The Chilbo Community welcomes three new members and their businesses to Route 10!

Cinematize, featuring distinctive Southern California Photography on display. Contact Sydney Etoile to purchase some of her works!

Riall’s Emporium has Art, Flowers and Homes for sale, all created by Riall Caproni.

Foxglove’s Finest, where you can find some lovely dresses by Foxglove Foyston,  including stunning gowns in time for all the upcoming holiday parties.

So next time you are looking for some of these items, or just have the urge for some retail therapy, please visit these and the other businesses on Route 10 in Chilbo!

Chilbo residents at the Hanja Welcome Area

On October 24th, Chilbo residents met to discuss the Linden Lab Community Partnership and our intention to submit a proposal. Fleep presented a first draft document that incorporated nearly all of the initial suggestions and brainstorm results from the previous meetings. It should be noted that this document was merely a first draft and that it did not/does not reflect the views or consensus of the Chilbo Community.  Indeed, there were  strenuous objections to some sections of the document.   Nevertheless, in an effort to be transparent about our process, we post the original unedited first draft for archival purposes.

Current Status: Based on our discussion at the meeting on the 24th, a second draft version of the document is in the process of being created.  The second draft is available for revision, commenting, and editing by members of the Chilbo Community.  Members of the public and other Second Life residents are also invited to watch our progress there and submit comments or feedback as a reply to this post.

Fleep intends to set up a special kiosk in the Chilbo Town Hall with transcripts of our previous meetings and the relevant web links later today, and will send out a group notice in world when it’s set up and ready.  (Apologies for the delay, I’m in the process of helping my mom move today!)

The idea was discussed briefly at the October 10th Chilbo Town Hall meeting, and at that time we decided to table the discussion until the following week when we’d all had time to read the program guidelines and the comments and guidance provided by Blondin Linden on the official blog post about this topic.

It is Fleep’s sense that the general feeling in the community is a mixture of confusion, concern, and scepticism, but a general willingness to give it a try if we think it might benefit the community.  During our discussions about the program, various concerns surfaced:

- How would the program benefit Chilbo?   What would we have to do in return for participating?

- There seems to be some backlash about this program, would participating damage Chilbo’s reputation as an independent, free thinking, and open community?

- Linden Lab is somewhat notorious for starting new programs and initiatives that fizzle out, is it worth jumping through a bunch of hoops if this program continues in that vein?

- Would we lose any rights by participating?

Others expresed the sentiment “Nothing ventured, nothing gained” and the consensus seemed to be to move forward with as much openness and transparency as possible with the intention to submit a proposal IF we have broad community consensus to do so and IF we can craft a proposal that clearly benefits our community.

Why would Chilbo want to participate in the first place?  Fleep tried to summarize by saying, “Chilbo is a well established community, we’re good community citizens, we want to participate in helping new AND existing residents become more connected and we’re willing to teach and share in exchange for some official recognition of what we do.”  How best to formalize such an arrangement with Linden Lab is the question, and as always, the devil would be in the details.

During the discussion, we talked about structuring a potential proposal around two questions:  What do we want from Linden Lab? and What are we offering in return?

In the “What do we want from Linden Lab?” category, many ideas were floated, including:

- A new “Communities” listing in the Showcase page, official recognition of Chilbo in the list

- Better reclamation process for the abandoned parcels and ad farm squares, and better management of the Governor Linden owned roadways that intersect our community.

- We have established community standards, but no way to enforce them if someone breaks their agreement with us (no covenant or reclamation process if we “sell” community land).

- We spend a lot on tier for infrastructure, sidewalks, bridges, green spaces – the very things that help make the “community cohesion” we have visible, perhaps Linden Lab could help with that.

- We are experiencing a ton of lag in some sims, any way for Linden Lab to help us pinpoint problem scripts and troubleshoot the lag problem?

- The Hanja Welcome Area is just a few sims north east of Greater Chilbo, and it seems pretty darned underutilized with just a handful of the typical Linden Lab signage, but nothing that helps visitors to the Welcome Area connect to any of the sims or communities nearby.  Perhaps Chilbo could volunteer to build/manage/staff the Welcome Area to help visitors move beyond a cursory visit and connect with the communities around it?

In the “What are we offering in return?” category:

- We offer a well established, long term model community, one that has arisen organically in the mainland, and seems to work well for our members.  We can teach others how to start their own communities based on the Chilbo model.

- We are an example of a community _without_ a roleplaying or other distinctive theme – more akin to an actual community from real life, with residents having many different interests.  We believe this diversity strengthens our community and makes us both more viable and perhaps more representative of a broader cross section of Second Life residents than some communities.

- We provide free or extremely cheap land, housing, and project space to Second Life residents who want to explore projects that benefit the public good.  We have an excellent track record of privately funding education, the arts, public health, and other projects of this nature that contribute to civic life on the Mainland.  As participants in the program, we would continue to focus on this “public and community service” model in all of our endeavors related with the Community Partnership program.

- Our residents have expertise in Second Life – everything from event planning to scripting to building to avatar creation and machinima, we offer our expertise in exchange for participation.

- Our community is large enough and diverse enough to staff events and manage projects with a high level of quality and professionalism.

So, that’s where we are in the discussion at this point.  What are YOUR thoughts?  Which ideas do you like best?  Do you have other suggestions?  Something you think we should NOT do?  Other concerns?

We invite feedback especially from Chilbo residents, but readers of the Chilbo Road Press are also invited to participate.  Is your community thinking of participating in this program?  What would be your concerns with the ideas we’ve proposed so far?

We will reconvene in the Chilbo Town Hall next Saturday,  October 24, 2009 at 11AM SLT to discuss feedback received on the blog and to determine whether or not to move ahead with submitting a proposal.

Thanks for your feedback on this issue!

In Attendance: Fleep Tuque, Kristine Kristan, Josain Zsun, Lila Roecastle, Corcosman Voom, MS Hawker, Lizzette Zenovka, Alleara Snoodle, Tomkin Euler, Salty Saenz, Maggie Larimore, Gem Blue, MS Hawker, Rodolfo Mirabella

New Committee Chairs Nominated & Needed

We have a number of folks who volunteered to chair some important community functions, but  through one thing or another they have less time to spend on Chilbo projects.  Particularly the Activities & Events, Commercial, and Education chairs are open.  Kristine Kristan nominated MS Hawker and Eliza Quintet to serve  on the Activities & Events committee, to wide agreement.  Congratulations to MS and Eliza!

Kristine will temporarily take over the duties of Commercial chair for now, but we’d like to find someone to fill this spot since Kristine already has quite a lot on her plate with the Residential chair responsibilities.  Duties of the Commercial chair include:

• Serve as a liaison between Chilbo and the broader commercial sector in Second Life
• Promote and encourage new business development in Chilbo
• Assist new entrepreneurs with setting up a business in Second Life
• Recruit new shopkeepers for the commercial properties in Second Life

Gann McGann has served as Education chair for quite some time and has done a terrific job, but we’re looking for someone to fill this spot.  Duties of the Education chair include:

• Serve as a liaison between Chilbo and the broader educational community in Second Life
• Keeping up with the SLED mailing list to keep aprised of new educational opportunities
• Helping educators find suitable property and move into Chilbo
• Coordinating classes held in Chilbo
• Contributing to the education resources in the community, including the Chilbo Public Library and the repository of tools for teachers

Interested in serving as the Commercial or Education chair of Chilbo?  Send Fleep Tuque a note!

Land Updates

Community member Wainbrave Bernal has a number of exciting projects going on with his work and unfortunately has less time to spend on Chilbo projects.  He’s reduced his tier and the Salamander HQ and Grill will be closing, though Wainbrave’s heart will always be in Chilbo.

Likewise, Sine Rennehan’s Nature Preserve area in the Mujigae sim has mostly fallen into disuse and will be sold to reduce her tier.  The Nature Preserve is a large, beautiful area and can be parceled according to our needs.  Our first preference is to sell to someone in the community, so if you are interested, please contact Fleep Tuque.

Finally, Cosimo Urbanowicz has picked up a huge parcel in Kuwol and is looking for projects and tier contributions to support the new addition to Chilbo.  Stop by the new property and have a look, and if you know someone looking for land or project space, contact Cosimo to get more information.

Linden Lab’s Community Partnership Program

We had a discussion about the Community Partnership program that Linden Lab announced on their blog recently.  Many were unclear about what the purpose of the program is, how it would work, how it would benefit Chilbo, or even if we would qualify for the program since we own land in 6 sims but don’t own ANY full sim outright.

We decided to table this discussion until everyone has had a chance to read Linden Lab’s guidelines, and a follow up meeting to discuss is scheduled for next Saturday, October 17th at 11AM SLT in the Town Hall.  Please join us if you’d like to participate in this discussion.

Mad Wax Records & Musician Mentoring Program

Kristine Kristan reports that Mad Wax Records is now listed on Indiespectrum.com as a supporter of live music in Second Life.  She will be working on a machinima piece with Alleara Snoodle and others, and hopes Mad Wax can be a destination resource for musicians in Second Life.  They’re just in the planning stages for the video and she’ll need some extras and actors, so if you’d like to be included, let her know.

MS Hawker also has been discussing with Cosimo about instituting a Musician Mentorship program to pair novice performers with more experienced performers to help new musicians on the live music scene in SL.  As most of you know, MS’ Germelhausen coffeeshop and bakery (affectionately known as The Haus)  is one of the hottest social spots in Chilbo, with live performances nearly every day.  If anyone would like to assist with developing the Musician Mentorship program, please let MS know.

Deeding Objects to Group

Cosimo Urbanowicz sent around a notecard suggesting that we deed community objects to the Chilbo group and asked for feedback.  Fleep Tuque advises that if this is to be done, it must be done very carefully since the permissions system in Second Life can get extremely complicated.  Objects should only be deeded to the group if a) you are willing to give up being the owner of the object, once it is deeded you can’t take it back b) EVERY prim, EVERY script, EVERY SINGLE COMPONENT of the object is full permissions – if even one script or one component is NOT full permissions, then that object essentially cannot be modified, transfered, or copied, depending on the settings, which may mean it becomes an “orphan” object that no one can really use.  Fleep agrees there are some use cases where group deeding may be appropriate, such as for sidewalks or other community infrastructure objects that can be replaced if needed, but advises extreme caution for objects that are unique, purchased, or where there are no back up copies.

Following the Town Hall, we took field trips to the Nature Preserve in Mujigae and visited Cosimo’s new land acquisition in Kuwol.

A full chat transcript of the meeting is available in the Chilbo Town Hall.   Next Town Hall meeting is scheduled for November 15, 2009 at 11AM SLT.

AMFORTE Clarity rocking the roof at The Haus

Every week, the rooftop at Germelshausen AKA “The Haus” has been drawing big crowds to see great live music in a realistic comfortable setting right here in Chilbo. Both performers and patrons enjoy the comfy cozy atmosphere, quality dances, and the friendly vibe created by your enthusiastic hostess, MS Hawker. The Haus has hosted popular acts  strum Diesel, PM Bookmite, Alex Parsons, Kelvinblue Oh, Engrama and AMFORTE Clarity – all of which will definitely be back in the future.

All week long, Germeshausen is a great place to meet new friends and old, have a cuppa and a nice chat. The Haus also has a new webcafe, and is Tiny Friendly!

Artists scheduled for the first week of October include Kelvinblue Oh, and Avatar Quinzet. Get notified of upcoming events (including something very special and fun planned for the end of October!), and the release of MS’s upcoming line of delicious scripted bakery goods,  join The Haus’ SL Group, or subscribe list by touching one of the boards downstairs by the bar or up on the roof.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Madhupak/27/223/97

The AZIRE held open house on Sunday the 20th.

The AZIRE Learning Center was set up to introduce the SL Public to the psychology of experience and to the scientific study of psychic  phenomena.

Spread over two store fronts in Madhupak, the Learning Center includes a slideshow on the university research and education units in the field, organizations and societies in Europe and the US and Australia, another that introduces you to the types of phenomena studied by scientists and academics in the field, as well as introduces you to our history and to the researchers who are active  now. A YouTube viewer contains video of Dr. Dean Radin, the Senior Scientist of the Institute for Noetic Sciences. There are also books and articles and notecards for more information.

Visit the AZIRE in Chilbo’s Education Village

View more snapshots at Facebook

The Chilbo Rose

This rare hybrid is a glass sculpture with metal elements designed especially  for the residents, friends, visitors and lovers of Chilbo Community by  SL glass artist Eliza Quinzet.

All proceeds from this purchase will go to  support  the community.
This rose is a vibrant coral with gold and copper petals which seem sing the praises of the arts and humanities Chilbo cherishes and inspires.

The Chilbo Rose is available at The Chilbo General Store near Town Hall on Route 10.

Plant one in your own home or garden today!

DynaFleur Redux by Chilbo residents Douglas Story & Desdemona Enfield with music and sound by Dizzy Banjo officially opens to the public on August 8th, 2009.

The piece may be visited in Second Life at the following location:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Kintyre/230/222/2624

After an absence of nearly 8 months, the popular and beloved DynaFleur immersive art installation has returned to Second Life. Spanning an entire sim high above the Victorian-themed Caledon Kintyre, DynaFleur is the kind of experience that truly is possible only in Second Life.

Read more here: http://dynafleurreturns.blogspot.com/

Chilbo’s own Alleara Snoodle and her team The Passionate Redheads have won the SL Spirit of Relay Award for 2009! She and her team collected more than 2.4 MILLION Lindens (over $9,000 USD)in the Relay for Life!!

Mission Statement from the team:

The Passionate Redheads Team for Relay for Life

Our team members are comprised of people from all over the world. Anyone in need of support and compassion may join. Those who cannot participate in fund raisers for any reason are always welcome to do as much or as little as they can, with a promise that they will never be judged. Some can build, some can entertain, some of us can create clothing or jewelry. Some can hardly bear to participate; it’s just too painful.

We are cancer patients and loved ones of cancer victims. A few have to leave for weeks at a time due to treatment or a death in the family. They are always welcomed home with arms wide open.

The Passionate Redheads team is here for anyone needing to feel a part of Relay for Life. We have given families and survivors a way to fight back, a feeling of empowerment in the face of helplessness.

We do not judge who is doing the best they can manage; people join us seeking hope and encouragement in a dark hour. We strive to take care of each other and any other team needing assistance. I am extremely proud to say that we have succeeded.

This the True Spirit of Relay for Life.

Yours in Service,

Sabine McGettigan, Captain
Passionate Redheads Team, Relay for Life 2009

Relay for Life is a grid wide fundraiser to support the mission of the American Cancer Society.

All of Chilbo wishes to congratulate Alleara and the Passionate Redheads team!

The award display, and Alleara’s own message to the Chilbo community can be visited in the Town Hall Plaza.

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Alleara and the Spirit of Relay award display