Question about Billboards

Ok, I thought this had been resolved only to wake up inworld once again and fined a huge honking billboard in my back yard advertising DW something or another.

Almost instantly after my arrival the entire sim gathered at my huble abode and wailed that it had to go.

Apparently this individual had done this in the sim next door only to move it to mine. Now my wonderous view of the waterfall below the Gov. Mansion is block and distrupted by this advertising "enormious" monster.

SOOO my question here is this. In a "Residentual" / established sim with a simi theme to it should there be any mass advertising. RL most of the time its off a highway somewhere and not blocking someones house view.

I will admit I was wrong in trying to cover it up because the individual polightly came there whilst I was gone and raised his sign up higher. Again basicaly a sign of rudness and non consideration of others because they never even asked if we would appreciate a billboard in our little community. (Ihave since removed my cover and brought my plight here to the forums.)

MY Castle that is underconstruction at the moment is in Taber/Welsh right next door to Crimson SunChasers Castle and Sia's Garden.

I would like to hear everyones opinion on this.

Sincerely, Shadow Weaver

Of all the things Hawaii has done wrong, prohibiting billboards was probably one of the best. From what I have seen in pictures of the Mainland, billboards do nothing but ugly up the land.

If no one shops at stores that endorse the use of these ugly scene stealers, and let the shop owners know how they feel, sooner or later the billboards will come down.


-TK

Agreed. If enough people complain to the advertiser directly, he/she/they will probably realize the sign is actually BAD for business, and will most likely take steps to remedy the situation.

A few private messages and a paid visit just might do the trick! ;o)

-J

I can definitely appreciate both points of view in this. Clearly the billboard owners are trying to provide a service and find a way to make an income. In theory there's nothing at all wrong with that. But it's also pretty apparant that people are generally unhappy when they end up with one in their backyard... so here's a suggestion.

The advertising kiosks near the welcome area are very cool. They're small. They're functional. And it would be great if there were more of these kind of kiosk style information things around the world. We really do need a way for people to promote their businesses in world. That would be a way to do it that wouldn't have a negative environmental impact and would truly be of service to the community.

Uhm, I do believe i've lived in Taber longer than most of the current residents. And seeing as that sign is one of mine, I would tend to disagree that "the entire sim gathered at your humble abode and wailed that it had to go."

The sign is not on your land, nor is it even in the same sim as you, actually. And I would say I do not appreciate you putting a random wall in mid air with no intention other than to block my land/sign.



Actually, it is still in Clementina, it was moved to a different plot of land inside the same sim after discussions with the residents there.



I don't see why I have to ask what I want in my own community, and on my own land?



Would also like to thank you, for not bringing this to our attention, instead building a wall to block the sign, and then posting on the forums, both times not bothering to even talk to the company who owns it. We work to resolve things like this amiably, within reason for our own benefit of course. Personally, i'm offended when people take steps like this without bothering to contact me. I have a pretty good reputation for being a reasonable person, and I take this as an insult to that reputation.

Your right its not an shadows land, you own(or Rathe does) a 24x12 strip of land at the edge of Clementina.



Yeah its a good 5 feet into Clementia. The problem is that it faces taber. Your plot of land is directly between shadow and Basingstoke.
The sign is 59 meters high and 12 wide. In no way is it advertising to anyone in Clementina, its facing Shadows castle and I don't balme him for being pissed.



You don't but you could have asked Basingstoke, maggie and Shadow what they thought about it 1st ?



Maybe Shadow was wrong in putting the wall up but I understand his side not wanting to look at that thing everyday. His wall was in Taber and according to you he has a right to do what he wants on his own land.
Just so you know I have lived in Taber since the end of march/early April.
You ask him to get ahold of you but the land says Rathe, he would have been the one I would have contacted but I've already seen what happens there when he/you had one in welsh.

Crimson Sunchaser - Taber/ Welsh

It does say Rathe, and Rathe will kindly help with the situation as will I. I was also involved in the discussions in Welsh, to which we did remove the sign based upon a re-design.

It is fine for him to build what he wants on his land, I will respect it, but I will atleast complain when the purpose of his object serves none other than to block *my* land. There is a slight difference between building what you want on your land, and building what you want on your land with no reason other than to harass another person.

-Edit-

Oof forgot one thing, it's likely that any of you living that close to the board itself will likely never see it. The board is really not visible from the ground if you're within 20 or so meters of it unless you look up at it. It's more visible from say, my land... *shrug* Just a note..
You are correct, you are one of the older residents in Taber, along with Ama and Gray Weaver. And I would gladly discuss this with you, but once again, it was never brought to our attention.

Maggie is the one who came to me as the voice of the Clementina residents around the waterfall and very politely asked if something could be done about it. Her approach was very polite and mature, she presented it in a way that made me actually RESPECT her thoughts and we agreed that I would move it out from the waterfall/mansion because many enjoy the view of the waterfall. I didn't *have* to move it. This was what I felt a very fair compromise to the situation. Because of land issues I had to pull a bit further out than I hoped, but I still did it.

We've made many compromises with different residents and different sims, and in some cases I've understood the complaints, but I was not very happy with the Celementina situation. See when we moved into Celementina it was not "residential". There was a ton of just random stuff everywhere, no order, no real activity, and there were commercial properties. No one complained then. But now after the beta wipes the sim has been cleaned up a lot, especially around the waterfall, and now people are complaining we came in and ruined the residential atmosphere of it, when THEY moved into the area AFTER the billboard, knowing full well that it was there. This irks me greatly considering the number of compromises we have made in the past because people accused us of moving in later.

HOWEVER, I really enjoy the waterfall and mansion myself, and felt sympathetic to their concerns because of this, so I made a very rare compromise and promised to move it away from the waterfall so people could enjoy looking at it without having to see the billboard, so long as we could remain in Clementina as we have the RIGHT to. I go there, spend more money buying the land, spend my time making the changes, and then you come along and make all these accusations. I met with several residents there while moving it, and asked if that was better, and many said thanks.

Then do me a favor and point it at Clementina.

So you would prefer to see the back of it than the front? This can be arranged, though a rather odd request.

I'll be in world sometime after Midnight CST tonight, i'll be happy to discuss it with you there.

And just for the record, please see:
http://secondlife.com/gallery/whatis.php?screen=6

Thanks!

I must reply here, since I apparently initiated all this ruckus.

I did approach Rathe and ask him if he could maybe make the sign smaller. It's HUGE. Much larger than RL billboards and it really overshadows anything it is near, in this case, Jake Cellerdoor's waterfall. I did NOT ask him to move it to or point it toward Taber.


Rathe came over to Clementina a couple of days later and moved the sign away from the waterfall and placed it RIGHT IN FRONT of my waterfront (now billboard-front, LOL) property. It's ugly, but still, in my mind, better in front of my place than in front of Jake's waterfall.


It was, indeed, a compromise, though a very small one.


Once Rathe left and I flew around to look at the sign's new placement a few times, I knew how the Taber folks were going to feel. I fully expected the sign to be back in front of the waterfall within a day or so because i KNEW the people in Taber would hate its new position.


The sign is ENORMOUS. Bigger than any billboard oughtta be. Well-designed, and nice commercial art, but intrusive, nonetheless. Everyone I've spoken to on Taber hates it. Everyone I've spoken to on Clementina hates it.


I tried to come to terms with it. I admired the artwork. I sat on it's ledge and looked at how nicely it's built. I thought about how Si and Rathe have the right to try to make money however they can. But it didn't work. I hate the thing. I wish there was a SL underworld so I could hire someone to tie cement shoes to the darn thing and sink it in the bay. I wish I was SL rich so I could just buy it from Si and blow it up myself. I wish I didn't really love where I live so I could just move somewhere else.


BUT.....I know the only thing I can really do is NOT shop at that store. And I won't--EVER--as long as that billboard is there. And I will direct newcomers elsewhere. I view this as aggressive advertising and don't really see the point of advertising if it's primary accomplishment is to piss people off.


So, my formal apologies to Shadow, Crimson and Sia. I certainly didn't mean for the sign to be placed in your back yard (or in my front yard!). Dont' hold it against me... I was just trying to clear the area around the waterfall.

If you find a building so offensive then you should give the builder a negative rating.

To rate a person when looking at their building right-click on the building and select 'edit'. Make sure you have the 'More' window showing and the General tab selected. There should be two names listed - the owner and the creator. They may be the same person. Next to their name is a button to their profile which will has a button to rate them.

Its a pain, I know. I think they mentioned they might be working on making this easier to do.

Also if you love a building go through the same process to give it a positive vote.

I've seen the stupid stuff you people have done to people's billboards.

It made me angry thats for sure,they have every right to put up a billboard,even next to your land just as someone is allowed to build any building next to your land.

Your control is only within your own land you have no right to mess with anyones billboards simply cause you dont like it.

That is what the rating system is for,you dont liek it rate them bad,but you have no right to put up messages on the billboard to protest.

What if i decide i dont like how your building looks?

Am I then justified in putting up messages on your property?

Can I then put up walls around your building so as to block my view of your building?

Back off,you have no right to comlain,billboards are just as within the rlues as anyone's building.

Billboards ought to be banned in SL, just as they are in most civilised states - at least from residential areas. I always consider a negative rate for the builder of something that offends the eye in my own sim just to let them know just how much I like looking at it.

I, too, am boycotting any store that advertises on a 10 meter by 20 meter billboard.

It's also worth mentioning that I sent Rathe a polite IM about the Clementina billboard, as did a friend of mine. Neither of us received any reply whatsoever. Others have told me that their attempts to begin a dialogue about the billboards in the other sims met with a similar response.

There is no such thing as a 'residentual area' in SL, with the exception of perhaps Boardman.

The oldest structure in Taber would be Ama's Arcade and Casino, a decidedly commercial structure, so if anything, Taber would fall into commercial land.

I will always reply or converse about the billboards. I'm on normally after midnight CST, feel free to contact me.

I will, of course, not respond well to just a demand it be removed.

Okay, would you consider reducing the billboards in size to three by six meters?

I think the best solution is for you to consult with people who have builds near a place where you are considering a billboard, before you put it there. Sure, you don't have to, but it is the considerate thing to do. And of course it eases tensions.

Alternate solution: Ask Linden Lab to create a new sim called Billboardman and go nuts.

I must agree with Huns here.

The appropriate, and dare I say, RIGHT, thing to do is to ask the people around the area is they would mind having the billboard there.

I know for myself and the RBN Enterprise business, we ask the existing and surrounding land owners even before placing a nice looking notecard dispenser. If someone doesn't want this on their property, or near their property, I would think it would be better business to NOT have the billboard up, then TO have it up.

On the other hand, I am not opposed to covering signage when someone puts up a billboard without giving consideration to the people that live in that area. If the person wants to be rude and inconsiderate, I can build my cover just as high as they can build their sign.



Bob Bunderfeld

I was talking with some people a couple days ago and apparently I'm the only person that actually likes Si's billboards. Go figure.

What suprises me is how far from Si's own land in Taber the bill board is.

And I believe there are definatly places in taber that were there before my Arcade. I will have to fly around again and check it out.

I went out to look at the sign after talking to Sia, and there is no doubt in my mind that Shadow and Sia and the other residents are being abused. Si may live in the neighbourhood, but sadly enjoys no views of his own sign. Perhaps he could plant it in front of HIS house.
The Lindens need to look at this issue, maybe call a popular vote to see how this type of situation ought to fall under the community standards. There are a lot of ways to make monery in SL without ruining the experience of other residents.
In the meantime, I am boycotting DW Marketplace, and recommending that all do likewise until this shameful extortionistic blight disappears.

I refuse to shop at any store that uses huge billboards or the spamming unsolicited note giver. If more residents did the same the billboard maker would go out of buisness.

I think the idea for advertising was a clever one and I have nothing against the player who thought of it but really. You may consider placing them in less populated areas so that people have the choice to move in next to one or not OR make them a size that is more compatible with residents.

Yes you have a right to your buisness however each and every resident is a potential customer. Its silly (and poor buisness practice) to alienate them.