As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, so let’s have a look:

The sandbox was prepared and fireworks tested

Party Planner Extraordinaire, Kristine Kristan, checked details

Monday Jinx worked the grill to keep the troops supplied with vittles

Tara Yeats and Malburns Writer said, "Let's get this party started!"

Where there is dancing, there is Rachel Corleone

Olando7 Decosta knows how to shake it

All during the party, visitors arrived and joined in the fun

Chilbo sim went offline and the party carried on

MS Hawker brought out her dance wheels

Ra Deemster shows his moves on the ramp

Tara and Mal floated up...or is it down?

There's Gem Blue in her fae gear!

Kristine Kristan, MS Hawker, Monarchy Republic and some guy

Fireworks? Three hours non-stop.

Mercalia added to the show

Oooos and Ahhhhs

 

Bangs and booms from up above

Thanks for all the hard work, Kristine and Monarchy. It was terrific fun.

In the cinema we feature videos about social media and their impact on the society, the economy and businesses.It is a non-profit venture, and I feel inspired by the social media library in Chilbo. In consider our place in Noru to be an in-world extension of my blog MixedRealities.

I started out with Clay Shirky (from the documentary Us Now). Please come and have a look!
(Just enter, and click the screen)

We’d like to organize discussions about social media in Noru, and I hope the video can be inspiring.

In Attendance:  Fleep Tuque, Tara Yeats, Olando7 Decosta, Malburns Writer, Kristine Kristan, Monday Jinx, Rachel Corleone, Corcosman Voom, Skyeranger Pinion, toster Oh, Gem Blue,  Emru Rau, Gann McGann

Welcome ELEVEN New Residents

(HOLY COW and send a friend request!)  Kristine Kristan, Monday Jinx, toster Oh, MS Hawker, Mariya Maruti, Liam Gunes, marque Broadfoot, Nuro Enyo, Farzaneh Eel, Bobkoe Nirvana

Public Safety & Prim Report

Rachel Corleone, Director of Public Safety & Prim Management reports that Chilbo has not been actively griefed in over a year!  Litter has been scant and we have over 20% free prims in Madhupak and 9% free in Chilbo proper.

Arts & Entertainment Report

Corcosman Voom, Chair of Art & Entertaiment, reports that the next museum exhibit in the Chilbo Museum Center will feature works from artist Cecilia Delacroix, when Misprint Thursday’s “Gossamer Logic” exhibit finishes its run.  Cecilia is also the offical Poet Laureate of Chilbo, and she may be doing a poetry reading in Chilbo soon!  Stay posted, more details to come on both the museum exhibit and the poetry reading.

Fleep sent a quick IM to Ryan Snook about the planned avatar exhibit but hasn’t heard back yet, thinking that will be a good project for the Chilbo Summer Faire in August.

Kristine Kristan is hosting Featured Artist Ronin1 Shippe at the K2 Gallery in Madhupak, stop by and check it out, half of the proceeds of any sales will go to VAI, where Ronin1 volunteers.

Commerce Report

Commerce Chair Tommy Brouwer was absent from the meeting, but there were a few other updates.

Fleep Tuque has opened the Chilbo Novelty Shoppe on the main street (Route 10) in Chilbo.  The shop features a few items created for Chilbo and other miscellaneous things.  Items for sale are also listed on XStreetSL.

Emru Rau is making good progress on the new commercial building on the north side of main street (Route 10), and is looking for folks who want to sell things.  Fleep encourages everyone in Chilbo to contribute something to the new store!  If anyone needs help learning how to package items, set up vendors, or make listings on XStreetSL, just let Fleep know.

Monday Jinx has opened up a new magic shop along Route 10 in the Kuwol sim, Sleightly, Purveyors of All Things Arcane and Mysterioso, stop by to see the latest razzmatazzle offerings!

Corcosman Voom rented the Commercial #1 space on the main street (Route 10) in Chilbo.  He’s selling artworks and images at Corcosmia Gallery, another great place to explore.

Fleep forgot to report that the Germelshausen Coffeehouse & Bakery is now open in the lovely adobe building in Madhupak sim.  MS Hawker and marque Broadfoot are the proprietors, stop by to say hello!

Olando7 Decosta wondered if the flagging world economy is having any impact in SL.  Several residents said certainly is affecting them in RL, Fleep reports that more residents seem to be interested in renting than donating tier, and some who were donating tier had to either reduce or remove their tier donation - all cited RL economic concerns.

SkyeRanger Pinion raised the issue of splitting proceeds of some sales from vendors in Chilbo to support the community, but Fleep responded that she’s not interested in taxing sales in Chilbo.  For now the community’s economy and coffers seem to be doing ok. 

Education Report

Gann McGann has contacted folks down in the Education Village in Madhupak and continues to support educational projects and activities in the community.  There are still homes, offices, and stores available in the Education Village, if anyone has a friend or colleague who is interested, they can check with Gann or use the rental vendor in the Town Hall to see what’s available.

Olando7 Decosta wanted to know if the Connectivism class taught by George Siemens and Stephen Downes would be held again this fall.  Fleep said she thinks so, but doesn’t think she’ll be running/organizing the SL Cohort this year.  If anyone wants to take charge, the Chilbo community can donate space/land to the endeavor.

NonProfits Report

Lizzette Zenovka couldn’t attend the meeting today, but the SL HIV Education & Prevention Center has expanded to a second floor with a lovely balcony!  Stop by to see the new space.

Fleep forgot to report that new resident Bobkoe Nirvana has opened up an office for the Levittown Historical Society & Museum down in Madhupak, right across from the SL HIV Center.  Bobkoe is rather new to SL, but wants to expand the RL presence of the Levittown Historical Society.

Activities & Events Report

Monarchy Republic had RL duties to attend to, but will be scheduling upcoming events.

Rachel Corleone will be sending an announcement soon about an upcoming poetry reading by Chilbo’s Poet Laureate, Cecilia Delacroix.

New Move-In Process for Chilbo Group Land

Fleep reported that all available properties owned by the Chilbo group are now set up with rental boxes to make things easier for everyone.  If you have a friend or know someone who wants to move to Chilbo, all they have to do is pay the rental box and fill out the forms that should be inside each location.  No need to wait on Fleep, just move right in!  A vendor is located inside the Town Hall Annex with a list of available properties.

New Resident Directory on the Web

To help Google better index Chilbo residents and locations, Fleep has been working on a new directory website.  This directory will also be terrific for helping new and old community members find other folks in Chilbo who share common interests!   See the new directory (in progress) at http://chilbo.org/directory - if your listing needs any corrections or is missing relevant tags, let Fleep know.  Fleep would also be very grateful if anyone wants to help with the data entry!

New Land Purchase, Chilbo Sandbox Moving

Fleep reported that the Chilbo Community now owns the large plot in Madhupak formerly owned by SunQueen Ginsberg and the Pastafarian Collective.  SunQueen ended up buying the land she used to rent in Linda sim for her store.

After some discussion, it was decided that the new land was larger and flatter than the old Chilbo sandbox, so the new land will become to the new sandbox for the community.  Fleep will move the tutorials and other things in the old sandbox sometime this week.

Metaverse Week in Review

Malburns Writer and Tara Yeats continue to broadcast their weekly webcast, Metaverse Week in Review,  on Sundays at 12PM SLT.  The show features news, videos, clips, discussions, and live guests, all covering the emerging metaverse (SL and beyond).  Fleep and Corcosman agree, it’s a must see weekly event!  The live chat draws residents from all over the grid, and Mal and Tara do a great job summarizing what’s new in the metaverse from the past week.   Mal reports that they now have increased capacity to do live broadcasts from within SL, so maybe a Chilbo focused show should be in the works?   Mal also offered to run any machinima clips created by Chilbo residents!  Have questions about how that works?  Talk to Malburns Writer or Tara Yeats.

Chilbo Public Library Needs You!

The Chilbo Public Library was created to fill a niche, currently there are no libraries in Second Life that focus specifically on Second Life, the Metaverse, Virtual Worlds, and Web 2.0.  We have the opportunity to create a rich repository of books, newspapers, magazines, research articles, journals, and other resources related to virtual worlds and the emerging metaverse - a service for all the residents of Second Life, and educators and students too!   To contribute to the library, you can either take one of the blank books and customize it yourself (add a picture/cover, rename the object, and edit the script inside with the appropriate URL), or click the sign at the front desk to suggest a URL to have someone else create the book for you.  Chilbo residents can access the suggestions list and help stock the shelves.

SkyeRanger Pinion has a book viewing item that he will donate to the library (coming soon) and he suggested that a single master list of all the library’s holdings be collected and displayed or linked to from the front desk.  Fleep added that to the To Do list.

Fleep suggests that if you add a new book, you might want to link to the book’s listing on http://worldcat.org instead of linking directly to the amazon.com or other commercial site.  Worldcat.org will show readers where they can check out the book at a RL library OR purchase the book.  The site also has reviews and comment fields, so readers can learn more about the book before pursuing a RL copy.

Downstairs, there are collections for “Chilbo Recommends” - add a book if you have a recommendation, “Chilbo Authors” - add a book, journal article, newspaper story, whatever you’ve written!, “Second Life” - add books or other media related specifically to Second Life, “Metaverse, Virtual Worlds, & Web 2.0″ - add books related to those topics, and upstairs is for academic papers, journals, and research related to these topics.  If you have category suggestions, let Fleep know!

Miscellaneous/Other

Gem Blue wants to know who all from Chilbo will be attending the Second Life Community Convention in San Francisco this year (August 13-16).  SLCC is in her hometown, so let her know if you plan to go!

A free Chilbo skateboard is available in the Chilbo Town Hall.  We all used it to skate down to the library.   Feel free to pick one up!  =)

Meeting was adjourned.  Next meeting is scheduled for Saturday, June 13 @ 11AM SLT.

Full transcript is available in the Chilbo Town Hall.

During late-winter/early-spring in 2009, Fleep took a several month hiatus from Second Life to care for an ill family member. During that time, no one was able to access the Membership Application form to complete the move-in process for potential new residents of Chilbo. In addition, a survey of the available newbie homes, stores, and educational facilities showed that over 30 units were unoccupied!

In order to facilitate a quicker, speedier, more convenient move-in process, the Hippo Technologies Rental System was selected to manage an automated rental system on all “available” properties in the Chilbo Community. The price was set at $50L per week for 50 prims, and current residents, friends, visitors, and potential residents are now able to move right in by paying the Hippo Rental Box. This price should cover the $30L per week directory listing fee to advertise the location in Search, and cover texture uploads to add the new resident to the Resident Status Boards in the Town Hall, Blog/Wiki listings in the Chilbo Road Press office, updated property image, and other miscellanous customization needed to completely move a new resident into the community.

Inside each unit, a Membership Application and Land Use Application form hangs on the wall near the entrance. New occupants can complete the forms at their leisure and when the application is processed by Fleep, the clipboards will be removed rom the unit. In this sense, new residents can move right in and the “paperwork” can be completed at a later date. End result: A more convenient process for everyone!

A full list of properties available are located both inside the Chilbo Town Hall and in the Chilbo Community Home. So, if you have friends or colleagues that need a place to stay, there’s no longer a waiting period to get them set up in Chilbo! Invite your friends to give Chilbo a try today!

K2 Gallery next to Kristine Kristan's house

Chilbo resident Kristine Kristan has opened K2 Gallery presenting original works of her own and of other artists. Kristine is an artist working in fused glass and that experience is evident in her Second Life stained glass and etched glass works.

Kristine is interested in presenting works of artists that make their work available through sites such as etsy.com. So a Second Life resident that finds a piece they like at K2 gallery might also obtain a complementary piece for their real life home or office. If you would like to keep up with the news at K2 Gallery, Kristine has created a Subscribe-o-Matic Group so that you do not have to use one of your 25 SL Group slots, simply touch the sign at the gallery to join the group.

Kristine is a fan of the Chicago Cubs baseball team. The Cubs are off to a fast start in the 2009 season, so the fans are encouraged this year. Kristine is also a cat lover. She says that she hopes to create some avant-garde videos starring cats to show at K2 Gallery just as soon as her cats learn to take direction. This, of course, could be a very long term project.

If you would like to visit K2 Gallery, Kristine is located near the Chilbo Museum complex at Madhupak/170/234/91.

Cheers to Chilbo community member L1Aura Loire who was one of the keynote speakers for the 2009 NMC Symposium on New Media and Learning.  Her  keynote presentation on March 25th, “Virtual Subjectivity”, was part of the NMC’s Series of Virtual Symposia, which explored the impact of new media on teaching, learning, research, and creative expression, especially in higher education.

Picture courtesy of L1Aura Loire from her keynote presentation at NMC

L1Aura is the avatar of Dr. Lori Landay who is no stranger to higher education.   She holds multiple degrees and received her Ph.D. from Indiana University in English and American Studies.  Lori Landay is a recipient of the Newbury Comics Faculty Fellowship at Berklee College of Music for her project, “Virtual Worlds” where she is exploring the possibilities for education and music in online immersive environments. She is Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music and the author of Madcaps, Screwballs, and Con Women: The Female Trickster in American Culture and various articles on new media, silent film, and I Love Lucy. 

L1Aura shared her virtual stage (wearing a stunning gown by Eshi Otawara I may add) at NMC with Nettrice Beattie who is the avatar for the real woman Nettrice R. Gaskins.  Nettrice is an artist and educator who bridges the actual and virtual worlds and explores how these realities can have a transformative impact on people’s lives.

Nettrice and Lori at NMC Symposium keynote address

If you did not have an opportunity to hear L1Aura or Nettrice speak live you still can check out their thought provoking presentations as documented on Lori Landay’s blog as well as the NMC’s website which features a variety documentation including machinima, slideshows and papers from most of the speakers who presented at the symposium.

Lori has smart ideas and a great sense of humor and has brought that persona into SL through L1Aura.  I am certain you will learn something new and inspirational when you take a read through her blog which covers many topics and links.  So when you see L1Aura around the  Chibo community give her a wave and a smile to brighten up her sabbatical in Second Life. 

Without a doubt, she has contributed to the community with her thoughtful discourse about the creative and social experiences we all share in one way or another in this virtual world.

In contrast to Chilbo’s land economy with thoughtful design, many land owners have taken advantage of the parceling strategy in conjunction with ad farming.  I was pleased to see that Linden Labs is starting to look at the issue of land cutting.  In several weeks, according to the official SL blog it will be a policy “that makes the deliberate and extensive cutting of land a violation”. 

You can read about the post and more details here.

Pictured here is a “starter” residence in Chilbo.  The parcel is 192 square meters with a cottage of 25 prim.  The parcel will support about 50 prim or so.  This kind of economy affords many residents an opportunity to share space in Chilbo.  

Economy of land use in Chilbo

New video about joining Chilbo posted on YouTube and playing in the Town Hall Annex! If you have friends who are curious about how to join Chilbo, point them to this resource! If they’re still interested, they can click the “Join the Community” link on our website to complete the Membership Application.

Thanks to all the residents of Chilbo who appeared in the video (in order of appearance): Rachel Corleone, Babel Ballinger, Fumon Kubo, GrandmasterFoo Woodget, Wainbrave Bernal, Scalar Tardis, Taffy Taliagferro, Ra Deemster, Tara Yeats, Zanthany Tuppakaka, Cosimo Urbanowicz, Emru Rau, Lizzette Zenovka, Telmea Story, Alleara Snoodle, Monarchy Republic, Malburns Writer, Tommy Brouwer, and Corcosman Voom!

(If I missed someone, let me know!)