On Tuesday, June 19th, the Lab continued their blog posts about SL15B with the publication of a short video interview / message from Linden Lab CEO, Ebbe Altberg, talking about Second Life, its longevity and more (embedded below).
Ebbe has been discussing Second Life – and Sansar – a lot over the last few weeks with various media sources, and the blog post on the video also includes a link to a chat he recently had with Games Wisdom (June 15th).
In May, Ebbe sat down with Saffia Widdershins of Designing Worlds for a lengthy chat on all things Second Life and Sansar, and he’ll be doing so again on Wednesday, June 20th, as a part of the Meet The Lindens Series of events. You can catch him at the SL15B auditorium at 14:00 SLT.
In the meantime, if you want to catch-up with Ebbe’s Designing World chat, you can do so via the video, or if you prefer, via my transcript of the conversation, which provides a linked breakdown of topics discussed, as will as Ebbe’s comments and thoughts.
I’ll have coverage of the SL15B Meet The Lindens events available in this pages in due course.
The SL15B Shopping Event feature 80 Second Life creators and merchants (SLurls below)
Following the opening of the SL15B Community Celebration on Sunday, June 17th See my preview for notes and SLurls), Linden Lab has announced further festivities and events as part of the overall celebrations. Some of these can be found on the SL15B regions, others are located elsewhere across the grid.
Schedule of Performers – all times are SLT and the schedule may be subject to last-minute changes.
At the time of writing, the performers line-up was as follows. All times are SLT, and not this schedule is subject to last-minute changes.
The SL15B Shopping Event
Occupying a total of four regions, the SL15B brings back the familiar shopping mall of recently Linden shopping events, now decorated with a crystal motif in keeping with the SL15B theme.
The 4-region mall brings together 80 of Second Life’s creators, each of whom is offering a free gift to celebrate SL15B as well as deals on some of their most popular items. In addition, many are also participating in a special sale on the Marketplace.
Check the list of participating merchants for names and use the SLurls below to jump to the event.
To mark the fifteen years Second Life has been open to the public, the Lab is running a weekly Gift Grab for the next 15 weeks.
Each week, one crystal-themed gift will be made available in-world, and a clue relating to its location will be published on the Second Life blog, and via their social media feeds. All you have to do is find and collect each gift – which will remain available for one week only, before the next gift is made available somewhere else on the grid. People can collect as many of the gifts as they want – however, the final Birthday Gift will only be available to those who have collected all 14 of the previous gifts.
Don’t forget you can visit the Tapestry of Time at SL15B, a special exhibition by Linden Lab and the Moles recalling some of the history of Second Life year-by-year, of 2003 to the present day.
Revisit the history of Second Life at The Tapestry of Time, by Linden Lab and the Moles
The first part of the celebrations for Second Life’s 15th anniversary opened on Sunday, June 17th, when the SL15B Community Celebration regions opened to the public.
Events within the 24 regions will run from Sunday, June 17th through until Sunday, June 24th, with the Big Day, marking the original opening of Second Life to the public at large, far back in June 2003, taking place on Saturday, June 23rd. After the main celebrations, the regions will remain open for visitors from Monday, June 25th through Sunday, July 1st, although there will be no formal events during this period.
As befitting a 15th anniversary, the theme for this year’s community celebration is crystal, so expect to see a good few builds within the regions reflecting this – and possible watches and timepieces as well, given these are often gifts associated with 15th anniversaries.
Throughout the week of festivities, there will be much going on: music, dancing and performances at the various stages found within the regions; talks and presentations within the auditorium – including the now-familiar Meet the Lindens events, of which more anon, and some of the exhibits built be SL residents and found within the regions may also play host to events of their own.
The festivities bring together the use mix of resident-build exhibitions and SLB infrastructure builds – with the latter this year being provided by Mikati Slade – Cake Stage; Walton F. Wainwright (Faust Steamer) -Serpent Stage; Anthony (ADudeNamed Anthony) – Auditorium; Ancient Mole – Crystal Rotunda Stage and Welcome Area: and City Builder (Lim Pikajuna) – Stage North.
As well as these, there are special features, such as the Tapestry of Time, tracing Second Life’s History from 2003 to the present; people can also pay a visit to the original Cornfield – the Sin Bin of early Second Life, and tour Bear Island, which makes a return to SLB celebrations for all lovers of Linden Bears. Plus the ever-popular SLB Big Hunt and the pod tours and very much a part of the festivities.
This year, Meet the Lindens will talk place between Monday and Friday, at 14:00 SLT at the SL15B Auditorium. The participating Lindens this year include:
Xiola Linden – Monday, June 18th.
Patch Linden and Kiera Linden – Tuesday, June 19th.
Ebbe Linden – Wednesday, June 20th.
Grumpity Linden and Oz Linden – Thursday, June 21st.
Brett Linden – Friday June 21st.
Patch, Grumpity, Brett and Xiola – all taking part in this year’s Meet the Lindens at SL15B. Credit: Linden Lab
Where To Find Information
The best place to find information on all that is going on at SL15B is the SL15B Community Celebration website. Daily schedules will be posted there, together with news and updates. IN addition, you can view the daily schedules for the major stages and the auditorium via the following links:
On Monday, April 23rd, 2018, Linden Lab issued an invitation to live music performers to apply to be a part of the Second Life 15th Birthday celebration’s Music Festival.
2018 marks the fourth such festival the Lab has organised. It will be held as a part of the official Second Life Birthday celebration, taking place in mid-June 2018. For the successful applicant, it will be a paid event.
Since we started Music Fest in Second Life, we’ve held an audition showcase to highlight some of the musical talent in the Second Life community. Many of you have been performing for years in virtual venues all over the grid, and we’d love to have you come showcase your talent at the try-outs for this summer Music Fest. All genres are welcome! From bands to solo acts, rock and roll to electronica – we encourage anyone to sign up for consideration. The Second Life Music Fest is an opportunity to perform at one of the biggest celebrations in Second Life, and it’s a paid gig!
She continues:
While we encourage everyone to sign up, it is not a commitment on your part and does not guarantee a spot at the auditions. We will review all submissions and extend audition invitations via email to the designated contact. Each invited act will have a short audition time (5 minutes max) to play and leave an impression on a panel of judges made up of Lindens and Residents. This panel will select acts to be invited to perform at the Second Life Music Fest. Upon completion of a half hour slot at the festival, the designated contact for each act will be eligible for payment (subject to Linden’s terms and conditions).
The 2016 Music Festival auditions
Those interested in taking part are invited to complete the audition application form – and to do so no later than Friday, May 18th. The blog post notes that completion of the application does not signify a commitment on the part of the artist to take part, nor a guarantee they’ll be called upon to audition before a panel of judges comprising Lab personnel and residents.
Musicians who are selected to audition will receive word directly from the Lab via e-mail. Those successful in their 5-minute audition, as judged by a panel of Lab staff and residents, will be invited to perform a 30-minute set at the Second Life Music Fest, and (subject to the Lab’s terms and conditions) receive payment for doing so.
The auditions will take place on (times are SLT):
12:00 noon to 14:00 Friday, June 1, 2018.
18:00 – 20:00 Saturday. June 2, 2018.
The venue for the auditions will be announced in due course and all residents are invited by the Lab to attend the auditions as a part of the audience.
2018 marks the fifteenth anniversary of Second Life opening its doors to full public access. It’s a milestone year for the platform. This means this year’s celebrations are going to be special. Already the regions have been delivered to the grid, and work is in hand to build them out.
The Dates
This year, SL15B will run from Sunday, June 17th through Sunday, June 24th, inclusive.
The Theme
From the SL15BCC website:
As Second Life begins to celebrate its 15th birthday, our “crystal” theme aims to inspire residents to reflect both on the past and see into the future. The community is encouraged to use the crystal aesthetic and concept to creatively express their favourite SL features of the past while also looking forward into the future. The “crystal” theme allows for exploration of the tapestry of time that weaves together the past, present and future of Second Life.
Applications
On Friday, April 13th, the organisers opened the doors to applications from exhibitors, performers and presenters. Those wishing to apply for any of these positions are asked to read the General Event Policies for SL15B, and then proceed as follows:
In addition, bloggers and press wishing to get full access to SL15BCC to cover the event should complete the Press Access form.
Volunteers to help run the event are also being sought. If you are interested in helping with things as a greeter, stage manager, exhibitor assistant, etc., then please read the Volunteer Code of Conduct, and then complete the Volunteer Application form.
To mark Second Life’s fifteenth anniversary, Linden Lab has announced a series of Town Hall meetings at which Second Life users can hear members of Linden Lab and well-known groups within SL talk about the platform, their work, and answer questions offered by users.
The announced sessions will comprise:
Linden Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg.
Members of the Firestom team.
Residents of Bay City.
The Designing Worlds team.
The first of these town hall meetings will feature Ebbe Altberg in a double session on Friday, April 20th, at the following times:
09:30 SLT.
13:00 SLT.
User are invited to offer questions for Ebbe via the forum thread A Conversation with Linden Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg. Questions will be selected from those submitted, and as many as possible will be answered within the time frame set for the meetings.
Users can attend the meetings by teleporting to one of the three following landing points at Town Hall Island:
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 