Land developers

I have a friend whose company is going to buy an island. He is searching for a good land developer to help. Any suggestions will be appreciated. TIA

It all depends what it is they are trying to achieve.

Have a look at http://secondlife.com/developers/ and drop an email to each of the companies who list there that the services they provide tally up with what it is you are wanting (building, landscaping or whatever) and see what responses you get. If you don't feel comfortable with them at that stage, then it's unlikely you will when it comes to hiring them.

Also, check out their website (if they have one) or any in-world projects they have completed, to see whether their type of work is suitable for what they are looking for.

It would be unfair of me - or anyone - to suggest any particular company over another, as it's a decision they alone can make. Just make sure they don't allow themselves to get bamboozled with a bombardment of corporate buzzwords and "business speak" over and above common sense... and that they as customer should get what they want tailor made to them, rather than being offered a "package" that may or may not really suit their needs.

Broccoli

Tommy Parrot

If you and your friend are active, involved residents of SL, you may also want to pursue in-world and blog searches, depending on what kinds of "development" the company wants. If the company has a clear business rationale for buying the island, and a set of goals for owning it, along with some idea of what they want placed in-world, or if they want a minimal presence that will grow as they gain more experience in SL, then contracting specific tasks (terraforming and planting, building, scripting) to specific people rather than a company might meet their needs. Lots of very successful sims in SL were developed by amateurs (in the best sense of that word), some of whom will contract their services, while not being on the developers list.

If, on the other hand, any of those pieces are missing or weak, a soup-to-nuts developer may very well be just the thing to help them create a more successful presence.

The "developers directory" is split into "Full Service" and "Consultants", although I've never really understood the differentiation because even the 'full service' people don't always offer as much as the specialists in certain circumstances.

It may be that you don't need someone to help with in-world marketing - thus a 'consultant' providing all the other services, might be sufficient for you.

I wish that list was a bit more specific but that isn't likely to happen.

Broccoli