Tuesday, June 24, 2014

SL11B Press Day


By Bixyl Shuftan


On Saturday June 21st, I headed to a press tour of some of the Second Life Eleventh Birthday (SL11B) sims. Our meeting location was at part of a stage that vaugely resembled a pink brain, part of "The Empires of the Future Are the Empires of the Mind" theme I assumed.


Saffia Widdershins was the one leading the tour group. Among the others there was Daniel Voyager, in the SL11B robot avatar. We were offered a few freebies, such as a stack of hats.


Saffia was communicating with the group through both chat and voice, "Everyone at SL11B is a volunteer - and there are more than 120 of them! That's in addition to the 243 exhibitor spaces - any of which may have up to three builders involved. So you can see that the Birthday is a huge event!"

"I will say - on the Tour we will focus on public builds - but you will see the residents' builds all around - and I REALLY hope that you will explore them as they are AMAZING!!!"


"...we'll take a swift look at another SLB tradition - the time capsule. ... This is where the design for the winning SL11B time capsule will be placed. You can find details about how to enter the contest to design the capsule on the SL11B blog. http://slcommunitycelebration.com/ "


Nearby were reminders of Second Life Birthday events past, "All around us you will see on these platforms the time capsules from earlier years. Each contains the objects that people believed in 2007, 0r 2005 or 20102 would symbolize Second Life. And this year, people can add what they think defines Second Life in 2014. These are a little history of Second Life in themselves and are well worth exploring!"


Next stop was the Cake Stage, "So, welcome to the outside of the Cake Stage and, if you can, it would be worth making sure that you have the Advanced Lighting Model on so that you can see the amazing things that Loki Eliot, the designer, has done on the outer walls with projected lighting. There are also little platforms high above this build with secrets to discover - but we will say no more!"


The stage itself was pretty small. The rest of the area was for the audience, "the Main Cake Stage where a mixture of live and DJ events will be held. Loki Eliot is a well-known designer - many of you may remember his dinosaur from last year, and his fantastic recreation of Linden Lab for SL9B. Do look up and see the fantastic ceiling Loki has created here. There are actually dancing platforms high above the ground so - if you want - let's fly up and take a look!"


Lots of flashy lights were around.



After the Cake Stage, the tour continued.


Heading to the "Live Stage."



Definitely some big hands.


Next was the DJ stage.


Golan Eilde, the stage lead, happened to be there.


We explored around a little. The place has some secret passages, including supposedly a device that allows one to "take over the world." Sounds like someone's been watching a bit much "Pinky and the Brain."


Exiting the DJ stage area, and back at the exhibits.



Lastly, we went to one of the travel pod places, where rezz the little vehicles that allow one to tour about the place without walking. At some places though, they'll turn into balloons or boars.

"From 29 June until 6 July 2014 the sims remain open only without performances on the stages and in the auditorium - it's a chance for people to explore the builds and do the Hunt!"

And so ended the Press Day tour. Since Daniel was there, you can get his impression, and pictures, by reading his blog entry (here).

Enjoy SL11B.

Bixyl Shuftan

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