Santa Clause is coming to town!

Yes, that time of the year is here once again. Santa Clause is coming to town and the sound of "Jingle Bells" is already starting to fill up the air. As it would be fit for our beloved Second Life residents, WAD Designs have come up with an amazing collection of outfits for Christmas.

I got their unisex collection of boots and a nice Christmas wreath.

Have a look at the photos below.

The boots actually jingle when you walk, which I thought was pretty cool.

And yes the outfit comes with a cigar that actually leaves smoke rings in the dark, very nice and cool particle effect there. Take a look below.

Here is what you actually get in each set.

The boots come in two versions, rigged as well as unrigged.

If you are interested about the products, please get them from Marketplace today.

Christmas wreath - Marketplace Link

Santa unisex boots - Marketplace Link

WAD Designs store in world has a mind boggling collection of outfits for both males and females at very reasonable prices. Here is your taxi to the store in-world.

So, what are you waiting for? Visit the store today.

And I take this opportunity to wish all readers Merry Christmas and happy holidays! Have fun and stay safe!

Cheers!

Immortal

Introducing women's thigh boots from WAD designs

Dear readers

WAD Designs have come up with yet another amazing collection of boots for women. Have a look at the photos below.

The boots are dynamic in the sense that they would fit any of the state of the art female bodies in Second Life like Belleza, Fitmesh, Maitreya or Slink.

Have a look at what you will get once you buy this amazing set of boots.

This comes with a hud with which you can easily change the color of your boots. You will have four color options along with options to alter values for shininess, glow and alpha! Depending on your body (Belleza / Fitmesh / Maitreya / Slink), you will be able to choose your boots.

Our model looked ravishing in these red boots. 

If this looks interesting to you, here is the product link on marketplace.

You may also take the taxi in-world to visit their store by clicking this link.

WAD Design's marketplace store link here.

The photos were clicked in and around the Tiki Nights Club studio. Visit here in-world.

Rest of the model's outfit (except boots) is from Katharina Infinity. Product link here.

The sunglasses are free group gift from Turlaccor Custom Bikes. Marketplace link here.

Please contact the blogger with any queries. 

Cheers!

Immortal

Tips for becoming a great host!

This article is based around my experience of hosting in Second Life as well as my observations working with some super great, some great, some not-so-great and some pretty awful hosts at various clubs.

I do not claim to be a great host. I think I am average and I do not even host nowadays, only DJ thrice a week at Sharktooth Beach Club, Tiki Nights and Tart & Troubadour.

So, what makes for a great host?

Let me tell you about some of the best I have seen and may be then, you will see, what it takes.

I shall start this with someone I met around 3 years back and does not log in to SL any more, for whatever reason. She used to host at this club where I used to DJ. A fantastic personality. Spoke to every person at the club in the same way - no matter a guest, a friend, a foe, a super tipper VIP or just a noob. She was a prolific gesture-user as well and kind of had gestures on her finger tips for every emotion, word and even songs.

There was another pair of wonderfully chatty chirpy sisters, who have again stopped logging into SL for more than a couple of years now. These sisters owned a club and we were great friends. Though I never worked for them, I wish I would have. It was fun galore for VIPs when these sisters were in action. They had this amazing charisma to make any person feel at home and the humor factor was sky high at any of their events! They kind of fed off each other!

In my SL career, I have met many other amazing hosts who just know how to entertain and keep VIPs engaged. If you ask me, a lot of it cannot be taught. But for purposes of this article, here is a framework and a few pointers which may at least help you get started. If you feel you are already amazing, close this blog right now! If not, read on! :)

There are few parts to being an amazing host -
1. The ability to draw people in
2. The ability to hold people and keep them interested for the whole event
3. Art of working with colleagues and club owners

1. The ability to draw people in -
There are several ways to do it. A few that I learnt from the vivacious Viva - the club owner of Sharktooth beach club include -
a) Posting events on the Second Life Website. Remember you can post till 2 hours before your set, not after that. Check the official websites as they seem to be changing rules every day.
b) Spamming in-world groups that allow you to advertise events for free
c) Spamming Facebook groups that allow you to advertise events for free
d) Try to invite friends and family to a personal in-world group. This would help you send notices and invites when you are working. Mass TP requests do not really work these days.
e) Be aware of the basics around sending notices to club VIP group - a typical format is sending notice twice at the start and at half time of the event.
f) Work with the owner to place ads around Second Life. This may not be your direct doing always, but you can always suggest stuff you observe while hosting.

2. The ability to hold people after they arrive -
The DJ definitely has an important part to play in terms of playing the right music and being able to dish out requests with little delay. But to me, the hosts have an even bigger role and it starts with welcoming people to the club. This is what I have seen being done by the best today -
a) They never miss welcoming a single guest. Even a simple "Hi" goes a long way. Even if you set up a hud to do it for you, please do it.
b) Once the first greeting goes out, the VIP may or may not respond. If he chooses to remain silent, fine, but if he responds, it is important to send a personalized message back on local chat. A simple "how are you doing today?" will also help. If he intends to engage in a conversation over local, keep at it. Remember this conversation keeps the local chat going and may eventually attract the other people to pitch in, making it up for a lively discussion.
c) Judicious use of gestures - Keep the gestures positive, entertaining. Remember too much of anything is bad. Same goes with gestures, don't overdo it. If you see a nice discussion already in progress in local, do not disrupt it with a sudden gesture. On the contrary, if you see two VIPs have started a chat fight and it is getting nasty, by all means use gestures to disrupt the conversation. Also IM them individually requesting them to take it to instant messages.
d) Make sure you are having fun. Hosting is a high energy job. One of the reasons I do not do it nowadays is because, I am not sure I will be able to give my 100%. If you are not able to give your 100%, don't do it.
e) Be clear on your objective - The objective is to have fun, enjoy and entertain. Don't focus on lindens. If you are good, lindens will automatically flow in.
f) Never request lindens for yourself. Let the DJ voice it for you. You do it for the DJ. Requesting lindens for self does not sound good, don't do it.
g) Do not use the "tip" gestures too much. If you use them, please use them at an interval of say 30 minutes, thus 4 times every set. Never more than that. If people are already tipping and everyone is locally being notified, you do not even need to use that gesture. Remember if you ask, you will not get it. Gentle reminder is enough. About gesturing on tips I have seen some hosts use nasty gestures like "Do not be a miser, tip and be wiser!" Don't do it. Personally it pisses me off every time someone uses a gesture like that when I am visiting a club.
h) Make sure to thank the tipper ALWAYS, without fail. Personalize the thank you message with something sweet and mention his / her name too. If the person leaves the venue immediately after tipping, make sure to send an IM to him / her and tell how much you appreciated. If someone skipped the tip-jar and paid you directly, he / she may not wish everyone to know that you were tipped. Respect privacy. Respond over IM thanking him / her.
i) If everything is quiet at the club and you have just a few people visiting, by all means do your best to engage people in conversation.
Sadly, in spite of everything you do, there would be times when the sets would go slow. Be professional and keep the quality high. Regard every guest that comes with utmost importance.
j) Use of trivia - I have seen clubs using trivia to great effect. People find it interesting although it may eat up on lindens. Even if trivia does not pay out, it is still a great way to attract people.
k) As much as possible, keep your focus on the event at hand. It is great to be able to multi-task, but hosting is not an easy job and will demand your full attention. Politely respond to friends saying you are working and will catch up after the set.
l) Make sure to listen to the set when the DJ plays. I am a DJ myself so I have ways to figure out how many people are listening. It is extremely frustrating to see zero people listening to my set when I am voicing every 10 minutes. If you cannot listen to music while hosting, PLEASE DO NOT HOST ! Listening to music has added benefits too. You can notify a DJ if there are stream issues or the music is not good or you can simply start a conversation about what Ozzy Osbourne was thinking when he sang "Mama, am coming home!"
m) Have a great avatar with a pleasing personality. Remember you are entertaining VIPs. Even if you do not have a 3000L avatar, at least try to look good. If you have a smile hud, do use it. Caution: Keep the scripts low, as much as possible.
n) Keep the viewer performance at its best. Crashes in SL are real. Being a host, try to stay in the set for the full 2 hours with minimum crashes. What you can do is under avatar preferences (for Firestorm), keep it highest on performance and lowest on graphic quality.
o) Always work on an agreed-on hand off mechanism with the next host. Make sure that the stage is not left vacant. Log-off from the tip jar 2 to 3 minutes before your set ends and let the next host take charge. If you did not get tipped in 1 hour, 57 minutes you would not get tipped in last 3. Still if someone is intent, he can always send you lindens directly. Bottom-line: Log out before your set ends.


3. Art of working with colleagues and club owners
a) Be drama-free. Period. There would be times when someone somewhere would piss you off. Happened with me many times. In my initial days I took the fight to local but I learned from mistakes and don't do it any more. If you have an issue with a colleague, start working it out over IM, never local chat. If that does not work, report it to your management with adequate proof. If needed mute and block the concerned person. This is a great advantage of SL, I wish I had this advantage in RL too. :)  If the workplace itself becomes unbearable, leave and look for the next job. If you are not happy working somewhere, you would not do well there. Spare yourself and everyone else the agony.
b) If you are not able to make a set, ALWAYS notify beforehand. It is very stressful for managers and colleagues to find a back-up for people at the last moment. Install mobile apps for SL - there is a nice one Lumiya for android. Continuity and consistency in events is vital for a club to be popular and YOU play a vital role in it.
c) Try not to be romantically involved with colleagues at the workplace. If you are, one of you should ideally stop working at the same venue. Break-ups are always painful for everyone and usually the club suffers when a good staff leaves the place just because of a personal issue.
d) If you have stopped working at a club, by all means, do not bitch about how bad an experience it was. It may be a bad experience for you, agreed. You may have been treated badly, agreed. But do not bitch about it to everyone. Remember if you bitch about a past club, the present club owner may very well think you will bitch about him / her as well one day. Keep the drama down. Things some time work out, sometimes do not. As long as things work, fine. When they do not, move on.

As I mentioned at the start of this post, I am a very average host. These are merely stuff I have seen the best in business do today. Did I miss on anything? Would definitely like to hear from you!


Cheers !

Immortal


Abbreviations used:
SL - Second Life
RL - Real Life
IM - Instant Message
TP - Teleport
noob - A new SL resident
hud - A scripted in-world device that lets you animate your avatar

Disclaimer: The image used is a modified version of the official Linden Labs logo. No copyright infringements intended.

The Ninja

I have always dreamed of myself as a warrior and when I got a chance to have this outfit, I sprang with delight and got it.

Take a look at the shots. This is a high quality full ninja costume complete with sword.

This is a complete outfit and comes with hood, scarf, mask, sword and alpha layers. I felt this is just an awesome outfit if you wish to do roleplays or even just wear it for fashion.

Here is what you get with the outfit:

Get it from WAD Designs (Market Place Store link here).

In-world store link: Teleport here.

This product link here (Market Place link)

The photographs were shot at the Tiki Nights club, which also has a great photo studio. Teleport here.

Cheers!

Immortal

1 Linden suit

So, my hunt for freebies and near-freebies continues.

I found this really cool 1 linden outfit from "Unzip Me". Here is the marketplace link to the outfit.

This, I believe, is being promoted as an X-mas item. And it is mesh.

I tried it. Definitely worth more than 1 linden.

Check me out.

Here is the full package:

Curious to know if you too tried it. Let me know in comments.

Cheers!

Immortal

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. I have neither received any favor nor any lindens from the designer. I got it, liked it, so posted it!

Christmas men's outfit for zero lindens

So, its almost time for Christmas and everywhere we see, there is a rush for gifts and thus, shopping.

Yes, I am shopping as well. But this time, I set myself a challenge to dress up in a zero linden outfit. Yes, cash is tight but need to celebrate right? (wow, that rhymes too lol)

So, I found this outfit from Samy Firehawk (Secret Passion) (Marketplace link here) and decided to get it.

Take a look. For zero lindens this is not really bad!

Items that you get with the outfit:

Cheers!

Immortal


Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. I have neither received any favor nor any lindens from the designer. I got it, liked it, so posted it!

Interview with Club Carnage owner

I wanted to do this yesterday but the owner of Club Carnage was too busy with so much going on at the 10-years celebration party, but I did get hold of her today and to her credit, she was patient and accommodating enough to give me some time to conduct an interview. The IM conversation below has not been edited, beyond typographical corrections. To me, it was immensely enlightening to listen from someone with so much experience with SL clubbing. I hope the readers do find this conversation inspiring and thought-provoking.

----- I N T E R V I E W  W I T H  C A E M L Y N  W I T H E R S P O O N -----

[17:22] Caemlyn Witherspoon: ready when you are
[17:22] Immortal (immortal420): ok
[17:22] Immortal (immortal420): First of all how does it feel running a club for 10 years?
[17:23] Caemlyn Witherspoon: I am absolutely astounded that the club has made it this many years. But then, one with a staff as great as we have is bound to be around when others have failed!
[17:24] Caemlyn Witherspoon: I need to add to that. "We have a VIP base of almost 10,000 and they are why we are here at all!
[17:24] Immortal (immortal420): ok
[17:24] Immortal (immortal420): Right. Talking about staff, retention is not the easiest thing for a club owner in Second life. What is your secret to having a loyal crew for so long?
[17:28] Caemlyn Witherspoon: I only promote those that I feel are in it for the long haul. I have this inate ability to tell, just by interviewing someone, their intent at applying here. We have a big turnover, as I would assume most clubs do, but our upper management rarely ever changes. I place my trust and faith in them. Sometimes I wonder why they stay. I'm so glad they do though!
[17:29] Immortal (immortal420): okay :) What makes Club Carnage different from all other clubs out there in Second Life?
[17:30] Caemlyn Witherspoon: I feel it is acceptance. We don't care if you are hours old in Second Life or if you are King of the whole world, everyone is treated equally.
[17:31] Immortal (immortal420): okay :)
[17:32] Immortal (immortal420): About clubbing in general, you are way more experienced that I am, 2005 to 2015, you have seen many things change about second life. Tell me about one good thing you have seen and one bad thing.
[17:33] Caemlyn Witherspoon: The bad thing is, of course, the decline in users. Second Life is a wonderful place and more people need aware of it. The ways of enjoying it are limitless. Even after all these years I have barely even scratched the surface of all there is to do.
[17:35] Caemlyn Witherspoon: The good thing is the leaps and bounds LL has made in SL. We no longer have to strip to TP, etc. The making of clothes and hair are happening almost too fast to keep up with, but I'm very very glad to see it still growing
[17:35] Immortal (immortal420): Right. :)
[17:37] Immortal (immortal420): What attracts SL residents today to clubs? If I name four factors say - quality of DJ, quality of host, club environment, opportunity to earn gift / lindens... can you rank them in order of most important to least important? :)
[17:40] Caemlyn Witherspoon: I feel people are drawn #1 for the money. We all hate to think they'd come just for money, but it seems the clubs with the deepest pockets are the most populated. Not sure I'd even want a crowd here if they were only for money.
[17:41] Caemlyn Witherspoon: The next 3 I feel are equally important and one without the other just is not going to work. You can have the best looking club in SL but if you do not have a staff to welcome people and a good DJ, they are not going to stay
[17:41] Immortal (immortal420): right, ok!
[17:42] Immortal (immortal420): How about branding of a club? Carnage was named way back in 2005. Did you ever think of changing the name? Do you think changing name affects a brand?
[17:44] Caemlyn Witherspoon: I did consider changing the name when I took the club over in 2006, but already had quite a nice VIP base. I did not want people looking for "Carnage" and not being able to find it. "Oh they must have closed. I'll go to another place." I would not have chosen this name for a club, but it was what I was given and I ran with it. YES names are VERY important for clubs.
[17:44] Immortal (immortal420): ok :) Well, I hope I am not interrupting any of your important work. :) Just making sure..
[17:45] Caemlyn Witherspoon: nope Homer is here and handling what needs handled
[17:45] Immortal (immortal420): cool :)
[17:47] Immortal (immortal420): You can skip this question, if you feel it is a business secret. I'll still ask. How often do you meet with your management team. Do you follow a well laid out structure like RL or keep it very casual? Easier way to ask is probably: Do you take your SL club as seriously as your RL business (if you had one)?
[17:49] Caemlyn Witherspoon: I do have a RL business and if the SL business operated at a profit I would watch the accounting as well as I do my RL one. As it is, we get what we can, do what we can do.
[17:50] Caemlyn Witherspoon: I meet with upper management every month. But my door is always open. While I am THE BOSS there is seldom a decision made that I do not ask the opinions of the managers involved.
[17:50] Immortal (immortal420): okay. :)
[17:50] Immortal (immortal420): Well, I am almost done here. Appreciate your patience. :)
[17:50] Caemlyn Witherspoon: I am still so honored that you asked!
[17:51] Caemlyn Witherspoon: and such great questions
[17:51] Immortal (immortal420): So, 10 years already. Where do you wish to go from here with this club? :)
[17:52] Caemlyn Witherspoon: I would LOVE nothing more than to see us add more events, add more staff, get more VIPS. I am a hopeless optimist and think that someday we WILL go back to events 12-12 and a staff of 150 and 80-100 customers here each event. Until then, I'll watch and wait! It's gonna happen! Watch and see!
[17:53] Immortal (immortal420): I sure wish it happens for you. :)
[17:53] Caemlyn Witherspoon: It will!
[17:55] Immortal (immortal420): What would be your message to people who are new to management or club ownership?
[17:57] Caemlyn Witherspoon: Don't give up first of all. Secondly, you cannot do it all yourself. Teach people to do your job, teach them to train others to do their job and so on down the line. Knowledge on how you want YOUR club run is a must.
[17:57] Immortal (immortal420): Right. :)
[17:58] Immortal (immortal420): Coming to my last and final question, any message for your staff and your VIPs?
[17:59] Caemlyn Witherspoon: Yes, this message I would love to scream from the highest mountain tops of Second Life so the entire world would hear, and know how heartfelt and honestly I say it. My message to my staff and all our VIPS would be "THANK YOU!"
[18:00] Immortal (immortal420): :)
[18:00] Immortal (immortal420): awesome!
[18:00] Immortal (immortal420): Thanks a lot madam, for your time!! Was my pleasure!
[18:00] Caemlyn Witherspoon hugs you and kisses your cheek."It was my pleasure my friend. TY for being you and coming into my Life

---- E N D  O F  I N T E R V I E W ----

Abbreviations used:
SL - Second Life
RL - Real Life
TP - Teleport
IM - Instant Message
LL - Linden Labs

Dear readers, I would like to know from you your thoughts on best practices around clubbing in Second Life.

Club Carnage 10 years anniversary bash - a report

Attended the Club Carnage 10 years anniversary bash yesterday with the Santa Claws concert at 4PM SLT. As the evening progressed they had many other events with lots of prizes given away.

I joined Carnage in the year 2011 and learned most of my work there starting with hosting then DJing and for a brief period also played the role of Asst. DJ Manager.

The club is currently owned by Caemlyn Witherspoon and has an old, reliable and very experienced and professional management crew. While Second Life clubs today appear today, go tomorrow, this club arguably is the oldest rock club operating steadily since 2005 with a steady traffic.

The photos below were taken by me and are from the 4-6PM event celebrating the bash. It was a concert by the SL band Bad Amp's Santa Claws. Bad Ampitude is a fun loving, role playing tribute band group within second life. They have also won the 2013 AVI CHOICE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST TRIBUTE BAND. 

While I did not have a chance to attend the other events, per popular feedback, it was great fun for everyone. There are more photos in this link, if you would like to check out.

The event was also publicised well by Carnage's SL friend OD Designs.

All in all, great celebrations! 

Have not visited Carnage yet? Here are the details.

Facebook page link

Your taxi to the club in-world - Ride

Cheers!

Immortal

Second life businesses - tips and tricks - part 1

This goes back to the time when I owned a few stores in Second Life for some sunglasses and custom items I used to design. I was never very good at designs, so no wonder, the sales never picked up. But I did learn a few things from my little experience and I am going to share what I did. I do not intend to say it is the best way to do it, but it worked for me with limited success. This is also based on my observation on what most successful designers do today.

So, here goes a few pointers:

1. Have a subscriber list set up

I prefer subscriber list and not groups and I'll tell you why. You can have at most 50 SL groups at a time, but if you use subscribers you can still reach out to people without capping their group limits. Now, if you are really good, people will start joining your group. But for a start also have a subscriber. That way you are not eating into others' groups at the same time you are reaching them. I have not used subscribers myself, but know people who use them with good success.

2. Set up MM (midnight mania) boards

Now this one can be a hit or a miss. The in-world MM groups are spammed s heavily that most sane people skip joining them. I guess, the ones who join it are mostly the designers and spammers. Even if customers join, they often mute the IM option. So, most MM boards today go unfilled by midnight. Now, to have MM boards work for you, you need a few things -

a) Product quality in general has to be excellent, so people are interested in slapping the boards

b) You need to have people publicize it. MM boards usually have two options - one is that you give the item to everyone if target is met OR you give the item to only one person randomly once target is met. It goes without saying that in the first option, you will get more slaps, as people are sure to receive the gift if target is met. 

c) Make sure to set the MM board to group if you have one. That way people are compelled to join  it before they slap it.

d) Spam in-world as well as social networking groups. Instead of posting a generic MM boards status, it helps to provide customized messages and update the count of the slapping each time.

3. Contact club owners 

This tip is handy. Many club owners today face difficulty keeping staff motivated and VIPs entertained. Lindens are hard to come by. Now one benefit of being a SL creator is - you do not have on-going manufacturing cost once the first product is ready. You can clone it easily at zero cost. Now, one very good way to establish a brand name is getting in partnership with club owners and suggest to sponsor events. So, what do you really sponsor? You set up gift cards and have the clubs give them away to either VIPs or staff. That way, you reach the SL population. You can probably advertise for free at the club venue as you are already providing gift cards and I would assume the club owners will only be too happy to accommodate your request. It is a WIN-WIN situation and you keep everyone happy!

4. Recruit marketing folks

If you have an in-world store, this is something you need. Bots are great, but they can't have an engaging conversation with a customer and influence a sale. You need real people. So, how do you do it? If you are rich and can pay tips or salaries, nothing like it. But with a slow SL economy, it might be a better idea to make it commission based. Say you pay 5% of every sale, provided your sales rep can prove through local chat or im chat that he was able to influence the purchase decision. I have spoken to some designers myself and many talk about trust issues while giving access to marketplace. My point is - why would you even need to give access to marketplace if you go through what I have just stated?

5. Selection of store location

Although SL businesses do not have an advantage of proximity or geographical location unlike RL businesses, it is very important to look for a high traffic zone while setting up store. It is equally important to let people know about it, so ample campaigning and ad circulation needs to be done both in-world and on social networks.

6. Get bloggers and photographers for you

If you can blog and post pictures yourself, nothing like it. If not, it is important to get people to promote you. The objective is to reach as many people as possible, because one thing for sure, in SL competition is tough and in many ways, tougher than RL.

7. Set up reward system for loyalty

This is important. You need to keep people coming back to purchase your stuff and nothing better than rewarding old loyal customers. There are many ways to do it. You can provide discounts or special gifts to such people on a time to time basis based on sales that they have generated.

8. Emphasize on market place rating and reward 5-star raters

I am not telling to bribe people to rate you. That is unethical if you ask me. But if people leave 5-star rating, make sure you let them know how much you appreciate it and nothing better than a token, like a small gift. I know at least one designer in SL who does that very successfully.

Are you a designer or creator? What do you do to boost your sales? Share your thoughts!

Cheers!

Immortal

Introduction

Hello readers

So, here is my new blog on Second Life. I named it Second Life Extravaganza and I do hope you like the name.

Who am I?
I am Immortal (In-world name: immortal420 Resident). I joined Second Life in 2011 and been hooked to it since then. There have been times when RL (yes Real Life) took over and prevented me from enjoying my virtual world, but that has not always been the case. So, while not away, I have juggled around multiple activities like hosting, DJing, managing, modeling, been a cop and so on and so forth. I have even started photography off late. Critics say I am not at par with the best out there, which I agree, but well, am trying to get better. Check out my Flickr link here. Follow me if you like.

Why did I create this blog?
I created this blog to jot down my SL thoughts and showcase stuff that I like or love in SL! I hope, with time, I find interesting enough things to write about. Over time I am hoping to showcase stuff from eminent designers on this platform and help fellow SL residents make informed choice on what sells and what does not. I also do intend on doing a bit of journalism (yeah, you heard right) - covering SL events from reputed clubs, doing interviews and promoting stuff I personally like. I do hope you will like it as well. So, it will be kind of a mixed bag.

Well, folks, that's all I had for now. Stay tuned for a new post very soon!

Cheers!

Immortal