Boytoys wanted

You can join yourself now, or maybe Chris will send you an invite, he can also give you my tag. I won't be inworld today, I'm going to the Mall and then to a Hockey Game with some girlfriends.

Taking a little break from work and decided to see where this thread has gone. All fine so far. Then I get to the post by Kira and Jez. Now for some reason I've got this stupid Kid Rock song stuck in my head.

"I wanna be a BoyToy"

I think the difference in this (in response to the issue about forum threads) is that the come to the hang out kind of tidbits are often only ADDED into other posts about forum fun topics and not done by a 'owner' of an establishment. Sometimes its in the first post, sometimes not lol.

I have no issue whatsoever if someone comes into a thread and mentions their establishment, they are looking to gain traffic and business. However, no one at the forum hangout is seeking traffic for business, rather for people with a common pass time (the forums) to hang out, help newbies, answer other questions not posted etc. I dont know why some cant see the vaste difference, but it is there. I believe this was one of the reasons the Forum Cartel wanted its own 'spot' instead of just adopting one of someone elses business, even if it wasnt vocalzied. That isnt to say all other places out there are out to make money, but thats another thread all together. This particular place wasnt built by one person, or purchased by one person, or belong to one person, it belongs to people of the forums in general. By my understanding, many went in on it together and no one is looking to gain anything by having it or being there.

So, yea, there is a difference to me (and most) from this thread and another one stating 'come to my place' since this place doesnt belong to anyONE, but to all at the forums. If that makes sense. Besides...I thought this thread was more about getting boy toys, hidden by the invite for ALL forum posters to enjoy a hangout designed for them.

BTW, in regards to the shelter...I have seen it mentioned a ton on these forums, people recommend it constantly when people are looking for places to go (in areas it fits of course). I also recommend it to people often.

I think it would be fine as long as the said place isn't a location for making a $Linden. I'd even stop by and check it out.

I will say the Shelter is a great place for all the new and old people in SL.(or I wouldn't be donating prizes for trivia nights )

hehe thanks, Dinalya And just so there's no mistake, there's really no competition between NCI and the Shelter either, unless its of the friendly variety. Carl & I have been friends for years, and we often try to collaborate on things between our two venues when the opportunity comes up.

If anything, I think both the Shelter & NCI have morphed over the years to serving slightly different niches of the 'newbie community' that compliment one another

I'll stop there.... I didn't mean to turn this into a Shelter conversation. Really my point was, where do we draw the line on what's an advertisement, and which ones are acceptable. The answers I'm seeing so far seem to make perfect sense

You really never can have enough places for newbies, I think. Its always good for them to visit a variety of places and I bet they learn different things at each one too! If only we could get LL to direct newbies to the helpful places instead of some of the war torn welcome areas lol.

I am not in world right now. I don't know if I will log in today either.
I didn't think group was open to anyone joining any more. Did that change recently?
I vaguely remember you guys were having some problem and had to make it invitation only.

Is "Hatrack" the male version of "hatstand"?

Recently changed to open admission again.

I think it's fine to promote The Shelter, or NCI or any non commercial/business concern here. I don't even mind a business owner who is a regular contributor here to give himself a little promotion. There is a difference between that and a blatant ad from someone with little posting history who is never seen again. I look at RA as a community like any in world, in fact I've said already I could see myself coming here long after ceasing to go inworld.

IF there is not going to be a seperate place for the normal human tendencies to mingle and converse, then this will have to be it. Or else then yes, put the lid on us all, watch the tumbleweeds roll in and let this be the cold, sterile place that a lot of the self proclaimed Internet Veterans seem to want. I haven't been around forums all that long, the prevailing view seems to be that we can't clean up after ourselves, and at times it seems so. But maybe if actually charged with that responsibility, we can rise to the occasion. History doesn't have to repeat itself.

One small correction, Travis: the forum Hangout is there to serve EVERYONE, not just the forum regulars.

I, for one, don't have a problem with community service places like NCI, GQ Start, and The Shelter getting mention here from time to time. (And in fact, you DO get a lot of favorable mentions in various posts.) I *DO* take serious issue with Strauss' position that we (and you) are no different than a thousand other clubs in SL.

Yes. we resumed Open Membership. As far as the titles available for members: The default "Pie Thrower", for the SLuts and Satyrs we have "Trout Certified", and "Boy Toy" for the Good People "Hatstand" for the Kitty Cats we have "Forum Mouser" We also have several DJ's "Spinners of Tunes", and the Officers are "House Managers"

Shelter and NCI serve great purpose to a lot of new players.
My only complaints and why I don't go there as much as I did is it's bit too busy and unless you have friends already there it does seem at leas to me like I am in camping location full of zombies but I assume its because lot of people are new and may not know how to talk.
Also once I found the place I was over 90 days old and certain things I was interested in only were for those under 90 days old. Like the show and tells. I can never remember when
a class I want to do is happening. LOL

Oh no Miss, I was just trying to offer him comfort

I think maybe this whole argument comes down to a matter of definition. Like some mentioned here, the hangout is an extension of the very thread you are currently reading. And believe me, this thread gets plenty of discussion at the hangout, too (tho not as much as the orgasm one, I'd think).

ANYWAY. mentioning the hangout here is like being at one's house with one's family and telling folks to come down and shoot a game of pool in the basement. It's YOUR house, YOU know where the basement is. We just wanted to play there with you, no other motive. Go there or don't.

The hangout, like some threads here, does require a sense of humor and a taste for the bizarre. It's not everyone's cup of tea, and why should it be?

B.

No lol, imho that's clearly not OK. Otherwise, RA becomes the same as the "Events" subforum, in fact even worse since there would be no restrictions at all, as there is in "Events".

I think Strauss has a point, tho perhaps you've presented it a little stridently, and therefore the reactions. Travis's question is a little easier to deal with *smiles*, tho it's exactly the same point.

On the other hand, I think the Hangout is unique in that it is simply a forum extension inworld. It has built great community feeling very rapidly among forum participants, and I think it is valuable to new forum members to let them know where they can see the people they chat with here.

At first I thot we could handle the "unfairness" issue by returning to the tacit policy we used to have, of having only 1 Hangout-oriented thread active at a time ... there was a naming convention, maybe now we could use "Forum Hangout Inworld" or something. That is tough to enforce as excited new members come on though. Maybe we should have a "Forum Inworld" subforum, and post Hangout events like shopping trips etc. there? Grrr it's a tough issue.

I requested a Trout Certified tag but never received it. May I have one please? I would like to display it proudly!

Oh, and I LOVE the Forum Doodler title. I think there's a lot of folks who won't understand the Pie Thrower title and want to stay clear of the whole slut/hatstand/etc. thing who would use a nice lighthearted forum-related title like that!

After all, many of us non-commercial types do doodle around with building and scripts.

I agree Travis, I think it's a fair question.

I have another concern that's bothered me a lot lately and that is something that I'm seeing going on more and more in world. Announcements for establishments on the Cartel group IM's

"Hey gang! I'm DJ'ing at Watchajiggy Club. IM if you'd like me to TP you so you can come hear me"

The other one I've seen alot of is this:

"Hey gang! We're all here at this great club playing live music. Come join us!"

I think both of this types of messages are completely inappropriate. If everyone in the Cartel started advertising their businesses or places they like it would really get out of hand. To me the IM's should be about Cartel business and Cartel business only....or Cartel silliness I should add.

For my business I did one announcement only, which was for my grand opening sale and that was after discussing it with Chris first and making sure he thought it was ok.

This strikes me as being a sensible suggestion.
The Forum Cartel has a burgeoning membership, and with open invitations turned back on, this trend is likely to continue.

Although Stauss' points carry the faintest whiff of bile and rancour, I can understand the impression us Carteliers give off, of running roughshod over the forum's rules.
I have a measure of sympathy for his and Travis' concerns.

From the inside it does not feel like a charmed circle, indeed a circle with open enrollment could hardly be that.
But a sense of humilty suggests that we remember we are just a part of the LL forum.

Not the whole enchilada.

I see your point on this Bradley, but isn't "Hey gang, a bunch of us are at this great club listening to some good music. Come join us!" a good type of message for group IM? It's not an advertisement for anything; it's people in the group inviting other people in the group to come together and do something fun. That's what we're about, at least in part.

I think what you did was fine as well. We all like to support each other. If someone opens a new shop/build/club/whatever, I'd really like to know about it so I can go check it out. I wouldn't want to see tons of ads and nothing else, but I think what I've seen is just fine. That's just my opinion. As far as I'm concerned, that includes Strauss' club, NCI, The Shelter, or Mari's art/photography exhibits.

I disagree completely. I see it as advertisement. Not blatant, not even on purpose, but it is.

I'm no longer involved in a club, thank God. But I'd like to ask club owners out there or DJ's and such. How does it make you feel as a member of the Cartel to be working when an ad comes up in your Cartel group advertising for everyone to go to someone elses club?

So, you think it's inappropriate...but you did it for YOUR business. (I'm not thumping on you, Bradley...just pointing out that maybe you haven't fully thought out your stand on this.)

I don't know how to feel about it myself. On the one hand, I'd like to let all my forum friends know that I've got something that might interest them. (and hey, maybe drum up a little business too...I'm no saint.) And I like hearing about things that other people have found that might interest me...a photo showing by Marianne, a new live performer, whatever.

On the other hand, I hate group chat spam, just on general principles. And I don't want to see the in world group becoming solely an advertising pipeline.

*I* don't know where we ought to draw the line, but I agree that we ought to have some sort of policy on the matter.

As I stated, I did it only after discussing it with Chris, having seen others do similar. Chris' comment to me was that it is discouraged but since its for a grand opening he thought it would be fine. I did it once and have not considered doing it again. I admit I didn't feel comfortable doing it then.

Personally, someone starting a chat about going to 'their' establishment seems an advertisement, granted. However, someone saying 'hey a bunch of us up and decided to go to such n such (instert some random place, not owned by anyone specific to the group, just picked out of many) come on down!' seems more like an invite to join in on some fun with forum members. Thats just me though

I told y'all -- when you're done with the boy toys and want an old tool -- give me a jingle

Plus i have my own rotating shoe stage with dancer pole LOL