BYE BYE AVI CHOICE , UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN
Interview & Photography by Wild Bedrosian
The Avi Choice Awards have been around since 2011 , giving residents of Second Life ( SL ) the ability to share the best of SL ’ s businesses and creators in a positive way , with the rest of the SL community . It ’ s had great success , growing to become one of the biggest named brands in this virtual world .
But , on December 4th , 2016 , participants and audience members enjoyed the last annual awards ceremony of this great voting solution as , The Avi Choice Awards announced it is closing its doors ; “ The Avi Choice Awards will be presented for a final time on Dec . 4th , 2016 . A program celebrating categories from all three areas SLife , Fashion and the Arts will be presented along with amazing performances . All Avi Choice Awards programs are black tie / formal events . This program will be the conclusion of the Avi Choice Awards , as we know them . It ’ s been a good run and we could not have done it without support and cooperation and input from the amazing virtual community known as Second Life . Thank you from the bottom of our hearts .”
We know it ’ s usually new launches that get the hype and attention of an exclusive interview such as this , but this has been such an important staple in the lives of so many people in Second Life , and founder Nikki Mathieson has had such a pivotal role in so many of our lives ( whether we ’ ve known of her or not ), that we felt , as part of our review of 2016 , that this giant of review programs should be given a monumental sendoff , so , we sat down with Nikki and asked the questions that we felt our readers would ask , if they ’ d been given the chance .
NVM : When and what brought you into SL ?
NIKKI : I was a huge fan of the television show , Big Brother back in 2006 and through the year as I watched Big Brother , I would talk with other fans on this online chat group I had joined . The group was for fans to talk during the big brother show and in there I met several women . Well , that year was such a good season , and we had so much fun , that when it was over we realized we didn ’ t want to stop hanging out together . Around that time , one of the girls said “ there is this place called Second Life I heard about , it ’ s a relatively a new game . And it ’ s like a virtual world and we can all hang out there .”
So , we all joined Second Life together and shortly after joining , we all rented an island together . Everybody had an apartment on this island . We had so much fun together there . Soon after we joined it , one of the girls said “ Hey , Relay for Life is in Second Life . We should build a team .” Well , at that time , there were about 20 of us , all having come from the Big Brother chat group , and together , we joined Relay for Life inside Second Life . There were so many of us that they made us form two teams and so … we began to Relay for Life in Second Life .
As a matter of fact , my Rezz Day is … oh my , wait , it ’ s today wow , I didn ’ t even realize it . I ’ m 10 years old inside Second Life , today .
NVM : What activities and / or hobbies did you encounter before the flourishing of The Avi Choice Award ?
NIKKI : Well , like I said , we began to Relay for Life , which is a signature fund raising event for the American Cancer Society , and from that first year of 2007 on , we got more serious about it , raising thousands of dollars . I went on to become the Co-Chair for a friend who became a Chair for Relay for Life as after a certain amount of years they made her a Chair at which time , she has asked me to become her Co-Chair . Her name is MamaP Beerbaum . So , after being Team Captain for some time , doing a lot of Relay – working myself up basically – I Co-Chaired with her . The very next year , I became the Chair because a Chair gets two years at the helm and that ’ s it , and then they appoint a new Chair . So , after MamaP Beerbaum ’ s reign ended , I became Chair . Then I also , at the same time , began managing a Second life musician who did live shows in Second Life . His name was Damian Carbenell .
NVM : Where did the idea of the Avi Choice Awards come from ?
NIKKI : I had been in Second Life for about 4 years and through my activities with Relay for Life I founded the Home and Garden Expo , the Fashion Expo and the Christmas Expo . Through my work with these creators for Relay , I had begun to really appreciate the work of all the designers and members , as well as their generosity . Whenever I would do a Relay event , they were always so willing to help out , to donate and to volunteer . They never even asked for any compensation . It was quite inspirational .
In 2011 , I decided to fund another event called the Christmas Expo and then the Breedables Fair and I wanted to find
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