I have 30 days to figure out Blue Mars.

Follow me for 30 days while I decide whether Blue Mars is the virtual platform for Casita Gaia. Learn along with me. Laugh at me. Marvel at my amazing techno abilities and disabilities. I’m going to be posting everyday on the progress made that day on setting up the Village called Casita Gaia.

This should be really interesting as I’m not a Windows person, neither am I a blender person. I’ve been a textures person in other virtual worlds.

Wish me luck!

Whither goest thou Casita Gaia?

I’m soooooo fed up with Second Life. I just can’t compete with mega-corporations, huge non-profits and government entities and the constantly changing rules of merchandising via XstreetSL. I’m officially announcing the sale of my island in Second Life. The Womens Center remains a great idea and you may see it developed as a block in my village, predictably called Casita Gaia, on the Blue Mars Platform. This is a huge undertaking for me. It requires finding a buyer or eating my SL investment. Purchasing a different Mac computer that can run Bootcamp so I can run the software for Blue Mars that is Windows-based. I have 30 days to try this out before I’m charged the set up fee and second month’s rent.

But I believe in the positive power that developing an international network of women working for change in the virtual world can have. It is worth a try.

I am seeking development partners for a woman’s node in the metaverse. Contact me at nfhill (at) mac (com) if you are interested in developing such a “place.”

The Women’s Center Update — October 2009

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LOCATION!

Womens Center has become The Womens Center!
The differences? First — location, location, location. We are on a new island! The name of the island now has a THE in front of it. The old island was rented from Delicious Demar who has been an absolute angel from the time I rented my first store from her in 2006, right up through today. I still owe her a month’s rent, and that equal beaucoup bucks, so your donatons continue to be not only appreciated but bring whoops of glee from me — they give me the courage to continue to attempt to build my dream.

The rest of this note will be about my dream one that closely matches that of so, so many of all of you Women’s Center subscribers.

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PURPOSE & VISION

A place for women with diverse backgrounds and areas of interest to interact within an environment governed by women’s culture and cues frees our creativity and generates emergent opportunities. When entrepreneurs, artists, academics, fashionistas, dancers, entertainers, and divas interact a powerful synergy is created. I happen to believe that this synergy will be essential to positive reaction to and outcome of major societal and environmental changes underway on our Dear Mother Planet.
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OWNER STATUS & ISLAND TYPE

I switched from renting an island from an individual which cost $100 more a month than paying Lindens directly for an island.

One of the significant factors I face is that I am an individual not a non-profit organization so I must pay commercial rates to Linden Labs. That’s $100 U.S. more a month than non-profits pay to rent an island.

If anyone knows of how I can reduce cost further, say to $195 a month, on a class 5 full (not homestead) island, please contact me immediately with details!
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SANDBOX

The primary niche I have found and I find to have value that has not been done to death by others here in SL is for a place for women to build in peace. As this is a mature and not an adult island I really don’t care to know about a person’s sexuality or even gender. All I require on the island is that builders wear a female avatar and “act like a lady.” Be respectful, pick up after yourself and positively encourage others whenever possible.

I have THREE levels of building areas.

All are:

–No sex. No violence. No weapons. No self replicating prims.
–Unfortunately I have had to turn off Fly in the first two building areas decribed below.
–First two are set to autoreturn prims 3 hrs after being rezzed.

A Place for Women to Build

(Southwest Corner of Island – Ground Level)
Public, free – only women build “sandbox” for small builds and opening boxes, trying things out. No sex. No violence. No weapons.

Builder’s Skybox

Pay to teleport builder’s skybox. 25 Linden to tp to a building platform in the sky. You cannot fly to this platform. If you TP without paying you will be ejected from the island to your home. (Orbiting is sooo tacky.)

Women’s Sandbox

Members have access to a longer term build area, again in the sky, and not visible from ground level. This build group has a per month member fee. Contact me for details.

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RENTAL USE

At my discretion, I do rent space for personal, social and commercial projects. Talk to me.
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PARTNERS

I am seeking 2 or 3 women who would like to become “business” parters with me.

Ideally, I am looking for:
*a kick ass scripter
*someone with lots of experience on the landlord side of renting
*someone interested in teaching in SL

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QUESTIONS

If you are asking yourself, “Geesh, does this woman redesign her operations every month?” I will gladly provide that answer.
“No but whenever I learn something new, I do toss out what doesn’t work, and substitute new components. I am not afraid of change.”

If you have other questions you will have to ask me and receive your answer in person.

Peace & blessings,
Ana

IM: Ana Herzog
in Second Life

Next Notice: PAR- TAY on The Women’s Center. Stay tuned.

The Womens Center Joins Women Center as a Casita Gaia Property

Actually this happened in July. One of my oldest friends and associates in Second Life decided to sell his second island in SL. I asked him (avatar: Liam Serf) about price a couple days before he was going to let the island go if he didn’t find a buyer, I found that he was asking a reasonable price, less than half of what Linden Lab charges for an island (ie server) and he knocked off a little bit more because I’ve been a loyal shop renter with him for over three years.

So I scraped together the funds with very little wiggle room and bought it, named it, and began to learn the ropes of island owning. I rent Womens Center (not to be confused with The Womens Center) from Delicious Demar (the very first person I rented a small shop from before I began renting from Liam.)

I’m way overextended right now if you think of Second Life as a game. But an opportunity to host an event I could get behind came my way almost immediately upon purchase of the new island, so I spent the first month setting up for that. More on that, Tucson’s Birthday in the next post. Now I’m finally able to work on the infrastructure of creating a great place for networking and skills building.

Docent, Merchant, Professional and Resident Recruitment for Casita Gaia Village on Womens Center

We are taking applications and scheduling interviews throughout the month of July 2009 for August training sessions in preparation for the September Grand Opening of Casita Gaia Village on Womens Center. There is a long-term niche on Womens Center for SL residents, preferably women, who wish to have businesses, offices, service centers, classes, events and homes in a this intentional, mixed-purpose community. Only merchants with feminist, goddess, or women-oriented content, services and products will be considered for association with open spaces and buildings on the island. Single products will be considered for inclusion in a “department store.” While Womens Center is a mature area – sexual behavior is not appropriate on this island of no-door buildings. Respect is the bottom line and requests for privacy should be respected.

Womens Center is not anti-male, it is simply a place for women to be women with the intrusion of as little male culture as possible. Men should be accompanied by a woman on the island.

How to Apply

Please create a note card in-world, paste the appropriate questions for the type of type of position you are seeking onto the card, and then include thorough but succinct answers to each question. Drop the notecard on Ana Herzog. Please do not say, “look at my profile” in response to any question.

For Docents

Docents need to have been in-world three months and preferably 6 months. Voice verified screening will be used. Interest in women’s culture and history is desired. Dedication to building a safe, creative, learning environment on Womens Center is required. Non-U.S.-based SL residents are encouraged to apply. English language skills are nice but a good translator can be substituted. Conflict resolution skills, experience greeting people or acting as a hostess, and an outgoing personality are preferred.

How would you handle griefing in a sandbox?

If inappropriate sexual behavior on the island was reported to you, what would you do?

For Residents

Women who officially call Womens Center,”Home” will be quite limited in number as home is a very personal and significant attachment. Residents should understand that a building that is a private residence is not completely possible in a cooperative community. We are going to develop a rotational and or reservation system that will allow women to share space in a way that is meaningful and private. Sharing can take the form of non-sexual cohabitation, rotation by day, or a shift structure on a daily basis. There is a need for scripting services to create time-aware rezzing of holo rooms. This will maximize variation and diversity on our island. Plenty of group space in the main large Casita Gaia building on the Southwest Corner of the Island can accommodate avatars who do not have routine needs for private, exclusive space… sort of like a sorority.

Please explain why you would like to call Women’s Center home?

For Merchants

Merchants who have items of interest to women (goddess or feminist clothing for example), are related to women’s history (quilting frames), women’s art and archeology (venus of villensdorf), or particularly useful to women (security and radar systems) are encouraged to contact Ana Herzog about available store locations. If you have only one or two products and don’t feel an entire store is appropriate for you there is opportunity to place items in a Casita Gaia Village department store.

What products or services could you offer in a retail or service provider capacity that would enhance Casita Gaia Village and Women’s Center?

Why/how would these products enhance the island?

Tour of the the island and Casita Gaia Village

Today I gave the first “recruitment and marketing” tour of the island– Alexjo Magic, Carolyn Trefusis, Biji Mornington, Charlie Loxely, and Micah Raleigh, toured the sandbox, the actual Village, the Casa, the Casita, Labyrinth, pond and community center.

There questions were good and I was quite pleased at what they liked and where their concerns fell. Energy over the long haul, lag, and such were the primary concerns voiced. But overall I think they will all be women who tell others about this place.

I’m excited.