Another 'M' Pep post!

4 months at the Lab
I recently celebrated my fourth month at the Lab and it has been a terrific adventure so far. As the leader of this amazing company, what have I been focused on? Leading the company’s efforts to make Second Life more relevant, more usable and more reliable.
How are we doing?

Good question M(ark) ......
First M sets out to let us all know how much better our inworld experience has been over the last month: "We wrapped up a very busy and productive Summer here in the Northern Hemisphere with great results to report." - umm maybe he should ask the Residents instead of the number crunchers? Up until the last 10 days I would have agreed with him, but I guess he is looking at averages.
"First off, each week since August 31st has brought a concurrency high. Yesterday, the peak hit 71,232 – that’s an increase of 6% in less than a month." I would love to know the ratio of actual users to BOTS!
"We simplified the registration process to make it easier for Residents to join, registrations are continuing at a healthy clip" See comment above.
"All are indications that Second Life is becoming more relevant, more usable and more reliable."
Great job 'M' except you are not listening to the actual people who use it, numbers cannot give you a complete picture as long as you allow alts/bots etc! But it certainly makes you look good to commerce looking for figures.
"First Hour Experience: Shortly after I started, we kicked off a project to reinvent what we call the “first hour experience” (our web experience, the viewer, and the way we acclimate and acculturate users inworld) for new users. We’ve made great progress and will be working with an award-winning interactive design firm to help us complete the reinvention and bring it to life. Yes, we are creating a viewer that is new user friendly! Stay tuned for updates."
Great idea - thanks to Dusan writer who came up with it a while ago, maybe you should look at some of the ideas that came up there? After all they were Resident created!
"We are now at a stage in our development where we need to add additional product strategy, product development and product management experience to help us better tailor our product offering for each of our key markets. We’ve found just the right person to lead this important transition in the company. His name is Tom Hale (he will be called T Linden) and he is a technology industry veteran, having spent the last 14 years at Macromedia and Adobe where he held a variety of product strategy, development and management roles. Tom joins Linden Lab as Senior Vice President, Chief of Product. Read more about T Linden here."
Congratulations to Mr Hale - I hope he knows what he has taken on!
"Linden Lab is buzzing with activity. We’ve just completed a major strategy project to define the areas of focus for the next 18 months and we are in the process of translating those strategies into tactical action plans." Again sounds good, but what strategies? What plans? Guess its on a 'need to know' basis and we the Residents 'don't need to know'?
"To support the strategic initiatives we’ve identified, we’ll be hiring 60-70 more people over the next several quarters. This is all part of our commitment to ensure Second Life remains the largest and most successful virtual world." More staff can only be a good thing, lets hope they can focus at some point on Resident experience!
On the positive side of things I would say it is good to see some improvements and see the areas where Linden Lab is focusing - all area's and in need of improvement.
The discussion is in full swing in the FORUM with 'M' actually clarifying some points there.
Although from reading the post I find it slightly condescending and half trying to convince us, as Residents, that things are getting better. I feel that Linden Lab as a company is pulling further and further away from the Residents, this has been happening for quite some time. It is good that they are utilising the forums a lot more but the place most of us go for information is the blog which is pretty much dead now.
As for Resident early experience the one tool that all newbies (and older Residents) need to utilise is Torleys Tutorials yet these have been shoved to the side and removed from the main blog where they should be! Bring Torley back 'M' - he is the one Linden that actually cares about Resident experience, shoving him to the side is paramount to declaring you don't care!
By Dana Vanmoer

Cartoon of the Day

Weekend Wanderings in Burning Life

Sunday was a good day to spend some time riding and flying around Burning Life.
We looked into nooks and crannies in several sims. We rode the sl green bikes that were available for anyone to use.
We found several very interesting builds.. Eye Ree was sitting in front of his build which was low to the ground with lovely little bubble signs showing symbols of our world , religious , happy face, and others. One can change the symbol by touching them.
We stopped to enjoy a Carnival that offered bump cars in a bath tub and other fun games. Farther down the road we were invited to enter a large luminous build, the Chakra Party, presided over by a large jovial Buddha. We were offered a note card which listed the seven chakras to read and meditate upon.
We crossed the road to look into an ice palace half sphere in which we found ourselves in a winter wonderland with snow falling softly around us. As we left there we looked into the sky we saw and a huge soaring structure and flew up nearly 300 meters to see the top. It was a burning man, smoking slightly. I do not think it is the official man to be burned and will have to find out more.
Next we tp’d to the Central camp site to see if we could find the answer but were distracted by a lively party going on in the tent. All the dancers were in flames and we joined them for a while and were enveloped in flames ourselves! It was a great ending to a wonderful visit.
There is so much to see and experience!!
Take some time to go but remember to go with as few adornments as possible for your own sake!!
By Gemma Cleanslate
At Burning Life 2008

PHAT CAT'S JAZZ CLUB TO BE SOLD ON EBAY

Second Life, Phatland, Sept 27, 2008
-- Phat Cat's Jazz Club, one of the most recognized venues in Second Life, is set to be sold by auction on eBay starting October 1, 2008.
This marks the most prominent auction of virtual property since the highly-publicized auction of Amsterdam on eBay in March 2007.
The owners of Phat Cat's have posted information about the sale at: www.phatcatsjazzclub.com
Among residents of Second Life, Phat Cat's has long been known as a premier destination for dancing, socializing, and shopping. The club's sumptuous virtual facilities were designed by Amethyst Jetaime, in an art deco style reminiscent of many real-life jazz clubs.
According to the Second Life In-World Travel Guide:
Phat Cat's … is one of the premier dance clubs in Second Life. The theme here is ballroom with many residents gracing the dance floor in beautiful flowing dresses and tuxedos. An element of romance is certainly in the air and, in fact, it was romance itself that helped to create this location … Phat Cat's is a wonderful and safe place to dance and make new friends. (By Sean Percival, published by Que in Dec. 2007)
Phat Cat's Jazz Club is owned by Jody Huet, Amethyst Jetaime, and Barbarella Noel. According to club co-owner Jody Huet: We have reached many of the professional and personal goals we held going into ownership, and we are moving to focus our attention on other projects. Phat Cat's has always been a magical place, where Second Life residents can find a luxurious escape from the mundane pressures of daily life. The club's hosts, hostesses, and managers work around the clock to create a warm and inviting environment where anyone can feel welcome. We can't wait to see that environment continue, even as ownership of the club changes hands. Going by Linden Lab's traffic counts, Phat Cat's has more traffic than any other jazz club in Second Life, once clubs that use camping (paying residents for their presence) are removed from the measurement. Phat Cat's has never used camping, robotically controlled avatars, or any other means to artificially inflate its traffic measurement.
According to the virtual world consulting firm KZero: The Phat Cats Romantic Ballroom is a great example of creating a genre-based venue in a virtual world with music (jazz) acting as the catalyst for popularity - Phat Cats is consistently one of the top twenty most frequented venues in Second Life.
("Phat Cat's, phat traffic", Aug. 15, 2007, http://www.kzero.co.uk/blog/?p=1030) Phat Cat's is famous for shopping as well as dancing. The Courtyard at Phat Cat's hosts more than 30 top designers of virtual clothing, including Details by Nonna Hedges, Styles of Edo, Apple May, Haute Couture, Alchemy, Head-to-Toe, Classico, Eros, Callie Cline, Zhao Shoes, Inca Temple, A La Folie, Fashion Fruit, and many others.

Burning Life - Opening Day!!!

I was lucky enough to be invited to join the Burning Life Group before it was closed to new members so I have been visiting and watching the builds as they were completed.