I received word about an event being held this weekend in light of the tragic suicide of teenager Jamey Rodemeyer last month.

Be A Warrior for Jamey is a joint event being organised by Second Pride and other LGBT organisations that is in support of October is National Bullying Prevention Month, and aims to “Celebrate Jamey’s life and the lives of other teens, many of whose deaths are not being recorded as suicides due to the associated stigma. It will also let troubled teens in Second Life know that they have somewhere to turn if they have are confronted by bullying”.

The information on the event is being circulated by DJ Palianta, and reads in part:

“Dear Fellow Second Life Resident:

“I am writing to you about something that has been of great concern for me — the epidemic of teen suicides due to bullying, most notably including their peers in schools. Gay teens are a particularly vulnerable target. And they need your help.  And I am sorry to tell you that yesterday, news of another gay teen suicide in Ottawa Canada, Jamie Hubley, was announced.

“Troubled gay teens like Jamie Hubley and Jamey Rodemeyer, above, who ended his life on September 17 after making an “It Gets Better” video“, are increasingly taking their own lives in response to having nowhere to turn. This is an epidemic that is getting out of control and must be confronted and stopped.

“We look at these beautiful boys and girls and see a life waiting to be lived. Many of us cannot imagine the horror and despair that must be going on through their minds. What is happening?  For one thing, social media, most notably Facebook, is opening another venue of bullying and exposing all sorts of personal information to the outside world. For another, gay teenagers are “coming out” now at far younger ages than they did in prior generations, at a time when they are most vulnerable. And for every teenager who commits suicide, a much larger number are contemplating the same.

“This weekend, the residents of Second Life will have their chance to do something about this. Tadd’s Cabaret, together with Second Pride and other clubs and organizations,  will be hosting ‘Be a Warrior for Jamey Weekend’ on Saturday, October 22 and Sunday, October 23.”

The event will be held at Tadd’s Cabaret and Dance Club, and the schedule comprises (all times SLT):

Saturday, October 22

• 19:00-21:00:DJ Jared Presents Be a Warrior! with Jamey’s Warriors

Sunday, October 23

• 15:00-16:00: InysX Piranha
• 16:00-17:00: Loki Kahanamoku
• 17:00-18:00: Queen Edman
• 18:00-19:00:Johny Alderton
• 19:00-20:00: TinaMaire Beck
• 20:00-21:00: Jared Palianta

October 17-19 will see the US-based National eXtension Initiative host a Virtual Conference on-line and in Second Life.

The conference is billed as being for, “Anyone working to reach and interact with the public will be interested in this active and reactive virtual conference designed to build your knowledge skill set about the changing world of information today and for the future”.

It will be streamed live over the web (note that this website will remain static until the conference commences), and will also be broadcast in-world in Second Life at the NeVC’s open-air auditorium (SLurl).

The conference offers a relaxed pace to suit the working environment – those wishing to participate don’t have to spend the entire day glued to a live stream or in-world – and offers the opportunity for those best-suited to the time zone (East Coast USA) to share the eent with work colleagues.

Schedule of Speakers

All times SLT.

Monday 17th October

• 08:00 – Howard Rheingold: the internationally syndicated author of the weekly Tomorrow column, editor of best-seller The Millennium Whole Earth Catalogue and author of best-sellers Virtual Reality and The Virtual Community

Tuesday 18th October

• 08:00 – Robin Good: online entrepreneur and publisher of www.MasterNewMedia.org, an online magazine covering the effective use of new media technologies for business and communication, Robin has seen his work mentioned in over 100 books and his writing followed by nearly 10 million people worldwide in 2010. He introduced the concept of “news radars” in 2004, and has since expanded on the concept. On top of all this, he current curates multiple new topics at: http://scoop.it/u/RobinGood
• 11:00 – Paulette Robinson is the Assistant Dean for Teaching and Learning for the Information Resources Management College at the National Defense University and leads the Federal Consortium for Virtual Worlds, which is used by government, industry, and academia interested in virtual world use for confronting and solving common issues.

Wednesday 19th October

• 08:00 – Clay Shirky is the author of Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations (2008) and Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age (2010) and studies the effects of the Internet on society
• 11:00 – Steven Rosenbaum is the author of Curation Nation, which explores the emerging phenomenon of human organization and publishing of content. He is also the founder of Magnify.net and the creator of MTV News Unfiltered.

Each session will last 45 minutes, and will be followed by a short break, after which there will be some 90 minutes available for interactive Q&A via chat and Twitter. As well as being streamed live, each presentation will be recorded for later re-broadcasting.

Further information can be found on the conference web page (note that all times on the website are EDT, not SLT!), and by following #nevc2011 on Twitter.

With thanks to Rik at NPC, and Terry Meisenbach at The National eXtension Initiative.

With being away for a few days over the month-end, I didn’t catch notification of this year’s BoobieThon, so apologies to the organisers for this late post.

BoobieThon is an annual, week-long event designed to raise awareness of, and funds to help in the fight against, breast cancer. It is an off-shoot of a real world event and forms a part of the Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Activities throughout the week are deliberately planned to be interesting, fun, and at times irreverent, with the serious aim of raising funds for the Susan  G. Komen Foundation.

Here’s a schedule of the remaining events for the week – all times SLT

US politics take centre stage this week in Second Life with two major real-world presentations being simulcast into Second Life.

Candy Crowley

Today, Wednesday September 14, CNN political correspondent Candy Crowley will be talking on the subject Broke… and Broken? Assessing the US Political Scene, at the University of Delaware.

The talk is scheduled for 16:30 SLT, and will feature a simulcast in Second Life at the University’s in-world sim, and Ms. Crowley will answering questions from both the live and virtual audiences.

Given we’re into the run-up to the next year’s US Presidential election, this could be a challenging and thought-provoking presentation.

US Vice President Joe Biden

On Friday 16th September, US Vice President Joe Biden will also be speaking at the University of Delaware. As a former alumnus of the University, he will be delivering the inaugural James. R. Soles Lecture on the Constitution and Citizenship, and gifting his three decades of US Senate papers to the University’s library.

His talk will take place at 13:00 SLT, and will be simulcast to the University’s  Imagination sim in Second Life.

Questions on the Vice President’s presentation should be directed either to the University of Delaware’s website, or in-world to Firery Broome.

With thanks to Betterverse and the University of Delaware

Torley Linden, rightly one of the most popular Linden Lab employees, famous for his infectious good-humour, his love of watermelons and talent for music, is to be the focus of the 4th resident-run Saint Torley’s Day, organised by the First Church of Rosedale and the Four Kittens of the Apocalypse.

The event will take place this Sunday, the 18th September, 2011, commencing at 12:00 SLT. Celebrations will comprise:

• 12:00-14:00: a party featuring Second Life artist Kaklick Martin and Torley’s own compositions, hosted by Alchemy Epstein and Nakira Tennen; to be held at the Four Kittens of the Apocalypse, Penning
• 14:00: a “special service” at the Rheta Shan Memorial Chapel of the First Church of Rosedale, Rhianna, wherein Torley’s story will be recounted (participants will need to be adult-verified or have payment information on file).

The press release announcing the event reads in part:

“Torley Linden has written innumerable posts on the company’s official blog and created hundreds of video tutorials. He listens and responds to residents, holding weekly office hours and keeping tabs on Second Life content all over the Web, including blogs, Flickr, Twitter, Vimeo, and YouTube. His Saint Day is the Sunday closest to his “rezday” (the day he first entered Second Life), September 15; 2011 will mark the end of his seventh year ‘in-world.'”

The event is intended to be a warm celebration of Torley’s work as Resident Enlightenment Manager, as such those attending the party are encouraged to “wear the most pleasingly garish shades of neon pink and green they can find”, and expect the “‘melon-go-round’, the grid’s most heavily armed watermelon piñata, and more surprises”.

So get your shades, grab a watermelon and join the festivities!

Watermelon Wine by Torley Linden

For further information, contact Samantha Poindexter in-world.

The organisers stress this event is not affiliated with or sponsored by Linden Lab.

Sunday 18th through Wednesday 21st will see the Second Life Fashion Expert days take place in the official SL forums.

Each day of the event, up to 5 SL Fashion Experts will be standing by to share ideas and images, and to discuss the vibrant fashion scene in Second Life.They will be available from 09:00 through 16:00 SLT on each day of the event, ready to answer questions related to SL fashion and avatar appearance. In the words of the official blog post, “No query is off-limits!”.

In addition, the event will see exclusive Fashion blog posts and insider style tips shared in the Fashion Forums.

The provisional schedule is as follows:

Sunday, September 18, 09:00-16:00 SLT:

• Iris Ophelia
• Felicity Blumenthal
• Elusyve Jewell

Monday, September 19, 09:00-16:00 SLT:

• Frolic Mills
• Sasy Scarborough
• Whimsy Winx
• Harper Beresford
• Laylinha Tomsen (in Portuguese)

Tuesday, September 20, 09:00-16:00 SLT:

• PopTart Lilehook
• Casja Lilliehook
• Gidge Uriza
• Vick Spitteler (in Portuguese)

Wednesday, September 21, 09:00-16:00 SLT:

• Strawberry Singh
• Lily Karlsbar
• Ponino Oh
• Thereaver Barrymore (in Portuguese)

Details may change according to availability, so make sure you check with the official blog post for updates.

Image courtesy of Rena Sakai