The weeks really seem to be flying by! So far, it has been an interesting time, Keeping up with the students has been quite a ride. We have found that we’ve continued to evolved even during the implementation of the module so this has required us to remain flexible in our approach to delivering this module.
Last night was the class 5- a panel discussion that attempted to answer the question that froms the title of this module “Is one life enough”
The discussion was moderated by Gary Leyden of Vrising
and the Panel comprised of members who are experts in their respective domains of content production. I have here used just their SL names.
SL: Chantal Harvey Video Producer, Machinima expert –mamachinima
Karly Charlton – Better Living Designs , graphic designer, SL designer.
Ham Rambler – Virtual Dublin
Below are some pictures from the event:
Below is a full transcript of the evening thanks to Site!
a – Acuppa Tae (RL: John O’Connor), Head of Art, Design & Printing, Dublin Institute of Technology
l – Locks Aichi (RL: Claudia Igbrude), eLearning Development Officer, Dublin Institute of Technology
t – Traquar Garrigus (RL: Gary Leyden), Owner, VRising
c – Chantal Harvey (RL: Chantal Gerard), Award Winning Videographer
k – Karly Charlton, Owner, Better Living Designs
h – Ham Rambler (RL: John Mahon), Owner, Dublin Virtually Live
Transcript:
| Acuppa Tae | Acuppa – welcomes everyone |
| a – on immediate left Chantal Harvey, award winning SL movie maker | |
| a – next is Karly Charlton founder of Better Living Designs in SL | |
| a – next is Ham Rambler founder of Dublin Virtually Live and our host | |
| a – he is airplane pilot – coming to us tonight from Cambodia – he will be texting | |
| a – Traquar Garrigus (RL Gary Leyden) is our Moderator for tonight | |
| a – Gary runs VRising in Dublin RL | |
| a – I (Acuppa) will sit with the audience tonight | |
| a – also before that welcome guest listeners from other areas of SL tonight | |
| a – a few words about this module Virtual Environments – Is One Life Enough | |
| a – one semester university level module | |
| a – open to DIT students and SL residents | |
| a – looking at online social networking | |
| a – sl, facebook, twitter, blog, youtube, etc. | |
| a – to promote selves professionally | |
| a – about halfway through the module – this is the first of two special panel expert sessions | |
| a – tonight each panel member has 10 minutes to present selves | |
| a – then a general open discussion for everyone to engage with the panel | |
| a – most of us have sound – some do not – so site and locks will translate in text as well | |
| a – if you have a question during the talks, IM it to Locks Aichi who will feed them to the Moderator at the end of the talk | |
| a – hands it over to Traquar (Gary) our moderator | |
| Traquar Garrigus | Traquar – thanks John |
| t – good evening | |
| t – Acuppa never asks simple questions in these things! | |
| t – i.e., “Is One Life Enough?” | |
| t – we’ll go straight to the 10 minute conversations by each panelist | |
| t – and please everyone participate and IM Locks Aichi with your questions throughout | |
| t – start with Chantal Harvey | |
| Chantal Harvey | Chantal – hello everyone |
| c – talk about content creation – sharing and value and use and protection online | |
| c – what I do here is create computer generated filming, called “machinima” | |
| c – not only virtual worlds but also games | |
| c – came to sl 3 years ago from real life television in the Netherlands | |
| c – same work in SL as in RL | |
| c – filming and editing | |
| c – started as fun, slowly – | |
| c – became serious – work from website | |
| c – people began to come to me with questions and projects | |
| c – made my business from there | |
| c – content creation for me is filming machinima | |
| c – things happen – you start making money – | |
| c – then you think questions | |
| c- corporate? fun? art? down to earth? | |
| c – i like them all | |
| c – halloween, etc – | |
| c – for me “is one life enough” .. | |
| c – virtual platforms, spaces are part of our normal daily life | |
| c – i used to resist mobile phones, now i use them all the time | |
| c – i think virtual worlds are already now part of our life | |
| c – can use for making money if you like – make a plan – just like in real “first” life | |
| c- people who make a plan have 60% better chance of achieving goals | |
| c – so make a plan – be serious and fun – | |
| c – glad to answer questions at end – give info on seeing films etc | |
| c – I have spoken world wide on machinima ; | |
| c- run a mixed reality film festival runs in real life, web, and second life – 48 hour festival | |
| Acuppa Tae | clapping hands |
| Traquar Garrigus | Traquar – thanks Chantal ! |
| t – important point, to love and enjoy what you do when creating content | |
| t – go to Karly now | |
| Karly Charlton | Karly Charlton – hello all ! |
| k – I came into sl like others as a newbie | |
| k – have tried many experiences here | |
| k – started with computer graphics in ’78 | |
| k – with oil company | |
| k – had degree in education from university – enjoyed computer graphics | |
| k – as personal computers and internet came in, kept up with those and also became professional photographer | |
| k – catalogs, weddings, etc. | |
| k – but it was my children (university and high school now) who got me into this ! | |
| k – the sims city games | |
| k – EA Games invited me to become a beta tester – that was my first taste of a virtual world | |
| k – meeting other (real) people, other locations, socially interact | |
| k – to progress in a virtual world | |
| k – started a store; cooperated on warehousing etc. | |
| k – but that virtual world became aged; and Second Life was coming in | |
| k – friends encouraged me to move from Sims Online to Second Life | |
| k – to make men’s clothing | |
| k – so that’s how I started in SL | |
| k – it was a challenge as a newbie to become accustomed | |
| k – often went naked (unintentionally) just to change shoes | |
| k – have a slide show of things I’ve done to show you | |
| k – sets up screen | |
| k – met a friend who ran Snail Races and such | |
| k – we decided to have a Toga Party – but there were no togas! | |
| k – so I made some for friends and still sell them today (see picture ) | |
| k- i created a market for them | |
| k – there were dance clubs, parties, and date places | |
| k – so I approached club owners and gave them things to give out as prizes | |
| k – if they would hold a toga party | |
| k – this picture is a toga fashion show | |
| k – had both men’s and women’s toga | |
| k – by today’s standards they are primitive | |
| k – so that was a start | |
| k – making clothing | |
| k – i could make it out of sl then import it (textures) | |
| k – then i started working with “prims” learning through tutorials, like everyone else | |
| k – furniture, houses, jewelry etc | |
| k – started to sell homes | |
| k – furniture, offices | |
| k – then met another friend | |
| k – asked me to build an entire sim from scratch | |
| k – terraforming, designing, buildings, scripting, furnishings, everything | |
| k – did it with one partner and some resource scripters | |
| k – took 3 months | |
| k – after that friend asked if I’d stay on as sim manager | |
| k – be a contact person for his clients | |
| k – he allows his clients to use the sim (Association Island) for meetings | |
| k – support, fundraising, etc. | |
| k – people coming into SL for the first time | |
| k – extremely rewarding experience | |
| k – from start (togas for fun) to current role consultant | |
| k – was an SL Mentor as were many | |
| k – I like being consultant and teacher | |
| k – some more pictures here of builds I’ve made | |
| k – still have the one business partner many years now | |
| k – some office interiors here | |
| k – executive office – wanted a private skybox | |
| k – here a guest meeting room | |
| k – the island that i manage now accepts public requests for meetings | |
| Traquar Garrigus | Traquar – thanks Karly! |
| Acuppa Tae | clapping hands |
| Locks Aichi | thanks to both the girls… |
| t – next up is Ham Rambler | |
| Ham Rambler | Hi everyone |
| Sorry but I’m stuck with chat (the connections in Phnom Penh are not the best) | |
| AND | |
| I’m a slow typer | |
| so I’ll summarise.. | |
| firstly….as Sitearm mentioned I am an airline pilot..not a computer person | |
| I got into digital media way back in the CompuServe forum days | |
| and developed into running and managing a Pilots website called PPRuNe.org (Professional Pilots rumour network) | |
| this quickly became very popular..and even now is regularly quoted by the media | |
| being very Internetty..I took an interest in the VW developments | |
| and came into SL over 5 years ago | |
| luckily, I don’t need to tell you a lot about what I do in here as you are enjoying it in the surroundings | |
| but I took Dublin, and branched it out into other Media. | |
| I used traditional Media like newsprint and TV to gain exposure for the project here | |
| developed ( with help from Sitearm and the rest of the team) a Web presence | |
| and now have a facebook profile for the Pub…and have started Blogging myself | |
| so I took a rounded view of engaging with every new digital ” fad” and using them to promote the project here. | |
| Over the years I have had a good level of corporate sponsorship, but that has died away a bit at the moment | |
| I still mainly consider this as a huge social experiment, based on the concept of an Irish pub | |
| in my travels, around the world, I usually check out Irish pubs | |
| so i know what makes them interesting and fun places to socialise | |
| I am using this SL project to see if that works digitally.. | |
| and so far, I have to say..it has been a huge success | |
| Traquar Garrigus | Traquar – thank you Ham! |
| Ham Rambler | I will continue to branch the project out around all Social and Digital media and I hope we can be a good example of embracing all aspects of new Social media |
| thanks | |
| Acuppa Tae | clapping hands |
| Locks Aichi | thanks Ham |
| Traquar Garrigus | t – interesting how Ham weaves pubs into social media ! |
| t – logs of questions coming in | |
| t- people do in virtual life what they do in first life | |
| t – Chantal – a lot of your machinima tell stories | |
| t – would you discuss that ? | |
| Chantal Harvey | Chantal – yes |
| c- machinima tells a story – all of mine | |
| c – about virtual worlds and also ANY story you want | |
| c – make a movie, news items, video bloggers, art | |
| c – education , language | |
| c – university – on their websites, fund raising | |
| c- a story can do many things | |
| c – machinima is Second Life’s best ambassador | |
| c- YouTube is where many people go | |
| c – and many machinima are on YouTube | |
| c – machinima has brought real life filmers to SL | |
| c – one of my aims to bring it out of SL to RL | |
| c – it is all ONE life | |
| c – and can be so for many more people | |
| c – waiting for the first major film to come out and go mainstream | |
| c – not long now | |
| Locks Aichi | yeah |
| Traquar Garrigus | Traquar – Karly – you’ve built a lot of places and community and people part of it? |
| Karly Charlton | Karly – yes |
| k – agree it’s one life but you may have more than one identity | |
| k – virtual goods to express mood and identity | |
| k – and services to offer others to take advantage of SL | |
| k – the difference is…… | |
| k – there’s still a real person you inside | |
| k – SL gives a larger platform, community, world in which to do your thing – sell, build, | |
| k – use this world for social, entertainment, business, etc | |
| Acuppa Tae | Our classroom was built by Karly! |
| Traquar Garrigus | Traquar – another question – the time it took you to learn, and how? |
| Karly Charlton | Karly – lot of tutorials, many more things now |
| k – online; scripting | |
| k – best thing to do is friend someone already good at it | |
| Acuppa Tae | just like real life! |
| Ham Rambler | I’m still learning.. |
| Ham Rambler | and I use the social SIDE OF second life to meet and engage with people |
| Traquar Garrigus | Traquar – for Ham. |
| t – most unusual place you found for an Irish Pub? | |
| t – NOT counting virtual world | |
| Ham Rambler | hmm..well a few years ago I toured South America….and bizarrely..found a city WITHOUT an Irish pub |
| but I gather there is one, high in the Mountains near Lima | |
| Acuppa Tae | Wow! |
| Traquar Garrigus | Traquar – teeing up next topic; views on content property rights |
| t – Chantal | |
| Chantal Harvey | Chantal – yes |
| c – re copyright for machinima it’s a big problem | |
| c – for example using a song to go with your video | |
| c – being allowed to use the music | |
| c – even if not using commercially | |
| c – have to have permission | |
| c – for machinima I always put my name and logo in – or watermark | |
| c- even in SL have to have owners permission for sim | |
| Karly Charlton | Like photography |
| Acuppa Tae | and just like making movies in RL |
| Sitearm Madonna | c – I can create film but not music ! |
| Ham Rambler | I ran into a series of challenges with Intellectual property rights, especially when, in the course of having Dublin built, I used signage from the real city |
| Traquar Garrigus | Traquar – Karly? |
| Karly Charlton | Karly – yes |
| k – well said by Chantal | |
| k – more issues include “copybots” | |
| k – I am a member of designer protection groups | |
| k – can tag your textures, keep records etc, but can’t protect completely | |
| k – a friend lamented once that anyone can steal the concept / feel / heart of a design | |
| k – when i build things that will go outside of SL … | |
| k – have to be sure all textures etc. that I use from others have resell licenses | |
| k – scripts etc. | |
| k – full permissions, and creator’s license | |
| k – can be handicaps to builders | |
| Acuppa Tae | again… just like the Real World! |
| IP issues are always an issue… | |
| Chantal Harvey | yes |
| Traquar Garrigus | Traquar – Ham |
| Ham Rambler | yes…and I have also had some textures stolen and used elsewhere |
| Traquar Garrigus | t – Ham had similar issues e.g., famous Dublin landmarks |
| t – mostly due to misunderstandings – not commercial but context | |
| t – we’ve talked about SL content – do you create content elsewhere? | |
| Karly Charlton | Karly – yes |
| k – still do photography work | |
| k – now also in another virtual world | |
| k – all new tools, new platform; starting from scratch | |
| k – slow to re-start elsewhere | |
| Traquar Garrigus | Traquar – now to the audience – send in some more questions to Locks |
| Acuppa Tae | I liked the suggestion that we should enjoy what we do! |
| Ham Rambler | Everything from Blogs to facebook presents challenges on Intellectual property. Photos can be copied from anywhere on the web, for example |
| Traquar Garrigus | Traquar – to panelists are you creating this for yourself primarily, your audience? |
| Chantal Harvey | Chantal – good question |
| c – I’m creating to get better, grow | |
| c – close to 100 machinima now | |
| c – but once you’ve made it you put it on youtube | |
| c – the hits your babies get… vs. the hits others get.. oi! | |
| c – you sometimes think the numbers are important but maybe not | |
| c – just do good work | |
| Acuppa Tae | very interesting point, Chantal |
| Ham Rambler | everything I have done digitally is about growing my social network and meeting people |
| Ham Rambler | In my travels I get to meet so many people I have first met through new Digital media |
| Acuppa Tae | and Ham meets people first in the cyberspace and then later in RL |
| Traquar Garrigus | Traquar – have you seen your audience changing on social? |
| Chantal Harvey | Chantal – yes |
| c – more using Twitter and Facebook | |
| Karly Charlton | Karly – have not seen Twitter and Facebook affect SL work; |
| Traquar Garrigus | Traquar – have any of you used your SL work to promote your RL work? |
| Chantal Harvey | Chantal – yes |
| c – my avatar is my brand | |
| Acuppa Tae | Personal branding |
| c – my RL first name is Chantal but my SL last name is Harvey | |
| c – great tool | |
| Ham Rambler | not really…my RL work is mostly about travel |
| Karly Charlton | Karly – agree |
| k – your avatar is your brand, your logo | |
| Ham Rambler | but my Avatar is far more famous than the RL me |
| k – Karly not my real name but she’s got her own profile and friends and fame | |
| Traquar Garrigus | Traquar – apart from name – is your avatar just an expression of your real safe? |
| Karly Charlton | Karly – only in a limited way – not personal |
| Chantal Harvey | Chantal – different for me – I mix both |
| c – plus I want sl to go rl | |
| c – it’s like a mobile phone | |
| Ham Rambler | yes of course….it is a piece of artistry ..and quite often an expression of aspiration. I wish I was as good looking as ham! |
| Acuppa Tae | are our RL and SL and other brands merging? |
| Ham Rambler | for me, certainly |
| Traquar Garrigus | Traquar – your experience in SL, how has it contributed to your ROL creation, money |
| Karly Charlton | Karly – it’s supplemented our family income nicely |
| k – music lessons, band trips for kids | |
| k – enough income not to seek work outside home – very flexible work | |
| k – no commute! | |
| k – completely part time and chosen | |
| Ham Rambler | the lines between real and virtual blur…I socialise openly in both..with a lot of crossover |
| Ham Rambler | I can’t say i have made a lot of money out of it..but my circle of people I call good friends has grown dramatically |
| Acuppa Tae | the crossover is very interesting…. |
| …and increasing as we become more comfortable with online networking | |
| Chantal Harvey | Chantal – same for me |
| c – paid for my new computer, high end, from machinima entirely | |
| c – also trips to speak | |
| c – not enough to live from though! | |
| Karly Charlton | Karly – covers small business expenses |
| Ham Rambler | being invited to speak at the opening of the IBM Ireland Innovation centre was a real crossover point for me |
| Traquar Garrigus | Traquar – the relationships you’ve made in SL – how important informing your content creation |
| Karly Charlton | Karly – very much so – custom work, goals, etc |
| k – pleasing the customer | |
| k – something they like about you, your work | |
| k – self expression plus what people expect | |
| k – fun giving them what they asked for plus a little surprise | |
| Chantal Harvey | Chantal – totally agree |
| c – even corporate ! | |
| c – money plus creative challenge | |
| Ham Rambler | yes, I agree with Karly, you develop a new level of Customer management |
| Traquar Garrigus | Traquar – brings to close – want to thank panel |
| t – We (VRising) got involved with Ham few years ago – tremendous community strength – tremendous DIT is here now too – | |
| t – Acuppa got it early on – community as well as place | |
| t – thank you all for today and now I hand it back to Acuppa – | |
| Karly Charlton | *claps* |
| Acuppa Tae | Acuppa – thank you Traquar – and thank you for moderating |
| a – thank ham, karly, chantal for sharing | |
| a – pioneering and interesting experiences | |
| a – interesting points for me were. | |
| a – people doing what they naturally enjoy doing | |
| a – how important for things to be done situated within a community | |
| Karly Charlton | Thanks for the honor of joining you today! |
| Chantal Harvey | thanks for the invite |
| community and culture is important | |
| Karly Charlton | and students will gladly meet, sitting on the ground, in a field of flowers! |
| Chantal Harvey | yes! |
| Ham Rambler | I love it that a participant can show up as a Mammoth..and no-one thinks it strange |
| Acuppa Tae | a – was just presenting a paper on this module in France last week |
| a – another presenter using Facebook for Columbia College – they spent a lot of money in SL with their own island – and have delivered NO CLASSES in it YET – despite the money spent on a space | |
| a – how important it is for DIT to be based in SL in an already existing vibrant community , Dublin Virtually Live | |
| a – a lot of texting and IMing, just like in real life | |
| a – what we do relies on people, not technology | |
| a – meeting people is what makes life interesting | |
| a – and on that note brings to an end for today | |
| a – thanks to DIT students, guests, panelists, Site, and Locks! | |
| a – that’s it we’ll close now – for those going to the local Blarney Stone feel free to carry on ! | |
| a – see you next week and goodnight | |
| Acuppa Tae | clapping hands |
| Locks Aichi | g’night all and thanks to everyone again… |
Virtual Environments: Is one life enough? 