Tag: alebez

Elizabeth Dean, known as Frances Meriman inworld, came to a very spirited Nonprofit Commons meeting last Friday, April 27 to discuss how her organization, RTI International, is pushing boundaries and breaking barriers when it comes to how they provide survey research, development, and technical services to government and commercial clients worldwide. Later on in the discussion, NPC members engaged in a brief brainstorming sprint to dream up some creative app ideas to solve food access and civic engagement issues. It was a productive meeting to say the least.

Back to RTI.

According to their website, the RTI was established in 1958 as the Research Triangle Institute, and since then, RTI has carved out a niche for itself in the areas of “health and pharmaceuticals, education and training, surveys and statistics, advanced technology, international development, economic and social policy, energy and the environment, as well as laboratory testing and chemical analysis.” One of the most interesting pieces about their work however, is their innovative uses of Second Life in providing their services.

Elizabeth came to speak to us about some of the innovative ways RTI has sponsored several research and development initiatives to derive best practices for survey research in Second Life. “Our staff have tested a variety of survey methods in the virtual environment,” she said, “including respondent recruitment techniques, in-avatar interviewing, and self-administered kiosk surveys.”

This is how it works according to Elizabeth:

• – Respondent recruitment methods include classified ads within Second Life, online user forums and blogs, word-of-mouth referrals, and networking among targeted groups. Other recruitment strategies include interactive kiosks avatars engage to receive more information on how to participate in a survey. Interested participants can also receive a link to an eligibility survey they can complete in their private web browser.
• – In-avatar interviewing involves an RTI staff avatar conducting a scripted interview in the RTI virtual interviewing facility, much like an in-person interview.
• – Self-administered kiosk surveys are also hosted in the virtual interviewing facility where an avatar interacts with an automated survey interface delivered at a kiosk.
• – RTI is also conducting studies on the utility of virtual worlds for conducting cognitive interviews between avatars representing the interviewer and the respondent, recruiting and gaining survey cooperation from hard to reach populations, and measuring sensitive behaviors. If you are interested in visiting RTI’s facility in Second Life, please visit their lab.

And now for some really great app ideas coming out of our NPC sprint:

• -app(s) that help teach & link to urban farming/homesteading & cooperatives content
• – an app that aggregate deliveries of restaurant supplies for small towns suffering with truck traffic
• – an app to find farmers markets with recipes and info on the foods in season
• – an app that tracks pot holes like: Fill That Hole UK
• – an app to find local restaurants that serve sustainable green meals
• – a city tour walking app that shows the routes how many calories you would loose and uses GPS to give facts about buildings and historic areas you pass
• – an app that could connect people with spaces that are clear or with people who are naturally nontoxic
• – an app that lets people chip in to provide shelter and food for one particular person for a month
• – an app for carpooling that is like air b and b that has info about the person, with a geo-tagging component to connect people near each other
• – an app to find the best place to stand when hitchhiking 

Do these app ideas get your brain juices flowing? Don’t stop! Send us more of your creative ideas at: community@techsoupglobal.org

Written by: alebez

As you may have heard, last Sunday, April 22 was Earth Day. From Tokyo, Japan to New York City, New York, communities and environmental activists everywhere stood united in their collective efforts to restore the planet to a respectable shade of green. As part of many Earth Day celebrations, the Nonprofit Commons welcomed Namaara MacMoragh, owner of the Etopia Eco-Community in Second Life, to celebrate sustainable living, promote conservation, discuss energy alternatives, and other important ways to preserve our natural resources using Second Life.

Since 2007, Namaara has used Etopia as a way to not only showcase how we can live more sustainably through virtual worlds, but also as a place to contribute your own ideas about how to actualize a more sustainable planet and future. For example, “Etopia welcomes environmentalists, educators, nonprofits, and others,” explained Namaara, “to share their message and engage in sustainable community building.” Among those in the Etopia community are organizations like Options Senegal, an organization dedicated to the technical training, product supply, support, and customer service for Ecolign Economic Interest Groups in Senegal.

“Etopia is not only educational, but fun as well,” noted Namaara. “We really are about community and showcasing the work our residents and friends are doing in the real world that impact not only the environment, but our work and our lives.”

You can even get in on all of the eco-friendly fun yourself! “Ride the gondola. Catch the tram from your apartment at Bayview Co-Housing to your shop at Etopia Plaza. Join friends for coffee at Tsidel’s. Bike our trails, sail our waterways or take a tai chi class on the beach. You’ll find agriculture, recreation, and wild lands in addition to homes, shops, offices, and educational venues scattered throughout our community.”

Visit Etopia in Second Life to experience eco-friendly alternatives to design, architecture, farming, and just great all-around eco-living.

 

Written by: alebez

Imagine you were a kid again learning about ancient civilizations, way back when. A montage of ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, and the Asias flashes before you. Now imagine how cool it would have been if your teacher projected a virtual replication of those ancient civilizations based on archaeological evidence, into a virtual space called ScienceSim. I know I’d be stoked.

Fast-forward to now, where this can actually happen thanks to the innovation of people like Marion Smeltzer and virtual spaces like Archeology Island. Kids these days are so lucky!

According to the Department of Anthropology at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Archaeology Island is a virtual learning environment that can be used specifically for “visualization, training, and scientific discovery.” It consists of various “virtualizations of archaeological sites investigated by faculty members in the IUP Anthropology, History, and Sociology departments. Sites featured on the island include the recreation of a Monongahela Village investigated in Western Pennsylvania, a Roman site in Cyprus, an underwater shipwreck, and a Maya site in Belize. Also reconstructed is an antebellum community of former slaves at Laurel Hill/Brown farm, established in 1790 and occupied until the 1960s. Because of its inaccessibility, the area has been virtually reconstructed to show the landscape, buildings, and stones marking the graves of Civil War colored troops.”

All of that is made possible on ScienceSim, where developers have made it easy for “newbies” to get their hands dirty and involved in building with visualization tools. Places like Archaeology Island allow students not only the thrill of archaeological discovery, but would allow for “experimentation and design in virtual worlds” and would inform how excavation and preservation work to recreate moments in history.

Written by: alebez

Nathan Maton and Ala’ Diab came together to create 4See back in 2011. Since then, these two friends have been on a mission to match youth gaming with impactful ways to strengthen leadership and teamwork in youth centered programs. Nathan stopped by the NPC last Friday to discuss his new kickstarter campaign, the 4see prototype, and why it’s so important to foster teambuilding skills in youth today.

Team building is the biggest problem faced by youth activists, simply because it is rarely taught in schools. That’s the bottom line. It’s usually a locker room lesson left for athletes and coaches. But what if we lived in a world where teamwork was instilled and built upon from a young age?

Using research from Harvard University done by Marshall Ganz and Ruth Wageman, Nathan and Ala’ were able to distill key elements of forming and working effectively in teams, and were able to create a playful way to learn about each of the five key elements: finding a common purpose, forming a team with diverse backgrounds, establishing clear roles, establishing clear boundaries and explicit norms.

“It is a multiplayer game,” says Nathan, “and the more the players learn to collaborate, the better they’ll do. They get to work with a variety of team members from other teams than the one they currently work on outside of the game to better learn their skill set. Then, in the final level, the original team must tackle a more complex problem that relates to their real work.”

From the prototype makers themselves: must form and build teams to succeed.

Written by: alebez

Although Namaara MacMoragh is a happy and fulfilled consultant at GReat Kreations, an organization dedicated to developing “organizational capacity through information technology and information management, strategic planning, board training, and systems development” for nonprofit organizations in the US, it was the work she does for Brain Energy Support Team (BEST), that brought her before the Nonprofit Commons last Friday, March 2nd.

BEST is a wonderful group that has been providing peer-to-peer support, resources, and access to services for those with brain injuries in the real and Second Life worlds since 2008. Implementing unique ways for recovering patients, BEST’s primary modus operandi is to include the friends and family of the injured, making them a central role and active participant in the recovery process.

More about BEST and the work Namaara does with them in her presentation below…

Namaara MacMoragh: BEST is a leader in training for support group facilitators, professionals, and educators. Through their mentoring program, Project PEER, BEST also offers a unique way of empowering individuals with brain injury and their caregivers. 

Namaara MacMoragh: Our goal is to create engagement around the real issues of brain injury that go beyond the injury itself. An injury occurs in a moment. The cognitive, emotional, physical challenges that alter someone’s life often last for many years and often go unaddressed.

Namaara MacMoragh: Second Life offered us an opportunity to work together building an organizational foundation for BEST while living 3,000 miles apart. It was 6 months after we began working together in SL that we actually met in RL for a board training session in 2009.

Namaara MacMoragh: March is the official month for Brain Injury Awareness. BEST, Etopia, and the fabulous folks at HealthInfo Island have worked together to create a celebration and awareness campaign that includes presentations, displays, concerts, gift hunt, and more to raise awareness about, and raise dollars for, brain injury.

Namaara MacMoragh: We are collaborating with others in SL who are providing support, information & referral, and social opportunities for individuals with brain injury as well as training and resources for professionals and educators.

Namaara MacMoragh: I’m especially excited to work with Gentle Heron of Virtual Abilities. I’ve learned a lot and so appreciate the ideas, support, and … well … at the expense of gushing… everything. As an aside, it’s been wonderful to watch the growth of such a valuable organization here in SL.

Namaara MacMoragh: Thank you again, Gentle, for the wonderful slide presentation about brain injury. I hope everyone will visit HealthInfo Island to learn about brain injury and more.

Namaara MacMoragh: Another great relationship that has been forged because of our work in Second Life is with Zinnia Zauber. She is working with BEST to create an original branding element (hope I said that right) for the hospital bags BEST and Headstrong are giving families of individuals that are hospitalized with brain injury.

Namaara MacMoragh: These collaborations would not have happened without a community such as Nonprofit Commons in Second Life and the commitment of TechSoup Global to support and foster nonprofits around the world. I was living in NY when I started working with fate. Zinnia and Gentle are also in other locations than in my neighborhood.

Namaara MacMoragh: We have a lot of great events, presentations, displays, and builds across sims we are highlighting during Brain Injury Awareness month and throughout April and May, with a huge World-wide brain injury picnic day on June 16th.

Namaara MacMoragh: This is our collective opportunity to also showcase the work we do here to families, professionals, and funders.

Namaara MacMoragh: When I started working with BEST we had a shoestring budget. BEST then became lead on a Support Group Infrastructure Project in the state of Washington.

Namaara MacMoragh: This year they received independent funding from the state to not only continue their work with support group development, but to administer mini-grants to groups across the state. This increase in funding is because of the way BEST has used SL and other virtual work tools to communicate, train, and support facilitators and others.

Namaara MacMoragh: These are just some of the ways we work with real people on real issues in virtual worlds.

And now, some virtual world knowledge from Mentor’s Central. Last Friday’s topic: benefits people with disabilities get from being in a virtual world.

Eme Capalini: Just a quick reminder of why this is an important topic. One out of every five avatars you meet in SL belongs to someone with one or more disabilities – physical, mental, emotional, or sensory.

Eme Capalini: Until recently, when we spoke of the benefits of virtual worlds, we mainly had anecdotal evidence in four categories.

Eme Capalini: I’m going to share with you some quotes I’ve heard from our community members that fit into these categories.

Eme Capalini: Learning benefits abound in Second Life.

Eme Capalini: Although people don’t typically come into SL seeking peer support for their disability, once they hook up with one of the over 120 different peer support groups here, they can learn quite a lot!

Eme Capalini: You might not think of distraction as a benefit, but to people with severe disabilities, getting their mind off their pain is important.

Eme Capalini: Doctors in burn clinics use virtual ice worlds, where the patient can throw snowballs at penguins and ice gnomes, to distract the patients from the agony of burn debridement, bandage changes, and the other painful treatments they must undergo.

Eme Capalini: For medical benefits, there has been some research, so the evidence of benefits isn’t just anecdotal.

Eme Capalini: Researchers confirm that people can improve their concentration, their social skills, even their spatial awareness, simply by interacting with others in a virtual world setting.

Eme Capalini: I think that social benefits are probably the most important to people with disabilities, who are often socially and physically isolated. Imagine being able to make friends with people your own age when you’ve spent half your life lying in bed seeing only your family and nurses!

Eme Capalini: It’s a lot easier to “be yourself” around other people if they aren’t put off by seeing your scars or withered limbs.

Eme Capalini: We’re finally making progress on gathering research evidence to support what we hear from our community members.

Eme Capalini: The psychology department at Loyola Marymount University in California recently gave a poster presentation about research they conducted in collaboration with Virtual Ability.

Eme Capalini: The research consisted of a survey given to people who identified themselves as having a disability. The survey was given during their first week in Second Life, and repeated after 3 months here.

Eme Capalini: It was a small study, but the results are significant, as they are the first of their kind to be done in SL.

Eme Capalini: Participants in the study completed a variety of standardized measures that were selected to assess their psychological well-being and adjustment.

Eme Capalini: There was no treatment in this study. The participants didn’t have to attend classes, report in regularly, keep a diary, or anything else regulated. They could do whatever they pleased.

Eme Capalini: The majority logged in frequently, and for extended periods. They became immersed in their second lives.

Eme Capalini: When they first came into SL, the measures indicated that the majority of participants showed clinical signs of depression. That’s not unexpected, in a group of people among whom half were severely disabled.

Eme Capalini: Overall, the research showed that simply being in a virtual world, doing whatever you wanted to do, was very helpful. Statistically, the newcomers after 3 months were less depressed, less anxious, and less lonely.

Eme Capalini: They also were had a more positive outlook on themselves, were more satisfied with their lives, and had higher self-esteem.

Eme Capalini: I’d like to encourage you to think about all the benefits you’ve received from being in a virtual world.

Following Eme’s request, I’m taking a moment to do just that. What are some of the benefits you’ve seen in your own lives?

Written by: alebez

Last Friday, February 24th, Widget Whiteberry from Virtually Speaking eloquently addressed the Nonprofit Commons in Second Life about issues relating to our current models of information gathering and sharing, the evolution of broadcast media, and how going virtual is a viable way to report experiences in real time while delivering a more inclusive and participatory experience for news audiences.

Below are excerpts from her presentation…

In the Great Depression, radio was the social glue that held America together. Soon after, in the global conflict of World War II, it was the glue that held the world together. In the 1950s television emerged, and became the new hearth around which people gathered, not just a source of information, but a platform for community. Today the Internet has made that same profound shift from source of information to source of connection: social media have become the ties that bind. In this last decade social media and blogs have been instrumental in the emergence of political movements. Flash mobs brought down a government in Spain and the citizen uprising in Iran into our daily experience. And now worldwide Occupy Assemblies. This is only the beginning.

Archimedes famously said – “Give me a lever and a place to stand and I can move the world.” Communication through social media is becoming the lever of choice for political action. Within that context, many find a place to stand to both hone and deliver messages born of experience, dialog and introspection. Virtually Speaking provides a platform to authors and other leaders, a source of political culture and ways to create community among early adopters of the latest generation.

In March 2007, Jay Ackroyd and Jordan Bigel took on a challenging project: how to bring the experience of attending a summer conference in Chicago to persons who, for reasons of personal economics or health or competing time demands, could not attend in person. The conference, Yearly Kos, appealed to progressive political, social, cultural and environmental activists who were active and quite vocal through online communications. Jay asked himself: What tools were available to not only report the experience in real time, which bloggers were able to do, or send broadcasts, which C-SPAN and other media were providing, but deliver a participatory experience?

They created Virtually Speaking with Jay Ackroyd. Since then, we’ve had 200 guests and more than 400 episodes. The number of episodes produced each year has grown from 16 in 2007 to 213 in 2011. Beginning March, we’ll be airing 5 each week. Social media enables all that.

Virtually Speaking has definitely carved out a significant niche for itself in the comfy corners of Second Life.  The Nonprofit Commons’ own mentors are doing the same. Last week, they reported from Mentor’s Central on admirable uses of virtual worlds.

Zinnia Zauber: We want to share some positive success stories and encouraging ways to explain what wonderful things actually happen here. When any of us are successful, we all benefit.

Brena Benoir: This morning our discussion relates to many things we have discussed in recent meetings and how we explain our work here in SL. I am sure many of us has encountered the awkwardness that comes with trying to explain what SL is to someone unfamiliar with Virtual World technology. Often times we are faced with confusion, dumbfoundedness, counters that it’s all about sex. For me SL and other virtual worlds are a part of my daily life. You see for me, my RL work occurs in Virtual World settings.

Brena Benoir: This has become possible through Preferred Family Healthcare (PFH) being open and willing to pursue innovative technology to assist persons with Substance Abuse treatment. In May 2008, Dick Dillion, then Senior VP of Planning and Development at PFH, worked with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to examine the idea of using virtual world technology to assist with substance abuse treatment outcomes. They looked at both benefits and barriers of using technology, specifically SL, to provide substance abuse treatment. This became a foundational research piece that became the basis of several grants that PFH has pursued to utilize virtual worlds for treatment purposes.

Brena Benoir: A parent shared their appreciation for their child’s participation in our first virtual world treatment program by stating, “I feel like I have my child back prior to drug use.”

Angelle Marquette: That’s pretty marvelous.

Brena Benoir: This is one example of how I counter those approaches where people are skeptical or resistant to look at the benefits of virtual worlds. There is something in SL for fit any mindset one has. If a person wants to work a recovery program and be involved in 12 step programs that is available here in SL. If a person wants to pursue education, that is available here in SL too. The point is, the way to motivate people to get involved in SL and help them stay engaged once they get here is find out what they want to connect to or get involved with. Go out of your way to help them engage and feel the immersion. We are advocates for what we do here and we need to be the front line ambassadors for teaching the world about the real value of virtual world technology.

Join us this Friday at the Plush Nonprofit Commons amphitheater (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Plush%20Nonprofit%20Commons/88/126/26) at 8:30am PST for more discussions of innovative and admirable uses of Second Life in our digital age.

 

Written by: alebez

Last Friday, February 17th at the Nonprofit Commons, Jon Brouchoud of Arch Virtual and Chris Collins of Tipodean Technologies took the stage to talk about how their innovative inworld platforms are taking architecture and design to a whole new level of sophistication.

As I mentioned last week, going virtual is not a new phenomenon in certain circles. In fact, for architects and designers, virtual environments for collaboration allow for a relatively seamless workflow across time zones and allows for the possibility of creative exploration in terms of design. Architects for example, can provide digital mock ups and scale models for clients clearly illustrating the finished product before ground is even broken.  Imagine the time and money saved by investors, contractors, educators, etc.! Not to mention the flexibility and comfort to try new concepts and cutting edge designs.

In my humble opinion however, there is significant leg room to be made for these organizations in the edu space, primarily on university campuses with Architecture and Design programs. Interestingly, neither organization has been able to make significant progress in capturing this audience. From the mouths of both organizations however, this is definitely a target market they are planning to reach in the near future.

See below for the full transcript of this very interesting Nonprofit Commons meeting…

CHATLOG NONPROFIT COMMONS MEETING

February 17, 2012

 

Plush Nonprofit Commons Amphitheater

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Plush%20Nonprofit%20Commons/88/126/26

AGENDA

• 8:30am Introductions
• 8:40am TechSoup Announcements
• 8:45am Mentors Central
• 8:55am Jon Brouchard, Arch Virtual and Chris Collins, Tipodean
• 9:40am OpenMic/ Announcements

INTRODUCTIONS

[08:30] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): We’ve got a packed agenda, so lets get started!

[08:30] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Welcome to the Nonprofit Commons weekly meetup.

[08:31] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I’m your community manager, Rik Panganiban, from TechSoup

[08:31] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): We’re very happy to see you all here this morning.

[08:31] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): We’ve got a couple of great featured speakers.

[08:31] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): And some house business to handle before then.

[08:31] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): But first, as always, we introduce ourselves in the public text chat

[08:32] DJ Earnshaw: Don Singleton, Tulsa, OK (DJ Earnshaw, Professor Viper) HelpingTulsa and APCUG, http://snipurl.com/tk41d @donsingleton

[08:32] Panny Bakerly: Jeanne Booth, Freeport Historical Society, Freeport, NY freeporthistorymuseum.org

[08:32] Francesca Barnes: Mary-Frances O’Connor, now with the University of Arizona

[08:32] Chayenn: monique richert, protect yourself 1, inc., baltimore , md, protectyourself1.org , @PY1US

[08:32] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Please type into the chat your real life name, organization, location in the world, URL and twitter handle, if ou like

[08:32] Zinnia Zauber: Renne Emiko Brock-Richmond, Sequim Humanities and Arts Alliance, Sequim, Washington. http://www.sequimartsalliance.org http://www.facebook.com/sequimartsalliance @renneemiko

[08:32] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Bruce Hestley, Transgender American Veterans Association, Akron, OH, http://www.tavausa.org

[08:32] Buffy Beale: Buffy Bye, Bridges for Women, Victoria BC Canada, http://www.bridgesforwomen.ca @buffyb

[08:32] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): Jon Brouchoud, Madison, Wisconsin, http://www.archvirtual.com

[08:32] Chris Collins: Chris Collins, Tipodean tech. San Francisco

[08:32] Gentle Heron: Virtual Ability, Inc. www.virtualability.org with brand new Facebook, Twitter, and blog available from the front page

[08:32] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Rik Panganiban, Nonprofit Commons / TechSoup, Oakland CA, http://nonprofitcommons.org , @npsl @betterverse

[08:32] Chad Mikado: Chad Gobertwww.serviceandinclusion.org

[08:32] Coughran Mayo: Dick Dillon, Innovaision, LLC St. Louis MO, @Innovaision, @Coughran

[08:32] alebez: Ale Bezdikian, Online Community Coordinator, TechSoup Global, San Francisco, @alebez

[08:32] Sister Abeyante: Sister Patrice Colletti, Sisters of the Divine Savior; also Virtual Ability; Wisconsin, USA

[08:32] Brena Benoir: Brenda Bryan, Preferred Family Healthcare, Kirksville, Missouri; www.pfh.org; @brenabenoir

[08:33] Ozma Malibu: Sandy Andrews, Floaters Org, Arizona, Mexico and On The Road, @ozma

[08:33] RuxandraP: Ruxandra Popa, PR @ TechSoup Romania

[08:33] Kabbie Broadway: Kevin Brooks, Fargo ND. African Soul, American Heart http://africansoulamericanheart.org

[08:33] Anastasios Aurotharius: Ben Linson, Boston, Engineer, Entrepreneur, Educator, founder of www.entrepreneurclubboston.org

[08:33] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): great to see you Ruxandra!

[08:33] James at Lloud (lloud.laffer): Whoa Jon, I’m in Madison too.

[08:33] Dancers Yao: Kara Bennett, Elder Voices, Los Angeles, Health Care and Human Rights, www.eldervoices.net

[08:33] Zotarah Shepherd: BEACH College, CA

[08:33] Gilles Kuhn: Administrator Science Circle ASBL and the virtual university project Spain and Belgium

[08:33] RuxandraP: hi Rik, great to see you too 🙂

[08:33] CarynTopia Silvercloud: caryn Heilman Topia arts center in Berkshires of NW MA connecting via iPhone

[08:33] James at Lloud (lloud.laffer): James at LLOUD, LLC – learning tech consultant, Madison, Wisconsin USA.

[08:33] Anastasios Aurotharius: waves to Zotarah

[08:33] BELOVEDROX: Roxy Rocker Boston, MA National Service Inclusion Project www.serviceandinclusion.org

[08:33] Adalace Jewell: Corine Van Hellemont, RoSa Library Brussels, http://www.rosadoc.be @adalace

[08:34] Red (talkwithmarie): Marie C.-talkwithmarie, aka Red., Greater Boston, Girls project/Girl TV/Talk!withmarie, http://youtube.com/girltvlive, http://youtube.com/talkwithmarie, @talkwithmarie

[08:34] Oronoque Westland: Roberta Kilkenny, Hunter College, City University of New York

[08:35] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Welcome Adalace from Brussels!

[08:35] Red (talkwithmarie): Marie C.-talkwithmarie, aka Red., Greater Boston, Girls project/Girl TV/Talk!withmarie, http://youtube.com/girltvlive, http://youtube.com/talkwithmarie, @talkwithmarie

[08:36] Buffy Beale: hey Nathanmaton, welcome!

[08:36] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): anyone else? This is also for our transcript later

[08:36] Red (talkwithmarie): Hi Gentle

[08:36] Red (talkwithmarie): Hi Z

[08:36] Red (talkwithmarie): Hi C

[08:36] DyVerse Steele (dyverse): Ricky Davis, Restore Center for healthy living and Common grounds DJ DyVerse Steele facebook

[08:36] Glitteractica Cookie: Susan Tenby, Online Community and Social Media Director, TechSOup Global, SF USA @suzboop @techsoup

[08:37] Red (talkwithmarie): gtsy DyVerse🙂

[08:37] DyVerse Steele (dyverse): waves to Red

[08:37] Zinnia Zauber: Rah DyVerse!

[08:37] Red (talkwithmarie): 🙂

[08:37] Buffy Beale: yay Talk 🙂

[08:37] Thurs Xu (thursday.xu): Rex Heer – Iowa State University

[08:37] Kali Idziak: jessica Dally, Community Voice Mail, Seattle Wa www.cvm.org

[08:37] Red (talkwithmarie): Hey Buffy

[08:37] Namaara MacMoragh: Gloria Kraegel (http://greatkreations.com) working with BEST (http://brainenergysupportteam.org) in Tacoma WA

[08:38] DyVerse Steele (dyverse): Rah! Zinnia

 

TECHSOUP UPDATES

[08:38] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ok lets move on Techsoup Updates

[08:38] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I don’t think Bulkalak is here

[08:38] nathanmaton: Nathan Maton – dgtlproductions.com, works on educational games for youth activists, @nathanmaton

[08:38] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Glitteractica, can you do that?

[08:38] Glitteractica Cookie: I am giving them today, in his place

[08:38] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): thanks

[08:39] Coughran Mayo: Nice crowd, might be the guests……

[08:39] Glitteractica Cookie: yes, the main update is that we have less than two weeks until teh Digital Storytelling challenge submission deadline

[08:39] Glitteractica Cookie: Please get your digital stories in before it’s too late

[08:39] Glitteractica Cookie: In Kenzo wrote up a nice piece about how long it takes to make a digital story

[08:40] Glitteractica Cookie: I believe it’s at bit.ly/tsdigs12time

[08:40] Glitteractica Cookie: I will check in sec t see i that s thhe correct URL.

[08:40] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): thats correct

[08:41] Glitteractica Cookie: Ugh, my keyboard is having probs, sorry

[08:41] Glitteractica Cookie: anyway, all information about this fab campaign and all the educational webinars and tweetchat recaps are archived at tsdigs.org

[08:42] Glitteractica Cookie: we have ne final tweetchat, on Tuesday, in conjunction with NTC #commbuild tweetchat

[08:42] Glitteractica Cookie: it’s also on digital storytelling as a community building tool

[08:43] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): This is a great opportunity for any nonprofit to get their message out and maybe win a prize

[08:44] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Are there groups here that are planning to send in a story, or already did?

[08:44] Dancers Yao: Elder Voices will try

[08:44] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): awesome Dancers

[08:44] Buffy Beale: Question: will we be having the winner announcement/screening event here as we’ve done before?

[08:44] Kabbie Broadway: ASAH is thinking about it

[08:44] Buffy Beale: Bridges for Women will be

[08:45] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): It can be a very quick slideshow, or a major movie production

[08:45] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Groups active in SL have a leg up with compelling images, videos and characters they can use

[08:45] Rhiannon Chatnoir: only a minute in length though for movies, correct?

[08:45] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): very short

[08:46] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): see http://tsdigs.org/ for details and you can follow the hashtag #tsdigs on twitter for up to minute news

[08:46] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I’m hoping / expecting NPC tenants to participate if they can

 

MENTORS CENTRAL

[08:47] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ok lets move on to Mentors Central

[08:47] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Who speaks on behalf of the Mentors today?

[08:47] Jen (jenelle.levenque): I was going to finish up my presentation from last week

[08:47] Zinnia Zauber: We have Jen!

[08:47] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Only a couple more points

[08:47] Zinnia Zauber: Rah Jen!

[08:47] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): oh great

[08:48] Buffy Beale: Yayy Jen!

[08:48] Jen (jenelle.levenque): I was on the topic of Office Operations

[08:48] Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: I was on the topic of Office Operations

[08:48] Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: F. Office Hours

[08:48] Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: a. Set some office hours. Be realistic in terms of your availability and the timezones

[08:48] Jen (jenelle.levenque): I’m usually in my office an hour before this meeting

[08:48] Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: I’m usually in my office an hour before this meeting

[08:49] Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: b. While in the office, don’t be afraid to check on visitors to NPC in general. While LL has done away with the Community Gateways, people still find their way here.

[08:49] Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: c. Walk through the other offices. Who are your neighbors and what do they represent. How can you work with them? What can you learn from them? What can you teach them?

[08:49] Red (talkwithmarie): yay Jen:)

[08:49] Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: d. Take the tours for a quick overview of who is here. This changes and old groups leave while new ones move in.

[08:49] Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: G. NPC Community

[08:49] Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: 1. Become a Mentor

[08:49] Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: 2. Attend Tenant meetings

[08:50] Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: 3. Attend Wharf Ratz and Common Ground events

[08:50] Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: Jenelle Levenque

[08:50] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Those were the last two points

[08:50] Jen (jenelle.levenque): I’ll be happy to answer questions

[08:50] Zinnia Zauber: Awesome!

[08:50] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): that’s great

[08:50] Ozma Malibu: yes!

[08:50] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Check the Techsoup Toolbox

[08:50] Jen (jenelle.levenque): It’s awesome

[08:50] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): good tips for anyone in the virtual or real world

[08:51] Gentle Heron: Very important points, Jen. Thanks!

[08:51] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Has some great tools for presentations

[08:51] Buffy Beale: thanks Jen

[08:51] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Also, behind Gentle is a little cube on a stick

[08:51] Jen (jenelle.levenque): This records the names of people who come within the set radius

[08:51] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you so much Jen for this and last week. These tips are super to improve interaction and engagement!

[08:52] Gentle Heron: /me is glad she didn’t sit ON the cube on a stick!

[08:52] Zinnia Zauber: Jen is a super Mentor!

[08:52] Jen (jenelle.levenque): I’m around a lot so IM me any time

[08:52] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): this would be a good post on our blog too, if you’d like to post it there for the fture

[08:52] Buffy Beale: lol Gentle

[08:52] Jen (jenelle.levenque): The scripts are mod, so you can change them

[08:52] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you Jen!

[08:52] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ok Jon and Chris, want to come down?

 

ARCH VIRTUAL AND TIPODEAN

[08:53] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Let’s give a warm NPC welcome to Jon Brouchard and Chris Collins!

[08:53] Buffy Beale: Cheering for Keystone and Chris, the best builders in SL 🙂

[08:53] Coughran Mayo: Welcome!!

[08:53] DyVerse Steele (dyverse): Rah!

[08:53] Gentle Heron: Nice to have you here as guests, Jon and Chris.

[08:53] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): thanks so much for having us!

[08:53] Chris Collins: hi great to be here

[08:53] Zinnia Zauber: Rah Jon and Chris!

[08:53] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): we are so excited to have both of you here, and together!

[08:54] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): We are going to spend a bit more time on this since they have so many amazing projects to talk about

[08:54] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): take it away, guys

[08:54] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): cool, thanks Rik!

[08:54] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): thanks again for having us, we’re excited to be here

[08:54] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): just as a brief matter of background –

[08:55] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): (I’ll be in back running slides. Just nudge me if you need it to advance)

[08:55] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): i come to this from an architectural background, my company is http://www.archvirtual.com Arch Virtual – and we do all kinds of projects relating to architecture in virtual worlds

[08:55] Chris Collins: and

[08:55] Chris Collins: I am Chris Collins, my company is Tipodean technology and we focus on virtual worlds and serious games into organizations http://www.tipodean.com/management-team.html Prior to Tipodean I worked at Linden Lab for 4 years

[08:56] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): We work across a variety of platforms. A significant portion of our work is in Second Life. We do quite a bit of work in OpenSim, as well as Unity3D. Some of our work spans all 3 platforms.

[08:56] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): Chris and I co-developed a new technology we call ArchTech Engine

[08:57] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): we’ll talk about it in reference to some projects we’ll be sharing today – but you can also learn more and see a video intro here: http://www.archtechengine.com

[08:57] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): Over the years, we’ve realized that every project is unique – and brings a different set of challenges.

[08:57] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): To address that, ArchTech Engine is designed to be very flexible – and wrap around the needs of each project, rather than the other way around.

[08:58] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): We also use a technology developed by Tipodean – called the ‘Converter’

[08:58] Chris Collins: the converter

[08:58] Chris Collins: was buyilt out of the fact that many of our clients have come from a SL/OpenSim background

[08:59] Chris Collins: and often found themselves in a situation where they had invested time/money in great content they wanted to leverage into other platofmrs

[08:59] Chris Collins: so the converter can take an entire island, convert is out into a format that Unity3d can work with. Resulting in your island displaying in the web

[08:59] Chris Collins: some examples are here: http://converter.tipodean.com/unity3d/index.html

[08:59] Buffy Beale: wow

[09:00] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): next slide Rik?

[09:00] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): this is a project called “Customer-Created Design”

[09:00] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): It was a collaboration with Van Mell Associates in Madison, Wisconsin – where we used Second Life to help senior citizens design their own retirement facility.

[09:00] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): We projected SL on a screen, and changed the design in realtime, on-the-fly, as they gave their ideas

[09:01] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): you could really see their reaction – when we lowerd the ceiling for example, they all cringed…”too claustrophobic!!”…

[09:01] Ozma Malibu: wow

[09:01] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): then we raised it – and they were all unanimously saying it was too high.. “too institutional!”

[09:01] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): so we were able to get it ‘just right’..

[09:02] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): same with the windows.. we made the windows bigger, and they all gasped.. “Wow.. that’s way better..”

[09:02] Thurs Xu (thursday.xu): very cool

[09:02] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): so by the end of this 2 hours workshop, they had literally designed a very nice space

[09:02] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): the key was focusing on how they wanted teh space to feel.. not specifics of room sizes, etc – just concepts

[09:02] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): We started out with an empty space – then organized the discussion around a tour – asking them to describe the building as if they were giving a tour

[09:03] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): We‚Äôre now applying this to health care and medical facilities Рwe call taht ‚ÄúPatient-Created Design‚Äù Рobviously this same process could be applied to a variety of project types.

[09:03] Gentle Heron: /me likes that visualization model.

[09:03] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): there’s a video showing some of the footage from the session here: http://bit.ly/zPRPoN

[09:03] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): next slide?

[09:04] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): this was a project Tipodean was commissioned to create for Intel – and we collaborated on it

[09:04] Chris Collins: We work across many platforms and building in SL and Opensim is still very much what we do due to the ability and power of realtime collaboration. another great example of this was a project for Intel

[09:04] Chris Collins: for the intel project

[09:04] Chris Collins: Collaborating with the client in realtime – such a huge benefit of working in virtual worlds. Meet, and the client makes suggestions – we can realize it immediately.

[09:04] Chris Collins: we needed to work on a tight deadline and budget and we coudl do it as we could meet regularily and mvoe fast as a distributed group

[09:05] Chris Collins: the environment is hosten in ScienceSim (an opensim grid hosted by Intel)

[09:05] Chris Collins: they use their DSG (Distributed Scene Graph) technology to load it up with 100’s of avatars

[09:05] Chris Collins: This is an ongoing project for Intel – ultimately to be used in simulating emergency responses and when it is ready we could bring it out into Unity3d and bring in modules from AtchTech Engine.

[09:05] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): wow!

[09:05] boxy (alfred.kelberry): lovely rendered water

[09:06] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): next slide?

[09:06] Buffy Beale: looks great1

[09:06] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): This was a project Arch Virtual did for Rutgers University – for their new School of Business that will be built in RL soon

[09:06] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): this actually started in Second Life – with the early phase drawings from the architect

[09:06] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): then moved into OpenSim – where they added more of the surrounding campus

[09:07] boxy (alfred.kelberry): jon, how long such a project takes to complete?

[09:07] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): then when the final architectural models were complete, we translated their BIM (building information model) into realtime 3D using Unity3D – and some of the technology from ArchTech Engine to translate and compress it

[09:07] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): (lets hold questions to the end , please!)

[09:07] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): (lots of projects to get through!)

[09:07] boxy (alfred.kelberry): ah, sorry

[09:08] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): its really a fantastic tool for enabling students and faculty to explore the building before construction even starts – and figure out how they’ll really use it

[09:08] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): the next project is Virtual Dubuque

[09:08] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): again, we’re concentrating on architecture, cities and geography – and this project put into practice a lot of the ideas behind ArchTech Engine

[09:09] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): we wanted to create a simulation of the city that would be accessible as a community resource

[09:09] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): the intro video you’ll see here tells more about that project: http://dubuque.archvirtual.com

[09:10] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): next slide please

[09:10] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): a local developer wanted to use Virtual Dubuque to help visualize a new building in their Historic Millwork District, called the CARADCO building

[09:10] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): since the real world site is under construction – this enables them to promote and showcase the building in realtime interactive 3D before construction starts

[09:11] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): all from a simple web browser – embedded directly on their website

[09:11] Buffy Beale: this is so great to see it translate to real world use Keystone

[09:11] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): the thing that’s important to think about here, is this is all single player

[09:11] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): which is a real paradigm shift from our background in virtual worlds, where multi-player is default

[09:11] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): it works really well for me

[09:11] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): and this is a really important distinction that I’d encourage you all to consider

[09:12] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): for a lot of projects we build, the multi-user MMO style of virtual worlds is overkill.. it adds unecessary complexity, makes it harder to deploy to a large audience

[09:12] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): whereas you can achieve so many of your goals with a much simpler single-player to beging with – THEN bring it to multi-player after you’ve proven the concept and attracted attention (and hopefully a larger budget) after having demonstrated the idea in single player

[09:13] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): obviously SL and virtual worlds have huge benefits – again, we do a lot of our work in SL and OpenSim, where those collaborative, multi-user capabilities are vital. But single player is a really powerful option to consider

[09:13] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): next slide

[09:14] Chris Collins: This is a project that Tipodean did for UCLA that uses a lot of the plugins from ArchTech engine

[09:14] Chris Collins: UCLA already had:

[09:14] Chris Collins: -A lot of great content of ancient citie (e.g. Rome) they had built up over the years using modeling packages

[09:15] Chris Collins: but the models were all sitting on computer and they wanted to make them more interactive

[09:15] Chris Collins: so instead of rebuilding the content we leveraged it

[09:15] Chris Collins: this saved time and money (digital recycling)

[09:15] Chris Collins: the slide behind is an example of Multi-player as peer to peer meaning there is actually no multiplayer server needed (makes it easily expandable and decreases costs to maintain)

[09:16] Chris Collins: on the right hand side we also leveraged the fact that there current content was correctly geo referenced

[09:16] Chris Collins: so consumed the KML that they had already produced as a way for the person to navigate

[09:17] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): whispers: KML?

[09:17] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): this is also a really good example of how unity3D projects can be tied directly to content in the web browser. When you click on those menu items on the right – it brings up more info about that part of ancient Rome, so it really augments the virtual model

[09:17] Hour Destiny: Keystone Markup Language that Google brought?

[09:17] Chris Collins: KML is used in Google earth

[09:17] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ah

[09:17] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): geographic coordinates

[09:17] Chris Collins: that is a lat long and elevation to actual points

[09:18] Chris Collins: so what they can do is put a model into Unity 3d – deploy is to the website with the KML and the person can easily navigate

[09:18] James at Lloud (lloud.laffer): Would love to see Virtual Dubuque from within Google Earth! (im just sayin‘)

[09:18] Chris Collins: all up this system runs on one small webserver. But with Peer2Peer, KML support and leveraging current content, it is massivly scalible but cheap to maintain

[09:19] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): Google Earth is great for orbiting around a mile high in the sky – but what we’re trying to do is achieve more of a sense of place.. a sense of immersion, of really being in the city – hearing the sounds, seeing the buildings in first-person

[09:19] Hour Destiny: Any security issues with running peer to peer?

[09:19] James at Lloud (lloud.laffer): 🙂

[09:19] Chris Collins: do you mean ports etc?

[09:19] Chris Collins: firewalls

[09:19] Chris Collins: ?

[09:20] Hour Destiny: Tampering.

[09:20] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): (do you guys have more projects to presnet, or should we transition to questions?)

[09:20] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): questions at this point are great

[09:20] Chris Collins: with peer to peer you may still hit a firewall. But that would only mean that someone externally can not get in. Internally you are still running multiplayer

[09:20] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): next slide says Questions 😉

[09:20] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ah okay

[09:20] Anastasios Aurotharius: k stands for keystone?

[09:20] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Go ahead and type your questions in the public text chat

[09:21] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): It sounds to me like your projects are blurring virtual worlds and augmented reality

[09:21] Anastasios Aurotharius: in kml?

[09:21] Chris Collins: but with Archetch we do multiple muliplayer styles and as Jon said we are HUGE fans of singple player in a lot of instances

[09:21] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): particularly if deployed on small devices like tablets

[09:21] Buffy Beale: Question: Do you feel there is still growth opportunities for showcasing buildings in Second Life, or is there more a move to other platforms?

[09:21] Chris Collins: here is a good reference to KML http://code.google.com/apis/kml/documentation/

[09:21] Anastasios Aurotharius: lol

[09:22] Anastasios Aurotharius: hello

[09:22] Hour Destiny: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kml

[09:22] Buffy Beale: *showcasing 🙂

[09:22] Hour Destiny: Keyhole, not Keystone. My bad.

[09:22] Chris Collins: jon do you want to answer

[09:22] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): I think there are certain kinds of specific use cases for architectural work in Second Life

[09:22] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): like the Customer-Created Design – we couldn’t do that without Second Life

[09:22] Rhiannon Chatnoir: your tool that ports OpenSim/SL OARs to Unity, is that something you set up for people, or is there an accessible tool others can do the conversion for themselves

[09:23] Buffy Beale: thanks Key

[09:23] Chris Collins: Rhiannon, we run the tool here, we generally use it as part of a projec.

[09:23] Anastasios Aurotharius: ty

[09:23] Rhiannon Chatnoir: k

[09:23] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): but putting it out to a web browser with Unity3D and ArchTech – you can reach so many more people, much quicker, much easier – no account registration or huge client download. they just open the page, and they’re there. That’s a huge benefit for promoting a new building

[09:23] Hour Destiny: Can we get ahold of that tool? I have Unity3D myself.

[09:24] Chris Collins: I have a great example of where showcasing in unity is awesome. Jon’s work with Virtual Debuque.

[09:24] Chris Collins: when he launched in he got a flood of traffic, that took down the website. BUT

[09:24] Buffy Beale: Question: Do you believe more real life architects will or should start using virtual reality to gather client requirements, such as you did for yours?

[09:24] Chris Collins: it was wordpress that went down. The actuall Unity 3d deployment was still there

[09:25] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): i believe they will Buffy, as the tech enables them to use their existing 3D models more easily – instead of having to rebuild it

[09:25] Rhiannon Chatnoir: nod, yes would be interesting if there was a way to office as maybe some sort of service model the ability for others to use that port to Unity capability

[09:25] Chris Collins: so for the first time we can showcase our content and not have to worry about it going down when 1000’s 10000’s mill hit the site

[09:25] Buffy Beale: thanks Key, I do too

[09:25] Chris Collins: the converter we run here. We can run it on an island for you and send you back the DAE file to put into Untiy3d

[09:26] Buffy Beale: wow, is there a cost for that?

[09:26] Chris Collins: of course :>

[09:26] Coughran Mayo: got to run….thanks, Jon and Chris! You are two of the real visionaries in Virtual Environments

[09:26] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): thanks Coughran! =)

[09:26] Chris Collins: we price it on a island by island basis.

[09:26] Buffy Beale: 🙂 silly me what way I thinking

[09:26] Buffy Beale: do you give price breaks for educationals or nonprofits?

[09:27] Chris Collins: yes

[09:27] Buffy Beale: cheering! great news, thanks

[09:27] Chris Collins: what I like for an EDU is that we can take that island, convert it. then deploy with Unity3d to flash as single player. and you could send that to the entire school and they will all get in

[09:28] Buffy Beale: that is wonderful Chris

[09:28] Chris Collins: this then increases your exposure and potentially for larger funding focooler projects :>!

[09:28] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): how do virtual cities projects get funded and stay sustainable?

[09:28] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): it really opens a lot of doors – since you can take that content you’ve already built, and make it super easy to access. you also then have all of the capabilities of unity3D availalbe to you to make the build interactive, etc. So you can entice people with an easy-access single player version – then come to the multi-player build to dive deeper

[09:28] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): is it an advertising model? government sponsorship?

[09:29] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I’d love to see Virtual Oakland

[09:29] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): Rik, it’s a variety of revenue sources. We mainly build on sponsorship and custom content commissions from local organizations.

[09:29] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): the nice thing about that, is they’re more in the driver’s seat as far as how we build the toolset. Instead of us building everything and just hoping it works for the community – they’re actively involved with sponsoring and commissioning content.

[09:30] Gentle Heron: QUESTION: I’m not sure I’m quite understanding what you are proposing. Do you take something social, and make it asocial to give it broader exposure and bring in funding for something bigger and social?

[09:30] Chris Collins: also as far as costs go I find building in SL/Opensim is cheaper to get started but then expensive to maintain (expecially if you think cost per user). Unity on teh other hand is more expensive upfront but then incredibly cheap to maintain

[09:31] Chris Collins: Gentle. No we take something social and can ask the question how many people do you want to get this out to, based on that answer we use components from ArchTech

[09:31] Chris Collins: in a lot of cases (coming back to single player) that can have huge results

[09:31] Hour Destiny: What about exporting to HeroEngine?

[09:31] Chris Collins: what does hero support?

[09:32] Chris Collins: if it supports DAE then use it will work

[09:32] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): also a unity3d web-based virtual model is not necesasrily “asocial”

[09:32] Chris Collins: Rik. Exactly

[09:32] Rhiannon Chatnoir: true Rik, look at something like Jibe

[09:32] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): You could still put it besides a chat, twitter chat, facebook threat, etc

[09:32] Chris Collins: you could even argue make it much more social leveraging social tools already used by the user

[09:32] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): you can also have multi-user, voice, even webcam multi-user – all adjacent to unity3d window

[09:32] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): sweet

[09:33] Gentle Heron: Thanks for clarifying.

[09:33] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): what you lose is multi-ple avatars running around the space together really

[09:33] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): which is just one aspect of virtual worlds

[09:33] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): you can still actually have that too 😉

[09:33] Rhiannon Chatnoir: the sense of shared space

[09:33] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): we do have multi-user avatar-based modules that can be added

[09:33] Gentle Heron: Right Rhiannon, that’s it.

[09:34] Hour Destiny: http://wiki.heroengine.com/wiki/Introduction_to_HeroCloud I know it supports Maya and 3DS Max and FBX. 🙂

[09:34] Chris Collins: here we have a converted island of rutgers. In single player, p2p multiplayer and client server multiplayer all with the same content: converter.tipodean.com/unity3d/index.html

[09:34] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): wow, thats awesome

[09:35] Chris Collins: so options, options options. again why we built ArchTech engine as we didto allow for the options

[09:35] Oronoque Westland: but if you need to then essentially multitask to reintroduce the social aspect, doesn’t that then create greater system demands?

[09:35] Gentle Heron: It would for my brain, Oro!

[09:35] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): its really inspiring seeing where this technology is going !

[09:35] Chris Collins: which is exactly why we ask the question What do you want to do and Who do you want the audience to be. and deploy accordingly

[09:36] Gentle Heron: /me applauds the flexibility offered. You can rarely go wrong with that.

[09:36] alebez: I have a question: wondering how this innovation impacts arch majors and programs specifically. Have many universities adopted this technology into their curriculum?

[09:36] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): its still very fresh – realtime 3D is new to many arch curriculums that are very slow to adopt new technologies

[09:37] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): (just 1 more quesiton before we should wrap up)

[09:37] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): AEC industries in general are notoriously reluctant to adopt new technologies – so its a learning curve, for sure

[09:37] Hour Destiny: Ironic that education not being the vanguard of education. 🙂

[09:37] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): (but I think every Arch program should use realtime 3D =)

[09:38] Oronoque Westland: there was a great deal to read, so I may have missed this — do your deployments support mobile devices as well?

[09:38] Gentle Heron: @Hour, education institutions are notorious for inertia… after all, their base mission is to preserve cultural status quo, including their own.

[09:38] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): now that they can use their existing content more easily, I think it will speed up adoption

[09:38] Hour Destiny: Unity3D does.

[09:38] Chris Collins: I agree

[09:39] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): they’re already building 3D content, so bringing it into unity3D and publishing it to a web browser isn’t a huge step. it will grow rapidly in the next few years I think

[09:39] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): lets answer Oronoque’s question sabout mobile and then wrap up please

[09:39] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): (as much as this is fascinating!)

[09:39] Chris Collins: yeah. Within Unity you have mulit deployment options.

[09:39] Chris Collins: IOS (Iphoe Ipad) and Android (the rest) are deployment options. that is a feature of Unity

[09:40] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): definitely not something you can do easily with SL!

[09:40] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): yep, each platform has its unique benefits and characteristics.

[09:40] Oronoque Westland: optimized for mobile, or miniaturized?

[09:40] The One and Only Drax (draxtor.despres): i am never totally clear on why stuff running in a web browser is so super important! All my audio video editing stuff is NOT in a browers and thankfully so 🙂 I would not want to build or film machinima in a web version of a 3D world frankly

[09:40] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): you can actually deploy the same content

[09:40] Anastasios Aurotharius: Question: do you have to modify the high poly arch models to get them into Unity?

[09:40] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Jon and Chris, thanks so much fo spending time with us today. How do people reach you if they have further questions?

[09:40] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Anastasios, we have to wrwap up

[09:41] Anastasios Aurotharius: lol

[09:41] Chris Collins: chris@tipodean.com / www.archtechengine.com

[09:41] Chris Collins: thanks all

[09:41] Chris Collins: fun chatting

[09:41] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you very much Jon and Chris! This was wonderful!

[09:41] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): let’s thank our guests from Tipodean and Arch Virtual!

[09:41] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): thanks everyone!

[09:41] Glitteractica Cookie: big meeting today. did anyone get a final headcount

[09:41] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I’ve been wanting them here for awhile, so its great that they came togeher

[09:41] BELOVEDROX: thank you

[09:42] alebez: Thank you both! This was great.

[09:42] CarynTopia Silvercloud: yes very informative

[09:42] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Glitter, I ahve those stats of course

[09:42] Sister Abeyante: Excellent topic- thanks!

[09:42] Oronoque Westland: thank you

[09:42] Jerry Buchko MA AFC (jerrybuchko): Yes, thank you both!

[09:42] Zotarah Shepherd: Thank you. Great information.

[09:42] Buffy Beale: Cheering, thanks a lot, great information

[09:42] James at Lloud (lloud.laffer): thanks!

[09:42] Gentle Heron: Thanks Chris and Jon.

[09:42] Red (talkwithmarie): Than you:)

[09:42] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): Drax, let’s do a pepsi challenge someday – get a bunch of newbs to an interactive 3D site in a browser, vs. SL – and see who gets there first.

[09:42] Glitteractica Cookie: thanks very much, you two

[09:42] The One and Only Drax (draxtor.despres): jon – i understand that “busy people on the go” need it fast etc

 

OPEN MIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

[09:42] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Ok lets do a quick round of Announcements / Open Mic

[09:42] James at Lloud (lloud.laffer): /me is called back to work – cheers good techsoup folk

[09:43] The One and Only Drax (draxtor.despres): I am not the target audience hahahah 🙂

[09:43] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): firstly, the NPC links….

[09:43] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Here are the many ways to can get involved with the Nonprofit Commons in Second Life:

 

Nonprofit Commons blog: http://nonprofitcommons.org

Twitter: http://twitter.com/npsl

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nonprofitcommons

 

Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/TechSoup-Second-Life

Google Calendar: http://bit.ly/2tMEYh

Wiki: http://npsl.wikispaces.com

 

About TechSoup:

http://www.techsoup.org/stock/howtousetechsoup.asp

http://flavors.me/techsoup

http://flavors.me/nonprofitcommons

 

Weekly Networking Event: Wharf Ratz, Aloft, Tuesdays, 7-9pm SLT

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Aloft%20Nonprofit%20Commons/168/22…

 

Monthly Networking Event (3rd Thursday):

Common Ground, Plush, 5PM-7PM SLT

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Plush%20Nonprofit%20Commons/128/22…

[09:43] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): you can paste a link.. “hey, check this out…” boom, they’re standing there. That has compelling use cases.

[09:43] Buffy Beale: Draxie!

[09:43] The One and Only Drax (draxtor.despres): and i think there are MORE people out there who enjoy social virtual worlds that are NOT always on the go

[09:43] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): and a couple of more news items from TechSoup….

[09:43] The One and Only Drax (draxtor.despres): kk i shut up now!

[09:44] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): if that’s the target audience, SL is perfect.

[09:44] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): first : the deadline for the TS digital storytelling challenge is Feb 29!

[09:44] The One and Only Drax (draxtor.despres): well the focus should be on many thngs parallel

[09:44] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): So please get working on your digital stories very soon to quality

[09:44] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): (guys, we are still in a meeting here)

[09:45] Glitteractica Cookie: networking after the announcements, y’all. 🙂

[09:45] Chris Collins: drax exacty. when you want 60 people max in your space dynamically building SL/opensim. when you want a million concurrently in a browser then unity3d

[09:45] Loty Doty: hi

[09:45] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): TechSoup has a new product to announce for nonprofits: HUDDLE

[09:45] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): TechSoup now has Huddle, a cloud collaboration and content management system, as a donation to eligible nonprofits. http://bit.ly/xhmzst

[09:46] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I’ve used it for project management, its really awesom

[09:46] Glitteractica Cookie: our team uses huddle and it’s great

[09:46] CarynTopia Silvercloud: good to kniw

[09:46] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): and lastly here’s an upcoming event for your calendars….

[09:46] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Processing Payments for Good free webinar on 2/23 at 11am PT http://bit.ly/yvjYwh

[09:46] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): so if you want to get cash dollars for your nonprofit, this might be a good event for you!

[09:47] Glitteractica Cookie: and if you are in the bay area, on the 23rd as well, we are co-hosting a pre_NTC party at our ofcies

[09:47] Glitteractica Cookie: office

[09:47] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ok who else has announcements?

[09:47] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): (sorry we are running long…)

[09:47] Zinnia Zauber: I do

[09:47] Glitteractica Cookie: if you are intererested in joining us for the pre-party on the 23rd, RSVP by emailing communitiy@techsoup.org. It’s in SF

[09:48] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Anyone else besides Zinnia?

[09:48] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): go ahead zinnia.

[09:48] Zinnia Zauber: I want to thank everyone that made CommonGround amazing last night! DJ DyVerse was stunning!

[09:48] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): You look lovely today btw

[09:48] Zinnia Zauber: thank you

[09:49] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): we love Common ground!

[09:49] Zinnia Zauber: Next month our party is on March 15 and the theme is GREEN!

[09:49] Red (talkwithmarie): Awesome event!! of course im biased with red theme:)

[09:49] Chris Collins: bye. Thanks all. I need to jump to a meeting

[09:49] Chris Collins: thanks

[09:49] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): bye chris

[09:49] Red (talkwithmarie): tc Collins

[09:49] Zinnia Zauber: You can see photos from the party on the NPC Facebook Page!

[09:49] Buffy Beale: bye Chris thanks for coming

[09:49] Zinnia Zauber: lol Red!

[09:49] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): i’m out too. see you. Thanks again!!!

[09:49] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): bye jon thanks!

[09:49] Red (talkwithmarie): tc Jon

[09:49] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you, that was it!

[09:49] Jon Brouchoud (keystone.bouchard): Thank *you*!

[09:49] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): and it looks like we are about wrapped up here

[09:50] Glitteractica Cookie: Sorry, here is the link about the pre-NTC party that we are co-hosting at our office: http://www.picnet.net/about-us/upcoming-events/event/82?view=event&id=82

[09:50] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): look to nonprofit commons.org for the transcxript from today’s meeting

[09:50] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): let’s of great info today!

[09:50] Sister Abeyante: Great topic- thanks!

[09:50] Glitteractica Cookie: yes

[09:50] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I wish you all a lovely friday and long weekend for thos e in the US!

[09:51] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): stick around for the Mentors Meeting if you ahve questions

[09:51] Zinnia Zauber: Mentor’s Meeting in 5 minutes!

[09:51] The One and Only Drax (draxtor.despres): bye everyone

[09:51] The One and Only Drax (draxtor.despres): sorry to pop in so briefly

[09:51] Brena Benoir: bye Draxtor

[09:51] Zinnia Zauber: Please get your refills of tea or coffee now!

[09:51] Glitteractica Cookie: bye rik, and thanks to all of you for your service to this community

[09:51] RuxandraP: yes, congrats for the amazing meeting

[09:52] RuxandraP: bye

[09:52] Buffy Beale: thanks Glitter and Rik, great meeting

[09:52] alebez: have a wonderful weekend everyone.

[09:52] Glitteractica Cookie: have a great long weekend those of you in the states

[09:53] Glitteractica Cookie: bye all, and hopefully the next time i come to NPC i will have a new computer that is non-crashy

Written by: alebez

Jeff Ramos, Community and Content Manager at Games for Change (G4C), visited the Nonprofit Commons last week to discuss how G4C is on a mission to “catalyze social impact through digital games.” Every mother on an equally ambitious mission to curb the addiction of her 13 year-old’s videogaming habits can take a sigh of sweet relief knowing that all this gaming is for good cause thanks to organizations like G4C.  Founded in 2004, Games for Change has embraced the space between leveraging entertainment and engagement for social good.

Unlike its counterparts in the commercial gaming industry, G4C aims to: “bring together funders, NGOs, corporations, government agencies and educators to offer a new suite of services to guide organizations, and individuals that are actively pursuing games to further their public, philanthropic or academic mission.”

And let’s face it, they hit the sweetspot jackpot – because who would say no to making the world a better place by playing games? And as Jeff pointed out at the Nonprofit Commons, “games allow us to discuss complex subject matters in a context that is safe and allegoric. We can use game mechanics, metaphors, and clever storytelling to talk about a subject in a way that’s harder to do in traditional media.”

Read on for the full transcript from the Nonprofit Commons meetup on February 10, 2012….

CHAT LOG NONPROFIT COMMONS

February 10 2012

 

Nonprofit Commons Meeting

February 10, 2012, 8:30am PST

Plush Nonprofit Commons Amphitheater

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Plush%20Nonprofit%20Commons/88/126/26

AGENDA

• 8:30am Introductions
• 8:40am TechSoup Announcements
• 8:45am Mentors Central
• 8:55am Jeff Ramos, Games for Change
• 9:30am OpenMic/ Announcements

 

INTRODUCTIONS

[08:33]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): hi folks

[08:33]  CarynTopia Silvercloud: Caryn Heilman, Topia Arts Center, @topiaartscenter, www.TopiaArts.org in NYC today and in Berkshires later

[08:33]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): sorry had trouble logging in this morning

[08:34]  jefframos: Should I move?

[08:34]  Gentle Heron: Gosh isn’t it great when you can finally SEE the folks who are chatting to you? Hello everyone I managed NOT to sit on this morning.

[08:34]  Anastasios Aurotharius: hello Rik

[08:34]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): hold up things are still rezzing

[08:34]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): jeff feel free to sit in the audience until I call ou up later

[08:35]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): it looks like people might have started to introduce themselves?

[08:35]  jefframos: Oh, that’ s a good idea

[08:35]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): If it wasn’t stated before, welcome to the Nonprofit Commons weekly meetup.

[08:35]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I’m Rik Panganiban, community manager of the NPC.

[08:36]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I’m joined by Gliteractica Cookie, founder of the NPC.

[08:36]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): great to see everyone today!

[08:36]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): Hi Rik

[08:36]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: Hi Rik

[08:36]  Ozma Malibu: Hey Rik! And Glitter!

[08:36]  Glitteractica Cookie: welcome one and all

[08:36]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): AS always we start with introductions. So please type your real life name, location, organiation, URL and twitter handle into the text chat, if you like.

[08:37]  HB Eternal: Harold W Becker, The Love Foundation, Florida, http://www.thelovefoundation.com @lovefoundation

[08:37]  Chayenn: Monique Richert, Protect Yourself 1, Inc., Baltimore MD, protectyourself1.org, @PY1US

[08:37]  Panny Bakerly: Jeanne Booth Freeport Historical Society, Freeport NY freeporthistorymuseum.org

[08:37]  Ozma Malibu: Sandy Andrews, Floaters Org, Arizona, Mexico and On The Road, @ozma

[08:37]  Zinnia Zauber: Renne Emiko Brock-Richmond, Sequim Humanities and Arts Alliance, Sequim, Washington. http://www.sequimartsalliance.org http://www.facebook.com/sequimartsalliance @renneemiko

[08:37]  Glitteractica Cookie: Susan Tenby, Online Community Director, TechSOup Global, San Francisco, CA USA @suzboop @techsoup

[08:37]  Gentle Heron: Virtual Ability, Inc. www.virtualability.org and now experimenting with Facebook, Twitter, and a blog, all available from our website.

[08:37]  Chad Mikado: Chad Gobert

[08:37]  bulaklak: Michael DeLong, Online Community Manager, TechSoup, www.techsoup.org @TechSoup @MichaelDeLongSF, San Francisco

[08:37]  Brena Benoir: Brenda Bryan, Preferred Family Healthcare, Kirksville, Missouri; www.pfh.org, @brenabenoir

[08:37]  DJ Earnshaw: Don Singleton, Tulsa, OK (DJ Earnshaw, Professor Viper) HelpingTulsa and APCUG, http://snipurl.com/tk41d @donsingleton

[08:37]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): Bruce Hestley, Transgender American Veterans Association, Akron, OH, http://www.tavausa.org

[08:37]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: Bruce Hestley, Transgender American Veterans Association, Akron, OH, http://www.tavausa.org

[08:37]  Ethelred Weatherwax: Dave Dexter, Neenah Historical Society, Wisconsin USA

[08:37]  Aldon Huffhines: Hi. This is Aldon… Community Health Center Inc. in CT. Long time since I’ve been around…

[08:38]  Kali Idziak: Jessica Dally, Community Voice Mail, Seattle, WA http://www.cvm.org

[08:38]  Dancers Yao: Kara Bennett, Elder Voices, Los Angeles, Health Care and Human Rights www.eldervoices.net

[08:38]  Anastasios Aurotharius: Ben Linson, engineer, entrepreneur, facilitator www.entrepreneurclubboston.org

[08:38]  Hour Destiny: Morris Cox, Mesquite NV, @morriscox (DAZ 3D just released a bunch of 3D software for free. Daz Studio Pro, Bryce 7 Pro, and Hexagon. https://www.daz3d.com/i/3d/free-3d-software-overview?home_5_btn=start Over $2300 worth for free.)

[08:38]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Rik Panganiban, Nonprofit Commons / TechSoup, Oakland CA, nonprofitcommons.org @betterverse @npsl

[08:38]  jefframos: Jeff Ramos, Brooklyn, NY. Community and Content Manager at Games for Change. http://www.gamesforchange.org/ – @G4C – @OhJeffRamos

[08:38]  Zotarah Shepherd: BEACH College, Sonoma CA

[08:38]  alebez: Ale Bezdikian, Online Community Coordinator, TechSoup, San Francisco, Ca. @alebez

[08:39]  Adalace Jewell: Corine Van Hellemont, RoSa Library Brussels, Belgium http://www.rosadoc.be @adalace

[08:39]  Hour Destiny: Will Wright is StupidFunWill in SL. Too bad he’s not logged in.

[08:39]  Hi everyone

[08:40]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): welcoem, jac

[08:40]  jacmacaire Humby: Jacques Macaire HUMANBE http://www.humanbe.com Council and Action Tank on Sustainable Development France and International @Humanbe

[08:42]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): anyone else?

 

 

TECHSOUP UPDATES

[08:42]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): If not, let me call up Bulaklak to give our weekly rundown of TechSoup news and opportunities for you all

[08:42]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Bulaklak?

[08:43]  bulaklak: Hello!

[08:43]  Glitteractica Cookie: hello

[08:43]  bulaklak: I am going to keep it short and sweet today.

[08:43]  bulaklak: As you know we are in the midst of our Digital Storytelling Campaign

[08:43]  bulaklak: And we hope you will be submitting stories this month to win great prizes from our donor partners.

[08:44]  bulaklak: Please visit www.tsdigs.org to learn more about the challenge.

[08:44]  Glitteractica Cookie: it’s very easy, no professional equipment needed

[08:44]  bulaklak: And stay in touch with all of our learning opportunities by joining our Google Group

[08:44]  Aldon Huffhines: You can see what I’m up to at http://chc1.com http://community.chc1.com at @ahynes1 and @CHCConnecticut

[08:44]  bulaklak: http://bit.ly/lXf6fD

[08:44]  bulaklak: As Glitter said, it’s very easy

[08:44]  Glitteractica Cookie: we still have some educational webinars and twetchats about how to make a digital story too

[08:45]  bulaklak: And it’s a great way for your organization to take some time to frame your key messages and capture your hard work and passion

[08:45]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): It’s a good opportunity for example to make your first machinima if you haven

[08:45]  bulaklak: We have a tweet chat on Tuesday about social amplification

[08:45]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): haven’t before

[08:45]  bulaklak: And a webinar on Thursday about post-production

[08:45]  CarynTopia Silvercloud: great

[08:45]  bulaklak: All the details are at www.tsdigs.org

[08:46]  bulaklak: Thank you!

[08:46]  bulaklak: Have a great day!

[08:46]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): thank you, bulaklak

[08:46]  Chad Mikado: Thanks for the info

[08:46]  bulaklak: Oh and one last thing

[08:46]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I hope folks are getting their digital stories ready!

[08:46]  bulaklak: It’s open to all social benefit orgs

[08:46]  bulaklak: You don’t have to be a 501c3

[08:46]  bulaklak: As long as you are fighting the good fight

[08:46]  bulaklak: =)

[08:46]  Glitteractica Cookie: And you can email any of us with questions at tsdigs@techsoup.org

[08:47]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): awesome

 

MENTORS CENTRAL

 

[08:47]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Okay now for the re-branded Mentors Central

[08:47]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): who’s speaking for the Mentors today?

[08:47]  Zinnia Zauber: Today we have Jen!

[08:47]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): I believe I am Rik

[08:47]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): The Mentors are our crack team of volunteer helpers , for folks new to SL or who just need some extra help with something

[08:48]  Zinnia Zauber: Rah Jen!

[08:48]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Go for it Jen!

[08:48]  Brena Benoir: Yay Jen

[08:48]  Gentle Heron: YAY Jen!

[08:48]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): I’m using one of the tools from the Techsoup toolbox

[08:48]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): Hope I’m getting it right

[08:49]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): One of the things I have thought about is what do we do with our office that can make our SL lifes better

[08:49]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): So my presentation has to do with Office Operations

 [08:50]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: A. Purpose of this presentation

[08:50]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:     1)  To give NPC offices some ways to improve how they use their offices.

[08:50]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: B. What is the purpose of your office?

[08:51]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): This is the teachers friend

[08:51]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: This is the teachers friend

[08:51]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): You put your presentation in it then control it line by line

[08:51]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: You put your presentation in it then control it line by line

[08:51]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): saves having to type every time

[08:51]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: saves having to type every time

[08:51]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:     a.  Why do you have an office at NPC?

[08:51]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:         1)  Educate public about your programs

[08:51]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:         2)  Attract possible volunteers

[08:51]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:         3)  Interest potential donors

[08:52]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): If you have any questions please ask

[08:52]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: If you have any questions please ask

[08:52]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): The Hud is repeating everything I say, so bear with me

[08:52]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: The Hud is repeating everything I say, so bear with me

[08:53]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): Think about why our office is here

[08:53]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: Think about why our office is here

[08:53]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): Might be useful for the digital story as well

[08:53]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: Might be useful for the digital story as well

[08:53]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: C. Donations

[08:53]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:     a.  Provide a way for visitors to donate, assuming you take donations.

[08:53]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:     b.  Create an ALT to accept the donations to keep them separate from your personal L$ account

[08:54]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): I found an ALT to take donations important for me

[08:54]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: I found an ALT to take donations important for me

[08:54]  Glitteractica Cookie: yes, we had machinima entries last year. WOuld love to get a few more this year

[08:54]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): It keeps the donations separate from my L$

[08:54]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: It keeps the donations separate from my L$

[08:54]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): Makes the bookkeeping easier

[08:54]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: Makes the bookkeeping easier

[08:54]  Zinnia Zauber: Great idea!

[08:54]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:     c. Religiously thank everyone who donates.

[08:54]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): I use the donation box in the NPC Toolbox

[08:54]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: I use the donation box in the NPC Toolbox

[08:55]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): It records who has donated and how much

[08:55]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: It records who has donated and how much

[08:55]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): It’s good to send an IM to each donor to thank them for their contributions and support

[08:55]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: It’s good to send an IM to each donor to thank them for their contributions and support

[08:55]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): You can put your logo on it

[08:55]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: You can put your logo on it

[08:55]  jacmacaire Humby: Bye everyone.. Have anice week-end

[08:56]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): Glad to see you again Jac

[08:56]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: Glad to see you again Jac

[08:56]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: D. Tracking Visitors

[08:56]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): How do you know who stopped by

[08:56]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: How do you know who stopped by

[08:56]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): We know none of these offices are staffed 24 hours

[08:56]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: We know none of these offices are staffed 24 hours

[08:56]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:     a.  Who came?

[08:56]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:         1) How do I know?

[08:56]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:             I use the Visitor Tracker from the NPC Tools in a box

[08:57]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): This tool will keep a list of who came by with the time

[08:57]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: This tool will keep a list of who came by with the time

[08:57]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): You can set it to send you and email if you like as well

[08:57]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: You can set it to send you and email if you like as well

[08:57]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:             I also have a security system that is set to monitor the comings and goings and inform me immediately.

[08:58]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): I also have a security system that I use on my rentals

[08:58]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: I also have a security system that I use on my rentals

[08:58]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): It’s set to only monitor

[08:58]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: It’s set to only monitor

[08:58]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): The one I have will IM me when someone arrives and departs

[08:58]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: The one I have will IM me when someone arrives and departs

[08:59]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:         2) Database

[08:59]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:             I keep a spreadsheet that I put the names of people who stop by.

[08:59]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): I keep a spreadsheet of who stopped by our offices

[08:59]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: I keep a spreadsheet of who stopped by our offices

[08:59]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): Why would you want to do that?

[08:59]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: Why would you want to do that?

[08:59]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): (can you wrap up in a minute or two, please)

[08:59]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): certainly

[08:59]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: certainly

[08:59]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:             I also keep track of the traffic values.

[08:59]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:             Information is used to keep the board up to date.

[09:00]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:             NOTE: for Jan 2012 we averaged almost 5.2 people per day between NPC and our other location.

[09:00]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:     b.  What do you tell them?

[09:00]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:         1)  What if I’m not there and they want to contact me?

[09:00]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:             I have an answering machine in my office they can use to IM me

[09:00]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:         2)  What information do I present to them?

[09:00]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:             I have information on display as well as information for them to take

[09:00]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:             I go through the list and either I or a volunteer will look them up in search, send them a thank you for stopping by and send them our business card.

[09:00]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): We think the personal touch is a plus

[09:00]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: We think the personal touch is a plus

[09:00]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:             Each office volunteer has a business card. It’s a NC with information about the organization both SL and RL

[09:01]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:         3)  What if I’m not in SL when they stop by?

[09:01]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:             IMs are emailed to me and they are monitored often.

[09:01]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: E. Organizing your office

[09:01]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:     a.  Set up your office to reflect your organization’s character

[09:01]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:     b.  Set it up to allow your goals to be met in your interaction with visitors.

[09:01]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:     c.  The property description should be relevant to your organization as it shows up in search. This should be your elevator speech. It should also be used for the tour

[09:01]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:     d. Make connections with others in your community

[09:01]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD:         I have a door to the Rainbow Gate, which is a connection to the LGBT community. I’m looking to see if we can have a similar scheme for the Veterans community. If it can be adapted, then it may be available to other communities as well.

[09:02]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): I’ll be working with the developer and we can adapt the gate to other communities

[09:02]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: I’ll be working with the developer and we can adapt the gate to other communities

[09:02]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ( we are going to have to move on, I’m afraid)

[09:02]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: F. Office Hours

[09:02]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): (perhaps move to next week?)

[09:02]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): Ok

[09:02]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: Ok

[09:02]  Zinnia Zauber: Jen has so much to share with us!

[09:02]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): Anyone with questions, please contact me

[09:02]  Jenelle’s Presentation HUD: Anyone with questions, please contact me

[09:02]  Gentle Heron: Great ideas, Jen.

[09:02]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): sorry, but I don’t want to neglect our featured guest

[09:02]  Zinnia Zauber: Maybe we can share more next week.

[09:02]  Gentle Heron: Looking forward to hearing the rest!

[09:02]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): thanks so much Jen!

[09:02]  Zinnia Zauber: Thank you very much Jen!!!

[09:02]  Brena Benoir: Thank you Jen, great job!

[09:02]  DyVerse Steele (dyverse): JEN!!!!!

[09:02]  DyVerse Resident: Jen!!!

[09:03]  Zotarah Shepherd: Good basic information for any new organizations to have in SL.

[09:03]  Veri Oddfellow: Brad Lewis, Great STrides, http://www.GreatStrides.org Damascus, MD, US *waves and smiles*

[09:03]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): to be continued!

[09:03]  Anastasios Aurotharius: ty Jen, interesting product

[09:03]  Namaara MacMoragh: thank you!! great info

[09:03]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): The tools from Techsoup are wonderful

 

GAMES FOR CHANGE

 

[09:03]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Okay Jeff can you come on down please?

[09:03]  jefframos: Hello!

[09:03]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Its an honor to have Jeff with use today from Games for Change.

[09:03]  Oronoque Westland: Hi Jeff!

[09:03]  Gentle Heron: Hello Jeff.

[09:04]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): He is the community and content manager at Games for Change

[09:04]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): Welcome Jeff

[09:04]  Glitteractica Cookie: Welcome Jeff!

[09:04]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Who here knows about Games for Change already?

[09:04]  Glitteractica Cookie: I certainly do!

[09:04]  CarynTopia Silvercloud: I do

[09:04]  Oronoque Westland: Moi

[09:04]  bulaklak: Me!

[09:04]  Aldon Huffhines: I covered an early G4C conference as a blogger

[09:05]  Oronoque Westland: I used their toolkit with my students last semester…it worked great

[09:05]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ok perhaps Jeff you could give the elevator pitch about who G4C is t ostart?

[09:05]  jefframos: Absolutely

[09:05]  jefframos: First off all, this is my first time ever using SL

[09:05]  jefframos: So, apologies for having a lame looking avatar!

[09:05]  jefframos: Then again, I dress similar in real life so you’re not missing out on much

[09:05]  Anastasios Aurotharius: welcome to Second Life, Jeff 🙂

[09:06]  jefframos: Anyway!

[09:06]  Adalace Jewell: welcome jeff

[09:06]  JerryBuchko: 😉

[09:06]  jefframos: Games for Change is a nonprofit organization started in 2004

[09:06]  jefframos: Our goal is to faciliate the conversation and the creation of video games made for social impact

[09:06]  jefframos: So we aim to leverage the unique properties of games not for entertainment, but for social change

[09:07]  jefframos: We do that in a handful of ways, primarily, an annual Festival that takes places in New York City

[09:07]  Hour Destiny: Like SimNonprofit? 🙂

[09:07]  jefframos: Not familiar with them, would love it if you could email me about them? jeff@gamesforchange.org

[09:08]  jefframos: What I do at G4C is everything on the community and content end.

[09:08]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): (in case you want to see Jeff’s real life avatar: http://www.gamesforchange.org/bio/jeff-ramos/ )

[09:08]  Hour Destiny: Doesn’t exist, just an idea.

[09:08]  jefframos: So all tweets from @G4C are from me as well as many of the blog posts. In fact, if you email our general contact email or call us, you’ll get me

[09:08]  jefframos: On the content side, I act as an aggregator for some of the most meaningful content in our space

[09:09]  jefframos: I spend a lot of time reading blogs, researching academic papers, and communicating with others to find best practices, unique stories, and the most interesting examples of games for change to play

[09:10]  jefframos: To give a better sense of what we do, I also have to highlight the work of our co-presidents

[09:10]  jefframos: Asi Burak is a veteran game designer who created the award winning game platforms “Peacemkaer” and “Play The News”

[09:11]  jefframos: He has an important role in helping instiutiotions, game deisgners, foundations, and more create more sustainable and entertaining games for change

[09:11]  jefframos: He implements best practices from his career as well as his research to make sure the games deisgned in our space or engaging but also reach impact objects

[09:12]  jefframos: Our other co-president Michelle Byrd leads on partnerships and runs our annual Festival

[09:12]  Veri Oddfellow: Great team and y’all run a super Festival, too! I’ve been to all but one and love it!

[09:12]  jefframos: She takes her experience as a NPO and media veteran to advance the field and her background in putting together massive events is crucial to transforming our Festival

[09:13]  jefframos: Thanks Veri, last year was quite an adventure for everyone

[09:14]  jefframos: So that’s the basics of what we do. Since G4C received our new leadership back in 2010, the organiazation has been making strides to advance the field and our impact. And the main touch point is the Festival.

[09:14]  jefframos: Which we are already gearing up for and it’s in June!

[09:14]  jefframos: So, I know there may some questoins about the field and I’m curious Rik if it’s okay to have some folks ask questoins?

[09:14]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Its an awesome festival!

[09:14]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Sure?

[09:15]  jefframos: I hate being the only person talking in a room!

[09:15]  Gentle Heron: QUESTION- Jeff, in your taxonomy, is Second Life a game?

[09:15]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I’d also like to hear what is the most buzz-generating new games in the social change gaming space?

[09:15]  Glitteractica Cookie: When I presented at G4C, it was not considered to be a game

[09:15]  Glitteractica Cookie: but that was 5 years ago

[09:15]  jefframos: I think SL is an envirnoment for it. In the same way alternate reality games use real life as a platform, there’s no reason why SL can’t be a platform too.

[09:16]  jefframos: Great idea Rik, I’ll share some examples as well

[09:16]  jefframos: Well, the field has changed so much in 5 years.

[09:16]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): what’s the new hotness?

[09:16]  JerryBuchko: Looked at from a different perspective, are the flight similators that pilots use to train considered games?

[09:16]  jefframos: I’ll highlight some great “real world” games to puncuate how SL can be used in teh same way

[09:16]  jefframos: To quickly answer Jerry’s question before I talk about examples, yes.

[09:17]  Oronoque Westland: Question — I used “Let the Games Begin: a toolkit for making a Game for Change ” with my class last term. Are you planning more resources that educators can use who may not be game developers themselves or may be novices?

[09:17]  JerryBuchko: Agreed… 🙂

[09:17]  jefframos: The field of simulation games is growing by leaps and bounds and has become vital for defense training,e tc.

[09:17]  jefframos: Oro, I’m working hard to build out our resoruces page: http://www.gamesforchange.org/learn/

[09:17]  Gentle Heron: Find the toolkit here: http://www.gamesforchange.org/learn/let-the-games-begin-a-toolkit-for-making-a-game-for-change/

[09:18]  jefframos: please email me with what you would love to see there jeff@gamesforchange.org

[09:18]  jefframos: Okay, so let’s talk about some games

[09:18]  Oronoque Westland: great—thanks

[09:18]  jefframos: First and foremost, I spend a great deal of time curating this page: http://www.gamesforchange.org/play/

[09:18]  Kratos Gauntlet R: 3417 bytes free

[09:18]  jefframos: The point is that there is no one place to find “games for change”

[09:19]  jefframos: there is no New Grounds or Kongregate for these kind of games. That’s a large part of how I’m helping the field

[09:19]  jefframos: Making sure that our community knows what are some of the best examples of games for change and who makes them and why

[09:19]  Hour Destiny: http://www.gamedev.net is a great resource for making any games.

[09:20]  jefframos: Sorry, froze there for a sec

[09:21]  jefframos: So Evoke is an interesting “alternate reality game” that ran a few years back but is having a “season 2” in latin america

[09:21]  jefframos: http://www.gamesforchange.org/play/evoke/

[09:21]  Anastasios Aurotharius: no need to apologize…..freezing is par for the course in SL

[09:21]  DyVerse Steele (dyverse): microsoft is opening up their kinect development for both the xbox and for pc to game developers to create software

[09:21]  jefframos: The goal was to create a storyline and world that revolved around using our “super powers”, like entreprenurialism and team work to solve the world’s biggest problems

[09:22]  jefframos: and dozens of real world, social good start ups opened up because of this game

[09:22]  Hour Destiny: Unity3D, HeroEngine, and UDK are all free 3D game engines.

[09:22]  jefframos: Would be cool to see someone create a scenario in SL in the same way

[09:23]  jefframos: Macon Money is another great example of making real life into a game that can change a community

[09:23]  jefframos: http://www.gamesforchange.org/play/macon-money/

[09:24]  jefframos: This game turned the process of finding the second half of a bill into a personal scavenger hunt that united opposing communities that would’ve never met

[09:24]  jefframos: and the money they gained by meeting was used for local businesses. So you got to meet new people and give money back to the community.

[09:24]  jefframos: Wouldn’t it be cool to have community building scavenger hunts in SL too?

[09:25]  jefframos: But let’s talk some newer games too

[09:25]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): those are really cool ideas!

[09:25]  jefframos: Yeah, I think SL is prime for creating some great stories in a way that’s comfortable for people to connect

[09:26]  Glitteractica Cookie: We’ve thought about savenger huntsin thepast bt never successfully got one off thr ground. I’d love to see us do it this time

[09:26]  jefframos: And games are a great place to talk about sensitive subjects too

[09:26]  Oronoque Westland: Global Kids has led the way with that in SL

[09:26]  jefframos: GK is great!

[09:26]  jefframos: The Korean G4C chapter created a wonderful point and click game about the demilitaized zone

[09:26]  jefframos: http://www.gamesforchange.org/2011/12/nanu-planet-interview-suzanna-samstag-oh/

[09:26]  Gentle Heron: This sounds like things that have been done in SL, to be honest. Story telling, scavenger hunts, that’s why I asked about SL as game.

[09:27]  jefframos: I don’t know much about SL so if you know of stories that are worth sharing, please email me.

[09:27]  jefframos: So, the DMZ is a subject that’s very hard to speak about in Korean culture.

[09:27]  jefframos: But, games allow us to build a wrapper around a complex subject.

[09:28]  jefframos: We can use game mechanics, allegory, metahphors, and clever story telling to talk about a subject in a way that’s harder to do in traditional media

[09:28]  jefframos: The game reminds me a lot of the old school point and click games, but with the charm, design, and cultural sensitivity of today’s games for change.

[09:29]  jefframos: Another cool touch point that games for change are innovating on are social networking games

[09:29]  Oronoque Westland: “games” like ICED would work in SL

[09:29]  JerryBuchko: (reminds me of the role science fiction has in allowing people to process sensitive subjects…)

[09:29]  jefframos: Exactly Jerry

[09:30]  jefframos: Games allow us to discuss complex subject matters in a context that is safer and allegoric. It allows those without intimate knowledge to explore the key ideas in “their own langauge”

[09:31]  jefframos: And the idea of doing things in one’s own language is core to why games for change are exploring social networks as a platform

[09:31]  JerryBuchko: (but here we’re talking about allowing people to be an active participant in the story…”

[09:31]  jefframos: Right, the ARG style of gameplay is very important for that, but also very hard to orchesrate

[09:32]  JerryBuchko: (ARG style?)

[09:32]  jefframos: But I think mobilizing people in SL is easier than getting 10 people to do something in real life

[09:32]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): What is ARG?

[09:32]  jefframos: I’m sorry, “alternate reality game”

[09:32]  JerryBuchko: (thanks)

[09:32]  jefframos: The example I share, Evoke, is a great exmaple

[09:33]  jefframos: America2049.com is another example. ANd it’s a Facebook game. Which makes for a great segue

[09:33]  jefframos: So, in regards to getting people where they are comfortable…

[09:33]  jefframos: Since millions are on Facebook every day playing casual games and interacting with others AND spending real world dollars

[09:34]  jefframos: why not leverage those key functions for fun and social good

[09:34]  Oronoque Westland: Iced and Homeland Guantanamo us SL-like environments with avatars that have to make decisions

[09:34]  jefframos: I wrote about two great games that do just that

[09:34]  jefframos: http://www.gamesforchange.org/2011/12/can-food-force-and-wetopia-change-the-social-gaming-industry/

[09:34]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): (there;s already a guantanamo simulation in SL)

[09:35]  Oronoque Westland: the games for change website is a great resources for locating games

[09:35]  jefframos: Actually, back to Oro’s point on avatars….

[09:35]  jefframos: A great game to check out is A Closed World

[09:35]  jefframos: http://www.gamesforchange.org/2012/01/closed-world-todd-harper-interview/

[09:35]  Oronoque Westland: Homeland Guantanamo is about a deportation camp experience

[09:36]  jefframos: It discussed gender in a way that uses the avatar as a basis for your unique intrepreation of the game’s mateiral

[09:36]  Glitteractica Cookie: The SL Guantanamo sim is called Gone Gitmo

[09:36]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): that’s neat, Jeff

[09:36]  jefframos: So by choosing the gender representation of your avatar, actually changes how you view the story.

[09:37]  Oronoque Westland: Question — there are many serious games that are developed then dropped (lack of resources, a school project and the term is over, whatever)…what can be done to keep those games alive?

[09:37]  jefframos: Right, so sustainability

[09:37]  jefframos: That’s a huge topic in our space

[09:37]  JerryBuchko: (agreed, very neat)

[09:37]  jefframos: Did anyone see the Double Fine Kickstarter campaign last night?

[09:37]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): yeah

[09:38]  jefframos: Double Fine has made some of the most beloved advenutre games around

[09:38]  jefframos: and the Kinect Sesame Street game

[09:38]  Veri Oddfellow: Brad Lewis, Great STrides, http://www.GreatStrides.org Damascus, MD, US *waves and smiles*

[09:38]  jefframos: they raised over $1mil in less than a day

[09:38]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): wow

[09:38]  jefframos: Granted, not eveyrone can do that at will but I’m currently exploring funding platforms and models

[09:38]  Veri Oddfellow: *nods* Sustainability is a huge issue.

[09:39]  Veri Oddfellow: Even when your game is well capitalized from existing large funders/companies.

[09:39]  Oronoque Westland: we have certainly lost some good ‘games” in SL because of this issue

[09:39]  jefframos: So, business models was the basis of a great panel at last year’s fest too

[09:40]  jefframos: And when we do our consulting with major clients, it’s a key aspect

[09:40]  Gentle Heron: QUESTION- What’s a good model of a sustained game?

[09:40]  jefframos: while I pull up some links, what are some of the sustainability challenges you’ve encoutnered?

[09:41]  Hour Destiny: Keeping people involved.

[09:41]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): so we should wrap up soon. What are some main opportunities and events people should keep an eye out for?

[09:41]  jefframos: Oh okay!

[09:41]  Ozma Malibu: Sustainability: Paying for the sim!

[09:41]  Oronoque Westland: Question — (sorry if I am hogging things a bit, but your work is so great) other than the conference do you offer workshops during the rest of the year…are you available to lead them if invited?

[09:42]  jefframos: Fist and foremost, our call for talks for this year’s Festival is still going on and ends NEXT week

[09:42]  Gentle Heron: Oro has a vested interest in this topic!

[09:42]  Oronoque Westland: heehee

[09:42]  jefframos: http://www.gamesforchange.org/2012/01/g4c-12-call-for-talks-presentations/

[09:42]  jefframos: Oro, feel free to email me your ?s

[09:42]  jefframos: So, we’re still looking for content for this year’s Festival.

[09:43]  jefframos: I’m curoius what sort of presentations, case studies and ideas the SL community could share

[09:43]  jefframos: Also, we’ll be announcing registration for the Festival very soon

[09:43]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): great

[09:44]  jefframos: The 9th Annual Festival takes place on June 18-20 in New York City

[09:44]  jefframos: Bookmark this page for all of the important dates and links: http://www.gamesforchange.org/festival/

[09:44]  jefframos: Also, is anyone going to GDC next month?

[09:44]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): (game developers conference)

[09:44]  jefframos: We’ll be hosting a daylong summit about games for change

[09:45]  Oronoque Westland: NY Oro can afford (since it is home)

[09:45]  Hour Destiny: Only if someone pays for me ot. 🙂

[09:45]  jefframos: http://www.gdconf.com/conference/gamesforchange.html

[09:45]  jefframos: Our content is locked for GDC and we have some exciting talks lined up

[09:46]  JerryBuchko: Any capability to attend via telepresence?

[09:46]  jefframos: like how to use AAA game mechanics for games for change from how to design games with love as the core mechanic

[09:46]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): We should probably wrap, as interesting as this is.

[09:46]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): So how do people reach you if they have further questions or ideas?

[09:46]  Gentle Heron: I was going to ask the same as Jerry, but about PRESENTING remotely……

[09:46]  jefframos: To be honest, I’m not certain at the moment as we’re not the organizers. For our Festival, yes. We had 800 in attendance and 8000 live streaming in 2011

[09:46]  JerryBuchko: Thanks.

[09:47]  jefframos: So, we can be found on twitter @G4C or www.facebook.com/gamesforchange

[09:47]  jefframos: My direct email is jeff@gamesforchange.org

[09:47]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): awesome thanks

[09:47]  jefframos: I’d be happy to give youanswers, resources and more

[09:47]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Let’s thank Jeff for coming into the NPC to speak with us today.

[09:48]  Gentle Heron: Thank you Jeff. I hope you will have some time later to explore what’s going on in Second Life.

[09:48]  Namaara MacMoragh: thanks Jeff… great presentation

[09:48]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): We’d love to have you back if you ahve other news and opportunities to announce.

[09:48]  JerryBuchko: Great talk! Thanks, Jeff!

[09:48]  Zotarah Shepherd: Thank you Jeff. Great to know about this.

[09:48]  jefframos: Sure. Most likely closer to the Festival would make sense to come back and chat about what’s on deck

[09:48]  Oronoque Westland: thanks so much…I will send you an email or maybe phone you since you are in my “hood”

[09:48]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): cool let’s look at May then perhaps

[09:48]  Veri Oddfellow: Great info … thanks, Jeff!

[09:49]  CarynTopia Silvercloud: thanks

[09:49]  jefframos: You’re welcome everyone. Thanks for making my first SL experience an easy one

[09:49]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): you did great!

[09:49]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): we’ll post a transript of this session later, with a recap

[09:49]  Glitteractica Cookie: Yes, our own Ale Bezdikian , TechSoup Community Coordinator will write up a great recaps

[09:49]  Glitteractica Cookie: recaps

[09:49]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Okay so let’s move on to our final agenda item….

 

OPEN MIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

[09:50]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Open Mic / Announcements

[09:50]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Who has something to announce, put up your appendage?

[09:50]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): raises hand

[09:50]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): go ahead jen

[09:51]  DyVerse Steele (dyverse): raises hand

[09:51]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): Don’t forget, we have a Mentor’s meeting after this one

[09:51]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): and then Dyverse

[09:51]  Gentle Heron: /me raises hand.

[09:51]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Dyverse and then Gentle

[09:51]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Jen, that’s right .Please come if you ahve questions about SL or the NPC you want answered.

[09:52]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Please stay here , that is.

[09:52]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Is that it, Jen?

[09:53]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ….

[09:53]  Jen (jenelle.levenque): That’s it for me

[09:53]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Ok go ahead Dyverse

[09:53]  DyVerse Steele (dyverse): Common Ground Feb 16th with the color Red and DJ Steele mark it on your calender and get your song requests in thank you that is all

[09:53]  DyVerse Steele (dyverse): via Zinnia

[09:53]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Common Ground is a monthly networking party with a different theme each month.

[09:54]  Brena Benoir: /me raises hand

[09:54]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): which reminds me, here’s all the relevant NPC links….

[09:54]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Here are the many ways to can get involved with the Nonprofit Commons in Second Life:

 

  Nonprofit Commons blog: http://nonprofitcommons.org

  Twitter: http://twitter.com/npsl

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nonprofitcommons

 

  Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/TechSoup-Second-Life

  Google Calendar: http://bit.ly/2tMEYh

  Wiki: http://npsl.wikispaces.com

 

  About TechSoup:

  http://www.techsoup.org/tools/howtousetechsoup/

  http://flavors.me/techsoup

  http://flavors.me/nonprofitcommons

 

  Weekly Networking Event: Wharf Ratz, Aloft, Tuesdays, 7-9pm SLT

  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Aloft%20Nonprofit%20Commons/168/223/23

 

  Monthly Networking Event (3rd Thursday):

  Common Ground, Plush, 5PM-7PM SLT

  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Plush%20Nonprofit%20Commons/128/229/26

[09:54]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Go ahead Gentle, then Brena

[09:54]  Gentle Heron: For an easy opportunity to volunteer your knowledge and expertise, consider taking a survey. Several general public surveys related to topics such as the future of social work in SL are found here on the Healthinfo Island Research Pavilion: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/130/196/30

[09:54]  Gentle Heron: Some surveys even pay you for taking them!

[09:55]  Gentle Heron: Several are for specific populations, but some are general. Please participate.

[09:55]  Gentle Heron: That’s all.

[09:55]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): thanks gentle

[09:55]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): and last up, Brena!

[09:56]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): brena?

[09:57]  Brena Benoir: sorry I crashed

[09:57]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ah

[09:57]  Brena Benoir: Wharf Ratz is the weekly networking on Tuesdays from 7-9pm

[09:58]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): its the weekly networking DJed dance. It’s super fun and great way to connect with people here.

[09:58]  Brena Benoir: Please come join us and learn what is going on with your neighbors here in the community and meet new friends

[09:58]  Brena Benoir: thanks

[09:58]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): thank you

[09:58]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ok I think that’s it for this week folks.

[09:59]  Glitteractica Cookie: Thanks RIk

[09:59]  Glitteractica Cookie: Thanks all

[09:59]  MartinRJ: bye, everyone

[09:59]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Next week we have Arch Virtual talking about their work creating “virtual dubuque”

[09:59]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): It will be really interesting!

[09:59]  Brena Benoir: Mentor’s meeting in 5 minutes, please stay and join us if you need help or want to hear what we are working on

[09:59]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): thanks for coming today

[09:59]  jefframos: Thanks everyone

[09:59]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): and thanks especially to our guest Jeff Ramos from Games for Change!

[10:00]  Oronoque Westland: great meeting as usual

[10:00]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I wish you a great Friday and a restful weekend.

[10:00]  Veri Oddfellow: Great info … well done! Nice wings, dude! 😉

[10:00]  JerryBuchko: You too!

[10:00]  jefframos: sure. And be sure to email me at jeff@gamesforchange.org with ?s

[10:00]  Oronoque Westland: even if Rik kept changing before my eyes…heehee

[10:00]  Red (talkwithmarie): lol

[10:00]  Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): just making sure you are paying attention

[10:00]  Dancers Yao: thanks everyone

[10:00]  jefframos: Okay, bye everyone

Written by: alebez

Oftentimes people say and do things in cyberspace that they would ordinarily refrain from in our face-to-face world. Perhaps it’s the perception of anonymity that allows individuals to open up, feel more emotionally uninhibited, capable of expressing themselves more intimately. Researchers call this the online disinhibition effect. As the founder of Fearless Nation PTSD Support, Inc., Colleen Crary calls it just another day at work.

Last Friday, Colleen stopped by the Nonprofit Commons to discuss how her organization provides education and support to a multicultural community of PTSD sufferers, directly from SpotOn3D’s virtual facilities inworld. By harnessing the power of online disinhibition for good, Fearless Nation is among a growing movement of mental health professionals who are leveraging virtual technology to provide necessary resources for therapy and self-help.

So what’s the appeal of non-face-to-face therapy? One of the powerful advantages of cyberspace, as compared to the face-to-face world when it comes to platforms for mental health services, is that geographic location literally makes no difference. Online communities such as such as SpotOn3D and Second Life have the capacity to make global participation and interaction between members significantly more fluid. According to their website, Fearless Nation claims, “experimenting with one’s online identity and new ways of relating to others can result in insight and may help people work through personal issues. Under ideal conditions, those changes generalize to the face-to-face world.”

Fearless Nation PTSD Support, Inc. also offers creative services to their members. Individuals are encouraged to “explore your own imagination without boundaries, express yourself creatively like never before with this online medium. Recovery includes creative expression and we have many opportunities and several galleries dedicated to the art of our participants. Start a poetry slam, sing, play music, read your favorite poems, stories, or your own for a safe and accepting audience of fellow trauma survivors.” With many of their service offerings and channels going beyond static chats and photos, Fearless Nation provides ways patients can interface with “authentic interaction and shared experiences online – all in an immersive 3D environment where all interaction happens in real time, with real people.”

Would you go to virtual therapy?

For more information about Fearless Nation PTSD Support, Inc., please visit their website.

In the meantime, come visit us at the Nonprofit Commons Amphitheater tomorrow morning at 8:30am, where we’ll welcome Mr. Jeff Ramos, community and content manager of Games for Change.

Below is a transcript of Colleen’s visit to the Nonprofit Commons:

Nonprofit Commons Meeting
February 3, 2012, 8:30am PST
Plush Nonprofit Commons Amphitheater

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Plush%20Nonprofit%20Commons/88/126/26

AGENDA

8:30am Introductions

8:40am TechSoup Announcements

8:45am Mentors Corner

8:55am Fearless Nation

9:30am OpenMic/ Announcements

CHATLOG

INTRODUCTIONS

[08:32] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): well lets get started
[08:32] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Welcome to the Nonprofit Commons weekly meetup!
[08:32] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I’m your community manager Rik Panganiban
[08:32] Glitteractica Cookie: The WONDERFUL Rik RIel!
[08:32] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): To my right is Gliteractica Cookie, founder of the NPC
[08:32] Glitteractica Cookie: Allo!
[08:32] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): We are so happy you are all here today
[08:32] Glitteractica Cookie: indeed
[08:33] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): In a few minutes we are going to hear from the inspiring group Fearless Nation.
[08:33] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): But first as always we start with introductions
[08:33] Chayenn: Monique Richert Protect Yourself 1, Inc., Baltimore MD , protectyourself1.org, @PY1US
[08:33] Red (talkwithmarie): Hi Anya!! Welcome
[08:33] HB Eternal: Harold W Becker, The Love Foundation, Florida, http://www.thelovefoundation.com, @lovefoundation
[08:33] DJ Earnshaw: Don Singleton, Tulsa, OK (DJ Earnshaw, Professor Viper) HelpingTulsa and APCUG, http://snipurl.com/tk41d @donsingleton
[08:33] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Bruce Hestley, Transgender American Veterans Association, Akron, OH, http://www.tavausa.org
[08:33] Zinnia Zauber: Renne Emiko Brock-Richmond, Sequim Humanities and Arts Alliance, Sequim, Washington. http://www.sequimartsalliance.org http://www.facebook.com/sequimartsalliance @renneemiko
[08:33] Gentle Heron: Virtual Ability, Inc. www.virtualability.org with BRAND NEW (!!!!) social media links to our blog, Facebook, and Twitter accounts so that I don’t need to announce them separately!
[08:33] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Please type into the text chat (if you wish) your real life name, organization, llcation in the real world, URL, and twitter handle.
[08:33] bulaklak: Michael DeLong, TechSoup, www.techsoup.org, @MichaelDeLongSF
[08:34] Chad Mikado: Chad Gobert; National Service Inclusion Project, UMass Boston; www.serviceandinclusion.org
[08:34] Panny Bakerly: Jeanne Booth, Freeport Historical Society & Museum, Freeport, NY freeporthistorymuseum.org
[08:34] Glitteractica Cookie: Susan Tenby, Online Community Director, TechSoup San Francisco, CA USA @suzboop @techsoup
[08:34] Ethelred Weatherwax: Dave Dexter, Neenah Historical Society, Wisconsin USA
[08:34] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Rik Panganiban, Nonprofit Commons / TechSoup Global, Oakland, CA, http://nonprofitcommons.org @betterverse @npsl
[08:34] Anya Ibor: Colleen Crary, M.A. – Fearless Nation PTSD Support – http://www.fearless-nation.org
[08:34] alebez: Ale Bezdikian, Online Community Coordinator, TechSoup, www.techsoup.org, @alebez
[08:34] Anastasios Aurotharius: Ben Linson, Boston, Engineer, Entrepreneur, Educator
[08:34] Red (talkwithmarie): Marie C.-talkwithmarie, aka Red., Greater Boston, GIRLS Project/Girl TV/Talk!withmarie, http://youtube.com/girltvlive, http://youtube.com/talkwithmarie, @talkwithmarie
[08:34] Pathfinder Lester: John Lester, Chief Learning Officer, ReactionGrid, Montreal, http://about.me/pathfinder, @pathfinder
[08:34] Anya Ibor: waces to Marie
[08:34] Brena Benoir: Brenda Bryan, Preferred Family Healthcare, Kirksville, Missouri, www.pfh.org, @brenabenoir
[08:34] Anya Ibor: *waves
[08:34] Zotarah Shepherd: BEACH College, Sonoma, CA
[08:34] Hour Destiny: Morris Cox, Bureau of Driveby Hugging, Mesquite Nevada, @morriscox
[08:34] Dancers Yao: Kara Bennett, Elder Voices, Los Angeles, Health Care and Human Rights www.eldervoices.net
[08:35] Kali Idziak: Jessica Dally, Community Voice Mail, Seattle http://www.cvm.org @cvmnational @jessicadally
[08:35] Glitteractica Cookie: (waves at Zotrah… I’m going to sonoma for a yoga retreat this weekend!)
[08:35] LisaSchaefer Ruby: does anyone have any sl contacts in kabul?
[08:35] Glitteractica Cookie: Any more introductions?
[08:36] LisaSchaefer Ruby: Lisa Schaefer, GuruTapas, DC
[08:36] LisaSchaefer Ruby: does anyone have any sl contacts in kabul?
[08:36] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Lisa, not sure. Try the Four Bridges folks
[08:36] Zotarah Shepherd: /me waves (ooo nice!)
[08:36] Coughran Mayo: Dick Dillon, Innovaision, LLC, St. Louis MO @Coughran, @Innovaision
[08:36] LisaSchaefer Ruby: ty rik
[08:37] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): There’s an afghanistan museum there
[08:37] LisaSchaefer Ruby: it was empty when I stopped by there
[08:37] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Looks like that’s about everyone. This is for our records and the transcript later.

TECHSOUP ANNOUNCEMENTS

[08:38] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Next up, we have updates from TechSoup
[08:38] bulaklak: Howdy!
[08:38] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): AS you know, TechSoup is the sponsor of the Nonprofit Commons, and has regular opportunities for nonprofits related to technology
[08:39] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Go ahead Bulaklak
[08:39] bulaklak: Thanks to any of you who came to the Online Community Meetup the other night streamed into Second Life. It was a great talk and please look for the recap coming soon by our blogger Susan Chavez.
[08:39] bulaklak: As you all probably know by now, we are in the thick of our annual Digital Storytelling Challenge
[08:39] bulaklak: We’ve had one webinar and one tweet chat
[08:40] bulaklak: Please visit here to find out more about the online learning oppys coming up
[08:40] bulaklak: http://bit.ly/xDB8ZH
[08:40] bulaklak: And to stay on top of all things TSDigs, the best way is to join our Google Group
[08:40] bulaklak: You can do that here
[08:40] bulaklak: http://bit.ly/lXf6fD
[08:41] Glitteractica Cookie: tsdigs.org
[08:41] bulaklak: And just so you don’t think we are all TSDigs all the time, please also note some other upcoming webinars
[08:41] bulaklak: We have this events page where you can always find our latest
[08:41] bulaklak: http://bit.ly/wuL4PG
[08:41] bulaklak: There’s one coming up in March about the Digital Divide that should be pretty cool
[08:42] bulaklak: Lastly, please do sign up for our By the Cup Newsletter to find out lots more about everything we do
[08:42] bulaklak: http://bit.ly/A4WcQ9
[08:42] bulaklak: Thanks, all! And have a great weekend! Looking forward to the talk today.
[08:42] Second Life: CarynTopia Silvercloud is online.
[08:42] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): thanks so much bulkalak
[08:43] Chayenn: Bulaklak u rock like usual
[08:43] Glitteractica Cookie: yes he does!
[08:43] bulaklak: blush

MENTORS CORNER

[08:43] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ok who is here on behalf of the Mentors?
[08:43] Zinnia Zauber: Today we have Gentle to share with us the Restrained Love Viewer.
[08:43] Gentle Heron: Me again.
[08:43] Gentle Heron: The NPC Mentors have been asked to speak about the various SL viewers. We’ve been doing this over the past few weeks.
[08:43] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): The Mentors are our crack team of volunteers, here to help both newbies and oldies be more comfortable and effective in SL
[08:43] Zinnia Zauber: Rah Gentle!
[08:44] Gentle Heron: I use the current Linden Lab viewer, and am happy to help others who use it. I use it because I don’t build or script or buy or any of those other things, I just need to be able to communicate. And many of the people I communicate with also have simple viewer needs, including my work with newcomers.
[08:44] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): The floor is yours Gentle
[08:44] Chad Mikado: whohoo Gentle! 🙂
[08:44] Gentle Heron: Numerous other viewers exist, some of which are authorized by Linden Lab for use inside Second Life. These are listed here:

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Third_Party_Viewer_Directory
[08:44] Second Life: Pooky Amsterdam is online.
[08:44] Gentle Heron: These viewers were developed from SL code, as modified by people far smarter than myself. They all have different features.
[08:44] Gentle Heron: Other viewers are not recognized by LL, for various reasons. Some viewers have even been banned from being used in SL.
[08:45] Gentle Heron: I’m going to chat with you today about a topic not many people are willing to admit they know anything about, unless you belong to the BDSM community.
[08:45] Gentle Heron: (BDSM stands for Bondage and Discipline (BD), Dominance and Submission (DS), Sadism and Masochism (SM), all of which are role played in Second Life.)
[08:45] Gentle Heron: That topic is the Restrained Love Viewer, or RLV.

This is a Linden-recognized third party viewer, available here:
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Third_Party_Viewer_Directory/Restrained_…
[08:45] Gentle Heron: The Restrained Love Viewer works with a number of “toys” that are commonly used in BDSM role playing. This play involves two people, one of them the dominant who makes the rules for the other’s behavior.
[08:46] Gentle Heron: The dominant of the pair can restrict the second user from detaching worn items, receiving IMs, seeing local text chat, teleporting, etc. The dominant sets the constraints under which the second user must behave.
[08:46] Gentle Heron: Virtual Ability spoke to Marine Kelly, the creator of RLV, about modifying the viewer for a non-role play use, and got permission to do so.
[08:46] Gentle Heron: Virtual Ability now has a viewer that can be installed by a caregiver or guardian of a person with lowered mental capacity. That caregiver/guardian then sets behavior boundaries for the person using the protected viewer.
[08:46] Gentle Heron: Destinations can be white listed (“you can go here”) or black listed (“you can’t go there”). This can be much more specific than the G-sim restriction on those who register as 16/17-year olds, in that it is possible to restrict a person’s movements to a limited number of named sims.
[08:47] Gentle Heron: Persons with whom communication can occur are white or black listed similarly. (“You can see chat from AA and BB. You can receive IMs from AA, CC, and DD.”)
[08:47] Gentle Heron: Actions can be prohibited (e.g., you may not want the person to spend money, or to take off clothing).
[08:47] Hour Destiny: Could also be useful for minors.
[08:47] Gentle Heron: In other words, this modified viewer is used to protect the user, by allowing the caregiver/guardian to set up behavior rules in advance. One father of an adult son who is preverbal on the low end of the autism scale credits this viewer with allowing his son to enjoy SL events in our community with the rest of his family.
[08:48] Zotarah Shepherd: That would be ironic
[08:48] Gentle Heron: Please don’t ask technical questions about this viewer. I have no idea how it works originally nor how it was modified.
[08:48] Gentle Heron: I’m sharing this information with you to let you know that viewers created for specific uses can be adapted to other uses (by someone with far more technical knowledge than I possess).
[08:48] Gentle Heron: Thank you for your (shocked!) attention.
[08:48] Zinnia Zauber: hehe
[08:49] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you very much Gentle!
[08:49] Hour Destiny: An electrifying presentation.
[08:49] Red (talkwithmarie): awesome Gentle!
[08:49] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): thanks Gentle
[08:49] DyVerse Steele (dyverse): use your resources its a great tool
[08:49] Zinnia Zauber: This is very important to share and to be shared with others who might want to use SL.
[08:49] Pathfinder Lester: thanks Gentle. nice work
[08:50] Zotarah Shepherd: Thank you Gentle
[08:50] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Is this the final instllment of this series of introductions to 3rd party viewers?
[08:50] bulaklak: Thank you!
[08:50] Zinnia Zauber: For now, yes.
[08:50] Hour Destiny: What is the name of the modified viewer?
[08:50] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you!
[08:51] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Let me thank the Mentors for running with this idea that I suggested a couple of months ago
[08:51] Red (talkwithmarie): yay Mentors!
[08:51] Gentle Heron: Hour, we honestly haven’t named it.
[08:51] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Gentle was initially nervous about speaking about this, but has been doing a great job.
[08:51] Gentle Heron: We thought calling it the “Family Viewer” might be going too far.
[08:51] DJ Earnshaw: lol
[08:51] Pathfinder Lester: ha!
[08:51] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): We should combine all of these talks into one blog post
[08:51] Anya Ibor: :O
[08:51] Hour Destiny: *snicker* Yeah, that might be misconstrued
[08:52] Zinnia Zauber: The Mentors would like your input on an upcoming corner.
[08:52] Zinnia Zauber: So, I have a little homework.
[08:52] Dancers Yao: wonderful Gentle….
[08:52] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): yeah if anyone has ideas of what they would like the mentors to talk about, basic subjects that you could use help with, please suggest them to Zinnia
[08:52] Zinnia Zauber: We would like to find out how you explain virtual worlds to people and encourage them to join us.
[08:53] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): or come to the Mentors meeting after this one at about 9:50
[08:53] Zinnia Zauber: Please join in on the discussion, your insight helps us all.
[08:53] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you!
[08:53] Hour Destiny: Why not have our own VW/grid for nonprofits and vendors?

FEARLESS NATION

[08:53] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Okay Anya can you come on down?
[08:53] Anya Ibor: sure
[08:53] Gentle Heron: YAY Anya!!!!!
[08:54] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Everyone please welcome Anya of Fearless Nation to the NPC
[08:54] Red (talkwithmarie): woot!woot! Anya!
[08:54] Francisco Koolhoven: /me claps
[08:54] Anya Ibor: Hello Everyone–and thank you for having me here today!
[08:54] Zotarah Shepherd: Welcome Anya
[08:54] Zinnia Zauber: Rah Anya!
[08:54] Anya Ibor: smiles…I’m not nervous at all! LOL
[08:54] Jen (jenelle.levenque): ********APPPLLLAAAUUUSSSEEE********
[08:54] Red (talkwithmarie): hehe
[08:55] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): okay for those that don’t know, can you give the elevator pitch about Fearless Nation ?
[08:55] Anya Ibor: Sure.
[08:56] Anya Ibor: Fearless Nation PTSD Support is a 501c3 NPO dedicated to providing FREE education and support–including consumer help–about post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
[08:56] Anya Ibor: We also advocate for raising awareness and banishing the stigma associated with PTSD.
[08:57] Anya Ibor: We use virtual technology as part of our education and support program, aiding recovery thru the use of science-based virtual environments.
[08:58] Anya Ibor: We were in SL for 3.5 years. Then I pulled Fearless Nation out of SL.
[08:58] Anya Ibor: We have moved to a new Grid, and here is why: 1) Cost-Effective, 2) Looks/Feels Just like SL, 3) Child Safe, 4) Easy-To-Use Viewers, 5) Free uploads, group creation, and listings (Premium Accts), and 6) Low-To-No Lag.
[08:59] Anya Ibor: SpotOn3D is our new home now. I am rebuilding the sims there.
[08:59] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): SpotOn3D was here last week at the NPC
[08:59] Anya Ibor: We have 4-5 weekly meetings that address PTSD, stress-reduction and addiction recovery.
[08:59] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): you can see the transcxript of their talk here : http://nonprofitcommons.org/content/transcript-npc-meeting-spoton3d-janu…
[09:00] alebez: and a recap of their visit in the TechSoup forums here: http://bit.ly/wgKIZF
[09:00] Second Life: Nany (nany.kayo) is online.
[09:00] Anya Ibor: So. There’s the basics of Fearless Nation. Thank you Rik 🙂
[09:00] Anya Ibor: Excellent!
[09:01] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): It must have been a hard decision to leave SL and start again on a new platform.
[09:01] CarynTopia Silvercloud: are returning vets taking advantage of your services?
[09:01] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): How did you go about finding a new home?
[09:01] Anya Ibor: Rik: SL’s switch to hard-to-use viewers and the conditions here made the decision to move easy.
[09:02] Anya Ibor: Caryn: Yes and No. We are trying to get them into SO3D.
[09:03] Anastasios Aurotharius: what are their misgivings?
[09:03] Anya Ibor: Rik: SO3D was suggested to me by a friend, the COO Tess Harrington and the staff at SO made FN feel very welcome. It really feels like a home. No more nonsense like in SL.
[09:04] Gentle Heron: Question: How long does it take to rebuild a community, Anya, once you move it to another venue? You had quite a thriving community here.
[09:04] Anya Ibor: The Vets? Well I know in SL I had trouble holding their attention because 1) They were too distrated with playing — Avoidance is a major feature of PTSD, and 2) The viewers became too difficult for Vets on heavy medication and with TBI
[09:05] Anya Ibor: Gentle–It has taken a bit more time than I anticipated, but the Holidays and our yearly event in November held it up mostly. We are hitting our stride now 🙂
[09:05] Anya Ibor: Especially with our weekly meetings
[09:06] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): So participants in your support groups on Spoton3d are locked to your island? Is it a separate grid?
[09:06] Anya Ibor: Meeting Info can be found here: http://www.fearless-nation.org/Invitation.html
[09:06] Anya Ibor: Oh no, however, we have our environments on a Mature sim-sims
[09:07] CarynTopia Silvercloud: I will pass this on to some vets I know who might be interested in checking it out
[09:07] Anya Ibor: The meeting occure on the Open Public FN sim–the Library is there too.
[09:07] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ah ok
[09:07] Anya Ibor: To access a Mature sim in SO3D, you must have payment on account. That reduces griefing and bad behavior.
[09:07] Ethelred Weatherwax: Sounds like something all of us should look into.
[09:08] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Can you give people a sense of what it might cost them to bring their nonprofit programs and activities to Spoton3D?
[09:08] Anya Ibor: Also–NO Child Avatars. They were VERY upsetting for us in SL…
[09:08] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Premium account is 2.99/mo
[09:08] Anya Ibor: We are on the Educational Grid of SO–so more serious work can occur–no furries, no child avies,more real purpose
[09:09] Anya Ibor: Cost is great there–$67 for a full prim sim per month
[09:09] Anya Ibor: Premium Acc’ts to own land are only $2.99 a month.
[09:10] Hour Destiny: And the support *has* to be way better. You even get responses.
[09:10] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): hour: ouch!
[09:11] Anya Ibor: Oh yes! The staff is wonderful–they will TP right to you, we chat in voice on Skype–I have rarely felt so supported and welcome in any world! It is a fantastic opportunity for Fearless Nation!
[09:11] Dancers Yao: did you keep anything here on SL?
[09:11] Anya Ibor: And one can enter through Facebook…that’s a nice feature–the viewer is VERY simple and easy to use. 🙂
[09:12] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): On a more general note, can you explain what makes your virtual support groups different from other forms of support that PTSD sufferers might get?
[09:12] Anya Ibor: I share a space with a dear friend–I come here now as an individual to keep up with mesh development, art and music. Our Art Sims at our Nov event were amazing! I love the art here.
[09:13] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I.e. in-person, one-on-one therapy, web-based support ,etc?
[09:13] Anya Ibor: There’s a wonderful video by PookyMedia of the art event: http://youtu.be/1AsvouDKlpo
[09:13] Second Life: Mariagra Lamplight is online.
[09:14] Anya Ibor: Um, we are legally–no one is–allowed to provide psychiatric “therapy” online.
[09:14] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): there are definitely therapists who meet with clients in SL
[09:14] Anya Ibor: It breaks the Ethics and Code of Conduct by the APA/APA
[09:14] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): we’ve had some of them speak here
[09:15] Anya Ibor: Well, we provide peer-led support, education and information.
[09:15] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): nice
[09:15] Anya Ibor: That is what is legal. If a member successfully commits suicide–the family can sue the Grid, me, the NPO
[09:16] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): oh m
[09:16] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): oh my
[09:16] Anya Ibor: If the individual finds our mentoring and groups and environments “therapeutic” then it is in the eye of the beholder. We are not legally liable.
[09:17] Anya Ibor: The APA and APA are quite clear about Rules of Conduct and Ethics concerning online, non-RL therapy.
[09:17] Anya Ibor: We have a legal disclaimer and a lawyer on staff RL
[09:17] Gentle Heron: /me can relate to that, as a fellow peer supporter, Anya.
[09:17] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Are your activities similar to a RL support group? Or do you do things that are more virtual, like avatar customizing, play, building, etc?
[09:18] Anya Ibor: We do not give behavioral advise, advice on meds and anyone who is suicidal is advised to log off and contact emergency numbers.
[09:18] Second Life: Zinnia Zauber is offline.
[09:19] Second Life: bulaklak is online.
[09:19] Anya Ibor: YEs–Our support groups–and please every one please feel free to stop by–encourage interaction, creativity–we wil be having workshops and one creator will give skills-building classes.
[09:20] Anya Ibor: Oh–and we do NOT have immersive envirionments that recreate Iraq or “re-traumatize” people–those were developed for phobias. Phobias and trauma are two distinctly different conditions.
[09:21] Coughran Mayo: Peer Support, or “coaching” is one thing, but I would want to voice concerns about doing any counseling on any VW platform in which the client’s personal identifying information is held by the host, and the counseling interaction (voice or text) becomes part of the host’s global database. Confidentiality issues should be taken into consideration for client protection (HIPPA, etc.)
[09:21] Second Life: moo Money is offline.
[09:21] Anya Ibor: We kept getting mixed up with T2 – that Gov’t site, whose creators based their content on FN’s sims…that was another SL problem: IP infringement.
[09:22] Anya Ibor: Coughran: That’s why we do not do “therapy” 🙂
[09:22] Anya Ibor: We may consider it with our own servers someday–and only with APA/APA and legal blessings.
[09:22] Dancers Yao: a good source for online therapy issues and APA ethics questions is www.telementalhealth.com
[09:23] Anya Ibor: Did I answer everyone’s questions properly? 🙂
[09:23] Coughran Mayo: Also The Online Therapy Institute, whose principals are SL participants
[09:23] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Yes this has been great!
[09:23] Red (talkwithmarie): thx Anya:) lot of great info!
[09:24] Anya Ibor: I do hope you’ll visit us in SO3D..it’s really a very community-minded and nice place.
[09:24] Gentle Heron: /me would suggest the Online Therapy Institute as potential future NPC guests (hint hint Rik!)
[09:24] Sarvana Haalan: Sally S. Cherry, MT(ASCP), Baltimore, MD, http://Twitter.com/SarVana
[09:24] Ixmal Supermarine: Thank you Anya!
[09:24] Pathfinder Lester: Thanks Anya. sounds like you’re doing great work. well done!
[09:24] Francisco Koolhoven: Thanks Anya, great info
[09:24] Anya Ibor: If any of you have questions please drop me a notecard — Thank you so much and have a lovely weekend All! 🙂
[09:24] Gentle Heron: Thanks Anya for all you do.
[09:24] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): it sounds super challenging and inspiring what you are doing
[09:24] Coughran Mayo: Contact DeeAnna Madfes inworld for OTI
[09:24] Sarvana Haalan: Awesome Anya
[09:24] Anya Ibor: Thank you Gentle :-))) Everyone…
[09:25] Jen (jenelle.levenque): I’ve been spending some time in SO3D
[09:25] Jen (jenelle.levenque): The help has been fantastic
[09:25] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): and a powerful use of virtual worlds to provide real world help
[09:25] Jen (jenelle.levenque): No ticket, just an IM to the help group and within minutes they were restarting a sim
[09:25] Anya Ibor: I love it there–feel much safer and watched over by the rid–SO3D saved Fearless Nation 🙂
[09:26] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Lets thank Anya for sharing her work and her experiences as a nonprofit with us
[09:26] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Definitely a lot to think about .
[09:26] bulaklak: Thanks, Anya!
[09:26] Red (talkwithmarie): applause!!
[09:27] Anya Ibor: That’s right. I’ve never felt so good in the Virtual. I encourage everyone to give it a try–it’s not about leaving SL like I did, but about trying out a different approach.
[09:27] Jen (jenelle.levenque): I think that we will always need a presence here to help direct traffic
[09:27] Anya Ibor: Again TY Everyone…and Hurrah for everything the NPC and TecSoup does! Bravo!
[09:27] Glitteractica Cookie: Thanks Anya!
[09:28] bulaklak: That’s great advice across the board, Anya. New perspectives are healthy!
[09:28] Sarvana Haalan: TechSoup rocks!
[09:28] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): It’s alwas to good for nonprofits to know their options and what new technologies are out there to deliver their services to their stakehodlers
[09:28] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Whether its virtual tools, social media tools, webinars, whatver
[09:28] Anya Ibor: nods 🙂
[09:28] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): That’s what TechSoup is all about.
[09:28] Sarvana Haalan: so many nonprofits are not aware of the great resources offered via TechSoup. 🙁
[09:29] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Helping nonprofits make the most effective technology decisions to do what they do better

OPEN MIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

[09:29] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): So let’s transition to our last agenda item: open mic announcements.
[09:29] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Firstly here’s all the ways to find the NPC on the internet….
[09:29] Hour Destiny: And some think TechSoup is too good to be true. 🙂 Took a lot to convince a local nonprofit to sign up.
[09:29] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Here are the many ways to can get involved with the Nonprofit Commons in Second Life:

Nonprofit Commons blog: http://nonprofitcommons.org
Twitter: http://twitter.com/npsl
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nonprofitcommons

Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/TechSoup-Second-Life
Google Calendar: http://bit.ly/2tMEYh
Wiki: http://npsl.wikispaces.com

About TechSoup:
http://www.techsoup.org/tools/howtousetechsoup/
http://flavors.me/techsoup
http://flavors.me/nonprofitcommons

Weekly Networking Event: Wharf Ratz, Aloft, Tuesdays, 7-9pm SLT
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Aloft%20Nonprofit%20Commons/168/22…

Monthly Networking Event (3rd Thursday):
Common Ground, Plush, 5PM-7PM SLT
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Plush%20Nonprofit%20Commons/128/22…
[09:30] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Please follow us in whatever ways you feel comfortable.
[09:30] Glitteractica Cookie: Thanks all of you for your kind words about techsoup. We may hit you all up for some testimonials. Also, don’t forget to enter in the TSDIGS challenge and win great prizes!
[09:30] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): So who has an announcement? Put your apendage up, please and I will call on you.
[09:30] Gentle Heron: /me has three events this weekend to announce.
[09:31] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): (Gentle is the hardest working avatar in the metaverse!)
[09:31] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): anyone else?
[09:31] Panny Bakerly: indeed
[09:31] Gentle Heron: no, but my community is busy!
[09:31] Sarvana Haalan: me
[09:31] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Go ahead Gentle, and the Sarvana
[09:32] Gentle Heron: Once again Virtual Ability has a busy weekend coming up of public events:

TODAY 1pm PST/SLT
Research Pavilion, Healthinfo Island
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/133/196/30
[09:32] Second Life: Charles2 McCaw is offline.
[09:32] Gentle Heron: RTI International will be recruiting survey participants from the US who have or had any of the following conditions (diabetes, cancer, HIV, chronic pain) to take a short survey and earn a thousand Linden dollars. RTI will explain the survey and privacy procedures today, or contact the coordinator directly: k/mecunning (Katherine Cunningham).
[09:32] Gentle Heron: Please participate if you qualify. Ask for a notecard to pass to your friends!
[09:32] Gentle Heron: TODAY 4pm PST/SLT A topic we’d all rather not think about, but need to know about.
Waiting for the World to Wake Up to Trauma’s Toll
Sojourner Auditorium, Virtual Ability island
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Ability/53/172/23
[09:32] Gentle Heron: This talk is going to frame many of the problems of the world today in the context of the outcomes of early trauma and abuse. Through this lens the idea of Sanctuary and Trauma-informed Care become the only way to move to the future.
[09:33] Gentle Heron: PRESENTER BIO: DrFran Babcock is the avatar of a long time Occupational Therapist and administrator in a psychiatric hospital. She has 30 years of experience in Behavioral Health, and is an advocate for the needs of the mentally ill.
[09:33] Gentle Heron: TOMORROW Feb 4, 5:30 pm
Human Factors and Universal Design: Light, dark, sound, and noise
Presenter: Julie (Lolli) Bluebird
Sojourner Auditorium, Virtual Ability island
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Ability/53/172/23
[09:33] Gentle Heron: Introduction to the effects of light, dark, sound and noise in our home environments; the pros and cons and what we can do to help ourselves.

PRESENTER BIO: Julie Bluebird is from the UK and has a background in psychology.
[09:33] Gentle Heron: These are two more in Virtual Ability’s distributed conference series “Waiting for the World to Change.”
[09:33] Gentle Heron: (done)
[09:33] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): whew!
[09:34] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Go ahead Sarvana
[09:34] Sarvana Haalan: Capacity Building through Virtual Worlds, March 15, Baltimore, MD . For local nonprofits especially faith-based orgs. We will be coming in-world for a mixed reality presentation.
[09:34] Sarvana Haalan: On my way to Ohio University…. hope to share NPC info with contacts there
[09:35] Sarvana Haalan: another local npo has joined TechSoup… wooot
[09:35] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): thanks Sarvana
[09:36] Sarvana Haalan: Much appreciated to everyone’s support ad help
[09:36] Sarvana Haalan: You guys rock indeed!!
[09:36] Sarvana Haalan: that’s it for me… and I am out of here..
[09:36] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): awesome
[09:36] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Any other announcements?
[09:37] Brena Benoir: Mentors Meeting Right after a short break
[09:37] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Check the blog nonprofitcommons.org for the chatlog from this session and other news
[09:38] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): thanks everyone for coming this morning
[09:38] Pathfinder Lester: thanks for organizing!
[09:38] Pathfinder Lester: take care folks. have a good weekend.
[09:38] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): If there’s speakers or topics that you’d like us to feature in teh future, contact us at nonprofitcommons@techsoup.org
[09:38] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): have a great Friday everyone!
[09:39] Glitteractica Cookie: bye!
[09:39] Brena Benoir: Mentors Meeting in 5 minutes
[09:39] alebez: have a great weekend everyone!
[09:39] Namaara MacMoragh: 🙂
[09:40] Glitteractica Cookie: bye all
[09:41] Chayenn: bye have a nice week end

Written by: alebez