Great crowd and exceptional panelists!  Here’s the transcript for the Saturday August 23 session on community-building in SL:

Chilbo Community - Summer Faire panel on Second Life Community-Building: What we’ve learned

This panel discussion focuses on what can make–or break–communities in Second Life. What’s the “glue” that holds virtual communities together? What helps people get involved? What Second Life tools and features help or hinder the process? Today’s panelists are Sophrosyne Stenvaag of Extropia Core, and Fleet Goldenberg of Eduislands talking about the island sim  perspective. Panel moderator: Tara Yeats

—————————————————————-

Tara Yeats: Welcome to the first of two panel discussions about Second Life community-building.

Tara Yeats: We’ll be talking about what holds virtual world communities together, what helps people get involved, what Second Life tools and features help or hinder the process. Today’s session focuses on Island-based communities. There’s a second session tomorrow focusing on mainland communities.

Sophrosyne Stenvaag: wow, you’d think that’d be a fairly popular name…

Tara Yeats: I’ll start off with some brief introductions and we’ll hear from our panelists, then move to questions. For now, if you have a question for our panelists, please send it to me in IM - we’ll open this up for general discussion a bit later.

Tara Yeats: BTW, this will all be in text so you won’t need to toggle anything

Tara Yeats: First, to my left…. Sophrosyne Stenvaag is Director of Extropia Core, which describes itself as an exemplar of the future we want, today, where technology is used exuberantly in the service of beauty and fun. Residents are encouraged to govern their own affairs to the greatest extent possible. Extropia started in 2007.

Tara Yeats: Welcome Soph! To get things rolling, tell us a bit about Extropia - how did it get started?

Continue Reading »

(Jacques Derrida, picture by Ben Oswest, some rights reserved)

Yay! I held my very first event in Second Life, at the Summer Fair of the Chilbo community. My event was very simple: gathering some people and musing about “how reading (or watching movies!) does inspire virtual life”. I ended up talking about French philosophers and how their often misunderstood thinking helps me understand some key issues in virtual worlds. It is almost weird to discover how texts written by those intellectuals in the previous century seem to correspond with recent marketing insights about avatar behavior.

I really liked doing this event, especially because of the very interesting backchat and discussion.

Continue Reading »

Despite the “gremlindens” striking with log-in failures and our moderator, Fleep Tuque, not making it, the VW Day panel was a seeming success. The panelists, Malburns Writer, Tara Yeats & Orlando7 DeCosta, ad-libbed while discussing the future of the metaverse with an enthusiastic audience in both the Shrubbery and live on the webcast.

These three clips contain most of the proceedings as filmed by Stuart Warf of SLPN so we have a permanent record. Only part of the start and the cuts between sequences are missing. So for those of you that didn’t make it on Wednesday, enjoy!

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Cecilia Delacroix gives a poetry reading at the Chilbo Summer Fair 2008.

Yesterday, two exciting events at the Chilbo Summer Fair - Cecilia Delacroix gave a poetry reading of her Seasons Cycle in the Shells plaza, and accepted our invitation to become the official Poet of Chilbo!

Chilbo residents and visitors listen intently to Cecilia’s poetry in the Shells Plaza.

Cecilia has christened two of our public venues with their first ever performances, and donated the beautiful images to the Shrubbery Amphitheatre background, so we are very pleased indeed to have her with us. If any Chilbo resident needs to commission our Poet, please contact Cecilia Delacroix!

Rezago Kokorin leads the Virtual Artists Alliance Workshop in the Chilbo Sandbox.

Later that evening, Rezago Kokorin gave a presentation in the Chilbo Sandbox at the Virtual Artists Alliance Workshop. The premise of these sessions is simple: the host introduces a concept or technique that can be applied to building in Second Life, and the remainder of the session is dedicated to experimentation, using the concept or technique for artistic application.

Chilbo resident Kim Link asks a question while Rezago looks on.

Chilbo residents and guests took the scripts Rezago provided and began practicing the various techniques he discussed, asked questions, and learned about creating prims that are responsive to an avatar’s proximity. Rezago will be leading another workshop next Tuesday in the same place - be sure to join us!

Chilbo Summer Fair!

August 16 - August 31 - in and around Chilbo & neighboring sims

The Chilbo Summer Fair was conceived as an idea to celebrate our community - an excuse for everyone to get together and have fun and invite friends!

Please check the Chilbo Summer Fair Planning Wiki for the possible schedule changes.

Chilbo Summer Fair Scheduled Events!

August 16 - August 31 - in and around Chilbo & neighboring sims

Open throughout the Fair:

Chilbo Fairgrounds: rides and fun!
SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Madhupak/15/65/65
Ferris Wheel , Go-Cart Race Track, Boat Ride, Avatar Cannonball, Skydive Ride, Bouncy Castle, The Dormouse’s Tea Party Ride

Exhibits & Builds:

• The Maze - SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Madhupak/16/29/65
• FlowerBall (Douglas Story interactive art) - above the Nature Preserve & Boat Ride - SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Madhupak/202/61/53
• AIDS Memorial Quilt - SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Madhupak/145/80/59

Scheduled events:

Saturday, August 16

11AM SLT - Walking Tour: The History of Chilbo - Fleep Tuque
Location: Starting at the Town Hall
SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Chilbo/112/230/121

Join us for a walking tour of the Chilbo sim! We’ll poke into the nooks and crannies of the community, visit the places and spaces where Chilbo began, and explore the hidden treasures and artifacts of our community’s history!

12 PM SLT - FlowerBall Reception
The tour will finish up at the FlowerBall, an interactive art build that was voted one of the “Ten Best Art Installations of 2007″ by New World Notes. The charming, witty, and extremely attractive co-creators Douglas Story and Desdemona Enfield will be on hand to answer your questions - and hell….maybe musician Aldomanutio Abruzzo if we can get him to come by.
If you do visit, be sure to follow the annoying directions - you’ll get a much better experience if you do. Also - scripters take note: there’s a great deal of complex and interesting scripting involved in the pre-loading of the music clips that makes them play smoothly. Desdemona’s achievement is that you don’t notice all this.
SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Madhupak/166/45/68

1pm SLT - Presentation: HIV 101: What is HIV and How Does it Attack the Immune System? - Lizzette Zenovka
Location: SL HIV Education & Prevention Center
SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Madhupak/130/80/60

3PM SLT - Go Kart Race - START YOUR ENGINES!!!
Location: Chilbo Fairgrounds
SLurl:

Join us for a smashing good time at the Go Kart racetrack in the fairgrounds! Contestants will compete for the best time around the track, feel free to practice ahead of time, but all scores will be reset before the race! First Prize: $1000L Second Prize: $500L Third Prize: $250L

4PM SLT - Poetry Reading - Cecilia Delacroix
Location: Chilbo Shells Plaza
SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Chilbo/80/100/116

On Tuesday evening, Poet Cecilia Delacroix will perform some of her favorite works in the Chilbo Shells Plaza. Cecilia previously gave a reading centered on a nature/seasonal theme in the Shrubbery Amphitheatre, and is memorialized there for donating the lovely backdrop of images that graces the area behind the stage. Beyond her poetry, Ceclia also enjoys wine, jazz, and running many art galleries in Islandia’s canal district in Second Life. Please join us to celebrate her latest poetry!

6 PM SLT - Virtual Artists Alliance workshop
Location: Chilbo Sandbox
SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Chilbo/197/20/93

Led by Rezago Kokorin, the premise of these sessions is simple: the host introduces a concept or technique that can be applied to building in Second Life, and the remainder of the session is dedicated to experimentation, using the concept or technique for artistic application. Rezago is an accomplished sculptor and photographer in both realities. The workshop sessions are very open and feature a lot of sharing of knowledge among the participants. It’s always interesting to see the variety of creations from a group of people all starting from the same point. Join us for some fun with the prims in the sandbox.

3 PM SLT - Virtual Worlds Day Panel - Fleep Tuque
Location: Shrubbery Amphitheatre
SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Chilbo/167/129/109

This panel will feature a discussion about the current state of virtual worlds and how they may evolve in the future. What do we hope to see? What would be a “bad” outcome? Panelists: Malburns Writer, Tara Yeats, Olando7 DeCosta

Noon SLT - How does reading inspire your virtual life? (about 50 minutes)
Location: Shrubbery Amphitheatre
SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Chilbo/167/129/109

Olando7 Decosta (Roland Legrand) is not a professional philosopher, though he graduated in philosophy, but he still feels the urge to read some philosophers when he tries to make sense of his life as a Second Life resident. Olando7 will present some of his favorite thinkers in this context (Derrida, Deleuze&Guattari, Baudrillard) during 15/max. 20 minutes, and invites the audience to share their favorite philosophers and writers (also fiction!) and how reading throws some light on their virtual experiences.

Time TBD - Second Life Community-Building: What We’ve Learned - Tara Yeats
Location: Shrubbery Amphitheatre
SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Chilbo/167/129/109

This panel will take a look at some lessons learned that can make - or break - communities in Second Life. Potential focus on emerging plans for Mainland zoning and how that may impact existing communities and new ones. Panelists: TBA

6 PM SLT - Virtual Artists Alliance workshop
Location: Chilbo Sandbox
SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Chilbo/197/20/93

Led by Rezago Kokorin, the premise of these sessions is simple: the host introduces a concept or technique that can be applied to building in Second Life, and the remainder of the session is dedicated to experimentation, using the concept or technique for artistic application. Rezago is an accomplished sculptor and photographer in both realities. The workshop sessions are very open and feature a lot of sharing of knowledge among the participants. It’s always interesting to see the variety of creations from a group of people all starting from the same point. Join us for some fun with the prims in the sandbox.

Time TBA - Music in the Shrubbery - Tara Yeats/Leslee McCarey hosting
Location: Shrubbery Amphitheatre
SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Chilbo/167/129/109

Live performers throughout the day. Schedule to come.