New Zindra Blog Post

Wow, really? That's great.

It really made no sense for the Zindra sim to drop people in the ocean. I'm very glad it's now putting people on land and in a reasonable location.

Next up, getting community control of said sim. I really like the Zindra Town Hall concept

Well, I've just update the hunt page listing all the businesses taking part and we now have 40! Pretty impressive I think and a fantastic array of Zindra businesses.

http://themarkofzindra.wordpress.com/2009/07/27/participating-zindra-businesses/

As a not so subtle reminder to everyone, please do as much as you can to publicise it.

Now we're effectively going to vanish without trace next month we really do need to start raising the our profile and giving people a reason to "Go Adult". So tell your groups and blog and whatever else you can. One of our Japanese businesses has blogged it and I'm getting hits from her site about it so blogging does work.

If anyone can send out notices for the I *am* Adult Content group I'd be really grateful if you could contact me for a marketing blurb or if you just want to send out the notecard that's in the info giver sign that would be good too. I'm not a member of the group (no more group spaces left) so I'm a little handicapped there.

If there are any other adult content groups out there that any of you can send notices for that would be great too. I reminds all those people who were involved in the beginning that we're still here and need their support.

I can send out notices to that group. I just talked with the group owner and you can send the n/c to me to send out.

I agree that it's probably early days for any sort of "resident government" group for Zindra as a whole, and the idea of "resident government" of Zindra gives me the willies.

However, Blondin seem to be *treating* the ZA as if it *were* such a group.

It seems to me that either the ZA needs to settle on some group governance protocols, or it needs to tell Blondin not to act as if it represents all of Zindra's residents, and that he needs to come up with some other method of communicating with us.

Not that I think that he would *do* so, mind.

The issue of swapping region names so that people looking for "zindra" don't wind up in the middle of the ocean is a fairly minor one, and not, IMHO, worth fighting over, but the issue of who speaks for Zindra residents with LL's people- Who represents us, *is* an issue that needs both discussing and deciding in a calm, disciplined, and rational manner.

I'd suggest that a blanket statement to Blondin that the ZA is a *stopgap* for now.
I'd also suggest a fairly public effort to remind Zindra residents that there are still decisions to be made, and if they want a say in them, they need to step up and get involved. Perhaps that means expanding the role of the ZA, or if that group has become too controversial, then starting another "resident's association" style group with at least some *group* message discipline.

The group need have no power over the residents themselves, but it *must* have a clear-cut set of rules regarding the chain of communication with LL's representatives, and it must have an organized agenda, and a means of keeping people on topic while discussing it with blondin, if not amongst ourselves.

The biggest problem that I have seen in every "office hours"/"brown bag"/"Group meeting" has been the poor signal/noise ratio. Everyone shows up with a burning personal issue, and then leaves upset because 50 other people had burning personal issues, and nobody would queue up and wait their turn.

It's sheer chaos, and it is very hard to get anything done in an environment of sheer chaos. It also allows Blondin to cherry-pick which questions he will answer/deal with, and he wriggles out of dealing with anything difficult. One of the main reasons why he got away with being as vague as he was during the last 4 months (or is it 5?) is that we gave him a plenty of cover to do so. If we had gone one at a time, and there had been nothing but awkward silence or repetition of a single question until he answered, we might have gotten a truer picture of how things would go much more quickly, and been better able to deal with it. Who knows? Maybe if we had been *serious* about message discipline we could have affected the process more.

(Okay, okay. Everyone stop giggling about the Verbose Vampire rattling on about "Message Discipline"! I don't have to be *good* at it to see the *need* for it! )

We need to stop doing that. When Blondin arrives for a meeting, he should get a list of questions, one at a time, and we don't move on until he has answered each one to our satisfaction. That means we need a way to both gather questions to ask, and an organized method to present them to Blondin and hold his feet to the fire until he gives a satisfactory answer.

If the ZA can (and *wants* to) do that, well and good. If not, then we need to stir our stumps and come up with something that *will* do that, because that's what we *need*.

Until we have an *effective* method of communication with LL, then any actual "resident governance" efforts will be doomed to be nothing more that a benevolent despotism at best.

*someone* will make these decisions- If not the many, then it *will* be the few.

Just my two centimes,

^V^

It is not that the island names were switched - it was that 6 people at a meeting of 27 said 'yes' and it was done.
So now it has been decided that prior to a agenda-based meeting with Blondin Linden we will meet (as needed) to develop said agenda. That meeting will take place Sunday, August 16th at 11AM on the Island of Zindra http://slurl.com/secondlife/Zindra/128/128/2.

This is the step in the right direction. I will personally contact ALL of the current landowners in the continent of Zindra to inform them of this and the Monday Blondin agenda-based meeting.

Blondin actually listened to something residents had to say and acted on it?

Someone should check on him and see if he's feeling okay.

Yeah, six people said change the name of a sim and he did it. I think the six along with Blondin should split the bill for the name change.

Six people said "yes", nobody said "no", and once Blondin recovered from his heart attack at actually seeing that much of a consensus on anything...

I think the agenda is a good one, but I also think it requires a bit of thinking through, since if there's an agenda you really also need someone who can chair the meeting skillfully to make sure adequate time is allotted to each topic, and that different views on each topic get a fair hearing, while still leaving time for Any Other Business. That's particularly the case since Blondin doesn't seem inclined to stick about for longer than an hour.

Sure, count me in.

Look, I'm as shocked as anybody that this actually happened, but I can't say I'm sorry about it. I'm actually not all that sorry about something getting done when there was no objection at the meeting, even if only six residents spoke in favor--not because that's the *right* way for it to work, but because it's the way it *did* work.

At this point, yeah, we need to create a more structured way of gathering opinion and involvement among Zindra landowners. But as far as I can tell, nobody's ox was gored here--it's not like we schemed and plotted to get Blondin to raise taxes.

One thing to realize is that whatever pre-game planning the Alliance does, people are going to show up at Blondin's meeting who want to air their grievances before a Linden. As a matter of fact, I personally can't make a weekend pre-meeting meeting, so I'll be among those showing up at Blondin's meeting without the script. I'll try to behave but, well, no promises I won't think of something to say.

In Second Life you have Estate Managers for one reason and that's because an estate of residents can't organise a thing between them. When I was an estate manager I would give the residents like Lias Leandros the really important jobs that needed doing or asked them to make a decision and then inform all the other residents of the decision they made, within days and sometimes hours, they would leave the sim and never return.

I guess we now know why you are no longer a estate manager.

Agreed Qie (but Gavin sent out a notice to the group you are a member of saying the same community meeting will also take place on Wednesday for those that cannot attend weekends - please check the notices). I do not want waste Blondin's time with discussions we should have had before we meet with him. Blondin has already said that he will not be happy to see the Monday meeting he grants us to turn into the circle jerk his office hours are.

It is not a bad thing that the island names were swapped - it is the procedure used to make it happen. The Lindens see the Zindra Alliance as a group that represents the needs of the tier payers in Zindra. Let us not abuse that by not representing the majority - even if it makes you feel bogged down by procedure. Zindra Alliance has gone forward with NO procedures in place. It is time to put some basic procedures in place so we all can be involved (if we want to) in these decisions.

All land on my sim was free, no rent, no tier, the only cost to the residents was L$100 to make a group if they were NPIOF, so I didn't lose being being an Estate Manager because of loss of money. presently I have manager rights on a few islands and control of quite a few of my friends items on my list.

Having taken the Zindra plunge previously, I just want to thank the FIC six for helping to get something that should have been that way from the start.

Actually it was interesting that you reacted to that, sounds more like a solution that just may work now

The buy-in has begun.
I would rather support a democratic process and applaud the exactly same results that is inclusive of the adult content customer base.

Dekka, to set someone up in a position of power with the sole intention of undermining their authority is crazy - but I guess it worked for you.

Posting my concerns here at least prompted the Zindra Alliance officers to send out notices to plan some group meetings so a procedure can be developed. This is sorely needed at this point.

Oh please, a tongue in cheek thank you is all it was. Not bothering to decipher initials of a chat log hardly makes for a buy in.

I am pretty surprised that the names were switched as fast as they were, but at least they were. Hopefully it will be the start of better listening on the part of LL which they won't do if they see a lot of infighting.

Exactly Melodie, there needs to be no in-fighting. So these important decisions need to be discussed with as many folks as want to be involved in the decision making process prior to making the presentation to Linden Lab - and the Zindra Alliance has said that this is the new direction they will be going in - Mission accomplished.

Lias, originally this was supposed to be a meeting for landowners and channelled through the zindra alliance. As far as I know Blondin never expected us to unionise and present a united from, it's just a mechanism to get information out. Unfortunately when the group was set up it was opened to anyone. Shit happens.

I'm getting really sick of your insults and aspersions. Every time you open your mouth I'm less and less inclined to do anything to further our so called community.

I'm now at the stage that I'm happy to leave the group. Be warned though that nothing is going to keep me from those meetings and if you don't like it, that's really bad luck.

And once the hunt is over I'll be really happy not to have anything to do with the likes of your ilk again.

Angry, you betcha.

eta: I forgot I was inworld.. and hey I left the group.. I feel a lot better now.

now I'm going to cut the email notifications to this thread and my life will improve considerably.

Maybe I just read people well.

Obviously he did Couldbe. That is why he joined the group and became an officer in the group and ONLY announces his community meeting with Zindra Tier payers in that group.

The group should stay open to anyone. Officers of a group that represents the needs and wants of tier payers don't really need to have 'shit happens' as their motto.
Too bad. I aspire to be represented to my service provider by a group that is inclusive.
I don't recall anyone being concerned about who attended the meetings.

Sad. Well we probably need people that have thicker skin and can take some criticism and make positive changes. I hope your Hunt goes well. Too bad it was not inclusive of the majority of the Zindra land owners.

Lias, you really do have some good ideas,and I'm happy to see you pushing for a better process to benefit all the residents of Zindra. But you really should drop that whole idea that the 6 people who said yes to an idea are part of some elite insider group.

Yes, I'm one who piped up with yes, because I felt Blondin was talking himself into recommending Arapaima be switched with Zindra which would have been better than the ocean dunk spot, but still would have left visitors on an isolated island with signs telling them NO SEX, NO VIOLENCE, NO NOTHING, YOU PERV! I didn't collude with anyone at any time, I just gave my honest opinion. because silence would have allowed Blondin to think Arapaima was the preferred swap to the more centrally located and completely unused Whorlebow.

From this minor incident, you are weaving a conspiracy. Please stop. We have to work together somehow and it would be easier if you assume everyone here has good intentions and wants Zindra to succeed, rather than assuming the worst about people.

Is YOUR ilk ionized?

An ilk bit my sister once.