Tag: rikomatic

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Share your “best practices” in non-profit activity in SL!

I am preparing a report on “best practices” for non-profits in Second Life that will be submitted to a major foundation. I know many of you are already doing great work in SL and have learned some valuable lessons that others could benefit from. I would love to get some anecdotes and thoughts on what has worked best (or worst) for you in promoting your work and mission within SL and what you are learning. I.e.:

  • We have learned that holding dances is a great way to bring avatars to our offices, and builds friendships and connections among our members.
  • In-world fundraising was our initial goal, but it hasn’t worked out for us.
  • We think it’s important to maintain a presence on the mainland, so random avatars can find us, versus being on our own private island
  • Freebies are a great way to draw traffic, and can spread your message far and wide.

I’d like to follow up with a quick interview, if you are available. Otherwise just drop me an email at rik@rikomatic.com or a notecard to Rik Riel.

I’ll give you a fresh cup of virtual coffee for your help! And I’ll be sharing these insights with the NPC and techsoup groups afterwards.

Muchisimas graçias!

– Rik Panganiban / Rik Riel

Written by: rikomatic

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Second Life Accessibility Center opening on September 9

At the Non-profit Commons launch event last month, there was a question about Second Life and accessibility issues. I just saw this press release about the new Accessibility Center on a couple of blogs and thought I should post it here.

On September 9, at 4PM PST, the Accessibility Center will officially open on HealthInfo Island (Teleport SLURL). The Accessibility Center provides continuing education and awareness about disabilities to the residents of and visitors to SL. The information available at the Center includes material about specific types of disabilities, accessibility in electronic games and virtual worlds, as well as assistive technology in the real world.

The complete press release after the jump…

Accessibility Center to Open on HealthInfo Island

Press release
For immediate release
Questions should be directed to Kristan Hall, at kristan.hall at gmail.com

The Accessibility Center, a resource for disabled persons in Second Life, will host a grand opening celebration on Sept. 9 from 4 to 6 p.m. SLT at their location on HealthInfo Island.

The event will feature tours of the facility, speeches from various center personnel, as well as a panel comprised of Gentle Heron, Lorelei Juno and Carolina Keats. Other activities include discussions on the various exhibits and a live music concert.

The Accessibility Center provides continuing education and awareness about disabilities to the residents of and visitors to SL. The information available at the Center includes material about specific types of disabilities, accessibility in electronic games and virtual worlds, as well as assistive technology in the real world.

Displays at the Accessibility Center currently focus on mobility, vision, hearing and learning impairments. In-world resources for people with disabilities are also highlighted. Several sitting areas provide a pleasing place to sit for frank discussions on disabilities.

The center is funded by the National Library of Medicine with the University of Illinois at Chicago, Library of the Health Sciences, working in conjunction with the Alliance Library System (ALS). The center has also received funding from www.iViNNiE.com, your virtual news network.

ALS is a regional library system located in East Peoria, Ill. The system has 260 member libraries of all types (public, school, academic and special). It provides consulting, delivery service, continuing education, a shared computer system, assistance in writing grants and many other services.

For more information about the Accessibility Center , visit it in-world on HealthInfo Island (Teleport SLURL). To attend the Sept. 9 event, message Lorelei Junot, Gentle Heron or Katt Kongo for a teleport.

Written by: rikomatic

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SL designers sought for “Pink for Life” Breast Cancer benefit

Pinkforlife

I just got this call for contributions for a mixed reality Second Life / real life benefit for cancer research called "Pink for Life."  The European cancer research Gustave Roussy Institute is throwing a fashion exhibit and auction on the Champs Elysee in Paris from October 9-10 to raise funds and awareness towards breast cancer research.  Meanwhile from October 1-10 in Second Life there will be a corresponding exhibition and auction (done over eBay) of virtual world goods. 

They are looking for donations of objects, designs, and artistic creations for the exhibition in the categories of
Furniture, Clothes, Accessories, and Misc. Oh yeah, everything has to be PINK. The SL event will take place on Elyseum (direct teleport). 

Read the full event information after the jump or go to http://www.conceptsl.com .

ConceptSL teams up with IGR for the fight against breast cancer

Operation ‘Rose For Life’

In a sequel of last year’s operation "100 women for life" which gathered 126 famous women in favor of breast cancer fight, the cancerology Institute Gustave Roussy, first European research center in cancer research, is launching in October 2007 : "Rose For Life". This operation is organized to raise awareness about breast cancer, during Pink October, international month for the fight against breast cancer.

October 9 and 10, 2007 on the Champs Elysees (Paris), will be organized an exhibition followed by an auction of exposed items. Items are donated by famous fashion designers and luxury brands. All Items and artistic creations will share a common point: they have to be pink !

ConceptSL organizes the Second Life side of this event :
The Second Life operation will be in two phases : a Second Life exhibition of items/creations from SL designers and an EBay auction of these items. To allow a maximum of people to see the exhibition and bid in the auction, the exhibition will take place from October 1st to October 10 on Second Life. Auctions will be opened on Ebay in the same period. They will be closed October 10; and items will then be given to their new owners.

Second Life Designers
We are looking for items, objects, designs, artistic creations to prepare the exhibition. Items will be sorted in 4 categories : Furniture, Clothes, Accessories, Misc. A maximum of 20 objects will be exposed and sold for each category. Only one design constraint : the items must be pink (a pink painting, pink jewelry, pink dress, etc.).

The event will be hosted on Elyseum, in the exhibitions hall. All the sales profit will be donated to breast cancer research.

How can I contribute ?
To contribute to the exhibition, please send us the pictures of your creations by email : fashion@conceptsl.com. Submissions will be closed on September 20.You’ll be notified by email if your object has been selected for the exhibition. Selected objects will have to be transferred in-game to Yogi Huldschinsky (the organizer) [no copy + modify + Resell]

Recruiting Mentors

We are looking for mentors and guides to assist Elyseum visitors during the exhibitions. If you are interested, send us your application.

Written by: rikomatic

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Schedule for Non-profit / Philanthropy “thread” at SLCC available

For those of you coming to the Second Life Community Convention this weekend in Chicago who are interested in following the non-profit / philanthropy thread, there’s a convenient non-profit schedule, posted by Joyce at Global Kids. Here are the main events in a nutshell:

Saturday, August 25 

  • 10:00am-11:00am Keynote by Connie Yowell,
    Director of Education in the MacArthur Foundation’s Program on Human
    and Community Development
  • 1:30pm-03:00pm “Teens Making Machinima within Non-Profit Programs”
  • 3:30pm-04:00pm “An Educational Non-profit’s History of the Teen Grid: A Global Kids Adventure in Best Practices”

Sunday, August 26

  • 10:00am-11:00am "Best Practices in Bringing Non-profits into SL"
  • 2:30pm-03:30pm  "The Role of Philanthropy in Virtual Worlds"

You can find the full schedule for SLCC here.

Written by: rikomatic

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WWF brings an ecological message to SL in their new Conservation Island

The international conservation organization formerly known as the World Wildlife Fund, now simply called the WWF, has launched a new “Conservation Island” in Second Life to spread their message about living in harmony with nature. Clearly they are taking a whimsical approach to this, with orangutans that sell you ice cream and pandas that teach about sustainable products. Check out the sim at this SLURL.

Thanks to Nobody Fugazi for the heads up!

Second Life look at nature’s real-life problems
From WWF Press Release

Gland, Switzerland – Ever dreamt of building a new life on a deserted island? Then pack your virtual toolkit and head for Conservation Island, a place where an orang-utan will “sell” you ice-cream and a panda will be your friend.

Set up by WWF in the virtual world Second Life, the island is the latest initiative in the global conservation organization’s campaign to get people to live in harmony with nature.

“WWF set up the island as a way to help people learn about conservation issues and the need to live sustainably,” said David Cole, Online Outreach Manager at WWF International. “We want to be able to show people that WWF has solutions to the real environmental issues affecting their ‘first life’.

“We hope that Second Life residents will become a community that helps us build and develop the island and at the same time learn about conservation in a fun, engaging and interactive way.”

Second Life users, called residents, can interact with each other, explore their world, participate in social events and activities, and “purchase” goods and services.

On Conservation Island, for instance, if residents “buy” an ice-cream from Mr Tangee, the orang-utan who runs the ice-cream van, they will have the chance to learn that plantations to provide the soy and palm oil found in an array of everyday products, from ice-cream to cosmetics and chocolate bars, already cover an area the size of France and are growing. This threatens not only some of the world’s greatest forests and traditional lifestyles, but also endangered species such as orang-utans and jaguars.

Visitors to another part of the island can befriend a panda who will tell them about environmental issues and go with them as they explore a town powered by a wind-powered pinwheel.

“Conservation Island provides WWF with an opportunity to put its message before a new audience, potentially millions of people who may not otherwise engage with conservation issues,” said Cole.

“Residents will be able to learn about climate change and marine and forest loss in a fun way, and then, if they want to know more, they will be directed to WWF’s website, www.panda.org.”

Conservation Island was developed for WWF by Enable Interactive, the Bristol-based specialist digital agency.

“Social and consumer behaviour is changing, so the way brands communicate must change too,” said Matt Connolly, Strategic Director at Enable Interactive. “At Enable, we’ve enjoyed helping WWF innovate around how it communicates, and believe its presence on Second Life will help it get a whole new group of people to make conservation part of their lives.”

For further information:
Moira O’Brien-Malone, Head of Media Relations
WWF International
Tel: +41 22 364 9550
E-mail: mobrien@wwfint.org

END NOTES:

• Screen grabs to illustrate this story have been posted at:
https://intranet.panda.org/documents/document.cfm?uFolderID=61441&uDocID…
User name; intranet@wwfint.org, password dropbox.

• If you already have Second Life installed on your computer, you can access Conservation Island via:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/WWF/138/199/41/

• WWF’s presence in Second Life was developed by Enable Interactive and made possible with the generous support of South West Screen and the South West of England Regional Development Agency.

Written by: rikomatic

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Belgian media watchdog group Zorra opens new office with “Gender & Advertising” exhibit August 17


On august 17, 2007 at 11:30AM PST, the Belgian media watch ZORRA opens its virtual doors in Second Life (teleport SLURL). ZORRA, known for its Public Award for the the most woman-friendly and/or role bending advertisement, has organised its exhibit building on Gender Square in Second Life. The exhibit “Gender & Advertising” and its quiz presents a selection of 10 years of good and less good practices, from advertisements which are funny and less funny, to advertisements which are controversial.

But ZORRA wouldn’t be ZORRA if it feared controversy. On Second Life ZORRA continues to put question marks after ads which are considered sexist. Enough to engage the visitors in heated discussion, especially those who have never had in their first life the chance or the time to reflect on the topic of (in)equality in the representation of men and women in advertising.

Second Life is offering this opportunity, and most of all the opportunity, after visiting the exhibit, to sit down at the Gender Square (place where ZORRA’s exhibit is taking place on Second Life) and to engage in a discussion with Second Life residents of all nationalities, ages, colors and forms.

At the exhibit, what is perhaps most remarkable is that on more than 30 exhibited advertisements three are from the financial institute Fortis, and all three are found on the side of good practice.

Gilke Eeckhoudt, marketing and communication manager at Fortis Belgium, sees it as a recognition of the years of efforts Fortis has provided on behalf of diversity. “In its advertising campaigns Fortis wants to reflect ‘in a truthful manner’ its clients and the labour market where it recruits” (2).

DETAILS
Date : august 17, 2007 at 08:30 PM (Paris-Brussel-Amsterdam = SLT 11:30 am)
Place : Gender Square (teleport SLURL)

Written by: rikomatic

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Overflow Location for Non-profit Commons launch party, August 14

I hope that you are planning on joining us tomorrow, Tuesday, August 14, for the official public launch of the Non-profit Commons sim. We’re planning on having a fabulous event with a number of guests, media and SL celebrities.

The downside of popularity is that it’s possible that our sim might fill out quickly. If that happens, don’t fear. We’ve set up an overflow location just around the corner from the Commons at Plush Lake West (teleport SLURL). So head over there, where you will be able to catch the audio of our event. Hopefully we can teleport people over as more space becomes available.

Thanks for your understanding and support!

Written by: rikomatic

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YearlyKos Progressive Blogger conference in SL this weekend

Jushualevy_00201

This weekend, August 2-5, progressive activists, bloggers, and politicians from all over the country (and the world) will be gathering in Chicago for the Yearly Kos convention. Joining them will be all the major Democratic Presidential candidates, as well as Democratic party leaders.

For those that can’t make it to Illinois, the organizers will be streaming keynotes and letting you attending breakout sessions virtually. They have arranged for hospitality suites, an exhibit hall, dancing, and informal meeting areas. You can see the full convention schedule at
http://www.yearlykosconvention.org/schedule.

Registration is just US$25, available on the web at http://www.yksl.eventbrite.com/ or
in SL at
http://tinyurl.com/yqpoza”>http://tinyurl.com/yqpoza  or direct to Progressive Island (127, 52, 25).

Written by: rikomatic

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Second Chance Trees a finalist in Amex $5 million challenge

Paul Young of Converseon sends news that the Second Chance Trees initiative has been selected as one of 50 finalists in a competition sponsored by American Express called "The Members Project." Second Chance Trees is an effort to raise awareness about and funds for rainforest re-forestation around the world.  Second Life residents can purchase virtual trees in a lush rainforest setting for L$300 (about one US dollar), which funds the planting of a real tree in a rainforest somewhere in the real world. 

Paul says that if Second Chance Trees wins the competition, they could get up to $5 million, which would fund millions of trees.  Amex card holders can vote for Second Chance (or any other member project) by going to http://www.membersproject.com.

There’s a YouTube video that explains the Second Chance initiative, but of course it’s best to teleport in and check it out yourself in-world (teleport SLURL.) Buy a few trees while you’re there. I’m partial to the "Golden Shower" and the "Mangium" myself. Second Chance Trees was conceived, developed and built by social media agency Converseon in partnership with the non-profit Plant It 2020.

Written by: rikomatic