Tech -- Culture -- Humour
This week there’s been a flurry of activity by a number of Australian Second Life residents on ABC Island this week. That activity has led to the establishment of a blog and forum, both called ‘Auntie’s Avatars’.
It’s early days with not a lot of content but hopefully it’ll enhance the already active in-world community that already exists on ABC Island.
ABC Island has a range of events slated to celebrate its first anniversary, which are being held Wednesday evening Australian time:
I also received the following notice from ABC admin Juko Tempel:
“Following the Anniversary Party events on Wednesday night, interested ABC Friends, Admin group members and ABC Staff are invited to a discussion forum at 8:30pm AEDT Thursday 20 March, at the Amphitheatre on ABC Island.
The agenda for the meeting has one point: To raise and explore ideas for the future of ABC Island and collate those ideas to be presented to the ABC management. ”
If the comments to date on our original anniversary story are anything to go by, there seems to be some motivation to debate the future evolution of the ABC presence. So if you want some entertainment, the opportunity to have your say, or both, then check it out in-world
The 19th March brings up the one-year anniversary of the ABC’s launch of ABC Island. Launch night coincided with the screening of You Only Live Twice on Four Corners. Since that time, there’s been a steady stream of events, including a great number organised by the Australian community of Second Life residents who frequent the island.
ABC Island’s presence is a modest one when compared to the Telstra build, but it packs a lot of variety in the area it does inhabit. The Sandbox remains the most popular area, but themed areas like Melbourne Laneways provide a lot of ongoing interest as well.
There are also rumours of further expansion via another island. I caught up with Lisa Romano (SL: Lise Robbiani), the ABC’s Project Manager, Strategic Development for its Innovation unit, who wouldn’t confirm the rumours. We also asked her to confirm the original intent of the presence in Second Life. “The ABC created a presence in Second Life to learn more about virtual worlds so that it could understand how to create and present content and build a community in this rapidly growing three-dimensional environment. One of the ABC’s core principles is to reach audiences wherever they are and to pursue opportunities for innovation, so a new platform of this kind which shows strong audience growth and interest is worth exploring,” Romano said.
So after a year of effort in Second Life, has it been worth it for the ABC? Romano certainly thinks so. “We are thrilled with the response from audiences over the past year. The response has been overwhelmingly positive, and we feel like the Island really offers a sense of Australian community based around content, creativity and innovation for both Australian and international visitors, mainly due to the dedication and enthusiasm of the ABC Friends Group.”
That same ABC Friends Group (of which I’m a minimally contributing member) is organising some anniversary events this week. There’ll be plenty of information in-world or watch this space for details.
What are your thoughts on ABC Island’s first year? Has it been a success? How do you see it evolving in the coming year?
Three mini stories in one today:
1. Ad farms are the target of the latest Linden Lab crackdown. There’s likely to be widespread praise for this move.
2. Second Life’s ABC Island is having a Valentine’s Day event:
“Bring your sweetheart or come and make new friends, or both! Celebrate Valentine’s Day (Thurs 14 Feb TODAY!) at ABC Island at 8pm AEDT on the ABC Park ice rink, near the Sandbox, or roller skate around the ‘ABC logo’ path. Join the Valentine Heart Hunt! Free skates available, or bring your own trick skates”.
3. We received this short missive this afternoon:
“I’m doing research on second life addiciton, it would be a great help if people would take a survey I set up
An excellent grass-roots effort has been put in by a handful of Australian Second Life residents to ensure Australia Day 2008 goes off in style in-world.
There’s a cricket pitch with plenty of spectator seating, a special Australia Day version of Wolfie Rankin’s Rockit music trivia extravaganza and lots more.
Come dressed in your best whites from 8pm AEDT tonight (Rockit commences at 7pm)
Update: Gary Hayes has some great photos of the festivities here
ABC Island Sandbox is the venue for a Christmas shindig this Thursday night at 1am SL time (8pm AEDT).
Hope to see you there.
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