Conversational Salon?

I remain at a loss to understand why there isn't some place that hasn't taken the place of the Open Latte, where you could go at pretty much any time and find some kind of conversation going on. Then again, perhaps what happened to the Latte explains why such a place doesn't exist...

I keep hearing good things about the Forum Cartel Hangout in Allana (144,37,37). But must admit, the two times I went there I didn't see anyone. Might have something to do with timezones

The Open Latte depended upon unrestricted conversation. With the imminent clamping down on Adult activities (which would include grown up conversations, not just physical sex and violence) there would be a danger that it would attract the SL nannies, although no free migration to Zindra would have been offered.

Pep (is hoping that grown up places appear in Zindra as well as the obvious facilities)

I have posted about this before. The Hangout has been historically "busy" with random informal activities almost exclusively during North American hours - except for big parties when Europeans are encouraged to help host etc. Grab the HUD that lets you know when anybody is there so you can pop in and say hello; when you are sorting your inventory go and sit there and someone else with the HUD will see you there and join you. Break the Catch-22 of 'no-one's there so I am not going to go there'.

Pep (Not anti-clique; just being realistic )

Yes the hangout is good for doing inventory. I like to dance while I do my inventory don't know why but I do. When someone comes along the more the merrier.

Have had some great and fun conversations going there too.

Now if I would quit having friend in need calls when it gets to being real fun would be helpful lol.

PS the chair with a box of chocolates is great when you need a chocolate fix.

That is something I've noticed that seemed to be painfully lacking in SL.....(the Hangout being the exception thus far)

Before SL I belonged to a couple different discussion forums....in fact one I still visit and have made a life long friend as a result. One thing I dearly love is 'real' conversation with other intelligent free thinking adults. In the three years I've been in SL......I could probably count the intelligent conversations I've had on my fingers and toes (ok, probably more then 20....but in 3 years.....even 100 is poor)

I have looked for cafes and coffee shops and lounges that cater to adults just wanting to mingle and converse......and two things happen....One....it's clique....the conversations happen between people who are already friends in IM ... or in public but they are clearly not interested in anyone but each other. Or.....the conversations are so jeuvenile and full of useless 'fluff' that it's not in the least bit stimulating or challenging to the brain. Hence I spend a lot of time alone in SL.

I can't talk for more then 5 minutes about shopping LOL IRL or SL....I can't have surface small talk. It's just not me. I get bored too easily....

of course....last night at my sister's house.....some of the fam was over and we were ROFL all night......based on a conversation about bodily functions that begun with an innocent comment and just went down hill from there. LOL But that's family....things like that happen when my family gets together

That place sounds like the answer to the question on my other thread... But... Well... It looks like this thread says it's gone. (u.u)

As a no-pressure hangout, the PW coffee shop in Bronlen looks like a good place to gather an intelligent crowd on (Adult) land. The only problem: Nobody goes there. (>_<

Oh well... The search goes on. (^_^)

I wonder... Can events be planned there? (O.o)

Yes - I definitely encourage this. The only way it will ever get busy there during "off North American social" hours will be if folks from other parts of the world start going there during their social times in SL.

The Cartel Hangout is nice. I wish there were more places like that. Often there are just three people or other critters at the Hangout. I really need a larger crowd to interact with. If I have nothing to contribute there are always others to pick up the slack. But with three or less, it is awkward. I am comfortable with companionable silence in RL with really close friends, but let's face it, most of us don't really know each other that well and without real body language the silence can be awkward.

There used to be a great place called the Coffee Shop at Mill Pond where there was always great conversation. I intended to hang out there some day, but that place seems to be gone. At least I can't find it on the map right now.

This. (^_^)y

I think part of this is the format. I find it hard to key more than one line of text and I can't phrase an entire thought in so few words. Maybe if I was a writer, but even then I think it would take time to craft a succinct reply. In world I have all ,manmer of typpos becasue I get too nevous and goto fsat. This is a little embarrassing for me.

I think this is why most conversation in world is limited to short shallow surface stuff.

So true Weston. Many of my forum friends have since migrated to facebook and we've hooked up there....but again, no good conversations....just comments and goofy drink passes and quizes. That's fun for about a day....then it gets old. LOL

But I agree it's difficult to get too in depth with a text chat conversation. I think fast, and my typos are pretty rough tho I will go back and correct myself before hitting 'enter' which is, in itself, time consuming. LOL A lot gets lost in the shuffle just trying to be clear and concise in text.

But.....all that said....I've often wondered if I shouldn't start some kind of discussion group and have regular gatherings on my island.....I'd even consider using my voice option if it meant having some good conversation flow. But then I have to consider that so many folks are in SL to be anonymous and shy away from anything too meaningful or too deep. *sigh* I continue to take my chances with random encounters......which do occasionally evolve into very cool chatter.

This, please. And, if you go there to sort inventory or whatever, feel free to give a hoot into group chat letting folks know that a one-person party has just started at the Hangout
I've belonged, over time, to a couple of text-only groups that meet weekly to have real discussions. It can be done, but everyone has to be patient and cooperate; that sort of talk can't really happen in a party atmosphere. Even in the best of circumstances, it's a real chat workout -- multiple threads of conversation spring up, and each person's contribution will be many lines long. Non-touch-typists are at a disadvantage.

OTOH, I participated in a lovely poetry reading in voice in SL. Frankly, it was a real relief. And although IIRC there was a cross-species participant, there were no discernible cross-gender participants, so immersion wasn't disturbed at all. If anything, it was deepened for me by the insight into what poetry moved each person.

I don't know if the very occasional voice happening at the Hangout would be welcome, or would be seen as exclusionary.
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/me waves to Eveline . . .

The old Latte crowd have more or less dispersed, with a focus on about 5 venues:

1) The Junco at Hallelujah Azule (conveniently located next door to my bookstore, but no this is not an advertisement ). In my view, this tends to be where the most interesting of the Mill Pond refugees have congregated. There is almost always SOMEONE there, I've found. Mostly frequented by the non-voice types. Halle was one of Mill Pond's major competitors long before the latter was closed down.

2) The Cove at Junkyard Blues South. In my view, a colourless spot, and dominated (and I mean DOMINATED) by those in voice. It attracts a good mix of ex-Pondites, but the conversation (in voice) frequently veers to the sophomoric, in my experience, and the predominance of voice often excludes.

3) The Silly Goose at DePaul, opened by a prominent ex-Pondite. VERY nice, but I find it laggy as hell.

4) Catcher in the Pie. Another old competitor of the Pond. Quite nice, with live music, but frequently empty when you want to hang out, it seems.

5) The Kasbah at India. A Moroccan-style coffee house opened by two well-known ex-Pondites. Very nice (I helped build it, actually, but have, I hasten to add, no stake in the place), and with very well attended live music events. No voice, and has not yet, I think, become a real "hangout.".

In my view, your best bets are 1 & 2 above. I tend to hang at the Junco at Halle, which I highly recommend; the conversation there is generally superior to the other places, and Halle is a REAL "community" in the way that Mill Pond was.

For those interested, a pretty comprehensive, but (I think) rather reductive account of the last days of Open Latte can be found at Mariko Nightfire's blog:

http://mariko-nightfire.blogspot.com/2009/04/open-latte-at-mill-pond-final-chapter.html

Pep, I agree that the success of Latte depended upon "unrestricted conversation," but I would dispute the suggestion that the new classification rules would have negatively impacted on the place. At its best, the conversation at Latte was often flirtatious and a little edgy, but almost never explicit enough to offend anyone but the most fastidious. In fact, when the rot began to set in there, it was Micala herself who tried to clamp down on frequently over-the-top chat that was emanating from some of the more recent (and usually very young) arrivals at the place.

Weston, the coffee shop at Mill Pond of which you speak was, of course, Open Latte.

Oo la la la I love that tune!
....spanks Xxxx's ass
WTF, lag lag lag
How do I get a job here?

/me takes notes and makes plans for later today. =^-^=

Scylla has a nice book store btw, although I don't know if people generally 'hang out' there. A book store is a nice thing to have in SL. And yes I am aware of the other things her group is into but am posting per the topic. /me copies and pastes Scylla's list too.

There seems to be more people at the Hangout during evenings, SL time, if you want to try there.

I expect there is quite a number of cafes that will open in the adult region, we are in the process of developing one as part of a residential/shopping/recreational sim at Barefoot Cove, hoping to take it a step further with some ideas for group activities, but I never realsied that the pond was gone, what happened, I know that at one point it was redesigned and then it never seemed to be the same, so busy, I spent many happy hours there just chatting.

I've tried to encourage this kind of use for Madhu's Cafe but I have not been able to get it to take hold. Anyone who wants to come by and use the cafe this way is of course more than welcome to. And IM Carter Denja (my alt) - if I'm on line - I'll be delighted to visit with you there. There are also a few Mill Pond refugees who found their way to the cafe.

I am, as always, open to suggestions of how to make Madhu's Cafe a place where more and more people gather to talk.

Finally, remember that the best way to stimulate a discussion is to start one. If you don't want to talk about shopping, ask the people you see about something else. I find that small-talk is a good ice-breaker and can lead to more thoughtful talks about other things. But if you don't find that, then try to initiate the kind of conversation you want to have.

To attract a crowd somebody needs to 'run the show' and keep them coming, and there needs to be pressure put on people to not switch to IM or not to get cliquey.

Running a good conversation spot would take as much work as running a good dance club. Its really the same thing, but the theme is different.

Instead of a dance ball, you'd need lots of chairs and cushions. Instead of streaming top-40 or hip hop, you'd want to stream elevator music, world music, classical, or something that is otherwise best listened to in the background a a low volume.

Instead of hiring DJs, you'd need to hire poets, or put up a 'soapbox', or have guest speaker come and give talks about subjects.
- but, because your goal is a conversation spot, you'd need to -not- have them too often. But not so rarely that traffic dwindles away...

What that creates is a managed infohub...

I wouldn't want to come to one in Zindra.

Frankly... I'd much rather it be on mainland or an Estate - and just set the parcel to require PioF, or Age-Verify, for access...

Zindra is already so spammy I don't like going there unless I'm looking to poseball...
- And the layout, with the roads and all, lags me too much to want to go anywhere over there that has a crowd.

I have an always open Treehouse Hangout Cafe at my place in Watchman sim, Phil Linden even serves the coffee and I encourage any group of people to come and feel free to make it their own with regards conversation etc. Currently we don't have a high occupancy but the place is lovely with great views and I would love to see the place used. Anything that can currently be said in open chat on mature mainland can be said there.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Watchman/55/152/25/

I would LOVE to don my beret and goatee and go to a poetry reading. I didn;t know there were such things. This might be worth enabling voice. I have no microphone myself though -- and no poetry either, luckily for the good of the neighborhood.





I began to suspect this (a little too late) from the context of the posts. I showed up at the Junco this evening, but there was not quite enough folks there yet. Will try again later.

Agreed, I wouldn't bother to crank up a verified av to go to Zindra for a good talk about immersion vs. augmentation, or how to use the new slice feature, or even Sirena's new wet/dry hair.

I think a conversation spot would be nicely situated on a mature island which is not too busy (has no hugely successful retail). In such a place, there wouldn't be need for any access limitation, unless the cafe itself eventually attracted griefers. You just don't get the random traffic that you do on mainland.

I also agree that a successful conversation spot requires just as much promotion and event-mongering as a club.
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TY for the nice words, Melita.

Just by way of clarification, there is no connection between the SLLUFN and the bookstore, beyond the fact that it is a women's bookstore, and that I belong to the one, and own the other. I do carry one book associated with the SLLUFN, but as I actually wrote the book in question . . .

The bookstore is not really a "hangout" as such . . . Just occasionally, and usually with friends.