Events: Second Life Birthday

The Second Life Birthday Party is one of Second Life's big yearly events, and has many different parts.

Part of it is "Shop and Hop" - there is a huge temporary Mall with over 100 stores, and each shop has a free gift for residents.

Another part is the non-commercial Regions that house different exhibits, large and small, by residents and by Linden Lab.

A third part consists of live events including music, dance, and presentations. This year there was a presentation of a new home theme for residents.

That's a lot, and I will refer you to the different links to get a complete picture.

I have been to maybe three of these Birthday parties in the past. In my opinion the exhibitors' area most resembles the "community exhibits" of a large County Fair, with the resulting chaos, only you don't get full-sized dragons at County Fairs.

This year, though, I made a thing...In County Fair terms, it might be considered the equivalent of a lint collection...

Turtle fountain - background de-rendered

Another view 

What this is, is a large fountain surrounded by giant picture blocks. A huge turtle floats below cascading clouds, with four life-size elephants on her back. The elephants support a map of Second Life, and above the map is a red balloon carrying a small hippopotamus with a spy glass. I didn't make the turtle or the elephant or the hippo - I just made the simple parts, but I did put everything together*. 

The title of my exhibit is "Where Are These Places in Second Life?" with a CarmenSanDiego theme. I have been collecting landmarks for hidden, forgotten, secret and overlooked places in Second Life for some time. Each block has a photo showing a destination, and clicking on the block gives visitors a notecard with the landmark and some information. I also made a box of "Free tools for explorers".

The whole process was exciting and terrifying. I had about two weeks to put everything together, and kept changing the layout. I had to re-check all the locations and make sure that nothing had changed. In one case I had to spend time to make sure that you could still complete a long quest. It was a lot of fun to see the other builds go up and talk with some of the other exhibitors.

After the Birthday exhibits are over, I will take some of the build back to the Tourist Information Center and install it there. Maybe even the fountain.

Now I can relax and visit the other Exhibits.

I was very excited when I heard someone chatting about 'that great big turtle', but then I found out that there was a bigger turtle in the Spellbound Region made by Walton F. Wainwright of Contraption. His turtle has a cathedral on its back, and a giant tree on top of the cathedral. The whole structure is 233 meters high. The turtle moves, and Walton made it himself, so I have to agree it is superior to MY turtle - still...

Next year.

*Yeah, Terry Pratchett reference.