Join The Coca-Cola Company, Millions of Us and Crayon to unveil Emerie May’s winning Coca-Cola machine design: Lucky Puzzle Bottles. We’ll be joined by representatives from Coke, Crayon and the winner herself.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
10 AM PT (SLT) / 1 PM ET
This is an invite-only event, so if you’re interested, please email celebrity@millionsofus.com or IM Celebrity Millionsofus in Second Life.
I’m currently at Carnegie Mellon University’s Technology in the Arts Conference in Pittsburgh, PA. CMU is my alma mater, and this morning I gave a presentation on Second Life and how non-profit organizations and artists can use the virtual space to expand their audience and create 3D immersive experiences, especially if they’re on a budget. Panel was called The Art of Second Life: Artists and Arts Organizations in a Virtual World.
Meeting places and environments like the Globe Theatre in Second Life can be a valuable investment for a non-profit organization, particularly if the acting organization identifies with a particular physical space (say, a theatre or country). But a good way to begin is to identify your audience within Second Life, find its leaders, and empower them to expand their group. In Second Life, a 16-acre plot of land (a “sim” or “island”) costs $195/month in land rental fees in addition to the $1675 sim purchase price. That’s before concepting, building, or community and event management.
To get started and explore on a tight budget, put purchasing land on hold. You can create a Group with Open Enrollment (~$.50), host events for free at Millions of Us’ Globe Theatre (contact celebrity@millionsofus.com to request space), and make and give away cool items.
The media buzz around organizations and companies entering Second Life has been so great, and I think because of that, it’s really important for an organization to be cautious and really consider its goals. Second Life is mainly 2 things:
1. It‚Äôs a 3D platform open for development (now being called “The Grid”)
2. It’s a community of nearly 10M users
When considering entering SL or any other world, you want to ask the question: Why do you want to enter a virtual world?
1. Are you there to expand your already existing community into a virtual world? If so, is Second Life the right platform for them? (Consider technical requirements for running SL and demographics of your pre-existing community.)
2. Are you there to introduce your brand to the existing Second Life community? Will the Second Life community welcome your brand? (Get an account and ask around first, use the Search feature in SL) Does your brand/community already exist in Second Life? (Don’t alienate a loyal SL community. Find their leaders and help them to expand)
It was really cool to be back at CMU, the university whose Building Virtual Worlds program inspired me to pursue a career in VR development. I had a great time presenting alongside Brian Newman of Renew Media, Nettrice R. Gaskins of Mass College of Art, and SL resident and artist Filthy Fluno. Thanks to Brad Stephenson from CMU’s Center for Arts Management and Technology and David Dombrosky of the Contemporary Arts & New Initiatives Southern Arts Federation.
Many of my friends in San Francisco and beyond have realized our childhood dream–to make virtual worlds. Our realization of this dream is largely due to man named Randy Pausch, Creator of the Building Virtual Worlds program at Carnegie Mellon University. The rigorous course brings together artists, technologists and storytellers in small groups to create a virtual world every two weeks. Nothing could have prepared me better for my role as a Producer at Millions of Us.
Randy has been battling pancreatic cancer, and tomorrow at 1:30 PM PDT (SLT), Randy will give his last talk, titled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” I’m certain this lecture will inspire me and everyone in attendance to keep pushing themselves past the limits of reality. Watch the webcast tomorrow at 1:30 PM PDT:
Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams
Tuesday, September 18th
mms://wms.andrew.cmu.edu/pushit01 (Live Webcast at 1:30 PDT)
I’ll be heading back to the ‘Burgh on October 12th for the Technology in the Arts Conference, to participate on a panel about artists in the VR world, Second Life. If you’re a student in Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center or a Building Virtual Worlds superstar, be sure to say hi. (We’re hiring.)
This Thursday, August 9th from 9 – 11 PM SLT (PDT) will be the second Budweiser Select and Stuff Magazine’s Lingerie Model Search in Second Life. While the real life contest is taking place at the Tao Nightclub in Las Vegas, 30 lucky virtual contestants will compete at the Select Lounge on the Style sim. MJ Garrett from MTV’s The Real World, as well as Aspire Modeling Agency’s Bianca Darling and Second Style’s Celebrity Trollop, will choose five finalists and a winner, who will compete with July’s winner, Scarlett Niven, for the title of Second Life Lingerie Legend. The ultimate winner will receive a two-page spread within the September 2007 issue of Second Style, an online magazine dedicated to high fashion within Second Life.
Millions of Us is expecting to hit capacity at this event, as the last model search event on July 26th was a great success. Please email celebrity@millionsofus.com for event access. The virtual event will be streamed to budweiserselect.com for those who are unable to attend.
I just ran into Scion Snook, or the “Scionic Man” as he’s become known to Second Life residents. He pointed me to his myspace page, where I watched a video of him flying around Scion City. What’s his secret identity? Could he be the first caped superhero with a gun?
After the exciting Lingerie Legends Model Search event last Thursday (7/26), Budweiser Select and Millions of Us are adding five (5) contestant slots to the upcoming August event at Select Lounge on the Style sim. If you think you have what it takes to compete against Second Life knockout Scarlett Niven, please enter by following the contest guidelines below.
The last Budweiser Select Lingerie Model Search event was at capacity. Please RSVP in advance to Celebrity Millionsofus to obtain access to the event, which will be held next Thursday, August 9th at Select Lounge.
Contest Rules & How to Enter:
To enter, please complete #1 and#2 by Sunday, August 5th, 11:59 PM PDT:
1. Drop two (2) Second Life texture files on avatar MJ Garrett:
a. A full body shot in lingerie (please name file YourName_Fullbody)
b. A headshot (please name file YourName_Headshot)
2. Drop a notecard (please name file YourName_LingerieLegend) with the following qualifying information on avatar MJ Garrett:
a. Are you 21 years of age or over?
b. Can you attend the August Lingerie Legends contest on 8/9 from 9 PM – 11 PM SLT and the rehearsal on 8/8 from 4 – 5:30 PM SLT?