them and I just couldn ’ t get it to leave them in the list . I could not get people to stay on the sim . After that , the sound was an issue at the beginning of the show . We couldn ’ t get the stream information to stay in the “ About Land .”
Technical issues are , unfortunately , just a part of life here in Second Life . But , thankfully , we ’ re all used to it and the wonderful people of Second Life all know that when we say we ’ re having technical issues , well , they know exactly what ’ s going on .
The other challenges have been with the voting procedures . We ’ ve always used Poll Daddy , which is a very good system but like everything , it can be circumvented , and as there always are in the world , there were people who would try to do just that . So , we ’ d have to be even more diligent and try to watch for that . And like I say , we have a skeleton crew , so these issues just added more work to what we had to do to pull it all off .
Then there ’ s the people who “ just know you ’ ve set it up and it ’ s fixed ,” even though in reality , the staff members never once voted in the entire life of the event . We couldn ’ t have picked even if we wanted to . We love just so many of the creators and talents that we could never have made up our minds in the first place .
NVM : What recommendations do you have to people thinking of starting a business here in SL ?
NIKKI : Well , first of all , just do it -- don ’ t be afraid to do it ! Second Life hasn ’ t gotten so small that there ’ s no more opportunities . It ’ s not going away ! I believe it ’ s going to get bigger again . So , my first recommendation is … just do it and be patient . It takes time to do anything in SL . It can be a struggle , but don ’ t give up , stick with it because we all need to keep going . I ’ m going to do something more . And we need to . If we want this virtual world , the best virtual world ever , to stick around , we all need to keep coming up with great ideas and to keep thinking outside the box .
The most important thing I think to remember though , and the reason I really wanted to do Avi Choice in the first place , is that in the process of starting and running a business , remember to go slow enough to take the time to enjoy everything you can about it . Take the time to look at the person next to you and tell them what a good job they do . Take the time to go to the dress designer and say , “ you made a beautiful dress and I love it and I wanted to let you know that I appreciate it .”
NVM : What are some challenges you found when running the Avi Choice Awards ?
NIKKI : We all struggle with the instability of Second Life . The final Avi Choice Awards show we had on Decmeber 4th is a prime example . We use the sim access list system as our ticketing procedure , manually adding all the names of people who bought tickets , to the access list . As seems to be the way of things in SL , just when we needed it to work the most , the day of the event , Second Life would kick them all out as I ’ d add
We all have the ability to slow down in SL and appreciate each other . And if there ’ s nothing else that comes out of Avi Choice except that , then I ’ ve done exactly what I wanted to do which is to help us all appreciate each other !
NVM : Do you have a personal favorite Avi Choice Awards year ? Why this year ?
NIKKI : Wow , every year is my favorite , you know ? Every year I do a show and say , “ this was the best one yet !” Then the next year we do a new one and I say it again … and I really mean it too .
Damian Carbenell , the musician I managed , is my son , and I brought his music into Second Life . I knew that SL needed to hear him , he ’ s so talented . One year I was able to have him on the show and that was special for me .
NU VIBEZ & ROLEPLAY GUIDE MAGAZINE 103