Alternative events calender launched.

For some of you that are un-aware of what the new events changes in SL have meant, most educational classes and events have been cancelled this past week due to an inability to post them on the events calender.

To combat the recent changes implemented by linden labs to the events system, the in-world central library project known as the 'InfoNet' now has it's own events calender for non-profit and educational events in SL.

To find your nearest infonet access point, do a search for 'InfoNet' in places.

If you'd like more information in-world, Please contact Squagmire Stravinsky.

Hurray for the ingenuity of the masses! Squag, you are fantastic! If one can't work with what currently is available, there is always a work around. Thank you!

You rule, Squag!

I couldn't get logged back in to shoot you that notecard last night & ended up heading to bed. Work comes early in the AM

I'll be getting you some more info today.

I've got high hopes this will take off!

Trav

Well, that's good...but the in-world Lindens events calendar is ALREADY tilted to the 'non-profit' and 'educational'. I suppose your only problem with the LL calendar was you can't hold the events on land you wish, based on whatever agreement

Now could someone come forward with the same or similar technology and create the in-world *commercial* events calendar for things like real estate tours and product displays.

Nice hijack, Prokofy.

The current events system available on the InfoNet is a temporary one. Once the complete events system is implemented, there will also be sections available for both commercial events, and tringo.

People are actually interested in stuff like that?

(Please don't bother to respond... it's just a subtle, rhetorical way for me to express only my opinion).

So, yeah, coolness, Squag. Nice work!

It's not a hijack but an extremely legitimate point, Juro, whatever your allergies to commerce (except your own LOL). Most people who are upset about the events-listings changes run *businesses* like clubs, malls, games like Tringo, etc. They don't run scripting workshops.

Scripting/building tutorials are already generously supported by the Lindens with educational grants (and now even the Herald is going to pimp them among the girlie pics). So why would players have to some extra special thing in addition to that?

Squagmire himself said he plans to make other types of listings beyond educational.

And yes, gene, there are a huge number of people interested in commercial listings. You're in the game with other people now, I know it comes as a horribly rude shock, but product displays in particular will be deluged with notices. Many people who have stores with skins, animations, clothing, etc. will put up events that are simply ads for their store like "This week's 10 percent discount sale" or something. AND THAT'S FINE.

An ingame ability to put up real estate event/tours will be used by a number in the rentals or sales business.

Your subtle, rhetorical manner in displaying *only* your opinion (mainly shared by the 20-30 percent of other people in the computer/IT field who post here, depending on which poll you use) can't mask the fact that you are only *one segment* of the game's population and not *the determinant* one.

This is a great idea. I even suggested somegthing similar when I was at Urusula's club opening the other night.

The problem, as I see it, with Prok and others bemoaning the Linden event changes is that they are really just upset that they are losing the free advertising for commercial establishments that the Linden calendar offered.

Hosting a "Best Dressed in Red" contest at some club-in-a-box isn't an event. Its an attempt to get the club's name in front of as many potential eyes as possible via the event system.

With SL achieving the ciritical mass that now supports a slew of 3rd party websites (SLUniverse, GOM, et al), there is no need for the Lindens to continue to offer free advertising to commercial ventures.

I, for one, am glad to see the event changes. The Event calendar had become virtually useless (unless, I suppse, you're a Tringo player looking for a Tringo game now) and it will be good to see it scaled back closer to its original intended purpose.

- Ace

Ace, just curious - what events have you attended in the last month that you've enjoyed?

I've been to events at both Crimson & Clover and the 420 Cafe where I had a blast. But then, I'm more the stay-at-home-and-build type.

- Ace

what's stopping you?

When I first started SL, I relied heavily on the event calendar to find stuff to do. I did not know anybody, I did not know how to do anything, but I found the event calendar right away.

This was two or three months ago, after the event subsidies were ended.

I went to several events like best dressed contest, not to participate, but to watch. I met people that way. I went to a dance party that was a blast. OK, it was just a club, but I had a great time and it drew me even more into SL. If not for that "event" I would probably have logged off out of boredom. Instead I did something I had not done before, met a couple of people and played SL until dawn.

Everyone should consider that there are plenty of newbies around, and lots of people just looking for something to do. There ought to be a choice of several events to go to at any given moment. I remember being quite frustrated that there were only two or three events going on when I logged on.

I don't agree that having a lot of events going on is that much of a problem. Limits, fine. But everyone should try not to be so judgemental about what's "worthwhile".

Buster

As it happens, I personally don't run events very often, and run a mixture of commercial and educational events when I do, but because I rent malls with event space, I encourage events by others.

And I think there should be no interference whatsoever in the way these events are listed, and the only task at hand should be to find ways to filter them better, and increase the types of listing categories, i.e. have a separate category, not restraining player commerce in any way.

It's disturbing that you would find something wrong with "free advertising by the Lindens" and think this can be substituted completely by players when Lindens, not players, have the chief communication technology.

You're not getting it.

I don't look for handouts from Lindens, God knows. But they are the ones who run this technology. I do not currently have a way of reaching inside this game and putting out an announcement to all the people in it, or even the people on my sim. And one of the reasons I don't have that ability is because people like you would be horrified at spam commercial IMs. And I don't blame you, because I, too am annoyed when complete strangers TP me or when I get crap notecards in my face. But on the other hand, I want them to succeed in their business.

Players might develop technology that could work to help increase advertising capacity in the game. For example, the creation of a yellow pages. I recall beginning that fellow who developed the flippable chapbook for the magazine to be willing to sell his technology to make real estate brochures and yellow pages but he blew me off because he saw himself as an artist "above" doing commercial stuff that he would find "tacky" and a featue of the "crass commercialism" of the game. As a result, we have neither his poetry magazine/urban chic lit thing that he was doing -- it folded -- and we also have no yellow pages that I would have invested in. Can't you see the point? Can't you see that this notion Cristiano has that there are all these earnest wikkians going out there and developing technology for kewl skins and kewl animations is tripe at some level, whatever it's truth for his own little world? Because in the game write large, there are not the most basic tools to have what I'd call a normal world of advertising -- no shoppers, no easily uploaded billboards, no easy way to write and enlarge text and put it somehwere, etc. etc. *precisely because neither the Lindens nor the tekkies applied themselves to this task due to their allergy to commerce.*

It's precisely because we don't have that (and no, Buster, I don't do computer stuff so I'm not going to be learning scripting any time soon) that it is right and reasonable to have the Lindens provide this, just like they provide roads. I view it as part of the normal infrastructure of a world, and not some hand out to rich corporations, blah.

In RL, I could go to the free press and buy myself a shopper, order up a shopper, and distribute it through 3rd class mail. That kind of normal functioning isn't allowed here.

So the solution lies in revamping the events list -- after community outcry they've already started doing some of this -- and in having players, especially the tekki wikiists, get over their commerce allergy and start really applying this man-on-the-moon stuff to the Tang that they claim they're always doing.

Boiling Prokofy's post down to what I quoted above, I think he makes some good points.

I do disagree with there being a complete lack of tools for advertising - Metaadverse is a great service. But if I'm not mistaken, Prok - you found it difficult to setup. If Prok finds it difficult, others will to - lessening the usefulness of the service. (But - speaking as someone who uses Metaadverse - I think its incredible once you get over the learning curve)

That being said, even tools like metaadverse, or Squag's alternative event calendar - aren't a full replacement to the in-game calendar. They are a marketing assist - but at least today, there is no singular place to reach all SL residents better than the in-game Event Calendar. The "Special Events" forum is somewhat less-than-useful for the same reason.

Just my personal opinions, of course

Trav