Category: Second Life

Marketing Second Life: Brett Linden’s insights

Posted on by Inara Pey
via and © Linden Lab

As both the Lab and I have blogged, members of the Second Life Marketing Team will be sitting down on Friday, March 6th in the 16th edition of Lab Gab to discuss their work and respond to submitted questions (see either Lab Gab Episode 16 Streams this Friday at 11am PT/SLT – Linden Lab Marketing Team! – official blog post) or Previewing Lab Gab 16: meet the Marketing team – this blog).

Marketing work is both an art and a science – and with Second Life, the fact the such is the breadth of potential audience and the rich diversity of opportunities within the platform, it can be something of a an arcane combination of activities that, were truth be told, the majority of Second Life users likely wouldn’t be able to fathom as being part of the ongoing work to attract potential new users, were they to be asked.

So, to help shed some light on matters – and to lay the path towards the Lab Gab session he’ll be attending along with Darcy and Strawberry Linden, Brett Linden has prepared a special blog post, The Heart & Science of Second Life Marketing, that offers considerable insight into the Marketing Team’s work when it comes to promoting Second Life, reaching a audience, and bringing new users into the platform and hopefully engaging them as retained residents. As such, it makes for a worthwhile read.

In particular the post examines a number of channels the Lab users for new user acquisition, some of which active SL users may not be aware of, or may not actually associate with trying to bring-in new users. Take video series like those covering destinations in SL or aspects of SL creativity. While we tend to see them by way of the Lab’s blog, we’re actually not the primary target audience.

Running to around 90 seconds in length, these bite-sized looks inside SL are ideal marketing tools that can be used through the medium of paid advertising campaigns, which are and have been enjoying success such that LL is currently in the process of expanding them, both in terms of the numbers of videos and the channels through which they can be used.

Alongside of this, Brett writes about the concept on performance marketing  – one of the mainstays of SL marketing campaigns. Perhaps two of the most visible elements  of this approach of marketing are the SL ads we me see served by Google, or the themed landing pages I’ve written about five years ago (see Landing pages: marketing Second Life and which have continued to be refined and enhanced since then), while the Marketing Team has continued to build on early experience with performance advertising, also refining and improving their approach and the technologies they use, a Brett notes:

We modernised our acquisition efforts last year by putting into place the use of new technologies that allow us to more precisely target new users across numerous themes, communities and genres. As part of this effort, we’ve identified a few dozen strategically-relevant, high-impact community segments and themes — all of which now have new related display, search and video ad content served against specific matched keyword inquiries and sites. Some ads are also served across social media to those with social profiles that express an interest in some or all of our targeted themes. That means that you might see new sci-fi roleplaying ads appearing on some sci-fi fan sites, social media pages, or new romance ads on long-distance relationship forums – the list goes on…  

Encompassing the extensive testing that goes on around these ads and their associated campaigns, more organic forms of advertising, use of social media, outreach to SL users, a read of Brett’s blog post should – one would hope – dispel the notions that either LL “don’t promote” Second Life or that they “don’t know how” to go about promoting it.

The fact is rather the reverse: the Marketing Team pour considerable thought and action into marketing SL and do so by revealing the incredible depth and breadth of the platform’s potential. Which is also not to say they’re not open to ideas or feedback from users – hence the Lab Gab session the post helps to promote, and the links to feedback forms within the post.

So do take time out to read Brett’s post, and don’t forget to listen-in to the Lab Gab session at 11:00am SLT on Friday, March 6th, 2020.

2020 Simulator User Group week #10 summary

Posted on by Inara Pey
Grauland, January 2020 – blog post

The following notes were taken at the Simulator User Group meeting held on Tuesday, March 3rd.

Simulator Deployments

At the time of writing, there was no server deployment thread.

  • There was no update to the SLS main channel on Tuesday, March 3rd.
  • On Wednesday, March 4th:
    • Around 30% of the total grid (equivalent to the 3 primary RC channels) will receive an update. Again, at the time of writing, no details were available, however, Simon Linden indicated there should be no user-visible changes, but the update will include fixes to lower level code that should help with scripts running and provide some better performance transferring scripts across region boundaries as well. This update has apparently been on simulators associated with the BlueSteel RC.
    • A smaller release will also be made to some RC channel simulator, but details were not provided at the meeting.

SL Viewer

The new Premium RC viewer, version 6.3.8.537335, was released on Tuesday March 3rd, in preparation for the introduction on the new Premium Plus subscription level. This viewer sees Premium benefits information provided at login by the server for the current user and for all publicly available benefits packages. All UI and other logic is based on these values, replacing an assortment of values previously received via other mechanisms or hard-coded into the viewer. The RC also includes some UI improvements.

The rest of the viewer pipelines remain unchanged from the end of week #9:

  • Current Release version 6.3.7.535996, formerly the Yorsh Maintenance RC, dated February 7, promoted February 20 – No Change.
  • Release channel cohorts:
    • EEP RC viewer updated to version 6.4.0.536347, February 11.
    • Love Me Render RC viewer, version 6.3.7.536179, February 10.
    • Camera Presets RC viewer, version 6.3.6.535138, January 24.
  • Project viewers:
    • Copy / Paste viewer, version 6.3.5.533365, December 9, 2019.
    • Project Muscadine (Animesh follow-on) project viewer, version 6.4.0.532999, November 22, 2019.
    • Legacy Profiles viewer, version 6.3.2.530836, September 17, 2019. Covers the re-integration of Viewer Profiles.
    • 360 Snapshot project viewer, version 6.2.4.529111, July 16, 2019.

In Brief

  • EEP: some last-minute shaders issues are being hammered on by the graphics team in preparation for EEP to progress.
  • Rider Linden has a “background project” he hopes that, when he can focus on it and move it to public release, may help with simulator slow-downs that occur as avatars TP into a region.

Previewing Lab Gab 16: meet the Marketing team

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Linden Lab

The 16th edition of Lab Gab will be live streamed on Friday, March 6th at 11:00 SLT (19:00 UK; 20:00 CET). For those who have not seen the official blog post about it, the segment will feature members of the Second Life Marketing team, which is led by Brett Linden.

The Marketing team is responsible for a range of activities related to Second Life, including, but not limited to:

  • Running advertising campaigns to attract interest in the platform, which in turn includes aspect such as:
    • The Second Life Landing Pages where people may get their first look at SL.
    • Involvement in the on-boarding process, and monitoring the flow of incoming users.
  • Producing promotional material about SL, such as the infographics that are sometimes released around SL Birthday events, videos related to Second Life, etc.
  • Producing information specifically for SL users – such as blog posts, curating the Destination Guide, etc.
  • Managing the Second Life social media presence – Twitter, Facebook, Instragram, You Tube.

Brett Linden is the Lab’s Senior Director of Marketing, and has been with Linden Lab for 10 years, making him probably the longest-serving member of the marketing department. He is based out of the Lab’s Seattle, Washington, office, and prior to joining the Lab he worked at a number of music and technical publications – including Billboard Magazine in the case of the former. It was in this capacity he got to interview Philip Rosedale (then still at Real Networks), and as a result, joined that company before joining Linden Lab.

As well as working for the Lab, Brett also teaches as a local university in Washington State, covering journalism, social media persuasion, etc., and while he has never specifically presented courses on virtual worlds, he has included Second Life in some of his teaching. He particularly enjoys the creativity surrounding Second Life, and is very sensitive to the misconception that Linden Lab “doesn’t understand” Second Life or how to promote it, or that the marketing team “doesn’t spend time in-world”, pointing out that (like many Linden staffers), he is in-world both on his official and personal accounts, the latter allowing him to be engaged within the community without being identified as a Linden.

 

Brett Linden (l) and Darcy Linden (r) will be joining fellow Marketing team member Strawberry Linden for the March 6th edition of Lab Gab

Brett will be joined by Strawberry Linden (also Strawberry Singh), one of the Lab’s newer recruits, but a long-time and high-profile SL user famous for her blog, photography and videos. Also joining them will be Senior Marketing Manager Darcy Linden, whom I’m afraid I don’t know, and cannot provide information about here, so my apologies to Darcy.

Together they will be answering questions about the 2020 Roadmap for Marketing Second Life. So, if you have a marketing-related question you’d like to put to the team, fill out the Google Form and submit your question today, and it may be selected!

The programme will be streamed via YouTube, Facebook, Mixer, or Periscope, and if all goes according to plan, I’ll have a summary of the video (and the video itself) available soon after the the broadcast, for those unable to watch live.

2020 viewer release summaries week #9

Posted on by Inara Pey
Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation

Updates for the week ending Sunday, March 1st

This summary is generally published every Monday, and is a list of SL viewer / client releases (official and TPV) made during the previous week. When reading it, please note:

  • It is based on my Current Viewer Releases Page, a list of all Second Life viewers and clients that are in popular use (and of which I am aware), and which are recognised as adhering to the TPV Policy. This page includes comprehensive links to download pages, blog notes, release notes, etc., as well as links to any / all reviews of specific viewers / clients made within this blog.
  • By its nature, this summary presented here will always be in arrears, please refer to the Current Viewer Release Page for more up-to-date information.
  • Note that for purposes of length, TPV test viewers, preview / beta viewers / nightly builds are generally not recorded in these summaries.

Official LL Viewers

  • Current Release version 6.3.7.535996, formerly the Yorsh Maintenance RC, dated February 7, promoted February 20 – No Change.
  • Release channel cohorts:
    • No updates.
  • Project viewers:
    • No updates.

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V6-style

V1-style

Mobile / Other Clients

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links

The closing of a Storybook in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Storybook Forest, March 2020

If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be very intelligent, read them more fairy tales.

– Albert Einstein

I opened my 2018 travelogue for Nessa Zamora’s (Noralie78) Storybook Forest back in September 2018 following our visits to the Lost Unicorn regions (read more in Opening a Storybook in Second Life). Part of this quote is also used as an introduction to the region, so given news has come that the the Forest is shortly to close to make way for a new design, it seemed a fitting piece with which to open this piece.

Storybook Forest, March 2020

Designed by Noralie78, Storybook Forest is an utterly bewitching place that, if you’ve not visited before, you really, really, should before the end of day on March 3rd, 2020 (I’d have given more warning, but only got word myself following the Lost Unicorn post giving notice of the closure being published on March 1st). The design stands as a marvellous homage to fairy stories and a delight to all who still love the fables and tales they may have heard in childhood days or have enjoyed reading to their own children – or who simply like reading; while for photographers and explorers, it offers something to smile at around every corner.

This is a place where ornate, rounded castle towers rise from the surrounding trees while paths wind between tree trunks and under a canopy of wide-spread boughs; where exotic plants grow and sunlight dapples the glades and falls across the waters of a small lake. From the outset, it’s clear the is is a place where the imagination can be set free and the magic of books and tales has been given leave to run as they will – and we can run with them.

Storybook Forest

So it is through this winding path, passing from castle to castle, from glade to tower, that visitors may find Peter Pan pointing the way forward, Mary Darling standing below, even as Captain Hook, Mr. Smee and Tiger Lily row past on the nearby waters, a certain crocodile inevitably in tow. Deeper still are opportunities to gather with a group of dwarves, as Snow White lies under glass, the victim of the Wicked Queen’s apple, or to sit with Alice, a white rabbit and chap with an affinity for hats to partake of afternoon tea, while a lost boy wades the shallow waters of the little lake, gazing in wonder at the pile of books that rise from is midst.

Nor is this all; every turn in the path awaits the opportunity to offer a new childhood memory: Bambi and his mother, Cinderella, Snow White… the list goes on, and I’m not going to spoil things by mentioning all who are given a role within this forest.  And as well as these glimpses of childhood tales, Storybook Forest offers many places where visitors can sit and allow memories wash over them or have their imagination take flight – or rest their avatars while their camera roams through the woods, seeking out details that might otherwise be missed.

Storybook Forest, March 2020

And details there are indeed, from dedications to read through quotes from stories to places where a little interaction can be enjoyed, such as at the harpsichord sitting atop Cinderella’s tower. Even some of the characters have some unique aspects too them – take a look at the seven dwarves gathered around Snow White’s glass casket, for example! All of this is offered with a special dedication from Noralie, offered to all that wander Storybook Forest’s enchanted paths:

To the boy or girl who reads by flashlight
Who sees dragons in the clouds
Who feels most alive in worlds that never were
Who knows magic is real
Who dreams.

This is for you.

Storybook Forest, March 2020

As noted, Storybook Forest will be around until the end of of March 3rd, so make sure you capture any memories you wish to have of it before then. I confess, I will miss it once it is gone; it is a magical place. However, while it may soon pass into memory, so too are we given the promise of something new to follow – and so I look forward to returning and seen what new fruit has come forth to replace it.

SLurl Details

Time travel, coming of age and adventures in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Seanchai Library

It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home unless otherwise indicated. Note that the schedule below may be subject to change during the week, please refer to the Seanchai Library website for the latest information through the week.

Sunday, March 1st 13:30: Tea-Time Special: Death on the Nile

First published in 1937, Death on he Nile is one of Agatha Christie’s most famous and enduring Hercule Poirot murder mysteries. The book has been the subject of multiple theatrical, film and television adaptations, most of which had by necessity condensed elements of this tale of love, jealously, and betrayal to more readily fit the requirements of their format.

Now, Seanchai Library continues to present the opportunity to enjoy the story in full – and within a setting inspired by the novel, as Corwyn Allen, Da5id Abbot, Kayden Oconnell, Gloriana Maertens, and Caledonia Skytower bring Christie’s characters once more to life for us to enjoy.

The Karnak – Death on the Nile

So, why not join Poirot as he cruises aboard the river steamer Karnak in a trip along the Nile – although a tour of the sights is unlikely to be high on his priorities given murder has now claimed three victims, and theft appears to have joined the voyage!

Monday, March 2nd 19:00: The Ugly Little Boy

Gyro Muggins reads a tale that started life as a short story by Isaac Asimov, and was later expanded into a full length novel by Asimov writing in collaboration with Robert Silverberg.

A 21st century time travel experiment results in a Neanderthal boy being pulled from his time. The intention is to study the boy and understand how his kind lived. However because of the potential for time paradoxes, the boy must be kept in a within a stasis module, a place physically separated from modern time; but he must still be cared for. So the company behind the experiment hires a children’s nurse, Edith Fellowes, to look after him.

Initially horrified by the child, Edith comes to forms a bond with him, discovering he is intelligent and capable of both learning and love. However, to Stasis – the company behind the experiment – the boy is little more than a commodity to be observed and with a story to be sold to the media. As such, he is only of value for as long as there is public interest in his story. When that fades, the company determines the child must be returned to his own time, his place to be taken by a subject from another era. But Edith knows that, thanks to all she has taught him, his own time is no longer a place he is equipped to survive within, and determines she must take action to protect him.

Tuesday, March 3rd 19:00: Very Far Away from Anywhere

Ursula le Guin remains best know for her intelligent science fiction and fantasy stories. However, Willow Moonfire brings us one of her books that steps away from that genre entirely.

If you’d like a story about how I won my basketball letter and achieved fame, love, and fortune, don’t read this. I don’t know what I achieved in the six months I’m going to tell you about. I achieved something, all right, but I think it may take me the rest of my life to find out what.

So begins a moving coming-of age tale, centred on 17-year-old Owen, who is in the middle of his senior year in high school. A loner and intellectual, Owen is an introspective young man who hasn’t found any deep connections to anyone; only his interest in science offers a point of focus for him. While he does spend time with his two closest friends, is a member of various groups at school and enjoys sports, he looks upon that side of his life as a fiction, no more real to him than the pretend utopian world of Thorn, a place he created in his imagination whilst a child.

But Thorn is no longer a place of escape for him; it has become beyond his reach as he moves towards adulthood, and he must now face turning the “fiction” of the physical world into a reality in which he can function and move beyond the potential breakdown he might otherwise face, escape the threat of repeating the lives of his parents and take control of his destiny.

Wednesday, March 4th, 19:00: The Phantom Tollbooth

Finn Zeddmore reads Norton Juster’s fantasy adventure for younger readers.

For Milo, everything is a bore and all activities little more than a waste of time. Then one day he arrives home in his usual state of disinterest, only to find a package waiting for him. He has no idea where it has come from or who might have sent it, but is clearly intended for him, given the label. Opening it, he discovers a small tollbooth and a map of “the Lands Beyond,” illustrating the Kingdom of Wisdom.

Reading the limited instructions – that warn him to have a destination from the map in mind – and thinking the package to be some kind of game, he sets the tollbooth up, decides Dictionopolis should be his destination, and propels the accompanying little car through the tollbooth.

Immediately he finds himself driving an actual car through a city that is clearly not his own. Here he discovers he must remain focused, lest his thoughts wander, and his journey wanders as well; a lesson he only discovers when he does daydream and finds himself in the Doldrums.

Also as he travel and meets new friends, so he also discovers something else: life is far from boring or dull; it actually offers much to be discovered.

Thursday, March 5th: 19:00 Stag Hunt

Shandon Loring reads Laura DeLuca’s 2013 novel of history and pagan times.

In ancient Britannia, Eartha’s brother Balen has been in love with Princess Galiene since they were children. Upon the death of the High King, the tribesmen of the realm vie for the throne, and with it, the hand of the fair princess. They do so but hunting the King Stag: for the warrior who brings down the stag will be named defender of the land.

Balen enters the hunt in a desperate attempt to show himself worthy of Galiene’s attention. But he has a rival who is determined to keep him and Galiene apart. And so with the fates her brother and her dearest friend, and even her very nation hanging in the balance, Eartha must do the unthinkable to ensure her brother’s victory in the hunt.

Also in Kitely – grid.kitely.com:8002:SEANCHAI).