Betterverse: Nonprofits in the Virtual World

Virtual Worlds, Isolation and Reaching Critical Mass (editorial)

 

Today I came across this news story about a program in Maine to help adult students to achieve their GED's using a virtual learning platform (in this case, the JIBE virtual world.)  While this seems like a worthwhile effort, I was struck by the claim that one of the goals of the project is to "reduce rural isolation" for students who can not get to a traditional class because of work or family obligations.

“We have a young mom who has no license. She’s a stay-at-home mom,” a teacher is quoted as saying. “This is nice for her. She can go in there and not be so lonely. It’s really doing its job of breaking the isolation.”

But watching the video, you can not help but notice that the presumed student avatar is almost completely alone during the entire experience. He has one brief encounter with someone who might be a teacher, they exchange some text chat, and then she runs off into the distance. Otherwise, he is simply wandering around empty corridors and clicking on objects.

16 Days of Action Against Gender Violence Kicks off in Second Life and Stardoll

Ellie Brewster shares the news that today is the first day of the annual "16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence" an international campaign started by the Center for Women's Global Leadership in 1991.  There are a wide range of activities being planned, from a march in Yerevan, Armenia, focusing on violence against women; a quilt exhibition in Alice Springs, Australia; student trainings and dialogues with media outlets in Lagos, Nigeria; and a military fashion show at Rutgers University in New Jersey, USA.

Meanwhile, the 16 Days campaign in Second Life kicks off, as these sorts of things often do, with a virtual concert on November 27, starting at 11am PT. The performers line up at publication time includes:

• 11am - Cindy Ecksol: American Folk
• 12pm - AM Forte: Rock and Blues
• 1pm - Prowess Rayna: solo piano
• 2pm - SonyaJevette Charisma
• 3pm - The Choo Choo Chicks : jazz and blues

Looks like a really fun and eclectic mix of music to begin the virtual campaign.

But Second Life is not the only virtual space where actions will be taking place.

This year, the Center for Women's Global Leadership is partnering with the teen-oriented social network site Stardoll to bring the 16 Days Campaign to the site's 130 million teenage users. Stardoll users can create their own 16 Days designs, learn about the Campaign and participating organizations, and post questions to activists including economist Radhika Balakrishnan, human rights lawyer Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda and media activist Sharon Bhagwan Rolls.

For more information about the SL concert and other events planned during the 16 Days, see their website and calendar.  And see the Stardoll site for details on 16 Days activities there.

Imagine Peace in the Virtual and Real Worlds from November 11-13

 

The "Imagine Peace Festival", a festival to celebrate the work of small organizations promoting peace around the world, will be taking place in Second Life and the real world from November 11-13.  There will be talks, concerts, shows and exhibitions. Among the notable events are concerts by Avantegarde Frequency, Cylidrian Rutabaga, Mankind Tracer, and Ga Go Gigamon! a 7 Member Japanese band; tours of the virtual museum of Afghanistan; and various virtual art exhibits.

Proceeds from the events will go to support three organizations:

• The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Aghanistan
• Rural Economic and Agricultural Development Agency of Cambodia
• and the One Laptop Per Child Project 

Head to the official website for updated schedule information.

SF Mayoral Candidate David Chiu at Online Community Meetup this Wednesday in Second Life

The SF Online Community MeetUp is the free monthly gathering of online community managers, enthusiasts, and innovators to meet and discuss tools and strategies for building and managing effective communities. 

Our guest speaker this month are President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and San Francisco Mayoral Candidate, David Chiu, and his Mayoral Campaign's New Media Director, Candice Dayoan. Join us to learn how the David Chiu for Mayor campaign is using new media to educate the citizens of San Francisco on pressing local issues and create civic engagement and learn about the online community challenges unique to political campaigns. The meetup will be on October 26, beginning at 7pm PT and last about one hour.

Here are all the ways you can take part in the event: 

• Participate virtually in the Nonprofit Commons in Second Life (slurl to location in Second Life) . You can see a step-by-step guide for how to participate in Second Life.
• Come in person to 525 Brannan Street, Suite 300 San Francisco, CA.
• Follow the action on Twitter via hashtag: #octribe.

Join the San Francisco Online Community Report MeetUp group on Facebook. The Online Community Meetup is sponsored by TechSoup.org.

 

Owner of CapEx on Ejecting #OccupySL Protestors: "I'm Not a Millionaire"

Today I stopped by the CapEx exchange to see if I could talk with Skip Oceanlane, proprietor of the businessm about the protest that occurred there on Saturday organized by the "Occupy SL" group. The Occupy SL protestors are alleging that he restarted the sim deliberately to kick them out.  

Luckily I found him sitting behind his desk and willing to chat. Here's Mr. Oceanlane's side of the story: 

Rik Riel: Just wanted to see if you had any comment about the Occupy SL demonstration that occurred in your sim on Saturday. They are alleging that you restarted the sim to boot them from it.  Can you confirm or deny that? 

Skip Oceanlane: They caused so much lag in the sim, it was affecting the operation of the ATM. The sim was going to a standstill, so yes I restarted it.

Skip Oceanlane: Peoples deposits were not registering with the ATM, and they were IMing customers. That happens when there is too much lag. I disabled scripts, but it still was lagged, so I restarted the sim.

Skip Oceanlane: I'm not a millionaire - I think harassing me is wrong.

Rik Riel: I only saw a dozen or so avatars there.  Is that the capacity for your service? Or perhaps there were many more than that?

Skip Oceanlane: No, there was much more

Skip Oceanlane: I think harassing me was quite childish.  I never did anything to these people

Rik Riel: So you are saying that you are restarted the sim because the protests were effecting your business, is that correct?

Skip Oceanlane: The sim was to a crawl - I couldn't even move around.  Of course that's why I restarted the sim. And it took me about an hour to fix the damage with missed deposits. They don't have a right to go to other peoples lots and shut down a business.

For more info about CapEx, see their website slcapex.com.  According to Skip, they have over 16,000 traders and do about L$10,000,000 in trading volume a month.

"Occupy SL" Protest Ejected from CapEx Sim on Saturday

We are getting reports that the "Occupy SL" protest group in Second Life was forcibly removed from the Capex financial services virtual storefront during there demonstration on Saturday, October 22.  According to a chatlog sent around to the "Occupy SL" group, the sim owner Skip Oceanlane accused the group of "griefing" when they arrived, and the rebooted the sim 10 minutes after they were there, effectively kicking everyone out of the sim.

The demonstrators then moved to the Linden Endowment for the Arts public area, where they continued their demonstration, erecting signs and images and shouting protest slogans.  You can visit the LEA demo, assuming the signs are still there, at this teleport link and the original protest location at the Crystal Springs sim here.

We will be approaching the CapEx sim owner for comment shortly.

See Miso Susanowa's blog and any1 gynoid's ireport for more complete details and the chatlog.

Audience Members Wanted for Teen Talk Show on Sustainability Issues October 28

My friend Daria at Global Kids send out news that they are getting their teens set to produce their first virtual talk show on environmental issues called "Let's Talk Sustainability."  Their first talk show, which will focus on food justice issues, will be next Friday October 28, at 4:30pm EST, and they need audience members!  

According to Daria the goal of the show is:

to support teens to develop expertise regarding sustainability, online broadcasting, and virtual world construction. Global Kids youth in New York City combined this expertise to produce talk shows that will feature interviews with STEM-related professionals, pre-produced videos, and audience activities. Each show is designed to introduce audiences to what they can do to live in a more sustainable world.

Just look at how cute those teens are! If you would like to participate and support this innovative program, please fill out this form and then teleport over to the talk show studio (teleport link). Should be informative and fun, if I know Global Kids and their teens.

Snapshots of Virtual and Real "Occupy Wall Street" Organizing

Yesterday I stopped in at both virtual and real life "Occupy Wall Street" gatherings, one in Second Life and one in downtown Oakland, where I live.  Both were really welcoming, colorful, and interesting places that I hope to come back to.

What struck me was how similar the two gatherings were, with lots of random people just milling about, a variety of messages and ideas being expressed, and a general willingness to work together peacefully. It's just in Second Life , the people looked like dragons and robots and supermodels. And in Occupy Oakland, people were passing out free food that you could actually eat.

It helps that a lot of the "OccupySL" group are also people active in their own communities "Occupy" gatherings at home.  But for whatever reasons, they couldn't be out in the streets all the time with others (family obligations, work, infirmity, etc.)  Still it is interesting to observe again that our social structures that we create together can cause ripples that blend into other spaces we inhabit.  I've seen this with "virtual" faith communities, support groups, and political actions.

 In the end, you are having a real experience with others, whether you are out in a tent city outside city hall or sitting at home on your laptop chatting with friends online.  "Occupy Everywhere," indeed.

Using Virtual Tools for Political Action : Visiting the "Occupy Second Life" Group

Tonight I rezzed into one of the "Occupy SL" planning meetings in Second Life, inspired by the real world "Occupy Oakland" tent city I walked through today over lunch.  I didn't really know what to expect.

I found twenty-some avatars hanging out in the Second Life Leftist Union area (teleport link), talking in an open and inclusive way about what kind of action to plan next.  No one was really in charge, although folks volunteered to take notes, do outreach, and planning as the meeting went on. Over the course of an hour or so, a rough plan of action came together that everyone was excited about (that I can't really divulge).  It was kind of inspiring watching it all come together -- democracy in action, as it were.

I don't think any of them would claim that these virtual actions are in any way equal to what people are doing in the real world in tent cities all around the US and the world.  But as a way of connecting different activists and actions , and doing public outreach in a new way, the "Occupy SL" group wants to use this virtual platform to amplify the movement.  

Here's how the "Occupy SL" group describes themselves:

Just as in 1st Life (of which, Second Life is only an extension), so many people in Second life are enthused, empowered, and emboldened by the Occupy Wall Street protest in NYC and those spreading across the country. Many of them are deeply involved in their own local occupation groups. We have formed this group and networking space in Second Life as a place to meet, inform, network, educate others, and plan actions in Second Life. We invite all people to come and join us in solidarity as the 99% begin to be heard.

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UPDATE 10/20: Apparently, there is an "Occupy SL" protest planned for this Saturday, October 22. If you would like to be involved, join their group for details on where and when.

If you would like to find out more, teleport over to their HQ at this link, join their facebook group, or follow the #OccupySL hashtag on Twitter.  

Occupy SL

Got an opinion? Want to talk to others about recent events? Join in the current political protests and make your voice heard at this SL Left Unity sim. Visit www.slleftunity.com for more info.

Visit in Second Life

 

BoobieThon : an Irreverent Fundraiser for Breast Cancer Research October 1-7

I unfortunately got the news a bit late that this week from October 1-7 is "BoobieThon" , a tongue-in-cheek series of events in Second Life to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research.  Sponsored by the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the festival features art, fashion, poetry and even a burleque show! Sounds like a lot of fun for a great cause.

Head here for the complete schedule and more information.  Or head there directly at this teleport link.

BTW, news and event notices can always be send to me at rik @betterverse.org, ideally at least two weeks ahead of time.