Newbie witnesses first Second Life "griefing"

Yes, it's true; my SL cherry has finally been popped. I've been griefed!

Well, not me personally, but an event that I set up. While co-hosting an author book launch for Gena Showalter's The Darkest Night (first in her Lords of the Underworld series) in Second Life last Friday night, the event was unfortunately marred by a couple of unwelcome visitors. I hasten to note that the agency we're working with to create and run these events had many staff on hand, who quickly and smoothly defused the situation and banned the offending avatars from the parcel. But I can't help but feel a little more grown-up, a little more... experienced in Second Life now.

Anyway, Chloe had a great time and so did the author! Here's a snapshot of our avatars dancing with the demons:



Chloe is the one on the left with red hair and big black wings; Gena's avatar is the pale-skinned beauty in the denim skirt on the right. (Clearly she's already found out that the shopping is the funnest part of Second Life!)

Newbie will MESH you up

Wow, it has been a LONG time since I posted. In my defense, it has been a crazy month. Among the highlights, I attended the MESH conference -- my first, because for the first time MESH was not at the same time as BEA. And not only did I attend -- I was a panelist, on Social Media and the Enterprise. Oh, and in a random drawing I won a free copy of Microsoft Ultimate Office! W00t!! Best. Swag. Ever.

I have to say, the experience of being a panelist was first-rate. I really felt welcomed and taken care of by the entire conference staff, from the Tuesday appreciation night at the Drake to the MESH after-party on Thursday. Our esteemed moderator, Michael O'Connor Clarke, did a fantastic job of guiding the conversation to encourage meaty questions and divergent points of view. I appreciated that my fellow panelists had a different take on social media for business, and I'm glad I could provide a counter-point.

With free wifi and multiple electric outlets, it was amazing to look out from the stage and see a sea of laptops; and gratifying as a panelist to know that every time I referenced one of our online properties as an example, half the room would be looking it up right away. Talk about immediacy of impact!

It's incredible to see amount of Twittering that goes on at these digital-themed conferences. On two occasions I found that a panel was veering away from the topic I'd hoped they'd cover; both times all I had to do was check the tweetstream or the live blogs and I was instantly in touch with what was being covered in other rooms, by other workshops and panels. (I confess: once I even ducked out to catch the last half of another workshop after a hot tip via Twitter.)

Needless to say, as both an attendee and a panelist, I enjoyed myself immensely. The entire event ran seamlessly, which as a natural-born organizer and planner, I always deeply respect and appreciate as I know how much work goes into that appearance of seamlessness. And of course, I found the workshops and panels interesting and engaging, many of which sparked ongoing dialogues with many more questions raised than answered.

I have to confess though, that like many digital-themed conferences, my main takeaway was not anything I learned during the keynotes or panels, but the connections I made during the breaks, lunches, and after-parties. I met some truly fascinating people doing innovative work on both the technical, product side and the marketing / social media side. I look forward to maintaining the connections I made through Twitter and other means!

My final note about MESH: This is absolutely the LAST TIME I attend a conference without a laptop. I'm sick to death of being the only one scribbling on a notepad while all around me people are connected, live-blogging and twittering. Big shout-out to Eden Spodek for allowing me to read Twitter over her shoulder!

What Linden Labs Isn't Telling You... Or Anyone

For various personal reasons I won't bore you with here, I've been spending a LOT of time in Second Life lately, mainly as an easy means to escape reality. (Don't worry, I'm feeling much better now.) I've been registered in Second Life for over a year now, but only recently have I indulged in binge behavior -- and by binge I mean logging into SL at 11pm on a Saturday and not coming up for air until 5am on a Sunday.

In the course of this binge period I noticed quite a few things about SL. Now, you've probably already reached these conclusions yourself, but bear with me, I am the newbie after all.

1. It's about the people
Every time you log in to Second Life there are chipper little updates from Linden Labs announcing this or that upgrade or improvement to the grid. Some are noticable (a recent forced update did result in smoother avatar movement, a better chat function, and a more easily-accessed search function, for me at least), some are not. These improvements are all very nice, however, the true value in Second Life is with the people. What good is a better chat function if there are no people logged on with which I can chat? I'm not just talking about my contacts list either -- I wasn't surprised to find that everyone I know has better things to do than hang about in SL for six hours early Sunday morning -- but just folks in general, to meet, chat with, interact with.

2. Where are all the people?
Which leads me to my second observation: where the heck is everybody?? Linden Labs touts SL membership as being in the millions, but I've only ever seen about 40-50K logged on at any given time. During my binge period, I met someone new almost every time I logged into SL, which is great -- that's partly why I was there -- but in subsequent visits, they were nowhere to be found. I met probably half a dozen brand-new SL members and happily showed them around, helped them out -- and never saw them come online again. So where are these millions? Is it as I suspect -- people are joining, checking it out once or twice, and never coming back?

Is that why Linden Labs won't say how many registered users are actually using SL? What is the login ratio to registered users anyway? I'm just curious. Because I do still think that Second Life has great potential as a social network; it's just not quite there yet, and all the minor upgrades and improvements Linden Labs is committed to making won't help it to tip into the mainstream -- people will.

Newbie becomes Twitter convert!

After much encouragement from such cool chicks as Eden, Connie, and Kate during a raucous and rowdy geeky girls get-together last week (martinis may have been involved), I decided to give Twitter one more shot.

And I am SO glad I did! Wow, I HAVE been missing out! Thanks to a few tips from my new Twitter friends on how to use it I totally get it now. Count me in among the throngs in the pro-Twitter camp.

I still don't kid myself that it's mainstream -- or even close to approaching the usability that made facebook and myspace household names -- but it definitely has that potential. And I'm excited to be watching its development from the user perspective!

Newbie is Twittering: I don't get it

At PodCamp Toronto back in February, and in fact at any social media-related meetup or get-together in recent memory, the buzz has been all about Twitter. Twitter, it seems, is the Next Big Thing in social media, the app that everyone is talking about. Most of the folks who led me into the social media space -- Mitch Joel, Michael Seaton, Eden Spodek, Kate Trgovac -- are ardent fans of Twitter.

But I just don't get it.

I have tried, oh how I have tried. I joined Twitter about 6 months ago when hardly anybody I knew was on it; I quickly gave it up as not relevant to me because, as anyone on Twitter knows, it's only as valuable as the people you're following.

Recently, when everyone I know was exhorting me get back on it and follow them, I did... for about two weeks before I lost interest again.

I have no explanation for this except that it's just not for me. I'm really just not all that interested in brief snapshots of what people are thinking about at that moment. Oh, I can definitely see the appeal, and I can definitely understand the incredible value for anyone who can access Twitter via their mobile or handheld, especially those who travel a lot and find themselves stuck in layover and wanting a quick meetup. In fact Twitter was invaluable in the hours after the presentations had wrapped up on the Saturday at PodCamp Toronto -- thanks to Twitter 3 separate groups of people shared notes about their relative locations, and successfully connected at a restaurant that could accommodate 25 people.

But I don't have a handheld, or a mobile with web access, and I'd really rather read the reasoned, fully thought out musings one finds in blog posts than off-the-cuff thoughts on Twitter.

All of which makes me feel oddly disconnected from the social media crowd. Usually I'm among the first to embrace, then evangelize these kinds of tools. So tell me: am I missing something? am I using it wrong? Worse, am I missing out? Or am I just part of the larger mainstream that hasn't caught on to Twitter, and won't until it tips into the popular consciousness like facebook did?

Become a Second Life expert in just one year!

About a year ago I attended PodCamp Toronto. I was just getting started on the web 2.0 path and wanted to learn as much as I could about all things new and digital. I was a blank slate, ignorant but keen to meet folks who knew more than I did and absorb information.

Trust me, I am not overstating things when I say that my attendance at that first PodCamp Toronto would turn out to be a pivotal event in my life.

At that PodCamp I attended a session led by Jay Moonah on Second Life. I'd read about Second Life in various old-school print media, and I was curious. Jay's informal talk made Second Life sound so fun, so cool, and most of all, so easy, that I immediately signed up.

And the rest, as they say, is history. I've been in Second Life almost every week since then and I still find it a fascinating social and promotional tool. I came to work on the Monday after PodCamp yammering on and on about Second Life, to the point where my boss gave me the budget to hold some author events in Second Life in 07 and 08, possibly just to keep me quiet.

And now things have come full circle: I'm co-presenting a session on Second Life at this year's PodCamp Toronto! Amazing, from ignorant know-nothing to PodCamp presenter in just a year. Hopefully I can inspire one or two people to try out SL, just as I was inspired a year ago.

But that's not the only profound change in my life thanks to PodCamp -- in fact it's not even the most significant. At that SL session in 07, I introduced myself to the woman sitting next to me (as I am inclined to do at conferences; it's a bit out of character for an introvert like me but it's the best way to meet new people). We chatted a bit, and I learned that she was the brilliant Kathryn Lagden, then of AIMS Canada. I managed to sufficiently disguise my starstruckness so that through her I later had the privilege of meeting the awesome Kate Trgovac, and the equally awesome Eden Spodek -- who by the way will be my co-presenter this year! -- and I'm happy and proud to say that I now call all three of these wonderful, brilliant ladies my friends.

So... yay for PodCamp!!

Newbie forced to make time to update blog

Once again I find myself apologizing for a long absence from this blog. I haven't posted in so long because I've been so very very busy. My job has finally caught up with my hobbies, so instead of blogging for fun and killing time in Second Life, I've been blogging for work and spending loads of time in Second Life organizing and attending a series of author events.

Ok, so I did make some time for an After A Fashion outing in Second Life just before the holidays. We bought Xmas-y outfits from Total Betty and went skating:





Who would have thought that skating in Second Life was just as much fun as in real?

But after that I was all business, in Second Life every week in January with Deanna Raybourn, the charming author of Silent in the Sanctuary, doing a live-audio reading and Q&A, hosting a fabulous (and very well-attended) Victorian ball, and hosting a more intimate group of aspiring writers for a writing workshop. All of which required a collection of new, fancy, Victorian gowns for my avatar, but of course! A lady must never be underdressed.





All of which was way fun, but whew! Glad to get back to RL for a while!!