What is Roaring Reductions?

This is a 50% off sale sponsored by the members of the Lionheart Chamber of Commerce.

The participating stores listed below have come together and are each offering a product in their store at half off its normal price.

When does it start?

The sale takes place bi-weekly (every 2 weeks). and it runs from Friday at 12:01am SLT through Sunday at 11:59pm SLT for members of the LIONHEART Community Group – which is both open for enrollment and free to join!

You can join the group by using any parcel’s LEMS terminal by touching it and selecting the following menu sequence: My Account >> Groups >> Community.

This weekend’s Roaring Reductions event begins at 12:01am SLT Friday, September 9th and ends at 11:59pm SLT Sunday, September 11th. The following is a list of participating stores, their locations and even pictures of the products those stores are offering.

– Participating Stores –

Business Name: Jolly Farm Owner: Sookie Slafford Location: (Click to Teleport)	Business Name: Prim Peddler Bicycle Shop Owner: Caden Lynagh Location: (Click to Teleport)
Business Name: LoPo Owner: Logan Porterfield Location: (Click to Teleport)	Business Name: Blue Girl Owner: Miriam Landfall Location: (Click to Teleport)
Business Name: ~.:.Hysteria.:.~ Owner: Electra Shadowcry Location: (Click to Teleport)	Business Name: RetroSwim Owner: Brue Gothly Location: (Click to Teleport)
Business Name: Faerycat Designs Owner: Aribeth Zelin Location: (Click to Teleport)	Business Name: Gala Tech Owner: Tylendel Falconer Location: (Click to Teleport)
Business Name: Business Essentials Owner: Kona Anton Location: (Click to Teleport)	Business Name: Deadfall Designs Owner: Nitemara Daysleeper Location: (Click to Teleport)

Are you a merchant and interested in participating the next time we have this promotion? The only thing you’d need to do to get started is to join the LIONHEART Chamber of Commerce group. You can request an invitation from any parcel terminal using the following menu sequence: My Account >> Group >> Chamber. For any questions you might have, please contact CoC Chairman Sookie Slafford.

What is the Chamber of Commerce?

The Lionheart Chamber of Commerce (CoC) is an estate owned and resident-govered group at Lionheart Estate which focuses on Second Life business. The meetings are generally focused on business experiences, exchanging useful tips & tricks as well as organizing group activies or events. It’s a fantastic opportunity to explore business tactics and create bonds with your fellow merchant residents at Lionheart Estate.

The group is exclusive to Commercial property owning Lionheart Estate residents and is free to join. To request invitation, please pay a visit to any LEMS terminal and select the appropriate menus to gain access as seen below:

Touch terminal >> My Account >> Groups >> Chamber

My Introduction

My name is Sookie Slafford and Chamber of Commerce Chairwoman (October 2010 – June 2011 term). More importantly, I’m a long term merchant resident at Lionheart with two successful brands under my belt in part thanks to the wonderful amenities Lionheart Estate has to offer businesses. I am currently in the stages of revamping my year plus old business Jolly Farm with a new direction and a variety of lessons learned regarding Second Life business.

After proudly serving my elected six month term (and then some), my vision for the CoC has greatly changed. Of course I want what anyone would want – to provide and oversee a successful group where you are free to share experiences and exchange information related to running a successful business on Second Life. But I have learned that the CoC is so much more than that.

I’ll be the first to admit to you that being in charge of the Chamber of Commerce is a lot of work and it sometimes feels thankless. There were times where I slacked off because I felt as if the members didn’t care. It wasn’t until the end of my term that I realized that people stopped caring because they thought I gave up on them. In final attempt to make sure the CoC was left with something, I instated our planned bi-weekly event, Roaring Reductions and saw the meetings and overall chatter multiply. It was then that I realized the members were just waiting for the direction they were lacking from me.

It wasn’t until I stepped down that I realized how important the CoC had once been to me and that I’d simply forgotten. I elected to not run for a second term in June because I didn’t feel I had the time to dedicate to the group and my real life was a little too up in the air for my liking. I didn’t want to make another promise to you that wouldn’t be kept. I’m happy to say that life has settled down and I’m confident in my ability to give you the time and attention you deserve.

The CoC needs direction from someone who understands its potential and ultimate function. It needs consistency in meetings, events and information. If re-elected, I promise to you the following:

• The Roaring Reductions event will pick back up – this time with more organized planning and tools that are easier for you to use.
• We will make better efforts to work with the Lionheart Mentor group to exchange resources and information so that you get exposure opportunities and perhaps even knowledge about the inner workings of Second Life.
• The CoC will get with the 21st century, focusing on using the power of social networking to its advantage – including link and social handle exchanges between members.
• We will provide more workshops, focusing on a variety of Second Life business related topics organized by willing members.
• A much more engaging, hands-on Sookie Slafford this time around.

In closing, I hope you will consider me for re-election for this term. I look forward to working with the CoC regardless and hope to provide my unique experience and expertise regardless of the election outcome.

I waited anxiously for Lionheart Estate owner Dirk Klees to announce who expressed interest in campaigning for the position. Because I’ve campaigned for the job before, I had an idea of what I could expect from whoever I’d be campaigning against, and did all of the work of creating campaign items (some with Alia’s help) such as campaign signs complete with scripted note card giver, buttons and even hats. I was completely prepared and excited about the whole ordeal.

And then Dirk finally announced yesterday that I was the only person running for the position. Oops. Well, I guess it’s better to have been prepared and find out no one’s running against me than to not be prepared and find out I was running against a lot of other people, right?

The job isn’t officially mine, although I’m not sure what’s coming next. All I know is that there is an electoral meeting on August 26th and voting will follow it. The electoral meetings traditionally have been so the CoC members can meet those campaigning in person, ask questions and get to know the candidates before the election weekend officially begins. But as Dirk said…

This time, we had one applicant for this position, which is why the electoral procedure will differ from the previous elections. The exact procedure will be explained in the next blog post about the opening of the elections on friday, as well as on the electoral meeting.

So I guess we’ll see what happens. In the mean time, those reading who are Lionheart Estate residents who own Commercial properties, consider joining the Chamber of Commerce. If there’s anything I have learned, it’s that the CoC is what the members make it. We could really use more voices at the table and regardless of what happens at the electoral meeting, I’d really like to see more people participating. And those of you who are already members, start thinking about questions you’d like to ask. Many of you were members during my past term and you should have a pretty good idea by now what works, what doesn’t and what you’d like to see.

The electoral meeting is on August 26th at 1:00pm SLT in the Lionheart Chamber of Commerce Meeting Room. See you all there!

Bunny Kissing Booth

This carnival inspired pose prop features a super cute, sculpted bunny waiting patiently for your smooches! Prop includes 2 gender-neutral poses in poseballs that can be hidden and adjusted (for those of you who may need them moved a little based on height and girth). Instructions are included.

More Info about the Event…

Event Dates: July 31st – August 14th
Location: Ozimals Summer Carnival @ Ozimals Orientation Sim

7/31 – 3pm-5pm SLT: DJ Sierra will be kicking the special Ozimals Carnival off with a mix of rock and requests. The theme for the party is “Under the Big Top” so come dressed in your best carnival wear.
Theme: Under the Big Top

8/4 – 5pm-7pm SLT: What better way to cool off during those hot August nights than to slip into those bathing suits and enjoy the cool tunes from DJ Sierra!
Theme: Bunny Beach Party

8/14 – Noon – 2pm SLT: Join Ozimals and DJ Sierra for the grand extravaganza closing of this year’s Summer Carnival! With a Victorian Social theme, the stage is set for fantastic outfits and friendly socializing
Theme: Victorian Social & Cake Walk

Be sure to come to dance and stay to check out the Elite Bunnies, a Sideshow Mutant Best in Show Contest,a Bunnies Under the Big Top Flickr Contest, rides, games where you can earn Bunnybury gold for your Bunnybury account, and a special Souvenir Stand full of Carnival inspired goodies from some of the MoO and Ozimals Merchants! The Summer Carnival will be rolling into town on Sunday, July 31 so mark you calendars because you definitely don’t want to miss this!

You’d probably think that of all people I could understand the outcries of our virtual community, but truthfully… I’m kind of sick of the whining. I know we all hate what has happened – we want to share a social space with all of our friends in peace and harmony. But fact is, Google is just protecting themselves and the Terms of Service we all agreed to upon signing up for any of its services (and these apply not only to G+, but ALL Google related services).

How many of you actually read the TOS? It’s okay to be honest. Most people don’t read that sort of thing when they sign up for anything these days – never mind we could be agreeing to forfeit our first born child upon first log in. You probably don’t want to read all of that and so you do as I admittedly often do… you scroll down through the long paragraphs of legal mumbo-jumbo until you find the ticker box stating that you agree.

Google’s Terms of Service

Here are some very specific sections you apparently missed…

TOS: As part of this continuing innovation, you acknowledge and agree that Google may stop (permanently or temporarily) providing the Services (or any features within the Services) to you or to users generally at Google’s sole discretion, without prior notice to you. You may stop using the Services at any time. You do not need to specifically inform Google when you stop using the Services.

Explanation: Google can disable any and all of your accounts whenever they want without telling you about it just as you can stop using their services without informing them.

TOS: You acknowledge and agree that if Google disables access to your account, you may be prevented from accessing the Services, your account details or any files or other content which is contained in your account.

Explanation: You agree that if Google disables any of your Google branded accounts, you may be prevented from accessing Google related services altogether including files and other content.

TOS: In order to access certain Services, you may be required to provide information about yourself (such as identification or contact details) as part of the registration process for the Service, or as part of your continued use of the Services. You agree that any registration information you give to Google will always be accurate, correct and up to date.

Explanation: To use certain services, you might have to provide real and up to date information about yourself.

TOS: Google gives you a personal, worldwide, royalty-free, non-assignable and non-exclusive license to use the software provided to you by Google as part of the Services as provided to you by Google (referred to as the “Software” below). This license is for the sole purpose of enabling you to use and enjoy the benefit of the Services as provided by Google, in the manner permitted by the Terms.

Explanation: It’s their house. It’s their rules. You’re just along for the ride – free of charge.

TOS: Google may make changes to the Universal Terms or Additional Terms from time to time. When these changes are made, Google will make a new copy of the Universal Terms available at http://www.google.com/accounts/TOS?hl=en and any new Additional Terms will be made available to you from within, or through, the affected Services.

&

TOS: You understand and agree that if you use the Services after the date on which the Universal Terms or Additional Terms have changed, Google will treat your use as acceptance of the updated Universal Terms or Additional Terms.

Explanation: Google can change the TOS whenever they want and very well might from time to time. It’s your responsibility to stay up to date on these changes. If you use Google services after the terms have been changed, you are automatically accepting these changes.

What is “Personal Information”?

According to Google’s Privacy Policy, Personal Information is information that you provide to them which personally identifies you – such as your name, email address or billing information, or other data which can be reasonably linked to such information by Google.

Let’s be real here people. Really, real. I personally am well known on the internet under a few different names – none of which are the legal name presented on my birth certificate. To this specific community, I’m known as Sookie Slafford and while it’s not a name I’ve ever legally signed with, it is in fact my digital pen name and one that I will vocally respond to. But it’s not my real name no matter what way I try to swing it. It’s a pseudonym – a fake name used to represent myself within the Second Life community. It just so happens that I have a strong social presence online using this name (I mean, just look what you get when you Google Me).

I have been using Google services as Sookie Slafford for two years now. I had a profile with them long before it was “cool” to have one. I can honestly say that it sucked when Google suspended my G+ account as it affected my GMail, my main source of communication. I even had to provide Google a telephone number so that they could call me with a verification number I’d need to type in so that I could have my GMail back. It was scary. I was afraid I’d lost a large part of my internet presence in one swoop.

…and yet, Google had every right to do it because I agreed to let them.

I have my G+ account back now. It was in the review stage for about a week. Nothing in the TOS has changed. But fact is, Sookie Slafford is a real name and it’s clearly a name I use in every day life. The proof is in the pudding… err well, in my links anyways. I provide an excellent list of sites across the internet where I use the name Sookie Slafford right there on my G+ profile.

I provide a link to the following… SookieSlafford.com, Jolly Farm Online, 2ndhub.com, ProfileSLive, Linked Prim, Plurk, Twitter, Flickr, & Facebook. And if you really use your avatar’s name, you should be able to provide most of the same list.

I don’t know if Opensource Obscure had such a list nor how long they had an account with Google. My best guess (which doesn’t mean much admittedly) is that Google doesn’t view that as a legitimate, personal name. You wouldn’t call up someone on the telephone and say “Hey Opensource, how ya been?” because it sounds to be the name of a brand or business rather than a personal name. Don’t get me wrong… I think the account should be reinstated. I just see the reasons why Google made the decision to suspend the account.

But here’s the real kicker… all you people who are posting, sharing, re-sharing and bitching about this “identity crisis” thing are really ruining it for the rest of us. Why should I have to feel guilty because XYZ lost their account and I still have mine? I want to enjoy Google+ and the other many Google branded services. My account was already suspended, reviewed and deemed acceptable. I don’t know why. I can only speculate as I have in this post. But stop making it out like me or anyone else who still has their accounts is somehow a bad person.

You want to delete your G+ account in protest? Go for it. You’re just gonna get replaced by hundreds of other people in that same moment.

I honestly have no idea what that outfit has to do with the atmosphere I created. It started off simple enough – I wasn’t going to go through the work of creating a background and instead was just going to keep it plain and simple with a dark, shaded background. And then I started feeling like there needed to be something more to the ground at which point I drew the stone walkway. That lead to the wall feeling very unfinished and since I was aiming for a dark picture, I figured I could go a little urban perhaps and do a brick wall. I tried a monochrome brick but it felt strange. So, I tried a dusty red.

Of course then I had to put stuff in the picture because it felt empty. So I went back in world, took a picture of some garbage and a pallet of bricks to pile in. I love making windows, so naturally there needed to be one in such a dark alley. By then, graffiti just seemed perfectly natural for such a little bad-ass, rocking her heels in such a grim place.

So let’s check out the before shot… because this is where I get to really show off!

Oh yes, this means that everything was really drawn in or placed into the picture by me – the ground, the wall, the window. I even did all of the shadowing! I much prefer to do my own than to use Second Life shadows.

Oh thank you for asking. Yes, I am available for hire. *wink*

Credits

• Hair: Jean in Chocolate w/ by TRUTH
• Skin: May Blackbird 2 (Light) in Acorn w/ Frex by Curio
• Eyes: Like a ‘Roo eyes (Lunar – Clear – Human) by =HooT=
• Clothing: Sweet Lady Outfit (Black/White) by *X*plosion
• Shoes: Foxy in Black by Maitreya Gold
• Pose: Stand #157 by !bang

In a virtual world where things change completely over the course of 24 hours, you never really have the chance to slow down and look at the big picture – until of course it’s suddenly your rez day and it all comes whirling into perspective. Instead of pictures, I thought I’d recap on just some of what’s happened in the last year thanks to my constant blogging.

July 19, 2010 – My first rez day. I spent the majority of the day with a man I’m no longer allowed to be friends with and haven’t been for about 11 months now (he and his wife decided on new rules). The evening was spent dressing up as an Avatar with Xavion and running around Pandora inspired sims.

July / August 2010 – My “main” computer broke in late July and I spent much of August trying to gather money in order to fix it or purchase a new computer. I held an open donation drive and was incredibly surprised and humbled by the results. I began a role played pregnancy with my SLister Aponi and Anubis who I’m no longer friends with.

I lost the Lionheart Chamber of Commerce election to Clover Windlow in late August. I was rather heartbroken and perhaps a little bitter about the entire scenario.

September 2010 – I began blogging my SL pregnancy experience rather late. Like real pregnancy, it was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster and things were very much up and down. On September 4th, I “gave birth” to our prim baby, Elias.

More importantly, on September 10th I officially accepted the role of Account Executive at Lionheart Estate. I’d been asked a few times to become staff but had declined the offer because I wanted to run the Chamber of Commerce. Since losing the election at the end of August, I decided to accept the offer and became staff instead.

Other occasions of note… Phoenix Viewer came out that month. I celebrated my 25th real life birthday. Avatars United was closed down. I celebrated 6 months of living at Lionheart Estate.

October 2010 – Early on in the month, I accepted a job with 2ndhub.com as an Associate assisting with site promotion, advertising and spreading the word about 2ndhub throughout the Second Life community. I loved that job. I already spent so much time on the website (still do) and was really excited and passionate about seeing the community flourish.

Clover resigned as CoC Chairwoman and the community elected me as her successor. Less than a week later, I was filling her shoes and conducted my first CoC meeting. By now, I’d piled my virtual plate and was juggling quite a few roles – in addition to my own business.

November 2010 – I decided to try my hand at the club business again and opened Opaque, a small club really just to have on the weekends for the group of people I was hanging around at the time.

November is also the month I started the Mad Props Challenge which I unfortunately didn’t see through. Even I couldn’t keep up with it. I tip my hat to Luna Jubilee for keeping her 52 weeks of color challenge going strong. I was promoted this month at Lionheart Estate to Account Manager.

Other occasions of note… I had a sleep study that month. I’d been having a lot of problems with being tired all the time despite getting plenty of sleep. We celebrated my daughter’s 4th birthday.

December 2010 – This was a terrible month for me socially. I lost quite a few people who’d once been very important to me – some more than others and some I’d honestly talk about in therapy. I lost someone I’d have considered to be one of my best friends although in retrospect, was never really a friend at all. Second Life teaches you so many lessons about people. It’s the greatest social network at all and yet it still surprises me how the social interaction can mold you.

At the end of the year, I revisited all of 2010 and found it surprising even then.

January 2011 – SookieSlafford.com celebrated its first birthday! Ironically, I wasn’t enjoying blogging much any more. I was still running the Mad Props Challenge and I felt like all I ever did any more was that even tho it was only once a week. And so in February, I didn’t blog at all and that break continued through May as I was working on another project.

February / March 2011 – Jolly Farm officially closed just shy of its first birthday and Alia and I opened Kitty Cattery together – a business dedicated to all things for KittyCatS. In early March, we established our online presence, KittyCattery.biz which kept me busy and blogging there instead of on here.

Other occasions of note… Xavion and I got back together after being broken up for 7 months. I quit my position at 2ndhub.com due to differing opinions.

April 2011 – Kitty Cattery did a lot of charity work this month including Project Fur Japan and our own Light it up Blue for Autism campaign in which we raised just over $200 USD for Autism Speaks.

May 2011 – I got into “The Wonderful World of Meeroos”. But the big news for that month is that Kitty Cattery came to its close. SookieSlafford.com received the gorgeous face lift you see today.

Xavion and I broke up for our second and final time.

June 2011 – My time as Chamber of Commerce Chairwoman came to an end. But more importantly, the biggest and bestest announcement ever was posted – the plans for the return of Jolly Farm.

July 2011 – And here we are in mid July. Jolly Farm isn’t yet open officially although it recently participated in the Mee & Roo Festivale. I moved in real life a couple of weeks ago and have been extremely busy.

Event Dates: July 15 – 17
Location: Mee & Roo at Tableau Vivant

So what can you expect from Jolly Farm? Only the best, of course! In addition to the freshly updated Meeroo Inspired Sculpted Signs, I am releasing FOUR new products for the event. These items will only be available at the event location this weekend. Afterwards, I’ll put them up on the Marketplace in case you missed out.

So who else is participating?

Evie’s Closet
Vanitas Vesture
=HooT=
Atlantic Crew
Bellies
Little Boxes
Spyralle
Jolly Farm
~Tableau Vivant~
Star Salt
Studio Sidhe
Kari
fri.day
*~*HopScotch*~*
Moonshine
=FRUK=
La Petite Morte
menvra

I recently moved in real life… like, a week ago. I didn’t move far and yet, this was a pretty big move for me that has already significantly changed my life and will hopefully continue to do so. It’s a good opportunity for me to get some things straightened out in the real world which I’m sorry to say, I sometimes forget because I’m enjoying the virtual one too much.

Jolly Farm is coming along – slowly, but surely. I really want this to be perfect for you all. I’m so lucky to have had such amazing and supportive customers and I really feel I owe it to you to do my absolute best. I want to be sure that when you shop at Jolly Farm, it’s easy to do and that you earn the rewards you deserve for doing so. That’s why all of Jolly Farm is being set up through Caspervend – including the upcoming affiliate vendors, selection of gift cards, etc. I feel like I’m really doing things “right” this time.

I hate no specific eta for you, but to stay updated, you can either join the subscriber at the upcoming Jolly Farm location, or you can join the VIP group. It’s only 100L$ to join until the store opens, at which point it will be increased to 250L$. It may seem a little steep, but I’m taking my VIP group very seriously and offering it a lot of fantastic perks…

• 5% Permanent discount on all main store purchases.
• Exclusive sneak peaks & gifts
• Free monthly gift
• Affiliate vendor with 30% profit cut (regular is 25%)
• A 100% exclusive and free Grand Re-Opening Gift

What are you waiting for? This is a FANTASTIC deal! Copy/Paste the following link into local chat in world, click it and you will be able to join the group. -Or- ask me for an invite – I’d be happy to send it!

secondlife:///app/group/e693265e-e684-53da-e63d-a04e4d52c891/about

Anyways…

I’m gonna be super busy in the next week – with a lot of real life stuff and with trying to get Jolly Farm ready. There’s so much to do. Argh!

I have decided to retire those products and give you all a one time opportunity to purchase them before I remove them from the Marketplace completely. I will make these products available at a reduced price on the Marketplace.

Please understand that I will not offer updates nor support for these products once they have been retired. Here is a list…

• Ozimals Breeds Poster
• Ozimals Eyes Poster
• Ozimals Eye Gem Pedigree Givers
• Ozimals Bunny Farm Signs v4
• Ozimals Bunny Gem Eye Signs v1
• Ozimal Multiple Door Bunny Hutch
• Ozimal Bunny Hutch w/ Scripted Door
• Ozimal Bunny Hutch – White
• Ozimal Bunny Hutch – Yellow
• Ozimal Bunny Hutch – Pink
• Ozimal Bunny Hutch - Blue

These products will only be available through July 4, 2011 and then will be removed from the marketplace and retired forever – never to be included in the new store. Get them while you still can!

Jolly Farm RETURNS this summer. All new branding. All new building. All new location. All new EVERYTHING. Oh yes. That’s the spot. Right there. Just like that. Are you as turned on as I am? It’s okay… don’t be ashamed. Just embrace it.

Here’s a little taste. Okay, it’s just the logo. Pfft, you didn’t think I was giving you sneak peeks already did you? Neener, Neener!

On June 1st, I wrote about my needing to Keep it Real and that I needed a little time to focus on my real life. I am happy to report that for the most part, I have a handle on things – well enough that I’m comfortable with bringing back one of the greatest loves of my life. Jolly Farm is full of memories for me and apparently it’s forever what I’ll be remembered for on Second Life.

I’m really looking forward to this. I miss Jolly Farm so much and I happen to know that y’all do too, which is awesome! I can hardly wait to bring you the awesome ideas that I’ve been building up in my mind. Stay tuned!