Request for Proposal: Development and Operation of SLTV.com
Our website, www.secondlife.com, receives over 5000 unique visitors per day. The ‘Live Video’ link is the most visited section of the site. In the past month, Linden Lab has created an avatar (Video Linden) with the ability to stream live video from Second Life over the internet. The company seeks a resident interested in taking over this project and building a team capable of developing it into a sustainable and profitable business. The first step, outlined in this Request For Proposal, is to initiate an open bidding process similar to the recent Linden Lab Recruitment Center project. The winning bidder will be that team/individual that best demonstrates the ability to create a website and programming that will fully leverage the creative power and resources of our residents. The website at secondlifetv.com should feed great video content to the home page at secondlife.com and help drive new user trials.
Linden Lab will:
• Pay for the bandwidth of the media streams
• Host the website domain
• Create an affiliate program to give the operator SLTV.com the ability to earn money through a revenue sharing arrangement
In later phases, the winning bidder will work with Linden Lab to create a toolkit for residents to create their own Video streams of Second Life and submit them to SLTV.
Guidelines
The goal of the Second Life TV project is to create a streaming video network of compelling program content the residents, hosted at www.secondlifetv.com. This will appeal to new users, people on the web interested in SL, and the existing SL community. By opening up a window into SL for non-members, we can provide an exciting reason to join SL while also leveraging the creative energy of the community at large. SLTV should also serve the existing community by streaming events throughout the grid via Quicktime streams. Linden Lab currently has a domain registered at www.secondlifetv.com. One of your video streams will be broadcast live on SL.com through the ‘live video’ link and we will offer a link to secondlifetv.com from our homepage.
In the longer term, we would like to see secondlifetv.com become a publishing point for resident-submitted video. By making video streaming tools accessible to the community and providing technical support, our hope is that there would be many ‘Video Lindens’ covering a wide variety of activities in-world. We will provide the bandwidth, domain hosting, and an affiliate bonus program. The design and implementation of SLTV is up to you. We will be available to answer questions and provide support throughout the initial setup process.
The following are necessary features:
• A website with a stream viewer that carries at least two video streams. (i.e. a TV Set with two channels) Channel 1 should carry a live feed of content happening in real time in SL taped in-person by an avatar. Channel 2 should carry a schedule of archived programs previously taped. (a Best-of SLTV)
• A program guide with updated event listings. This could tie in closely with the events calendar listings in-world or on the community site.
• Program titles included in the viewer should include: the name of the program, the host of the event, and landmark.
• A minimum of 4 hours of live programming per day at first. You can show archived material available in between the 4 hours of daily live programming. To clarify, live programming simply means that video will be active and present at various events across SL during the specific time period. We are not asking for 4 hours of television quality production segments every day.
• Some version of ‘Nielsen Ratings’. We’d like to encourage competition for high ratings and promote high quality broadcasts. An easy way to do this would be to link to concurrency statistics from our stream host (# of stream connections per programming hour etc.) or another method of monitoring site traffic.
Optional Features
• You should also consider archiving video streams as they are being broadcast using Media Encoding software to create a programming repository available on demand, perhaps through a separate SLTV channel
• We have experimented with VoIP as an ‘opt in’ feature for broadcasters and listeners using Skype. This works well for talk show formats and ads an extra dynamic to the broadcast
• Get the word out to the community! Offer incentives and prizes for top rated programs…make SLTV a fun and exciting thing to do.
• Improved streaming video picture quality. Try to use color correction software, video editing tools, tweak the encoder settings, whatever you can do within reason to deliver a high quality picture
• Video Linden currently streams only Windows Media. We would like to enable QuickTime streaming to make broadcasts available in-world as well.
Other possible ideas for SLTV:
• Interactivity from the web to SL and back. Viewers could ‘call-in’ through Skype or instant message hosts of SLTV programs through the SLTV.com website.
• Different themed channels (SL History, First Person RPG’s, Talk Shows, Furries etc.)
• Syndication of SL programs across the web, perhaps even syndication to mainstream media: cable TV, satellite networks etc.
Long-term project goals for SLTV:
1. Incentivize quality content through feedback mechanisms that encourage competition among residents. Create a dynamic ratings system (stream viewing concurrency stats) or peer moderation (i.e. Slashdot or eBay feedback ratings) to push the best programming to viewers…in other words, promote quality.
2. Use the range and flexibility of the avatar-as-camera to cover the diversity of SL for a viewing public
3. Publish and syndicate the video streams to websites across the internet and to video screens in-world
4. Link the video streams to the new user sign up page and create a bonus referral program that rewards the best shows.
Judging
Proposals will be judged by on the basis of the following categories:
1. Innovation and Originality: ability to take the SLTV project and make an exciting service for the community that will inspire quality, competition, and creativity among residents
2. Viability of project: The proposal should offer a clear and well-reasoned plan for a web site featuring the components listed above
3. Web Development/ Design Skills: you or your team should be able to build and maintain SLTV for the foreseeable future with a system architecture that allows for scaling as SL itself grows rapidly within the next year
4. The proposal should be consistent with Second Life culture and should represent the community well
Bonus considerations:
- Event planning experience
- Media programming experience
- Video editing, production skills
- Past projects in-world
- Web design portfolio
Other Guidelines/Info:
- PG material only for now on SLTV.com
- No unauthorized copyrighted material in broadcasts
- By request, members of the Linden Lab team will be available to consult with contest entrants up to deadline date
Prizes:
- L$100,000 each for up to 5 team members of the winning entry
- L$50,000 to two runners-up entries (if 5 or more entrees received)
To Enter:
e-mail [email]jesse@lindenlab.com[/email] BY August 22, 11:59 PDT
* Please include your Second Life name and the SL names of your team members
* Team leader’s email address so we can contact you during the review process
Your proposal should contain the following sections:
* Overview: a summary of project including outline and design mock-ups if possible
* Suggested Solution(s) for website build with milestones/timelines for completion
* Examples of Previous work (websites/ in-world projects/ other internet development
work)
* Skillsets of team members
* Team Bios/Contact Information (resumes optional)
We expect that the initial site build will be completed within 3 weeks of project commencement and that the project will require at least 4 hours of ‘live’ Second Life event coverage per day as well as 4 hours per week of site maintenance.
The winning proposal will be announced at 12pm Noon PDT, Friday August 26
For more information, e-mail Jesse Linden at [email]jesse@lindenlab.com[/email]