Category: Relay For Life

2022 Home and Garden Expo in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
via slhomeandgardenexpo.com

The 2022 Home and Garden Expo (HGE) in support of Relay for Life of Second Life and the American Cancer Society, is now open, and runs through until Sunday, March 20th. Taking place across nine regions (Hope 1 through 9), the event offers some of the finest in home, garden, and furnishing designs available across the grid.

With multiple exhibitors taking part, the event offers something for anyone who is looking for a new home, ideas for furnishing and décor, wishing to improve their building (or other) skills, or who just wishes to keep abreast of the latest building / home trends in Second Life.

As always, the Expo there will be a range of events and activities, including entertainment, focused on the main stage at Hope 1, talks and presentation focus on the auditorium at Hope 3, artists, auctions, breedables. and more.

Once more returning the the event is the Home and Garden Decorating Competition, which this year offers fourteen different builds, including two of seven different styles, including beach houses, tiny homes and one with a distinctively Mexican style. These will be made available to fourteen finalists, who will have a 350 land impact allowance with which to decorate a both a house and its garden.

Home and Garden Expo 2022 brings a rich variety of styles to the Home Decorating Competition – large houses, small houses, lighthouses, barns, trailer homes…

These finalists will be chosen by a raffle draw and will be assigned one of the fourteen houses, based on their preferences. Finalists can be individuals or teams, and must decorate their house in keeping within its style, and must include at least three purchased from RFL vendors at the Expo. With winning design will be decided on the basis of a popular vote by those attending the Expo.

The time line the competition is thus: entries for participation to be submitted by the end of Friday, March 5th, with selected finalists able to decorate their houses been noon SLT on Saturday, March 6th and the end of Friday, March 12th. Voting will then take place between Saturday, March 13th and Wednesday, March 17th with votes cast via donations make through the kiosks placed outside of each house. The winner(s) will be announced on Thursday, March 18th.

A full list of participating stores / merchants, together with a breakdown of shopping by region can be found on the Home and Garden Expo website.

Entertainment will be provided through out event, both at the main stage featuring live performances and DJs, and the Auditorium will be home to a range of talks and presentations. In addition, there will be special performances taking place on the Expo’s sky events platform, together with displays at the event’s aerial viewing platform – so be sure to keep an eye on the full event and entertainment schedule.

Home and Garden Expo 2022: Auditorium – the focus of Lantern Ceremonies, talks and presentations throughout the event

One thing that will not be present at this year’s event will be any reveal of an upcoming Linden Homes theme. While such reveals have formed a part of events like the RFL Home and Garden Expo and the Christmas Expo, the overall schedule for Linden Homes development is not in any way tied to these (or other non-Lab organised events). The most recent theme to be announced, the Newbrooke, was previewed in December 2021 and apparently garnered multiple negative reviews, prompting its withdrawal for an update. This may have given rise to a false expectation of an updated preview / new reveal at this year’s Home and Garden, but as Patch Linden has noted, theme will be revealed & made available when the Lab is ready.

For the most up-to-date info on the event, do be sure to keep an eye on the official website and be sure drop in the the Home and Garden Expo, tour the houses, look at the furnishing and enjoy the entertainment. And even if you’re not in the mood to buy anything, please consider to drop a donation or two into the RFL kiosks and help support ACS and RFL of SL in their world-wide endeavours.

Links and SLurls

2022 SL Home and Garden Expo applications

Posted on by Inara Pey
via slhomeandgardenexpo.com

The 2022 Home and Garden Expo (HGE) in support of Relay for Life of Second Life and the American Cancer Society, will take place this year from Saturday, February 26th through until Sunday, March 20th, 2022, inclusive, and applications are  open for those who wish to participate.

The largest and longest running event of its kind in Second Life. the primary goal of the event is supporting Relay For Life of Second Life and the American Cancer Society through its fundraising efforts. Already this year, H&G has raised L$4,481,904 (US $17,927.62), and the Expo will hopefully add to that total considerably. As with previous years, the event will feature multiple Full regions focusing on home design and décor, landscaping, and furniture, and which will include entertainment, a home decorating contest, the Wall of Hope a Finale Auction and more!

Currently, the organisers are seeking applications from both exhibitors willing to participate in the event, and from bloggers wish to cover the event and have advanced access to the event regions.

Creators, etc., interested in participating in the event as exhibitors should follow the links below:

Home and Garden Expo 2021 – main stage

Bloggers wishing to cover the event should follow these links:

In addition, those with questions or enquiries should first refer to the Expo’s FAQ page.

Core Dates for the Event

  • Exhibitor access and set-up: Saturday, February 20th through Wednesday, February 23rd
  • Blogger preview access: Thursday, 24th February.
  • “Soft” opening for specific group access (e.g. Seraphim): Friday, February 24th.
  • Official opening: Saturday, February 26th.
  • Closing: Sunday, March 20th.

Further general information can be found at the Home and Garden Expo website.

RFL Christmas Expo 2021 in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
RFL of SL Xmas Expo 2021

The annual RFL Christmas Expo opened its gates on Friday, December 3rd, 2021, and will run through until December 14th in support of The American Cancer Society and RFL of SL.

Located on fifteen regions, this year’s expo once again offers a wide range of shopping opportunities, entertainment and more, all presented around the theme The 12 Days of Christmas. As with recent years, all funds raised during the event will go towards supporting The American Cancer Society’s Childhood Cancer initiatives, where they will be used in support, research and palliative efforts to help children with cancer.,

Merchants from all fields are participating in this year’s event, which includes daily entertainment at the Holly Jolly Café featuring a mix of live performances and DJs. The schedule of entertainment provides a day-by-day breakdown of all music events at the Exp, with the Holly Jolly Café the centre for almost non-stop entertainment. In addition, visitors can buy a ticket for the Holiday Shopping raffles, visit the Christmas Tree Lot and the Merchant village or stop for a Picture With Santa.

Activities and Special Events

This year’s Expo includes a number of activities and special events:

Shopping: over 150 merchants offering a variety of shopping options. Check the on-line shopping directory for direct SLurls to stores.

And don’t forget, that as a part of the shopping experience is the Christmas Stockings hunt. Hanging in participating Expo merchants shops is one or more Christmas stocking that has something very special from the merchant.

The Winter Breedables Fair: three regions of animals and breedables, culminating in the giant Winter Breedable Auction. See the Winter Breedables Fair page for details.

Holiday Raffles: this year sees the Expo offer two raffles:

  • The Shopping Spree Raffle, with the draw to be held on December 14th at the Holly Jolly Café. With tickets at L$100 or 3 for L$200, available via the kiosks to be found throughout the Expo. Two lucky winner stand to gain over 200 gift cards from stores across Second Life.
  • The Daily Holiday Shopping Raffle can be found at the Holly Jolly Café, with prizes valued at between L$250 and L$1,000. Tickets are L$50 each or three for L$100, with daily draws at 19:00 SLT at the Holly Jolly Café.
RFL of SL Xmas Expo 2021 – Lights of Hope

Lights of Hope: once again Second Life’s premier builders are joining the SL Christmas Expo to present the Annual Lights of Hope Home Decoration Contest. Each of the builders has decorated the outside of one of their stunning houses in holiday style and brought it to the Expo.  Stroll the Holiday Road neighbourhood at the Expo and vote for your favourites by donation to the American Cancer Society kiosk in front of each home! 100% of all donations go directly to the American Cancer Society.

Also be sure to pop over to the Real Estate Office in the neighbourhood where some of the builders have graciously placed out their entry home for sale in an American Cancer Society Christmas Expo vendor.

The Annual Holidays of Hope Ball: will take place from 13:00 on Sunday, December 12th. Sponsored by T1Radio, this formal ball is open to all Second Life residents, and will feature live entertainment.

New Linden Homes preview: catch the new Linden Homes theme in a special preview to be unveiled at the Expo on Monday, December 6th.

Also awaiting visitors, are opportunities to collect your own limited edition Patch on a Shelf elf via the special kiosks within the Expo regions, and have your picture taken with “Santa” Patch and the “Elf” Moles on December 10th between noon and 15:00 SLT, sleigh rides and more.

RFL of SL Xmas Expo 2021 – photos with “Santa” Patch and the “Elf” Moles

Thus, there is a huge amount to see and do at the Expo, so be sure to check out the official website for more information.

SLurls and Links

All regions rated Moderate.

SL Sci-Fi Expo 2021 and Out Shop Cancer in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Sci-Fi Expo 2021

The 2021 Second Life Sci-Fi Expo launched on Friday, October 8th, 2021, and will remain in orbit through until Sunday, October 17th, 2021 in aid of The American Cancer Society and the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer (MSABC) campaign.

Active across multiple regions located alongside the American Cancer Society Island, this year’s even carries the theme of visiting New Eden, a major hub for galactic commerce and exchange located on an ancient forested world and protected by an all-encompassing sky dome.

As with previous years, the expo presents a broad range of science-fiction related role-play, entertainment, and activities and the best place to find out about all that the Expo has to offer is via the official website, where you can find information on:

Sci-Fi Expo 2021

This year’s setting a especially well considered; the regions offer plenty of open territory that gives room for event spaces set out among the canyons and woodlands that give a lot of opportunity for simple wandering and exploration. The majority of the shopping, meanwhile, is found within the New Eden city, presenting the opportunity for visitors to ramp down draw distance and shop without too burdensome a load on their viewer.

As befitting an untamed planet, New Eden is a rugged place, so be sure to follow the trails and stairs up into the hills to discover all of its secrets; and if you get lost, keep an eye out for the teleport portals – walking in to one will return yo to the main landing point (you may need to accept the event experience for these to work). So, as I’m prone to say when previewing this event: whatever your interest in science fiction, be sure to set your phaser on fun and head back to the future with a visit to the SL Sci-Fi Expo!

Sci-Fi Expo 2021

Out Shop Cancer

Also underway throughout October is the 4th annual Out Shop Cancer, a grid-wide shopping event that this year sees more that 70 creators and merchants participating. Offering a broader range of shopping opportunities than the sci-fi theme offered at the Sci-Fi Expo, Out Shop Cancer presents items for adult and child avatars, home and garden and DFS goods, and more. New for this year is a grid-wide hunt. Just find the black Out Shop Cancer shopping bags tucked away inside participating stores, pay them L$25 (all proceeds to RFL of SL / Making Strides), and claim a bag full of goodies.

For full details on the event, please refer to the Out Shop Cancer website, where you can find the complete shopping directory and full details on the hunt, together with the latest news updates.

SLurl and Information

The 2021 SL Renaissance Festival for Making Strides

Posted on by Inara Pey
via the SL Renaissance Festival 2021

The 2021 SL Renaissance Festival is currently open to visitors through until the end of Sunday, October 3rd, 2021. A signature event coordinated by the American Cancer Society, the event is in support of  Making Strides Against Breast Cancer (MSABC), an RFL of SL signature event aimed at raising awareness of the risks of breast cancer and raising funds to support research into, and treatment of, the disease.

Taking place across four regions adjoining the core American Cancer Society regions the festival presents a range of merchants, activities and entertainments linked to the medieval / renaissance periods for visitors to peruse, participate in and enjoy.

Please refer to the official SL Renaissance Festival web site for:

The jousting arena where residents can enjoy tournaments or even face Lindens and Moles at a special event on Thursday, September 30th, 2021

The event tournaments include daily rounds of jousting, archery, mounted archery, and mêlée, all of which are open to anyone who’d like to try their hand at any of them. In particular, and for those who wish to try their hand at jousting there is the added attraction of jousting against staff from Linden Lab and Moles from the Linden Department of Public Works.

Tickets to joust in this special event, which will be held between 12:00 noon and either 14:00 or 15:00 SLT on Thursday, September 30th, with tickets costing L$1,000 (proceeds to RFL of SL / Making Strides) to participate. Those from the Lab taking part comprise Constantine Linden, Derrick Linden and Patch Linden along with Abnor Mole, Alotta Mole, and Maximus Mole. Tickets can be purchased via the special kiosks at the event’s Welcome Areas.

The Tales of Heroes

As well as pavilion-based shopping within the festival’s shopping regions, visitors can also obtain special items by participating in the Stag Hunt. Just find the stag statue(s) in participating shops and in the role-play areas, and claim the goodies inside for a payment of L$25 (all payments go directly to Making Strides).

In addition, the event features:

All of which adds up to a lot to see and do! To help visitors get in the mood of the event, the landing points in the main merchant areas include a range of period costumes and accessories on sale with all funds raised again going directly to Making Strides.

URLs and SLurls

Relaystock + BALB raise over L$ 2million for RFL

Posted on by Inara Pey
RelayStock 2021 event stage

The weekend of the 14th through 16th of May 2021 played host to the 2021 Relaystock event by the Relay Rockers to raise funds for Relay For Life of Second Life and the world-wide work of the American Cancer Society (ACS).

Paying homage to Woodstock, RelayStock brings together Relay teams from diverse communities across Second Life for a celebration of music, events and fund-raising that pay homage to Woodstock, with three days of Peace Love Music and Hope. The weekend includes two signature events:

  • The final of the Celebrate Remember Fight-Back Top DJ Fund-raising Competition – this event sees Club and Radio DJs from all over Second Life compete to raise the most Linden Dollars in support of the Relay For Life, with RelayStock hosting the Grand Final between the two top fund-raisers.
  • Bid a Linden Bald – which sees a number of teams from Linden Lab challenge one another to see who can raise the most in Linden Dollar donations for RFL of SL. At the end of the event, the team raising the least amount of money see their avatars get their hair shorn by the team raising the most.

The latter event started ahead of the weekend, and continued through until the 19th June, when, at 12:00 SLT, the team to lose their hair was announced and the Official Haircutting took place.

RelayStock 2021: Bid a Linden Bald

On Thursday, May 20th, the Relay Rockers announced the outcome of of both the weekend’s fund-raising and the Bid A Linden Bald event.

  • The weekend raised a total of L$1,290,669 raised for RFL, including:
    • L$502,000 raised by CRFB Top DJ Competition winner DJ Stormy Dench.
    • L$400,000 raised by CRFB Top DJ Competition runner-up DJ Baggie.
  • Bid A Linden Bald saw some 40 Linden and Moles participate, including the Lab’s new Executive Chairman and board member Brad Oberwager and his Chief of Staff Cammi Bergren take part. At the close of bidding, the event’s outcome was as follows:
    • Team 4  – Darcy, Grumpity, Kristin, Patch, Spots and Vix Linden – prevailed, raising a total of L$296,336.
    • Team 3 – Dakota, Evie, Kreide, Obi, Simon and Vanessa Linden – were on the receiving end of the hair clippers.
    • A total of L$ 840,369 was raised by the Bid A Linden Bald, including the sale of 309 of the limited edition Linden Bears.

Relaystock brings the running total for the 2021 Relay For Life season in Second Life, which concludes on June 12th and 13th, stands at US $350,000, which again places the virtual Relay among the largest Relay events in the world.

Congratulations to all involved.