As Sure as I'm Sittin' Here.

So this virtual world thingy... how odd, how interesting, how maddening, how frustrating, and how rewarding! It is all of those things and sometimes all at once. My learning curve has been slow (in my opinion) but I've been here just over a year. In that time I've learned so much, met so many interesting and creative folks, stalked weird, endless worlds, and roamed the imagination of global inspiration.

From early 1995 until nearly 2003 I worked in online community focused on event production. I loved it, except it was so time consuming because I was producing hundreds of events for other people--for clients, in which ever host community I worked for: AOL, eWorld, or Liveworld.  I've been away from that for a number of years now and I miss the thrill of a live event. The sentimental reason I bought the Bluffs wasn't just because it was my first 'home' in world, but because I had an opportunity to return to event production, only this time on a small scale and simply for myself.

Texas Guinan was one of those 'characters' from the wild days of Prohibition. Born in Waco, TX she ran the 300 Club in Manhattan. It was a tiny place, crammed with 40 scantily clad dancers, bootleg liquor and the creme de la creme of New York: entertainers, politicians and society mavens. She was raided several times by the police for illegal alcohol and 'entertainment'. So far as I recall, none of those charges every really stuck. But then Diamond Jim Walker, then Mayor of New York City, was one of her regulars.  She was famous as a host for her sass, her wit, her personality.  Her oft uttered phrase to new arrivals was "Hello, suckers!"  And she referred to her most wealthy clientele as her 'egg and butter men'.

Here then, in a digital way, is my chance to play at being Texas Guinan. The Lodge is hardly a speakeasy, but if you are going to be a 'venue', a destination on the grid in Second Life, then you need two things: you need "POUTA" Personality out the ASS, and you sure as hell had better deliver compelling entertainment. I have the first part -- in spades. And now, with the help of a few booking agents and three cool looking venue spaces, I have the second part. I'm already seeing impact. In seven months we've ramped-up the frequency of events and traffic through the venues. I'm noticing a big increase in walk through traffic during non-event hours as well--which is exactly as I hoped.

The ride so far has been more terrifying, more exciting, and more fun than I could have imagined. I have met some incredible people and I continue to meet even more incredible people each day. Help has come out of nowhere and from unexpected places as has genuine friendship. I do my best to walk through all worlds respectful of those around me and of myself. Maybe that shows, I don't know.

Hello Suckers!


And thank you.