give instructions to someone else for the #30 bus stop. As Patio said, it was only a couple of blocks away. As I was waiting, I saw Simon again. Simon is the man who went to the wrong hotel and attended our convention instead of the one he intended to go to. He was with LizaJune Stoop, who is building a historical virtual museum in SL; I offered to help.
We arrived a bit late, but the group was still near the front, and more people arrived after us too. (We got in free, being guests of Patio.) I won't talk about the exhibits, but, hearing Patio talk about the concepts behind them, it sounded as though we were in Wonderland. It's like being a child again.
Most of our group stayed behind with Patio after the bells rang to indicate that the museum was closing. And he continued to show us a few more things. In the end, he offered to reveal the secret to seeing polarized light (this was after discussing an exhibit that involved polarized light), but he warned that after you learn it, you can't unlearn it, so you would see a bowtie shape everytime you look at a monitor screen.
Well, I had to know. Eshi (whom I just noticed towards the end) also wanted to know, but she left before Patio revealed how to do it. Well, learning how to see it is different from learning to actually see it. So, all I've learned is the method. I have yet to apply the method. And, if you're curious about the method, send IM to Patio Plasma in-world and tell him you found the teaser on Treasure Box's blog. :)
On our way back to the bus, I chatted with Simon briefly until we had to cross the street. He wanted to stay and look around the lake for a while before heading back. But before we left, he asked us to sign his Avenue magazine copy as a souvenir. (Liza was chatting with a British lady who went off on her own while we were signing the magazine.) Then Liza and I met two more people near the bus stop -- GG Writer, who is also a teacher, and DrawDweeb Latte, with whom we exchanged tips about building classes. DrawDweeb learned to build in a class given by NCI. I told him about Primtionary. And when I asked if he had been to the Ivory Tower of Prims, he took out his iPhone to take notes and he said, "This is why I need to go to conventions." :D
I caught the second half of the Project Management presentation in the business track, and I'm thinking of working on a version control tool for objects.
I also caught the second half of the Building a Community session in the fashion track, but I didn't learn much there and the talks tended to go off on a tangent.
At noon, I rushed over to the Avatar Design session, which turned out to be presented by Kaz, whom I met yesterday. We got a good look at her new Dravyn Hatchling project. Her work is very impressive and she makes it sound easy to make. Artists of her caliber are the ones who are changing the face of Second Life by bringing professional game quality into SL.
As I headed to the registration area to look for the location of the next session I wanted, I met Ina Centaur coming up the stairs and she turned around to ask for a picture with both of us. She wanted pictures with the women of Second Life. I think I ruined that picture. :D
Then off I went to the Benefits of Virtual Worlds for the Physically Disabled, and I saw JanythKU Techsan by the door. Janyth did the presentaion on online learning in the education track last Friday, but as I was reading through the bios later, I realized she was also Saxet Uralia, whom I met at Burning Life 2007 and who is still in my friends list. So I went to say hi and she gave me a hug after she read my name tag.
Inside the room, I found Ina Centaur again and Mia Kitchensink, who turned out to be a close friend of JamesLarken Supply, the presenter. I (as my main alt) know James only in passing, since he also used to go to Capos Calderwood's shows frequently. It was a very informative session from a disabled person's standpoint. I wanted to say hi to James at the end, but I had to rush off to catch the bus to the Exploratorium.
I overheard the doorman give instructions to someone else for the #30 bus stop. As Patio said, it was only a couple of blocks away. As I was waiting, I saw Simon again. Simon is the man who went to the wrong hotel and attended our convention instead of the one he intended to go to. He was with LizaJune Stoop, who is building a historical virtual museum in SL; I offered to help.
We arrived a bit late, but the group was still near the front, and more people arrived after us too. (We got in free, being guests of Patio.) I won't talk about the exhibits, but, hearing Patio talk about the concepts behind them, it sounded as though we were in Wonderland. It's like being a child again.
Most of our group stayed behind with Patio after the bells rang to indicate that the museum was closing. And he continued to show us a few more things. In the end, he offered to reveal the secret to seeing polarized light (this was after discussing an exhibit that involved polarized light), but he warned that after you learn it, you can't unlearn it, so you would see a bowtie shape everytime you look at a monitor screen.
Well, I had to know. Eshi (whom I just noticed towards the end) also wanted to know, but she left before Patio revealed how to do it. Well, learning how to see it is different from learning to actually see it. So, all I've learned is the method. I have yet to apply the method. And, if you're curious about the method, send IM to Patio Plasma in-world and tell him you found the teaser on Treasure Box's blog. :)
On our way back to the bus, I chatted with Simon briefly until we had to cross the street. He wanted to stay and look around the lake for a while before heading back. But before we left, he asked us to sign his Avenue magazine copy as a souvenir. (Liza was chatting with a British lady who went off on her own while we were signing the magazine.) Then Liza and I met two more people near the bus stop -- GG Writer, who is also a teacher, and DrawDweeb Latte, with whom we exchanged tips about building classes. DrawDweeb learned to build in a class given by NCI. I told him about Primtionary. And when I asked if he had been to the Ivory Tower of Prims, he took out his iPhone to take notes and he said, "This is why I need to go to conventions." :D
SLCC 2009 - Saturday
Another amazing day. Met more old friends and met lots of new friends.
My body decided that it would not stand for a shortage of sleep three days in a row, so I slept til after 9pm and I missed all of the morning sessions, including a talk by Philip Rosedale, so I guess I lost my chance to shake his hand.
More old friends
The first session I attended was Patio Plasma's session "Building Interactive Science Exhibits" in the education track. I arrived early and the next person to arrive in the room was a lady in pink with whom I had a brief exchange about power outlets in the room. When Patio arrived, I went over to introduce myself and revealed my main alt's name, whom he knew. And as we were chatting, he mentioned he was going to take out his partner later in the evening and therefore was going to miss the Musicians Ball. His partner Emileigh Starbrook is a long-time friend. And I realized he was referring to the lady in pink in the back. Oh, my god. I had to rush over and give her a big hug. And we caught up on news a bit until Patio had to start.
Patio is giving a tour of the real-life Exploratorium tomorrow (Sunday) at 3pm and I'm going to try to make it.
Afterwards, I went back to the business track and caught a panel of content developers talking about best practices, followed by impromptu talks by a few inworld entrepreneurs who talked about their businesses. I guess the "Standards" session was cancelled. In between the talks, I chatted with my tablemate Karina Linden, who is a developer based in Seattle and a fairly new resident. (I've met a few Lindens this weekend.)
More acquaintances and more new friends at dinner
The final session I attended in the evening was a workshop that Bettina Tizzy led. I saw Chenin Anabuki whom I know by reputation but never had much chance to chat with, so went over to join his table. Then we were joined by more people, including a man who went to the wrong hotel (he meant to go to another Westin hotel for another conference and decided to stay and participate). Then the nearby table joined us and we became an even bigger group. Our group's task was to come up with a few points regarding object permissions in SL.
During the presentations, Bettina talked about Siefert Surface and she motioned towards my neighbor. Siefert had referred me to planet textures that I needed a couple of years ago to make a Christmas ornament for the International Spaceflight Museum. Of course, he doesn't remember the incident.
Afterwards, I got a chance to introduce myself to Chenin and we talked about Avatrian and how he got started. Then two ladies who were sitting next to me at the table invited us to join them for dinner and we were supposed to meet up in the lobby at 6:30. I was at the lobby early and found others in our table and I assumed that it was the same group.
So we hopped on a couple of cabs (the two ladies and Chenin were nowhere to be found, unfortunately). I was in the cab with Bettina (I finally got to meet her), Mark Slate, and Cinco (I didn't get a chance to catch his last name). Mark sat to my left and we had a great conversation about the old SL (he joined in 2003). To my right was Pascale Illyer and we chatted about content I make. Across from Mark sat Kazuhiro Aridian who makes avatars. Next to her sat Siefert and Tezcatlipoca Bisiani, who did the presentation for our group.
It turned out that the outing was planned by Bettina and Hamlet Au. It was a Mexican restaurant and -- *sigh* -- I forget the name already, which is unfortunate because their carnitas were good.
The Musician's Ball
Mark had to get home, so he said goodnight as we left the restaurant, but not before he said the hotel was only a mile away. Some of us decided to walk instead of taking a cab. Silly me, I was walking with a group of young people. Thankfully, they didn't walk too fast. Siefert said goodnight several blocks from the hotel and walked in the opposite direction. Pascale, Kaz, Tez, and Cinco (I think that was Cinco) lingered near the entrance of the grand ballroom before deciding to join Hamlet's table near the back. But I said hi to Capos and TG (who was wearing a blue bandana and flower stamps on his cheeks and hands for the 60s theme). Dallas walked by sporting a long tee that had a drawing of leopard bikinis, a throwback to her leopard thong shtik in late 2006.
I met more people in the course of the evening -- Mia Kitchensink, Nassus Dumart, Lyndon Heart (whom I had seen both inworld and in Seattle when Capos and TG visited, but never formally met). Meanwhile, I got to chat with the group I was with. Tez and Kaz logged in and showed us their avatars.
I decided to stay until Capos's and TG's performances and Capos's first song was dedicated to me (woohoo!). It's the same song he usually dedicates to my alt everytime I come to his shows. I even went up front with EvaMoon and other ladies to stand in front of Capos and wave our arms in rhythm. Later, I got a real-life kazoo to blow when TG sang his "Analog Guy" song.
After TG's show, I said my goodbyes and headed home.
A critical decision
This weekend has been an incredible experience. It's more than just the sessions, although I learned quite a bit in them. It's really about the people -- the new friendships forged and, especially, the old friendships cemented, simply by seeing the real faces of the people behind the avatars. And there is something extraordinarily heartwarming about seeing a face light up after finding out who you are, followed by arms spreading wide for a hug. It is those moments that I will always remember about this SLCC, my first and most certainly not my last.
But during the day, I have made a decision, one that would significantly change my SL. My main alt will no longer be anonymous. I won't advertise my RL identity with her as I do with Treasure, but I won't take extra measures to hide it either.
My body decided that it would not stand for a shortage of sleep three days in a row, so I slept til after 9pm and I missed all of the morning sessions, including a talk by Philip Rosedale, so I guess I lost my chance to shake his hand.
More old friends
The first session I attended was Patio Plasma's session "Building Interactive Science Exhibits" in the education track. I arrived early and the next person to arrive in the room was a lady in pink with whom I had a brief exchange about power outlets in the room. When Patio arrived, I went over to introduce myself and revealed my main alt's name, whom he knew. And as we were chatting, he mentioned he was going to take out his partner later in the evening and therefore was going to miss the Musicians Ball. His partner Emileigh Starbrook is a long-time friend. And I realized he was referring to the lady in pink in the back. Oh, my god. I had to rush over and give her a big hug. And we caught up on news a bit until Patio had to start.
Patio is giving a tour of the real-life Exploratorium tomorrow (Sunday) at 3pm and I'm going to try to make it.
Afterwards, I went back to the business track and caught a panel of content developers talking about best practices, followed by impromptu talks by a few inworld entrepreneurs who talked about their businesses. I guess the "Standards" session was cancelled. In between the talks, I chatted with my tablemate Karina Linden, who is a developer based in Seattle and a fairly new resident. (I've met a few Lindens this weekend.)
More acquaintances and more new friends at dinner
The final session I attended in the evening was a workshop that Bettina Tizzy led. I saw Chenin Anabuki whom I know by reputation but never had much chance to chat with, so went over to join his table. Then we were joined by more people, including a man who went to the wrong hotel (he meant to go to another Westin hotel for another conference and decided to stay and participate). Then the nearby table joined us and we became an even bigger group. Our group's task was to come up with a few points regarding object permissions in SL.
During the presentations, Bettina talked about Siefert Surface and she motioned towards my neighbor. Siefert had referred me to planet textures that I needed a couple of years ago to make a Christmas ornament for the International Spaceflight Museum. Of course, he doesn't remember the incident.
Afterwards, I got a chance to introduce myself to Chenin and we talked about Avatrian and how he got started. Then two ladies who were sitting next to me at the table invited us to join them for dinner and we were supposed to meet up in the lobby at 6:30. I was at the lobby early and found others in our table and I assumed that it was the same group.
So we hopped on a couple of cabs (the two ladies and Chenin were nowhere to be found, unfortunately). I was in the cab with Bettina (I finally got to meet her), Mark Slate, and Cinco (I didn't get a chance to catch his last name). Mark sat to my left and we had a great conversation about the old SL (he joined in 2003). To my right was Pascale Illyer and we chatted about content I make. Across from Mark sat Kazuhiro Aridian who makes avatars. Next to her sat Siefert and Tezcatlipoca Bisiani, who did the presentation for our group.
It turned out that the outing was planned by Bettina and Hamlet Au. It was a Mexican restaurant and -- *sigh* -- I forget the name already, which is unfortunate because their carnitas were good.
The Musician's Ball
Mark had to get home, so he said goodnight as we left the restaurant, but not before he said the hotel was only a mile away. Some of us decided to walk instead of taking a cab. Silly me, I was walking with a group of young people. Thankfully, they didn't walk too fast. Siefert said goodnight several blocks from the hotel and walked in the opposite direction. Pascale, Kaz, Tez, and Cinco (I think that was Cinco) lingered near the entrance of the grand ballroom before deciding to join Hamlet's table near the back. But I said hi to Capos and TG (who was wearing a blue bandana and flower stamps on his cheeks and hands for the 60s theme). Dallas walked by sporting a long tee that had a drawing of leopard bikinis, a throwback to her leopard thong shtik in late 2006.
I met more people in the course of the evening -- Mia Kitchensink, Nassus Dumart, Lyndon Heart (whom I had seen both inworld and in Seattle when Capos and TG visited, but never formally met). Meanwhile, I got to chat with the group I was with. Tez and Kaz logged in and showed us their avatars.
I decided to stay until Capos's and TG's performances and Capos's first song was dedicated to me (woohoo!). It's the same song he usually dedicates to my alt everytime I come to his shows. I even went up front with EvaMoon and other ladies to stand in front of Capos and wave our arms in rhythm. Later, I got a real-life kazoo to blow when TG sang his "Analog Guy" song.
After TG's show, I said my goodbyes and headed home.
A critical decision
This weekend has been an incredible experience. It's more than just the sessions, although I learned quite a bit in them. It's really about the people -- the new friendships forged and, especially, the old friendships cemented, simply by seeing the real faces of the people behind the avatars. And there is something extraordinarily heartwarming about seeing a face light up after finding out who you are, followed by arms spreading wide for a hug. It is those moments that I will always remember about this SLCC, my first and most certainly not my last.
But during the day, I have made a decision, one that would significantly change my SL. My main alt will no longer be anonymous. I won't advertise my RL identity with her as I do with Treasure, but I won't take extra measures to hide it either.
SLCC 2009 - Friday
This was a great day! I've learned a lot in the sessions, but what's amazing was meeting more people I've known for a couple of years or so. And I realized that the Second Life community is really small. Well, at least the hard-core community, those of use who are serious about the platform.
Business track: SL pay rates
After finding the schedule online (which was difficult, by the way, and is surprisingly found in slconvention.Ning.com, instead of in the Second Life official web), I decided I wanted to focus on the Business Track, but I was also interested in a few other sessions in the other tracks. So, in the morning (I got up too late to catch the keynote speech by Ray Kurzweil), I went to a couple of sessions in the business track. The first one was a panel discussion on why pay rate tends to be very low in Second Life compared to real life pay rates. Unfortunately, the panelists mostly had the why's, but not much on how to bring it up to real world rates, or, in fact, whether it *should* be on par with real world rates. It was a very good group of panelists who made great observations and insights on the why's, but it seems that we're all focused on the business owner's side of things. What I think we need is more economists looking from a higher perspective and analyzing the effects of pay rates on the future of the SL economy. It is a complex issue and there may not be a "right answer".
During the session, a young man, who seemed very familiar, walked in, and it took me a couple of seconds to remember where I've seen him before. It was Philip Rosedale! I had not seen him before in person, only in video, but it's surprising that the brain makes these strong connections. I guess it *does* make a compelling case for internet marketing, but that's a discussion for another day's blog.
The second session was more about the enterprise and SL, and I wasn't as much interested in it as I used to be. To be honest, I think Linden Lab is disproportionately focused on its enterprise customer, which I think they define as large corporations or organizations. That's understandable, there's more money there. However, in the current economy, the number of small- to medium-sized companies is growing, especially as people turn to self-employment after the layoffs in the past year. So, I think LL should pay more attention to that segment precisely because SL is a great platform for micro-entrepreneurship. Sure, not many people make a living out if it yet, but at the same time, the investment and the risk are very low. Those of us building these micro-businesses inworld are learning business skills in an environment where making mistakes are not as costly as they would be in a real-life venture.
Second Life is a great incubator for business ideas. And it doesn't necessarily have to be a purely in-world business. Just take a look at the fashion industry, for instance; designers who had their start inside Second Life are branching out into real-world fashion.
Hugging old friends in the music track
Two more enterprise sessions were scheduled after that, so I decided to look for the location of the music track sessions. I knew that Capos Calderwood (Alex Whitmore) and TallGuy Kidd (Dale Marsh), both of whom I met while they were in Seattle last month, would be in the convention, so I decided to look for them and say hi. Sure enough, as I was standing in the hallway, Capos walked by. After a hug, I followed him to the room they were in and listened in on the presentation.
The first person I recognized was EvaMoon Ember who was sitting closest to the door. As Capos went up to the front to prepare for his presentation, I joined their table, and TG saw me before I saw him. He still calls me by my main alt's name. :D Long story short, I also met Apple McKay (whom I originally met at Burning Life 2007), Katydid Something (whom I met at Molaskey's Pub), Dallas Horsefly (whose shows I followed a long time ago before she took a break; in fact, I met Capos at one of her shows, and it was Capos who introduced me to TG, and they both performed at the grand opening of my SkyWheels Galleria). It was funny because I recognized Dallas by her voice.
Anyway, I learned a few techie things about streaming. Capos's talk was about equipment and I had actually talked to him about that a long while ago, when I was thinking of doing voiceovers for a machinima group. But I learned a number of things about streaming in Ed Lowell's presentation.
Although I never talked with Ed inworld, I have been to several of his shows and met a very dear friend in one of them. I also realized that there were several people in the room with very familiar SL names.
(And then, Philip walked in and sat down in the middle of the presentation. But, again, he didn't stay long. I think I'll make it my goal to shake the man's hand at least once this weekend.)
What I've noticed is that the SL music community is a very close-knit community. They're very collaborative and very supportive of each other. I've seen a collaboration among fashion designers inworld, but it was an orchestrated event and I get a sense of a greater competitive spirit among fashion designers, in general. But, again, that's a blog for another day.
As we were heading out to pick up boxed lunches, I made a comment that I was basically following the business track but all my friends were in the music track. CoolCat Maximus(?) overheard me and replied that I needed an alt. :D
We picked up a box lunch before returning to the room for a break-out session on one of the streaming services. Because I got distracted in the lunch area, the table I was in was already full, so I went to the next table and met Ethelred Weatherwax. He owns a museum both inworld and outworld and he was there to learn about streaming to his land.
Fashion distraction
Anyway, the reason I got delayed in the lunchroom were the two tables set up. There was one with Hamlet Au, and I wanted to say hi, but the closer table was Avenue, so I decided to go there first. I thought it would be a brief stop.
I met Eshi Otakawa. She's one of the high profile haute couture designers in SL, but her name was only vaguely familiar to me. (I know, I know, I really should be more aware of fashion names in SL.) Next to her was the chief of marketing for Avenue (and darn it, I forgot her name and I can't look it up in a chat log) and next to *her* was the founder of Avenue, Rusch Raymaker. I had a great chat with them about the business side of the fashion industry and marketing in SL in general.
I didn't even have the time to visit Hamlet's table, but I'll catch him yet.
Education track with an old acquaintance
A couple of years ago, a friend talked about bringing his alma mater into Second Life. I thought about that too with my own alma mater. I think SL is just a natural choice of platform for business students to try their hands on business building.
So, I attended a session by JanythKY Techsan who talked about using SL to enhance bonding among students in distance learning courses. We did an exercise in the beginning (making a sandcastle out of Play Doh) and ended up chatting with my table mates, Einstein Linden and his friend Jhung(?). Sure enough, after that exercise, it's obvious that group activities help people get to know each other.
Later in the day, as I was browsing through the bios of the speakers, I realized that Janyth's alt could be someone whom I had met in Burning Life 2007 as well, and who is even in my friends list. I'll have to confirm with her when I see her again.
Back to business
The last two sessions I attended were back in the business track again. One was about triggering as many different brain neurons as you can in order for customers to have a relationship with your brand. The presenter, Lesele Rose, seemed more like an anthropologist type in the way she teaches, and it's a refreshing change.
But my table also had interesting people in it. I met Winter Johin, who's a teacher both in and out of SL, and Marshall(?) and Bob. I didn't get a chance to find out more about Marshall, except that he used to live in the Bay Area (Winter used to live in LA), but they're now on the eastern coast. Bob lives in the Bay Area and, in fact, works near the St. Francis hotel, so it was just a short walk for him. I'll be contacting Winter again to chat more about education in SL too.
Note to self: I need to sharpen my memory again. I'm so used to depending on chat logs and notes in profiles to remind me of people I've talked to and what we talked about.
Finally, fashion again
The last session in the business track had Ina Centaur and Eshi talk about themselves and their fashion businesses. Ina's name is more familiar to me than Eshi's. Eshi's rise to celebrity status was a very interesting story and Ina's accomplishments were impressive. However, the title of the session was "Branding for a cause" and there was only a cursory mention of that topic. Even after asking a question about what they think made their brands stand out among the numerous other fashion designers in SL, they couldn't quite give an answer.
Eshi's fame was triggered by Bettina Tizzy's discovery of her and her fishhook dress, and by the Relay For Life auction that soon followed. It's a path to fame that's not quite reproduceable. And she did not *build* her brand; she just became one as a side-effect of being discovered. It's more about celebrity branding than business branding.
Ina has done several fundraisers for her SLShakespeare project, but she didn't talk about the relationship of those activities with building her brand.
The only takeaway I got from this session is that business owners should create something for auction for Relay for Life to get exposure.
I think these two young designers haven't yet analyzed what made them successful, but that insight will come with experience. After all, this platform is very new and things don't always work the same in the real world and in the virtual world. Although the basic business success factors are the same, there are other factors that could be surprisingly different. Yet again, a blog for another day. :)
Business track: SL pay rates
After finding the schedule online (which was difficult, by the way, and is surprisingly found in slconvention.Ning.com, instead of in the Second Life official web), I decided I wanted to focus on the Business Track, but I was also interested in a few other sessions in the other tracks. So, in the morning (I got up too late to catch the keynote speech by Ray Kurzweil), I went to a couple of sessions in the business track. The first one was a panel discussion on why pay rate tends to be very low in Second Life compared to real life pay rates. Unfortunately, the panelists mostly had the why's, but not much on how to bring it up to real world rates, or, in fact, whether it *should* be on par with real world rates. It was a very good group of panelists who made great observations and insights on the why's, but it seems that we're all focused on the business owner's side of things. What I think we need is more economists looking from a higher perspective and analyzing the effects of pay rates on the future of the SL economy. It is a complex issue and there may not be a "right answer".
During the session, a young man, who seemed very familiar, walked in, and it took me a couple of seconds to remember where I've seen him before. It was Philip Rosedale! I had not seen him before in person, only in video, but it's surprising that the brain makes these strong connections. I guess it *does* make a compelling case for internet marketing, but that's a discussion for another day's blog.
The second session was more about the enterprise and SL, and I wasn't as much interested in it as I used to be. To be honest, I think Linden Lab is disproportionately focused on its enterprise customer, which I think they define as large corporations or organizations. That's understandable, there's more money there. However, in the current economy, the number of small- to medium-sized companies is growing, especially as people turn to self-employment after the layoffs in the past year. So, I think LL should pay more attention to that segment precisely because SL is a great platform for micro-entrepreneurship. Sure, not many people make a living out if it yet, but at the same time, the investment and the risk are very low. Those of us building these micro-businesses inworld are learning business skills in an environment where making mistakes are not as costly as they would be in a real-life venture.
Second Life is a great incubator for business ideas. And it doesn't necessarily have to be a purely in-world business. Just take a look at the fashion industry, for instance; designers who had their start inside Second Life are branching out into real-world fashion.
Hugging old friends in the music track
Two more enterprise sessions were scheduled after that, so I decided to look for the location of the music track sessions. I knew that Capos Calderwood (Alex Whitmore) and TallGuy Kidd (Dale Marsh), both of whom I met while they were in Seattle last month, would be in the convention, so I decided to look for them and say hi. Sure enough, as I was standing in the hallway, Capos walked by. After a hug, I followed him to the room they were in and listened in on the presentation.
The first person I recognized was EvaMoon Ember who was sitting closest to the door. As Capos went up to the front to prepare for his presentation, I joined their table, and TG saw me before I saw him. He still calls me by my main alt's name. :D Long story short, I also met Apple McKay (whom I originally met at Burning Life 2007), Katydid Something (whom I met at Molaskey's Pub), Dallas Horsefly (whose shows I followed a long time ago before she took a break; in fact, I met Capos at one of her shows, and it was Capos who introduced me to TG, and they both performed at the grand opening of my SkyWheels Galleria). It was funny because I recognized Dallas by her voice.
Anyway, I learned a few techie things about streaming. Capos's talk was about equipment and I had actually talked to him about that a long while ago, when I was thinking of doing voiceovers for a machinima group. But I learned a number of things about streaming in Ed Lowell's presentation.
Although I never talked with Ed inworld, I have been to several of his shows and met a very dear friend in one of them. I also realized that there were several people in the room with very familiar SL names.
(And then, Philip walked in and sat down in the middle of the presentation. But, again, he didn't stay long. I think I'll make it my goal to shake the man's hand at least once this weekend.)
What I've noticed is that the SL music community is a very close-knit community. They're very collaborative and very supportive of each other. I've seen a collaboration among fashion designers inworld, but it was an orchestrated event and I get a sense of a greater competitive spirit among fashion designers, in general. But, again, that's a blog for another day.
As we were heading out to pick up boxed lunches, I made a comment that I was basically following the business track but all my friends were in the music track. CoolCat Maximus(?) overheard me and replied that I needed an alt. :D
We picked up a box lunch before returning to the room for a break-out session on one of the streaming services. Because I got distracted in the lunch area, the table I was in was already full, so I went to the next table and met Ethelred Weatherwax. He owns a museum both inworld and outworld and he was there to learn about streaming to his land.
Fashion distraction
Anyway, the reason I got delayed in the lunchroom were the two tables set up. There was one with Hamlet Au, and I wanted to say hi, but the closer table was Avenue, so I decided to go there first. I thought it would be a brief stop.
I met Eshi Otakawa. She's one of the high profile haute couture designers in SL, but her name was only vaguely familiar to me. (I know, I know, I really should be more aware of fashion names in SL.) Next to her was the chief of marketing for Avenue (and darn it, I forgot her name and I can't look it up in a chat log) and next to *her* was the founder of Avenue, Rusch Raymaker. I had a great chat with them about the business side of the fashion industry and marketing in SL in general.
I didn't even have the time to visit Hamlet's table, but I'll catch him yet.
Education track with an old acquaintance
A couple of years ago, a friend talked about bringing his alma mater into Second Life. I thought about that too with my own alma mater. I think SL is just a natural choice of platform for business students to try their hands on business building.
So, I attended a session by JanythKY Techsan who talked about using SL to enhance bonding among students in distance learning courses. We did an exercise in the beginning (making a sandcastle out of Play Doh) and ended up chatting with my table mates, Einstein Linden and his friend Jhung(?). Sure enough, after that exercise, it's obvious that group activities help people get to know each other.
Later in the day, as I was browsing through the bios of the speakers, I realized that Janyth's alt could be someone whom I had met in Burning Life 2007 as well, and who is even in my friends list. I'll have to confirm with her when I see her again.
Back to business
The last two sessions I attended were back in the business track again. One was about triggering as many different brain neurons as you can in order for customers to have a relationship with your brand. The presenter, Lesele Rose, seemed more like an anthropologist type in the way she teaches, and it's a refreshing change.
But my table also had interesting people in it. I met Winter Johin, who's a teacher both in and out of SL, and Marshall(?) and Bob. I didn't get a chance to find out more about Marshall, except that he used to live in the Bay Area (Winter used to live in LA), but they're now on the eastern coast. Bob lives in the Bay Area and, in fact, works near the St. Francis hotel, so it was just a short walk for him. I'll be contacting Winter again to chat more about education in SL too.
Note to self: I need to sharpen my memory again. I'm so used to depending on chat logs and notes in profiles to remind me of people I've talked to and what we talked about.
Finally, fashion again
The last session in the business track had Ina Centaur and Eshi talk about themselves and their fashion businesses. Ina's name is more familiar to me than Eshi's. Eshi's rise to celebrity status was a very interesting story and Ina's accomplishments were impressive. However, the title of the session was "Branding for a cause" and there was only a cursory mention of that topic. Even after asking a question about what they think made their brands stand out among the numerous other fashion designers in SL, they couldn't quite give an answer.
Eshi's fame was triggered by Bettina Tizzy's discovery of her and her fishhook dress, and by the Relay For Life auction that soon followed. It's a path to fame that's not quite reproduceable. And she did not *build* her brand; she just became one as a side-effect of being discovered. It's more about celebrity branding than business branding.
Ina has done several fundraisers for her SLShakespeare project, but she didn't talk about the relationship of those activities with building her brand.
The only takeaway I got from this session is that business owners should create something for auction for Relay for Life to get exposure.
I think these two young designers haven't yet analyzed what made them successful, but that insight will come with experience. After all, this platform is very new and things don't always work the same in the real world and in the virtual world. Although the basic business success factors are the same, there are other factors that could be surprisingly different. Yet again, a blog for another day. :)
Nine plaid pajamas
The group that recruited me in this network marketing venture focused primarily on stay-at-home moms and dads. Their training focused on how to reach that market. In fact, their group name has "Mom" in it.
I don't have kids; therefore, marketing under that group name would make me feel uncomfortable. So, I decided to split off and focus on people who want to work online from anywhere.
Of course, I needed a catchy tag and Pajama Ventures™ was born.
"Dress for success! Wear pajamas!" :)
And the first activities I had to focus on was starting a website (www.pajamaventures.com), getting a team site up as well for people who join me, and a home base inside Second Life, since that's where I'd primarily market.
I also figured my team would need a "business suit" that fits in with our name, so I created pajamas. In nine plaid patterns. With the Pajama Ventures logo on the pockets.
Then it occurred to me that this is a marketing tool. So, why limit it to the team? Why not let everybody in the virtual world wear them and let people get familiar with our logo. Maybe they'll want to learn about us and what we do. So, I set out vendors inworld and put them on sale in XStreet for 1L each. The package includes a notecard inviting the buyers to get to know the Pajama Ventures team by requesting a one-on-one presentation.
I had two buyers in the first five minutes after I put it up on XStreet. 33 buyers in the first 24 hours. And it's still going.
Yes, I paid 899L (approximately US$3.40) for being featured in the front page of the marketplace for seven days. No, I won't make it back on 1L sales. :D And I don't expect to make it back; it's a marketing expense.
Logo merchandise has been created and sold both inworld and in the real world. I made these logo pajamas so that people would love to wear them in public without feeling like walking billboards. The design is conservative and discreet, and the quality is... well, you can judge for yourself.
Get your own copy here. Then fill out and send back the notecard, okay?
I don't have kids; therefore, marketing under that group name would make me feel uncomfortable. So, I decided to split off and focus on people who want to work online from anywhere.
Of course, I needed a catchy tag and Pajama Ventures™ was born.
"Dress for success! Wear pajamas!" :)
And the first activities I had to focus on was starting a website (www.pajamaventures.com), getting a team site up as well for people who join me, and a home base inside Second Life, since that's where I'd primarily market.
I also figured my team would need a "business suit" that fits in with our name, so I created pajamas. In nine plaid patterns. With the Pajama Ventures logo on the pockets.
Then it occurred to me that this is a marketing tool. So, why limit it to the team? Why not let everybody in the virtual world wear them and let people get familiar with our logo. Maybe they'll want to learn about us and what we do. So, I set out vendors inworld and put them on sale in XStreet for 1L each. The package includes a notecard inviting the buyers to get to know the Pajama Ventures team by requesting a one-on-one presentation.
I had two buyers in the first five minutes after I put it up on XStreet. 33 buyers in the first 24 hours. And it's still going.
Yes, I paid 899L (approximately US$3.40) for being featured in the front page of the marketplace for seven days. No, I won't make it back on 1L sales. :D And I don't expect to make it back; it's a marketing expense.
Logo merchandise has been created and sold both inworld and in the real world. I made these logo pajamas so that people would love to wear them in public without feeling like walking billboards. The design is conservative and discreet, and the quality is... well, you can judge for yourself.
Get your own copy here. Then fill out and send back the notecard, okay?
Transparency
In this blog, my tone is more professional, more serious. I have several other blogs, including personal ones, where I filter myself less. In fact, I used to have a Twitter feed in this blog and I removed it later because my tone in Twitter is different from my tone in this blog. I thought that my tweets about everyday things and travel didn't go along with the professionalism that I was trying to establish here.
Well, that's changing now.
I will still have some serious articles where it's appropriate to be serious, but this blog won't be uptight anymore, because it doesn't make sense.
In the past month, I've been reading a lot about network marketing in its diverse forms. There's something they call "attraction marketing". They say that you have to look like a leader for people to be attracted to you. Well, there are two problems there.
One, if you're pretending to be a leader ("fake it til you make it"), you already lost a very important ingredient in leadership -- integrity.
Two, it's a chicken-and-egg problem. They imply that, if you're not a leader, no one will follow you. But, if no one is following you, how can you call yourself a leader?
I think there's a better approach to attraction marketing.
People relate to others who are like them. We're not gonna be like everybody in the world, but there's always a common ground. If you're able to read this blog, you have a home, you have teeth, you have skin, you have hair, you have parents, you have friends, you think about finances, you care about your health, you have dreams.... Well, whadya know, so do I!
Okay, okay, I'm oversimplifying, but it's that common ground that attracts us to people.
In this new marketing venture, the company sells household and personal care products. Stuff we use everyday. Since we're also customers of those products, we use them everyday. So why not talk about everyday things, things that we have in common with a lot of people out there?
So, I'm putting back the Twitter feed. You'll see tweets about what I ate for lunch or how I removed a laundry stain in the same page where I post a serious blog about marketing in SL. But that's who I am. And the more of me I expose out there, the more likely people would find something in common with me.
Doesn't that make more sense than pretending to be a leader?
Well, that's changing now.
I will still have some serious articles where it's appropriate to be serious, but this blog won't be uptight anymore, because it doesn't make sense.
In the past month, I've been reading a lot about network marketing in its diverse forms. There's something they call "attraction marketing". They say that you have to look like a leader for people to be attracted to you. Well, there are two problems there.
One, if you're pretending to be a leader ("fake it til you make it"), you already lost a very important ingredient in leadership -- integrity.
Two, it's a chicken-and-egg problem. They imply that, if you're not a leader, no one will follow you. But, if no one is following you, how can you call yourself a leader?
I think there's a better approach to attraction marketing.
People relate to others who are like them. We're not gonna be like everybody in the world, but there's always a common ground. If you're able to read this blog, you have a home, you have teeth, you have skin, you have hair, you have parents, you have friends, you think about finances, you care about your health, you have dreams.... Well, whadya know, so do I!
Okay, okay, I'm oversimplifying, but it's that common ground that attracts us to people.
In this new marketing venture, the company sells household and personal care products. Stuff we use everyday. Since we're also customers of those products, we use them everyday. So why not talk about everyday things, things that we have in common with a lot of people out there?
So, I'm putting back the Twitter feed. You'll see tweets about what I ate for lunch or how I removed a laundry stain in the same page where I post a serious blog about marketing in SL. But that's who I am. And the more of me I expose out there, the more likely people would find something in common with me.
Doesn't that make more sense than pretending to be a leader?
What have I gotten myself into?
In the early 1980's, I purchased a set -- two large suitcases, to be exact -- of Princess House Crystal products. It was the demo kit for a multi-level marketing business. I was 18 years old, with no work experience, no car, and hardly the muscles to lug those things around. I probably made one presentation on a party with my mom's friends. And that was it. Well, I still have those two suitcases of crystalware somewhere in my pile of boxes in my living room.
Two days ago, on June 30th, I did it again. I signed up for what's now called "network marketing". Actually, it started earlier in the month when I was browsing sites for employment and, out of curiosity, found this ad about working at home. I went to the website and filled out the form. I was just curious.
The company that the Marketing Executive (that's what they're called) represented seemed like a good company. Before our online conference call, I did bare-minimum research on the company, like searching for complaints on Google (didn't find any on the first page) and going to the Better Business Bureau site (they're accredited), so I figured they're legit.
Well, you had to be a Preferred Customer to be a Marketing Executive and I found it hard to commit to purchasing a certain amount every month. Well, the quota is actually in product points and the $/point ratios are different with each product. Since I live alone, it is more difficult for me to justify making those purchases per month because I don't use as much products as a family of four would. So I told the Marketing Executive that I'd do some comparisons with store brands that I use and I'd contact her again later.
I procrastinated, of course. I had too many other things going on that were more time-sensitive. Then, she sent an email to her contacts that the enrollment fees were only $1 (instead of $29) only until the end of June. I still set it aside.
Meanwhile, the thought of working for someone else again gave me the chills, but I figured I had to keep going with the job search. Then, while searching for jobs in another site, I found another ad. Again, I responded. The marketer for this one sent me a link to a video that talks about the company and the business opportunity. Halfway through the video, I did research on the company and, sure enough, I found a lot of complaints on Google about them. Of course, there were also people defending the company, but their responses didn't seem convincing enough. So I replied back to her, thanked her, and told her I wasn't interested. However, along with that video of the company, she also sent me a link to a 3rd party site with a video about network marketing.
I've never heard network marketing explained that way before.
Now, it all made sense. In a legitimate network marketing business, everybody actually wins, including the end customer.
So, I did a couple of quick product comparisons and called up the Marketing Executive from the first company to sign up. To be honest, the comparisons were not that conclusive. I buy the cheapest brands, which may not be of equal quality as the products of this company, so it's kinda like comparing apples with oranges. Well, I guess I'll have to find out when I get the products in the mail.
Anyway, long story short, I signed up, put in my first order (which was required on the same day to get the $1 enrollment fee), and started reading up about the company and the products (because now I have access to the restricted area of the website). I went to bed at 5am.
Today (technically, yesterday), I went back to that 3rd party site (www.mlm-thewholetruth.com) to see what else I could learn about network marketing in general. I found other useful sites, including a charming story and a writeup on what attraction marketing is. I had to give up my email address, but it was worth it; I learned some things from those.
Of course, I also found a get-rich-quick scheme in one of the places I found and wasted a couple of hours on their videos and webpages that were mostly fluff and had little information.
You know, I have an MBA. If they would have allowed me to stay longer than the two years of the MBA program, I would have taken the time to take more Marketing classes. But, as it were, marketing was not one of my emphases. I'm learning marketing the hard way.
This post was reposted from another blog that I was going to start just for this business, but I decided to pull it back here, since I'll be using SL as a platform for this venture.
Two days ago, on June 30th, I did it again. I signed up for what's now called "network marketing". Actually, it started earlier in the month when I was browsing sites for employment and, out of curiosity, found this ad about working at home. I went to the website and filled out the form. I was just curious.
The company that the Marketing Executive (that's what they're called) represented seemed like a good company. Before our online conference call, I did bare-minimum research on the company, like searching for complaints on Google (didn't find any on the first page) and going to the Better Business Bureau site (they're accredited), so I figured they're legit.
Well, you had to be a Preferred Customer to be a Marketing Executive and I found it hard to commit to purchasing a certain amount every month. Well, the quota is actually in product points and the $/point ratios are different with each product. Since I live alone, it is more difficult for me to justify making those purchases per month because I don't use as much products as a family of four would. So I told the Marketing Executive that I'd do some comparisons with store brands that I use and I'd contact her again later.
I procrastinated, of course. I had too many other things going on that were more time-sensitive. Then, she sent an email to her contacts that the enrollment fees were only $1 (instead of $29) only until the end of June. I still set it aside.
Meanwhile, the thought of working for someone else again gave me the chills, but I figured I had to keep going with the job search. Then, while searching for jobs in another site, I found another ad. Again, I responded. The marketer for this one sent me a link to a video that talks about the company and the business opportunity. Halfway through the video, I did research on the company and, sure enough, I found a lot of complaints on Google about them. Of course, there were also people defending the company, but their responses didn't seem convincing enough. So I replied back to her, thanked her, and told her I wasn't interested. However, along with that video of the company, she also sent me a link to a 3rd party site with a video about network marketing.
I've never heard network marketing explained that way before.
Now, it all made sense. In a legitimate network marketing business, everybody actually wins, including the end customer.
So, I did a couple of quick product comparisons and called up the Marketing Executive from the first company to sign up. To be honest, the comparisons were not that conclusive. I buy the cheapest brands, which may not be of equal quality as the products of this company, so it's kinda like comparing apples with oranges. Well, I guess I'll have to find out when I get the products in the mail.
Anyway, long story short, I signed up, put in my first order (which was required on the same day to get the $1 enrollment fee), and started reading up about the company and the products (because now I have access to the restricted area of the website). I went to bed at 5am.
Today (technically, yesterday), I went back to that 3rd party site (www.mlm-thewholetruth.com) to see what else I could learn about network marketing in general. I found other useful sites, including a charming story and a writeup on what attraction marketing is. I had to give up my email address, but it was worth it; I learned some things from those.
Of course, I also found a get-rich-quick scheme in one of the places I found and wasted a couple of hours on their videos and webpages that were mostly fluff and had little information.
You know, I have an MBA. If they would have allowed me to stay longer than the two years of the MBA program, I would have taken the time to take more Marketing classes. But, as it were, marketing was not one of my emphases. I'm learning marketing the hard way.
This post was reposted from another blog that I was going to start just for this business, but I decided to pull it back here, since I'll be using SL as a platform for this venture.
Posterity in SL
I have seen a few art contests where the organizers take a Copy/Transfer texture of an artist's work and do with it as they please. Some artists don't think twice about it. Most of the time, artists assume that the texture would only be used for the competition and nothing else.
But contest organizers usually have sales in mind. They want to sell the pictures and make a commission out of it. And that's fine. In fact, the artist might even be happy about it.
Now, even in that situation, the problem comes in attribution of the work if the contest organizer applies that texture on a prim. What happens is that the prim would show the contest organizer as the creator of the object and, if the object is simply something that displays a texture, the entire work becomes attributed to the creator of the prim, which, in this case, is the contest organizer.
Certainly, the artist initially gets recognition because a placard with their name is displayed alongside the work during the exhibition. But after the work is sold, there is usually no record of the artist's name with the work. Long after the piece has been sold, would the purchaser even remember the artist's name? And inside SL, most people know to look at the creator of the object. So, people would normally assume that the creator of the object is also the artist. And, again in this case, that's wrong. So, nobody would know that the texture creator (the artist) is in fact *not* the object creator (the contest organizer). The contest organizer gets a reputation for being a great artist because of work that other people did.
Not all artists in SL are equal. Some have been in SL for a long time. Some are new to SL and were pulled in by the promise of exposure and sales inside SL. There may even be a few who don't even come into SL; they sell their work through agents, usually museum owners.
It's not even a matter of trust because a creator is required to give Copy/Transfer permissions to someone who would sell their product for them. It's not even fraud, because the artist willingly gives those permissions. It's a matter of preserving the integrity of the information about the art, specifically the attribution to the right person.
Every newbie knows how to slap a texture on a prim. There is no reason why contest organizers have to do this for artists. Every newbie knows how to set permissions on a prim. Since the artists are trusting the contest organizer with Copy/Transfer permissions, they can give modify permissions on the object too, so the object can be resized.
A warning, however: Even if you apply your textures on your own prims, don't let that give you a sense of security.
There are three ways to apply textures on a surface:
(1) By using the Edit tools to select the texture from your inventory and applying it to the prim.
(2) By dragging the texture(s) from your inventory to the prim's inventory (i.e.: the Contents tab of the Edit tool) and using a script to apply it to the surface(s).
(3) By using a script with the asset ID of the texture.
#1 is the most common way of applying textures. #2 is commonly used in objects that switch textures, like slideshow devices, but makes it easy to grab the textures from a modifiable object and apply them elsewhere depending on the texture permissions. #3 *can* be used a) legitimately, to protect your own textures by not putting them inside the object, or b) illegitimately, to apply "stolen" textures on the surfaces. For database performance, SL is designed so that the same texture with the same asset ID is saved only once in the database. And obtaining the asset ID of a texture is too easy inside SL.
Artist beware.
But contest organizers usually have sales in mind. They want to sell the pictures and make a commission out of it. And that's fine. In fact, the artist might even be happy about it.
Now, even in that situation, the problem comes in attribution of the work if the contest organizer applies that texture on a prim. What happens is that the prim would show the contest organizer as the creator of the object and, if the object is simply something that displays a texture, the entire work becomes attributed to the creator of the prim, which, in this case, is the contest organizer.
Certainly, the artist initially gets recognition because a placard with their name is displayed alongside the work during the exhibition. But after the work is sold, there is usually no record of the artist's name with the work. Long after the piece has been sold, would the purchaser even remember the artist's name? And inside SL, most people know to look at the creator of the object. So, people would normally assume that the creator of the object is also the artist. And, again in this case, that's wrong. So, nobody would know that the texture creator (the artist) is in fact *not* the object creator (the contest organizer). The contest organizer gets a reputation for being a great artist because of work that other people did.
Not all artists in SL are equal. Some have been in SL for a long time. Some are new to SL and were pulled in by the promise of exposure and sales inside SL. There may even be a few who don't even come into SL; they sell their work through agents, usually museum owners.
It's not even a matter of trust because a creator is required to give Copy/Transfer permissions to someone who would sell their product for them. It's not even fraud, because the artist willingly gives those permissions. It's a matter of preserving the integrity of the information about the art, specifically the attribution to the right person.
Every newbie knows how to slap a texture on a prim. There is no reason why contest organizers have to do this for artists. Every newbie knows how to set permissions on a prim. Since the artists are trusting the contest organizer with Copy/Transfer permissions, they can give modify permissions on the object too, so the object can be resized.
A warning, however: Even if you apply your textures on your own prims, don't let that give you a sense of security.
There are three ways to apply textures on a surface:
(1) By using the Edit tools to select the texture from your inventory and applying it to the prim.
(2) By dragging the texture(s) from your inventory to the prim's inventory (i.e.: the Contents tab of the Edit tool) and using a script to apply it to the surface(s).
(3) By using a script with the asset ID of the texture.
#1 is the most common way of applying textures. #2 is commonly used in objects that switch textures, like slideshow devices, but makes it easy to grab the textures from a modifiable object and apply them elsewhere depending on the texture permissions. #3 *can* be used a) legitimately, to protect your own textures by not putting them inside the object, or b) illegitimately, to apply "stolen" textures on the surfaces. For database performance, SL is designed so that the same texture with the same asset ID is saved only once in the database. And obtaining the asset ID of a texture is too easy inside SL.
Artist beware.
Large corporations building trust
I spoke about trust in virtual worlds, but I spoke primarily about trust between individuals. When a large corporation like Microsoft comes into Second Life, the same approach is necessary.
I remember a time when the name Microsoft brought up such passionately negative emotion in people, that employees were advised for their own safety to refrain from wearing Microsoft-branded merchandise in public. It was also during that time that employees were asked to participate in forums because customers tend to like individual employees, even though they hated the company as a whole.
In technology conferences and expositions, people meet Microsoft employees and feel better about the company based on one-on-one conversations with those individuals. Customers can ask questions directly and get a live response. Customers and company representatives have a real conversation, an exchange of information. As a result, the customers feel cared for and listened to, the employees get an unfiltered view of what the customers want, and the company builds goodwill.
There are ways for customers to reach employees online -- blogs and forums, for instance. But blogs tend to be one-sided broadcasts. Comments to blogs and tagging rarely develop into conversations. When they do, they tend to be short strings of exchanges, where each side simply takes their turn on the podium. Responses are edited and polished. Forums are more interactive, but, again, responses are edited and polished. And the asynchronicity makes the "conversation" disjointed.
Virtual worlds offer something closer to a spontaneous face-to-face meeting but with the cost-effectiveness and the convenience of online conversations. In a virtual world, it becomes warmer, more personal, more intimate.
And warmer, more personal, and more intimate are the right conditions for trust to develop in any interaction.
I remember a time when the name Microsoft brought up such passionately negative emotion in people, that employees were advised for their own safety to refrain from wearing Microsoft-branded merchandise in public. It was also during that time that employees were asked to participate in forums because customers tend to like individual employees, even though they hated the company as a whole.
In technology conferences and expositions, people meet Microsoft employees and feel better about the company based on one-on-one conversations with those individuals. Customers can ask questions directly and get a live response. Customers and company representatives have a real conversation, an exchange of information. As a result, the customers feel cared for and listened to, the employees get an unfiltered view of what the customers want, and the company builds goodwill.
There are ways for customers to reach employees online -- blogs and forums, for instance. But blogs tend to be one-sided broadcasts. Comments to blogs and tagging rarely develop into conversations. When they do, they tend to be short strings of exchanges, where each side simply takes their turn on the podium. Responses are edited and polished. Forums are more interactive, but, again, responses are edited and polished. And the asynchronicity makes the "conversation" disjointed.
Virtual worlds offer something closer to a spontaneous face-to-face meeting but with the cost-effectiveness and the convenience of online conversations. In a virtual world, it becomes warmer, more personal, more intimate.
And warmer, more personal, and more intimate are the right conditions for trust to develop in any interaction.
Trust in virtual worlds
It is amazing how we trust people online with so little to base that trust on. Trust is built even though we've never met each other in real life, even though we don't know much about the other person's background, even though we don't know what the other person looks like or sounds like, and, in most cases, even though we don't know the other person's real identity.
Trust is based on our interactions with the other person. It is based on our intuitions. It is based on our assumptions about the other person.
There is nothing more unfounded than the trust we give a stranger. Yet, somehow, we offer that trust. It's a trust in humanity itself. It is a trust that they are as trustworthy as we are. And most people prove themselves worthy of that trust.
Naturally, unbounded trust opens the door to deception. There will be a small minority who would take advantage of that trust and use it to benefit themselves to the detriment of the other person. That is true in real life as well, but virtual worlds - and the internet, in general, - make it easier for scammers.
However, developing trust is crucial in business relationships in real life and is just as critical in virtual worlds, if not more so. But how does one develop trusting relationships with other people in a virtual world? Networking. Interacting. Conversing. Sharing experiences. Creating experiences. It's how we develop our intuition about people. It's how we get a feel for their trustworthiness.
Just like in real life. But more cautiously.
Trust is based on our interactions with the other person. It is based on our intuitions. It is based on our assumptions about the other person.
There is nothing more unfounded than the trust we give a stranger. Yet, somehow, we offer that trust. It's a trust in humanity itself. It is a trust that they are as trustworthy as we are. And most people prove themselves worthy of that trust.
Naturally, unbounded trust opens the door to deception. There will be a small minority who would take advantage of that trust and use it to benefit themselves to the detriment of the other person. That is true in real life as well, but virtual worlds - and the internet, in general, - make it easier for scammers.
However, developing trust is crucial in business relationships in real life and is just as critical in virtual worlds, if not more so. But how does one develop trusting relationships with other people in a virtual world? Networking. Interacting. Conversing. Sharing experiences. Creating experiences. It's how we develop our intuition about people. It's how we get a feel for their trustworthiness.
Just like in real life. But more cautiously.
Do you speak English?
One of the great things about Second Life is the opportunity to chat with people around the world from different backgrounds. Since Linden Lab is based in the US, the default language in SL has been English, although there is a large number of sims that are primarily Italian or French or German or another language.
Most people, however, tend to speak English when conversing with people who don't speak their own language. Or they use the Babbler, which is a popular (but primitive) inworld translator using web-based dictionaries.
However, it is all too easy to assume that you're getting your point across just because you're both speaking English. Idioms, metaphors, and cultural references make our language more descriptive and help us communicate better. But when the other party does not understand the idioms, metaphors, and cultural references, the message becomes blurred instead.
Before the holidays, Poid Mahovlich was telling me about her Christmas jumper and how it was making her feel itchy. In the US, a "jumper" is an overall, typically a loose denim pair of pants with a bib-like top in front and two straps to go around the back. Apparently, a jumper is a thick knitted top with sleeves that you pull over your head, what US people call a "sweater."
When I advertised my 3D Tic-Tac-Toe, Absolut Paine (also from the UK) asked me if tic-tac-toe was the same as the game Noughts-And-Crosses. And after doing some research, I found out that it was.
The techniques we learn in communication classes -- clarifying what the other person meant, avoiding assumptions, giving the other person the benefit of a doubt -- are even more important in online communications. It takes longer, yes, but a misunderstanding that's corrected early saves time and effort in the long run.
Most people, however, tend to speak English when conversing with people who don't speak their own language. Or they use the Babbler, which is a popular (but primitive) inworld translator using web-based dictionaries.
However, it is all too easy to assume that you're getting your point across just because you're both speaking English. Idioms, metaphors, and cultural references make our language more descriptive and help us communicate better. But when the other party does not understand the idioms, metaphors, and cultural references, the message becomes blurred instead.
Before the holidays, Poid Mahovlich was telling me about her Christmas jumper and how it was making her feel itchy. In the US, a "jumper" is an overall, typically a loose denim pair of pants with a bib-like top in front and two straps to go around the back. Apparently, a jumper is a thick knitted top with sleeves that you pull over your head, what US people call a "sweater."
When I advertised my 3D Tic-Tac-Toe, Absolut Paine (also from the UK) asked me if tic-tac-toe was the same as the game Noughts-And-Crosses. And after doing some research, I found out that it was.
The techniques we learn in communication classes -- clarifying what the other person meant, avoiding assumptions, giving the other person the benefit of a doubt -- are even more important in online communications. It takes longer, yes, but a misunderstanding that's corrected early saves time and effort in the long run.
Virtualizing Visual Art
I have to apologize about the long absence. There are several reasons for that. The first reason being art. And that brings me to one of the items in my list of topics to talk about.
What pulled my attention from mid-August to early October is a virtualization of a real-life artist event -- Burning Man (www.burningman.org) irl was translated into Burning Life (www.burninglife.com) in SL. Artists coming together to create art for art's sake. A lot has been written about the two events, so I will not delve into that. I had never been to the real-life Burning Man, and I may never. The SL Burning Life was enough experience to last me a lifetime, and I'll leave it at that.
There are two classifications of art in Second Life:
* art created inside SL, including SL photography, and
* art created in the real world, which are mostly photographs and 2-D images imported into SL.
Gallery owners differentiate between the two and seem to have a preference for RL art and RL artists. To be honest, I think that's a snobbish attitude. It's akin to preferring a crappy oil painting to a breathtaking photograph, just because the painter took more time on the work or spent more money on materials.
Any week-old newbie knows how to import a texture, slap it on a prim, and resize that prim. Where's the creativity in that? Why not just upload the texture on a photo website, like Flickr, where it could get viewed by more eyeballs? Or submit it to a stock photo company and get paid much more than US$1 or US$2 for it?
I'm not saying that all RL art in SL are crappy. After all, I own a gallery, where I sell my own RL photographs, and I'm not about to admit my work is crappy. ;)
But, to a lot of artists, Second Life has become a new medium. And, if all you do is slap a texture on a prim, then you're not really taking advantage of the unique possibilities that a 3-D world affords you.
My first exposure to SL art is in the Second Louvre, where I discovered an array of amazing sculptures, made with a few types of prims. After having learned how to build and script pretty much anything, and after seeing countless other art by other artists, I'm still amazed how Starax Statosky can evoke emotion with a sculpture using only those few types of prims. Now that is creative genius.
What pulled my attention from mid-August to early October is a virtualization of a real-life artist event -- Burning Man (www.burningman.org) irl was translated into Burning Life (www.burninglife.com) in SL. Artists coming together to create art for art's sake. A lot has been written about the two events, so I will not delve into that. I had never been to the real-life Burning Man, and I may never. The SL Burning Life was enough experience to last me a lifetime, and I'll leave it at that.
There are two classifications of art in Second Life:
* art created inside SL, including SL photography, and
* art created in the real world, which are mostly photographs and 2-D images imported into SL.
Gallery owners differentiate between the two and seem to have a preference for RL art and RL artists. To be honest, I think that's a snobbish attitude. It's akin to preferring a crappy oil painting to a breathtaking photograph, just because the painter took more time on the work or spent more money on materials.
Any week-old newbie knows how to import a texture, slap it on a prim, and resize that prim. Where's the creativity in that? Why not just upload the texture on a photo website, like Flickr, where it could get viewed by more eyeballs? Or submit it to a stock photo company and get paid much more than US$1 or US$2 for it?
I'm not saying that all RL art in SL are crappy. After all, I own a gallery, where I sell my own RL photographs, and I'm not about to admit my work is crappy. ;)
But, to a lot of artists, Second Life has become a new medium. And, if all you do is slap a texture on a prim, then you're not really taking advantage of the unique possibilities that a 3-D world affords you.
My first exposure to SL art is in the Second Louvre, where I discovered an array of amazing sculptures, made with a few types of prims. After having learned how to build and script pretty much anything, and after seeing countless other art by other artists, I'm still amazed how Starax Statosky can evoke emotion with a sculpture using only those few types of prims. Now that is creative genius.
How Much Is That Pixel in the Window?
The currency used in Second Life is Linden dollars (L$), which you can purchase at approximately 265L$/US$. And you can buy pretty much anything you would need inworld. And more.
Now, you might ask why anyone would spend real money to purchase virtual stuff. They're all just pixels anyway. Well, I've figured some of the reasons:
* For the same reason people purchase entertainment software. Just because it's virtual doesn't mean it's unreal. It *is* as real as any other software; it's just intangible.
* For the same reason people purchase digital art. A lot of these items, particularly the virtual art pieces, are visually satisfying. It's food for the soul. It expresses something.
* For the same reason people purchase designer clothing and accessories. People who care about their appearance in the real world still care about how they look -- or how their avatars look -- in the virtual world. After all, their avatars represent them.
* For the same reason people pay to watch movies or any fictional work. Even though the stimuli is virtual, the core experience is still real and the emotions are still real. But because of the the interactivity in Second Life, a greater part of the experience is real. Friendships and other relationships are still real. All interactions are still real. I suspect that the brain still records aspects of it as a real experience.
So, there *is* value in these virtual items. There is value in the time that skilled artists, musicians, scripters, and builders put in to create these items. There is value in their creativity and ingenuity. There is value in their efforts to market them.
The great thing about manufacturing virtual merchandise is the same benefit software publishers enjoy -- practically nil incremental costs. There is no additional cost to sell a second -- or third, or fourth, or fifth -- copy of that virtual gown. Yes, there are still marketing costs and rental expenses, but no additional manufacturing costs.
Do creators recover their costs in creating these virtual items? Some do, but most don't. Second Life attracts a lot of artists and techies. The competition is fierce. As in real life, the more skillful the creator, the better they fare.
Now, you might ask why anyone would spend real money to purchase virtual stuff. They're all just pixels anyway. Well, I've figured some of the reasons:
* For the same reason people purchase entertainment software. Just because it's virtual doesn't mean it's unreal. It *is* as real as any other software; it's just intangible.
* For the same reason people purchase digital art. A lot of these items, particularly the virtual art pieces, are visually satisfying. It's food for the soul. It expresses something.
* For the same reason people purchase designer clothing and accessories. People who care about their appearance in the real world still care about how they look -- or how their avatars look -- in the virtual world. After all, their avatars represent them.
* For the same reason people pay to watch movies or any fictional work. Even though the stimuli is virtual, the core experience is still real and the emotions are still real. But because of the the interactivity in Second Life, a greater part of the experience is real. Friendships and other relationships are still real. All interactions are still real. I suspect that the brain still records aspects of it as a real experience.
So, there *is* value in these virtual items. There is value in the time that skilled artists, musicians, scripters, and builders put in to create these items. There is value in their creativity and ingenuity. There is value in their efforts to market them.
The great thing about manufacturing virtual merchandise is the same benefit software publishers enjoy -- practically nil incremental costs. There is no additional cost to sell a second -- or third, or fourth, or fifth -- copy of that virtual gown. Yes, there are still marketing costs and rental expenses, but no additional manufacturing costs.
Do creators recover their costs in creating these virtual items? Some do, but most don't. Second Life attracts a lot of artists and techies. The competition is fierce. As in real life, the more skillful the creator, the better they fare.
A Whole New World
Second Life (www.secondlife.com) is not a game.
It has been categorized with MMORPGs or massively multi-player online roleplaying games, but it is not one. It is massive, it is multi-player, it is online. But it is not necessarily roleplaying, although it has that. And it is not itself a game, although it contains many games.
SL is, technically speaking, a virtual reality environment. Instead of calling it a game, some people have referred to it as a platform, a tool, a virtual space, a parallel universe. Someone even jokingly referred to it as a country.
But conceptually, what SL is depends what a person brings in-world and expects to get out of it. And the range of those skills and expectations are as diverse as the people in it.
This blog is a study of the world inside Second Life, specifically the business world and what I learn about it. It is a study of the industries that are coming into SL from the real world, and the industries that are emerging exclusively inside SL. At the same time, this blog is also a study of the people who inhabit Second Life, who they are as consumers and as providers.
One thing is certain, however: Second Life is a phenomenon. This virtual business world has the potential to dramatically change the real business world.
It's only a matter of time.
It has been categorized with MMORPGs or massively multi-player online roleplaying games, but it is not one. It is massive, it is multi-player, it is online. But it is not necessarily roleplaying, although it has that. And it is not itself a game, although it contains many games.
SL is, technically speaking, a virtual reality environment. Instead of calling it a game, some people have referred to it as a platform, a tool, a virtual space, a parallel universe. Someone even jokingly referred to it as a country.
But conceptually, what SL is depends what a person brings in-world and expects to get out of it. And the range of those skills and expectations are as diverse as the people in it.
This blog is a study of the world inside Second Life, specifically the business world and what I learn about it. It is a study of the industries that are coming into SL from the real world, and the industries that are emerging exclusively inside SL. At the same time, this blog is also a study of the people who inhabit Second Life, who they are as consumers and as providers.
One thing is certain, however: Second Life is a phenomenon. This virtual business world has the potential to dramatically change the real business world.
It's only a matter of time.
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