Interview With Sudane Erato of The CDS And New England

 
By Bixyl Shuftan

The Confederation of Democratic Simulators has a number of noted residents. But among those from it's early days the person active the most would be Sudane Erato. Recently I met up with her to talk about her time here. We met at a rustic building in Neufreistadt, resembling a house built inside what was left of an ancient stone structure. "I've taken a liking to homes in ruins," Sudane explained, "This area of NFS, I took a liking to before we even had parcels, in Anzere, and I've been here ever since."

Of how she came to the CDS, "I arrived in Second Life in November 2004. By early December, I had attended an orientation session here, and had met Gwyneth. And (I) regularly attended discussions that she held in the Church, the Kirke, that was here then. So, essentially from the beginning, since the CDS was formed in Sept of that year." Of what attracted here, "I think it was less the visual environment, which was very primitive then. But rather, this really interesting sense of experimental community, around what really felt like a REAL place. Gwyn's discussions were extraordinary. And the social experiement, that was really interesting. So I got involved. The building (I did) came much later. Ulrika and kendra did all the building (then)."

Of how things went ad a community at the CDS in the early days, "It was intense. By that February, everyone had left except me, Gwyn and Ulrika. And Linden Lab kicked us out of Anzere. Fortunately, they cloned the sim for us, including everything on it. And it was a private island then." When asked why the Lab kicked them out, "They became disillusioned about the goals of the program which had gotten it to us in the first place. But the Lindens decided the goals were not achieved. So they ended it, and set us on this island, that of course we had to pay for." She mentioned that today, Anzere is a snow sim on the mainland, "So, that was the beginning of the normal estate, with parcels and people paying. The population built back (up). So we supported ourselves. But, it became very intense, huge political fights."

Sudane asked me what my impression of early political CDS controversy was. When I answered some were saying only one leader seemed to be controversial to them, she responded that her perspective that the most controversial of all was "Ulrika. ... quite honestly, Urika was truly a genius, the person who conceived of this experiment. But, she was an evil genius, perhaps the most evil person I've ever met. And I've met a lot of people in my 73 years." She would say, "Kendra sided strongly with Ulrika, and almost everyone else sided against them. I wanted some sanity and fairness. We finally pushed her out. So, the controversial people who came later, they were a pale shade of the problems that Ulrika caused."

After Ulrika was gone, "We got the concept of democratic government back on track. That was the major thing. The structure evolved from what she had devised. And, it's easy to point out many remaining flaws. But still, its our best efforts to create something that is really a democracy, where the residents set their own policies. It's a bit of an anomaly, a poor fit in Second Life, since someone has to "own" the estate. But we aim to strike as close to a democracy as we can."

And what did Sudane think were some of the more interesting details of the CDS's system? She thought about it, "Well, the core I think is the Representative Assembly. It's the democracy. And it struggles along, at least everyone understands that concept. Then there's the Scientific Council, which everyone thinks of as the Supreme Court. But it isn't really. So that's a bit harder to understand. It was one of Ulrika's brainstorms. I don't fully understand it. But that's no problem. They wouldn't want me on it anyway (smile). Then there's the Chancellor, which is our own invention. Ulrika never conceived of an Executive. Rather, she had the Guild performing all the administrative functions. But that proved, in my opinion, very impractical. And we devised the Chancellor. But that role is still a work in progress I think. It's VERY hard for the person who holds the role. But, all that said, interesting."

"Probably the most interesting to me," she commented, "Is my own role, and trying to devise ways to hand it off, since my alt is the estate owner and I'm the Treasurer. Both of those functions require a real neutrality, which is often hard to achieve. Treasurer (is) easier probably, since in real-life I'm a bookkeeper. But estate owner, jeez! How many times have I been accused of manipulating affairs in the CDS, just becasue my alt is the EO??!!? So, that's 'interesting.'"

"Oh. Also, I've grown to LOVE building and landscaping. So I could do that eternally (smile)." When asked how many buildings she did, her answer was, "Oh my God, a LOT! Perhaps almost half of the buildings in the CDS. Well, maybe not half, but a LOT! Rosie and I did the Schloss together. She did the Kirche. I did the new Monastery. My current project is 'densifying'  the city, rebuilding the houses within the walls so that they fill the entire space, and you get a better sense of narrow twisty streets. I've done maybe eight or ten of those buildings so far." And how long would this project take? "No set date. I've been doing it simultaneously with other projects. The first houses were on Ulrikastrasse on, and on the Platz, Lil's pub, that was the first. Then one on Catfahrt, and two on Gwynethstrasse. I have in my target three more on Gwynethstrasse, plus a couple on Sudanestrasse. Oh, there were two on Kendrastrasse and on on talenstrasse. Jeez ... Heehee, I really do like building. 

"My Father was a real-life architect who built the hoses he designed. I probably got it from him (smile). Easier building in Second Life. But go visit Amiais. Moon Adamant and I are building dozens of houses there!" But of her buildings, "He wouldn't like them. He was an avid devotee of Frank Lloyd Wright while I like ancient places."

Sudane did mention, "I am in a new, unrelated project now for real-life, a contract for a Portuguese University to create a replica rural village for an anthropology study, called Amiais, on sims by that name. Visit that any time, a work in progress." She also has some land in the New England area, "Do visit New England to, if you have time. It's a beautiful place in the Blake Sea area."

(Click here if the video does not play)

Sudane is staying busy with her many projects, and is happy doing so.

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Kayly Iali, CDS Artist

By Bixyl Shuftan

Recently I had the chance to interview Kayly Iali, an artist who makes her home in the Confederation of Democratic Simulators. I met up with her in front of her studio at the Locus Amoenus sim, and we sat down at her patio, commenting with amusement if I wanted I could play the guitar as I interviewed.

When asked how she found out about Second Life, Kayly answered, "I read an article a few years I got on about how people can own land and basically do stuff in SL that you can do in real life. The avatars of course looked very primitive. At that time I wasn't very computer savvy and was afraid to touch the keyboard other than to type. And also I was very busy gettting my second degree but in art and raising a family." But later on, she would sign up for it. Of what convinced her, "I'm not sure. Maybe I had more time. Or I was playing Yoville on FB and just love how I can make friends from all over the world and have my own place. SL offered that so I decided to give it a try. As you know though SL has a high learning curve. I was often getting frustrated and quit, and playing on a laptop that wasn't gear to SL graphics caused me to crashed constantly."

She had a rough time at first, "But once I joined the Help People group and became a volunteer to help others to get started into SL that became a turning point. It was called Help People Island...I don't think  it is around anymore. That was over 10 years ago." For two to three years, she was a volunteer for the group. But that wasn't her only activity as she was, "... probably just getting to know SL and learning how to dress and redesigned my avatar. I came in as a different avatar not as Kayly Iali. I took classes and became familiar with Building Brewery, Oxford, NCI, took a bunch of classes."

She wasn't showing art at first, "I wasn't exhibiting art at that time. But I did go and visit galleries. During my travels through all these different galleries, I happened upon a gallery, Park Galleries, that was curated by Samara Barzane ... aka Kyoto." She brought up Kyoto had been a CDS Chancellor, "So Samara and I go way back. She is the CDS PIO Team (and) a very active member here in CDS." So at the time what caught her attention to the place? "Samara was running the gallery for a friend who was had either passed from cancer or was dying from cancer. It was a fundraiser. Samara took me under her wings and taught me the ropes about hanging in a gallery. It propelled me into the art scene, showing at different galleries like Pilate who had several galleries. They were well known for their reception and heavy promotion for artists."

Of when she thought about running her own gallery, "I mainly show in galleries run by other people. But here in CDS I can rent my own place and make it my own gallery. I did run a gallery on Avalon Art Center a few years ago where I exhibited other artists works. In fact I have a blog on it." She would show me the blog, at https://gallery24insecondlife.blogspot.com/, then went on, "I would interview  the artists and have receptions. There were some fantastic artists, mainly those who brought their real-life works into Second Life." When asked who stood out, "Silas Merlin, Xirana Oximoxi, especially Ieko Catnap, Maymay Matova and Miss Longtail. All of these artists are real-life artists. Oh I can't forget Sheba Blitz. All of them are still around. But Silas Merlin is doing more SL sculptures than his pastels portraitures nowadays."

Checking the blog, I noticed the last entry was in 2016. I asked about that, and Kayly answered, "Avalon got very laggy when there are too many avatars, and it was time to leave Avalon. It was a great place to have a gallery at one time but now when I had gone back to visit there's a lot of to be rented signs everywhere." The gallery is not as popular as it once was, "If you go there now you'll see what I mean. There are still artists there. besides I couldn't afford the rent."
 

Of how she found out about her current home, "I met Tor Karlsvalt at Help People Island. So  that's how I came to know about CDS." But she wouldn't move there until, "about one or two years ago. I rented the blue cafe next to me first, but it did not look like that. And then I went over to the docks and rented the corner place there. And now I'm here." So her art gallery has been at the CDS for about a year, "I'm planning to stay here for awhile. I love being near the water and hearing the sound of the ocean. And the layout of this place is perfect."

Of her artwork, "I just enjoy painting; I really don't have a point to make like a political statement of sorts. So I paint whatever is around me or what I feel I need to paint. When I started to paint seriously, this is right after I got my art degree in 2009, I painted a lot of fruits and objects, just to get a handle on oil painting. I did start off painting abstracts in college. But I wanted to paint more representational, something that is in front of me. Now I'm into landscape painting and more so into painting buildings, cityscapes." She only does real-life landscapes, though of the possibility of those in Second Life, "That might be a thought. I should mention that since I have a dog, I started to paint pet portraits. My clients had asked me if I would paint them as well. So now I practicing painting people as you can see in the exhibit at Visions." And downstairs, she had a number of cat and dog pictures.

"I tried to make this place more coffee shop like," Kayly spoke of it, "Sit and relax. I noticed in one corner of her studio, painted on the wall was, "Every journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step." She was happy about it, "I would love to do more word art like that, it was done in Inkscape. I was once a calligrapher so I love typography and lettering."

Of her future plans, "As far as Second Life goes, I'll take it one day at a time. As far as real-life goes, I want to get into a gallery. I applied to enter an artist coop, pretty well done in the region. But I was rejected, not because my art is not up to par but because there were other pet portraits artists in the coop. I would have been a competition to them."

That was about everything on Kayly's mind at the moment. So we bade farewell, and parted ways.

Kayly Iali Art is located at Locus Amoenus (71/173/24). She also has a Flicker page at https://www.flickr.com/photos/calliartist/ .

Third image from Gallery 24

Bixyl Shuftan

Interview With Emilia Dagostino, New CDS Chancellor

By Bixyl Shuftan

A few days ago, the Confederation of Democratic Simulators had it's biannual election. There was only one candidate for the office of Chancellor: Emilia Dagostino (Emilia Avindar). I recently met with her at her art-filled building at the community, the Bauhaus. She called it, "a labor of love that I haven't changed much since a year ago." It was a rebuild of a building of the same name in Germany, "Bauhaus was a revolution in life style and aesthetics, which found itself marching to a different drum. It was truly a portable lifestyle; an array of objects and styles that were portable to other places and other schools of art. Still a basis for contemporary art, a sense of freedom of style but strengthened by utility. Art is so much a part of our CDS sims. I hope to update a gallery listing soon; as you can see, even my next door neighbor here is an artist. (smile)"

When asked how she first found out about Second Life, Emilia answered, "Honestly, I found it mentioned in a tech article back in the founding period, and I signed up. But I must not have been successful because I hesitated to use a credit card to pay the ten doller fee, but I had never put a credit card online back in those dark ages, hahahah. So I must not have made an account. I never found where I had later to try to reclaim it.

"So, in 2009, I wanted to find something fun and went back. Still could not get in, but tried a third time a few months later, and landed in Helfel and flew with elephants and butterflies and became hooked that day, never looking back. (smile) I even remember the first people i met, to this day. I soon searched for Al Andalus, because of a personal interest at the time, and that led me to CDS."

And how were her first few days at the CDS? Emilia told me, "Hmm, tentative. I was shy, and avoided people ... mistake! Everyone was friendly, of course. Pip had poetry readings, which I discovered, and I loved those, and other small social get togethers, which were a great way to actually meet people. We still do these things, but we need more poets and lonely hearts to attend. ..nice place to live and coexist here. (smile) When the lake freezes, we'll ice skate and drink hot cocoa.
Horseback riding, snowmobiles, snowy owls.... all sorts of amusements, thanks to our very own citizens."

When asked how long she had the Bauhaus, Emilia answered, "About a year actually, almost exactly. I was about to give it up last summer, and Kyoko said she'd included it in an arts announcement so I quickly reclaimed it and had to rebuild it in a few days, (laughter). The windows have the feeling of the early Bauhaus school, and I even have the radiator in the hallway, just as Gropius did."

Emilia has been involved in other places in Second Life, ".... SL Birthdays, since my first one in 2007, Burning Man (Burn2) and (New Bastogne) WW2 roleplay, where I was Captain Avindar eventually, but not forever, (smile). I battled there and walked the lonely streets, buying fashions from a seamstress, Sunshine Juneberry, yes. (smile). We flew combat in real skirmishes then."

Things are a bit different in the CDS, "Here we wrangle with self governance and land management, enjoy casual and formal events, but no role play. When I returned, I became interested in the elections that were underway at the time. I became the PIO for Kyoko, who was elected Chancellor, and got to know the group at a much deeper level of detail. I bought a little fachwerk house and got to know all of these CDS sims, each with its own natural flavor, Bavaria, Alpine, Tuscan, Roman, Greek fishing village. So much has been added in only the past year."

When I asked Emilia about what gave her the idea of running for Chancellor, she answered, "Friends persuaded me." She smiled, "Thankful to have good support and people are willing to help and mentor. This group is amazing in being so good at this for 15 years. We have a Constitution, a Code of Law, Land & Covenant, a regulatory body, The Representative Assembly, the Judicial body, 'Scientific Council' and the Executive body, in the Chair of the Chancellor, but also in the Estate Management."

I brought up the election, which seemed pretty quiet. Emilia told me, "I was unopposed, and we had six stand for five seats on the Representative Assembly, and they posted signs which gave Notecards, and there were some spontaneous questions sessions and group chat. I look forward to making some appointments that will reward folks for their daily efforts. Living here is its own reward, but friendships continue to grow, and thus the history of the group will continue to flourish, hopefully, for many more years." Of her plans as Chancellor, "To be available for anyone, and to not hurt any feelings."

Emilia had to go and take her real life daughter to a movie. She reminded that anyone could look up information about the CDS at https://cdsdemocracy.org .

Bixyl Shuftan

CDS Election Campaigning: 恭子 Kyoko (Samara Barzane)

By Bixyl Shuftan

Different communities have different ways of how things are run. For the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, the community has elections twice a year in which local citizens (those who own land in the community) chose who will be in the Representative Assembly and who will be their leader: the Chancellor. This election, two people are running for Chancellor. They are Drewski Northman, and 恭子 Kyoko (Samara Barzane). The part of Kyoko's display name written in Japanese kanji also spells "Kyoko."

Sunday November 11 saw two events in which both candidates had a chance to explain themselves to the voters. Drewski had his at 11 AM. Kyoko's was the second one, taking place at 2:30 PM SL time.

I'd like to invite  you to join me for an informal discussion of my platform (attached) and listen to what YOU want to see (and help make happen) in C.D.S. Ask away, but I want to hear from you too!

Kyoko has also put her case for being elected, as well as her goals, on notecard. Her campaign could be summed up as "Respect, Responsibility, and Resourcefulness."

I am running for the honor of serving you as the Chancellor of C.D..S. for the 30th Term.

I have been a citizen of the C.D.S. since 2015 and am currently serving as PIO Head and as a member of the Land Use Commission. Last March’s successful Celebrating SL Women 2018 was planned by Brooke Brandenburg and myself. I have owned and managed The Art Cafe in Locus Amoenus since 2015 and was recently made an Estate Manager

An SL member since 2007, I have worked at a number of SL jobs, which included customer relations as well as store and sim management, marketing, public relations and events. Employers have included store Elikapeka Tiramisu of ETD (now [e]), Roslin Petion of Fleur and designer Mills Michinaga. I owned and managed Park Galleries from 2008 to 2011 and continue to exhibit my own artwork in C.D.S. and elsewhere.

I also owned and operated a translation agency, and served as sim manager for a shopping sim taking care of rentals, marketing, public relations and events. Active in Relay for Life of Second Life since 2008, I was sponsorship chair in 2011.

In that role I raised $11,000 US for Relay for Life of Second Life. These experiences have included the development of program and marketing strategies suited to Second Life. Throughout these work experiences I have interacted with diverse SL individuals and groups.

What I stand for:

RESPECT
As Chancellor I pledge to respect each citizen, as well as the history and structures of C.D.S

RESPONSIBILITY
I pledge to take responsibility for my assigned duties in a timely manner and for any mistakes that I make.

RESOURCEFULNESS
Finally, I pledge to be resourceful in problem-solving, in the judicious use of C.D.S. assets and in seeking out citizen skills to support the C.D.S. vision.

SPECIFICALLY
- Work with key members of the executive and citizenry to develop and execute a marketing strategy for Land Sales and Citizen Retention
- Encourage the Land Use Commission to continue its creative vigilance with regard to our simulators.
- Continue a program of varied events that appeal to our citizens, as well as promoting C.D.S. to others. I will also encourage citizen participation in creating new events.
- Meet with citizens for both social and discussion purposes on a regular as well as ad hoc basis.


The event was held at the CDS Amphitheatre in Colonia Nova. Earlier in the day, Kyoko had held a Maiko dance event, "Odori No Aki,: there. Now, the place was the site of a political event. Rosie Gray, whom was Chancellor earlier this year, told her, "Thanks for organizing the Maiko dance event, I thought it was really interesting, and something totally different for here." "You are welcome," Kyoko told her, "They are good people."

More people arrived, and they sat on a circle of chairs on stage, "Rosie, if we need more chairs can you move us around?"Kyoko waited a few extra minutes for more to arrive, then "OK, why don't we get started? First thank you for coming and welcome. I have a few remarks prepared, (what candidate doesn't *laughter*) But I thought I would start with a couple of stories.

"My poster slogan is Respectful, Responsible, Resourceful. You, of course, will be the just of whether I treat others with respect. It is my intent. But there are other things to respect here at CDS, our vision of democracy in a virtual world, the integrity and functioning of our political structures, as well as our traditions that pull us together.


"Okay, responsibility.  A story. I was recently made an Estate Manager. One of my first acts was to turn this amphitheatre into a water parcel." That statement got a few chuckles from some of the others around, "ha-ha." Kyoko continued, "I was so embarrassed, flattened all the land to the water (laughter). I contacted Rosie and Sudane Erato and confessed, pleading for help, and offered to resign. Their response? They said, 'don't worry. We've done worse.' That told me a lot about the quality of the people caring for our sims. And I will always take responsibility when I goof." Rosie remarked, "None of us is perfect." Kyoko responded, "Rosie while true, that was a lovely goof I made (laughter)."

It was about this moment Han Held (Hannah Marie Tempestwolf), the current Chancellor, arrived. She remarked, "they said they've done worse and I TP in, 'Speak of the devil and you see her horns.' ... I can vouch that you've got the skills, temperment and education and background to do very, very well."

Kyoko continued, "OK, resourcefulness. We don't always have a lot of money lying around for events. As a result two of our Oktoberfest events, The Pub Crawl and Friedsee by horseback were citizen-generated, a load of fun and, free. There are so many ways to to make that happen again and again. And that's one way we can be resourceful. For those of you who attends this afternoon's event, Odori No Aki, remember the last folktale about the frogs. The moral  there was that it is people who make a community thrive. And we have the people, I know."

"I had more prepared," Kyoko spoke, "But I'm happy for questions, suggestions ideas. The floor is yours." Keila Forager had the first question, about getting buyers for vacant land, "Thank you.  What are your plans to reduce the 'yellow' on the map?" After a few comments about a new keyboard, Kyoko answered, "Not my favorite color. One of the main tasks of the incoming chancellor will be to turn those to green or later snow. My three prongs if you will are Marketing and citizen retention. It takes a community to build a community. While it's the chancellor's task, it is also the task for all of us. What do we value about CDS? What might need to change?" She glanced at her papers for a moment, "Let me look at my notes a sec. ...The three prongs are marketing, outreach, and events. They are all connected. In marketing we need to refresh and refocus our advertising. I have some ideas, but the more the merrier. As for outreach, as I mentioned we should encourage citizen generated events.

"Outreach, develop ways to cooperate with other communities on items of mutual interest. Whether it's events of project we both support, that's a gain for both communities in life and vitality. Cooperating with other communities should not involve poaching, but a reputation as a good community to work with helps drive interest and hopefully more green and less yellow. I've already talked about events as a community project under resourcefulness. Marketing involves selling us, obviously. But outreach and events help sell us also. As the frogs (in the play) said, a community is it's people. We all need to step up. If I am not elected I will not disappear. I will keep working for the well-being of (the) CDS.

While she spoke, others had questions. Keila wondered about if the CDS was in the Linden Destinations Guide, and Rosie told her they were, showing them the link to the Neufreistadt sim. But Lyubov remarked, "I've never found us in the Guide." Then in response to cooperating with other communities she asked, "Do you have come communities in mind, that may share interests?  Steampunk? Victorian roleplay? ... What would be a measurable goal, or achievement, after your six month term?" Keila asked, "I think retention should be an issue also.  Once you get new citizens, how you plan to keep them.   Aside from Rosie here, I've just recently met everyone else and have been a citizen since June this time.   I've been part of CDS off and on since 2007."

Kyoko went on, "Yes, I'm a retired university professor, and student retention is a big worry. A place to start is why we each are here, what makes us stay, what makes us come back? For me it is a community that works together." "And what makes us leave?" Keila threw in. Kyoko responded, "Oh yes that one too Keila. Why do people leave? We need to understand that. ... As for metrics, I'm a philosopher, not a statistician (wink). I would hope that we make a lot of progress on banishing the yellow, that we work together as a community. I will aim for as much non-yellow as possible. If the RA were to want to see a measuring metric that is fine. But often when we seek a number we miss options to  reach the same goal by a different route."

Kyoko them commented, "Can you tell I've been on too many assessment committees? Did I miss a question?" Lyubov commented, "I'm speaking only for myself, not for the RA (smile), but thank you." Kyoko continued, "Of course my job as chancellor is to keep a sharp eye on fiances and other matters. I will do that  to the best of my abilities. But we need the citizens to work together to help us grow, not just in numbers and (money), but in community. I'm not naive. I've been in many communities both real and virtual. The important thing is not to get bogged down in the past, but to look forward. We have amazing sims and that's one of our biggest selling points. I will be as available and consistent as is humanly possible. But I will be working with you to find the energy we need to be even better than we are."

Keila remarked, "Nor could I find a list of places to visit while here, do we still have that too?" Kyoko answered, "The Land Use Commission is working on that right now, and I am hoping we'll have a working list by the next term. Rosie and I will also accept suggestions for places to list." Kyoko apologized for any typos made, "I just get excited about the projects."

Kyoko then brought up, "Do you want to know why I decided to run?" There were answers of "Yes." The candidate then began to explain, " I've been in CDS since mid-2015 as a gallery owner and resident, with absolutely no intention of running for office. I mean absolutely no intention. Rosie knows how absolute (wink). So what changed my mind? A sense of duty and a higher calling?" Lyubov grinned, "You were drafted." Kyoko answered, "Not that simple really, although my arm is still untwisting." Lyubov kept grinning, "Rosie, keep it twisted tight! don't let her go!" The former Chancellor chuckled, "Haha, no I didn't twist her arm at all." Kyoko responded, "You darn near broke it off." There were more snickers from the others.

The candidate continued, "Over time I came to appreciate the democratic ideal that drives C.D.S., and began to notice the citizens who were working for the well-being of our community. Art Cafe was part of my hoping to provide a resource for C.D.S., its citizens and our visitors. As Public Information Officer for the 29th term I attended most of the Resident Assembly meetings and was overwhelmed by the quality of our elected representatives and the care they were taking with the welfare of C.D.S. Additional experience on the Land Use Commission has only reinforced that realization. Our representatives really care. My 'vision' for C.D.S. comes from these experiences; that we need to find ways to keep the C.D.S. project fresh and vital, and that we ought to explore future options together. The fact is, the bulk of the Chancellor's job is paperwork and details, all important, in keeping the engine humming, but not glamorous. I mean no one in their right mind would run for Chancellor (laughter). The opportunity for the chancellor to effect much change in 6 months is smaller than you may think. But the avenues that ARE open are ones we can travel together and get some things done. "

"OK here we circle back to where we started. The areas we can affect most easily are marketing, outreach and events. All three are inter-connected. Of course I have some ideas and dreams for C.D.S., but my biggest hope is that we will work TOGETHER to develop these new approaches. Working together we can be more than the sum of our parts. Our major resources are the belief that democracy is possible here and the outstanding beauty of our sims. The Land Use Commission works hard to keep our sims fresh and functional. I've had a wonderful time wandering the sims lately, finding many amazing locations to enjoy, AND list for your enjoyment (wink). If elected Chancellor I promise to be accessible and responsive to your concerns and ideas, especially for marketing, outreach and events, because those are the most accessible means we have to grow as a community."

The meetup would go a little longer. But eventually it was time for it to end. So people went their separate ways.

The polls open on Saturday November 10 at Noon SL time, and will close a week later, on November 17. The election results will be announced on November 24.

Bixyl Shuftan

The CDS Election Process, Part One

By Bixyl Shuftan

Communities in Second Life are run in different ways. Some are run only by the estate manager who does things only his or her way and won't listen to feedback. Others take on one or more managers and make an effort to listen to the local residents. But the Confederation of Democratic Simulators has an actual government and a set of rules in which it's citizens have a say in how things are run in the community. While the CDS stands out in other ways among regions in Second Life, such as it's hilly landscape, it is the democratic process there that it's known by.

I had a few words with two of the region's prominent residents, Museum curator Hannah Marie Bloodtempestwolf (Han Held), and the CDS Chancellor Rosie Gray. I met up with Hannah first. "We're self-governed," she told me, "We have a representative assembly that makes and oversees our policies, a chancellor who assists with that, works to publicize the CDS and sets policies in a more autonomous way, and the "scientific council" which is our judiciary which makes sure the other two branches act within our constitution, basically settling disputes. Right now we're setting up for the 29th election of the RA and Chancellor. Folks will be campaigning for office from may 5th until the 12th. Then the polls open on the 12th and close on the 19th, and  the next term (the 29th) begins on May 19th. The cool thing is that anyone can walk in, become a citizen and end up in the government. Heck, I did."

What are the requirements for citizenship in the CDS? "That's easy. Citizenship is based on property ownership," Hannah told me, "We have different sizes of parcels for sale, all of them give the benefit of granting citizenship. One becomes a citizen by renting a parcel with us (smile). Election qualifications are a little more complicated; but not much more. Basically if you became a citizen before the election deadline, you can run for office. If not, you have to wait for the next election. That's all.. The Scientific Council also handles our elections, and the dean hands out a notecard with the dates and qualification requirements on it."

She handed me a copy of the card, which had information for the next Representative Assembly election, the 29th, and the election of the Chancellor. The qualifications for who could run for office and vote were determined on April 2nd and April 12th by a census of the landowners at the time. The deadline to declare running for office was May 2. The date for posting the official list of candidates by the dean was listed as May 4, though inworld group notice and on their Internet forum, with the stast of the campaign on May 5. The election campaign will last a week, and the polls open at Noon SL time on May 12. To give time for the citizens to vote, the polls will be open for a week when they finally close at Noon SL time on May 19. On May 26, the dean will announce the names of the new Representative Assembly and Chancellor.

"As you can see from that," Hannah told me, "there's a period **before** campaigning where folks can declare themselves to the SC. It's after May 5th that the debating, etc., starts up." I asked what were the issues for this election. She answered, "At this point we've hashed out a lot of issues, and we're going over some of the old laws and trying to make things run more efficiently. We have a couple of bills before the RA that address how we handle buying and selling regions, for instance. ... basically seeing if we need to change things. There's some ambiguity about dates and things like that. It's all kinda arcane. There isn't huge over-arching issues at the moment, though there have been historically. At this point, citizens have their pet concerns that they run on. We won't know until the campaigning starts and people say 'I'm Joe Candidate, vote for me because X.'"

I asked what issues there were in the recent past. Hannah answered, "Things like establishing a commission, starting a history group that talks about the history of the CDS. There was the history group. There was the replacement of the historic Rathaus with a new, more efficient and prettier Rathaus. Before that there was the decison to buy Friedsee, our latest region. Then on the first RA I was on, we had to decide what theme the region would have and how it would be laid out. Other issues are things like starting a marketing campaign. I wanted ads on SLU (a popular SL forum), so I ran on that. I was elected and we put some on there. And I retired. *laughs*" "A lot of our issues are local;" Hanna told me, "though one representative has pushed for us to have Pride marches and marches against prejudice. We also had a celebration of Women in virtual worlds a couple of months ago." I asked if gay pride and prejudice were issues in the representative's home area. "No, it was more of a reaction to the rise of the Alt-Right, I think," she answered, "It was about the same time as Trump's election, a couple months later, the march against hate, I mean."

I then brought up that US elections in recent years have gotten a bad reputation, and asked how well-mannered elections in the CDS were. Hanna answered, "Well, before I got here in 2015 there were elections that were very combative. They reflected things that were going on at the time. I'm thinking of circa 2010 or so when we were considering a merge with another estate. There was a culture clash, both of literal cultures but also management styles as well.  That's history, though. In my time the elections have been a lot, lot more quiet and nearly uneventful." I asked more about the culture clash, and she told me, "The estate we were considering merging with was Al Andus, which was set up more in the style of an Islamic caliphate, or so I understand. I don't think there was religious differences per se as much as 'this is what we consider a quorum' kind of diffences. Of course, that was like, five or six years before I joined the CDS. In the end, the CDS and the citizens of Al Andalus voted against merging. There was a lot of heat about it at the time, from what I understand. Long story short, two groups that 'have always done it that way' didn't want to budge on how things were ran."

Asking about more recent elections, Hannah told me they weren't nearly as heated, "Not since Feb 2015. *grins* At this point, most of us have known each other several years and most things have been hashed out. We have differences of opinion, but nothing terribly radical, as far as I can see."

That was about all Hannah had to say, wanting to give Chancellor Rosie Gray a chance to speak. The three of us would meet later, the details in the next article.

To be continued,

Bixyl Shuftan

Correction: Al Andalus, which was named after the Muslim kingdom in what is now Spain, was originally misspelled as Al Andus.

Celebrating Ten Women Who Made a Difference in Second Life

By Bixyl Shuftan

Since it's beginning, various women have had an impact on Second Life. Many businesses inworld have been run by them, such as Dana Vanmoer who was the editor of the Second Life Newspaper. Communities have been run by them. They have also made up many of our artists. And of course a number of the Lindens have been women. On Sunday March 18, there was a ceremony to "celebrating ten Second Life women who have, through their work" made a difference for the virtual world.

The women being honored were:

Bryn Oh, a prominent artist noted for her storytelling through 3-D art exhibitions.
Nuala Marcus, a noted member of the Relay for Life who has raised funds to fight cancer for years.
Strawberry Singh, a noted blogger whom has won many awards.
Caryl Meredith, the director of the Spirit Light Dance Company.
Kikuyu/Kikutsuru, two women who run a geisha school and house.
Marianne McCann, the lead resident of Bay City and a volunteer in events such as Burn2.
Rosie Gray, the Chancellor of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators.
Sudane Erato, an estate owner at both the CDS and SL New England Islands Estate, and a noted member of Second Life Mers.
Robin Sojourner Wood, who made the Texture Tutorial at the Ivory Tower, and has taught residents at the Builders Brewery.
Treacle Darlandes, an artist who does sculpture and fractal art, and has been mentoring newcomers.

Before the event, I talked to one of it's organizers, Kyoko (Samara Barzane). She told me she was one of the Public Information team of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, "... one thing I do is help organize events. (The) CDS usually has an event at least once a month. This is the March event. We wanted to do something celebrating SL women who have helped make SL a better place." With Brooke Brandenburg as the other person involved in the planning, they chose the Art Cafe in the Locus Amoenus sim, which Kyoko owns, "The Art Cafe is a space that belongs to me in CDS. We do exhibits, performances etc. So we decided this would be a good space for this event."

Kyoko told me the idea of the event came to her on International Woman's Day, "We wanted to do something a bit more than just a celebration so we came up with the idea of honoring ten Second Life women. And that's what we are doing. We just ran a little late (smile). In the US this is also Women's History Month." She told me it took about a week to go through the names of those nominated, "Brooke and I came up with a basic list, looking for some balance across SL. We also asked the citizens of CDS for nominations and included some of those also. So it's a CDS event, but we tried for a breadth of honorees."

Besides their accomplishments, nominees were selected based on if they were still active in Second Life. So women whom were deceased or simply not coming on any more were not chosen, "most of the ones who were not included were just for those reasons. ... The criteria emerged as we explored each candidate. The space we had dictated to some extent the number we could honor and the criteria emerged as we went over each one."

I dropped by as the event started at 10AM, and Kyoko and Brooke were there to greet me and the others arriving, "Welcome to Celebrating SL Women 2018!" The place was decorated, with ten posters of the honored women and a little information about them. "There some amazing stories connected with our honorees," Kyoko told the crowd. There was also a lady playing a transparent piano, Brook saying, "Our music is by the amazing Sandia Beaumont. Classically trained, she ranges to jazz and improv without missing a beat! ... In addition to the piano, she is playing other instruments LIVE on a second keyboard."

The event had a number of people over, "Hard to see all the nametags." Some of the women being honored were there, such as Treacle Darlandes, Marianne McCann, Nuala Marcas, Caryl Meredith, and Rose Gray. "It's an illustrious crowd!" Rosie remarked. "This shows how varied our community is," Nuala's partner Trader Whiplash spoke, "how borderless and inclusive as well."

Later, Kikutsuru (Miehina Resident) showed up, "Thank you for the invite (smile)." She brought with her a few from her school and house. They were all in traditional geisha dress, with white makeup, kimonos, and wooden shoes.

At one point, I noticed a flash of light and smoke. It was coming from Sandia's piano. "Sandia wants me to thank you all for the generous tips!" Alem (Alem Theas) spoke, "At the rate at which she destroys pianos, she is barely breaking even (grin)." She then texted the lyrics of the next song she was playing the piano to:

If there were no dreams
And there were no dreamers
And how could I dream you up
You're still a mystery to me
The way that we love
The life that we're leading
I don't want to give you up
Whatever I'll have to do, I'll do
Put a mountain there and I'll tear it down
If it's much too high then I'll go around
I won't stop for anyone or anything
And I'd love you even if there were no dreams
If there were no dreams
How could we be lovers
And how could I need you so
The reason's clear to even me

The event went well with those attending, " I want to congratulate all the amazing women who so much deserve this honoring .  ... WONDERFUL JOB all of you!!  BIG CONGRATULATIONS!!" Teracle spoke of the others honored, "I want to congratulate all ladies in SL who do whatever they do to make it a companionship and nicer online living experience for others. There are many ladies who do that I'm sure." "Yes, congratulations to all the women! I feel lucky to call many of them friends." Kikutsuru spoke before heading out, "Kyyoko san thank you for the invite, an dputting this together, and to everyone here, congratulation I will be bringing my sisters back home now for the evening, I hope everyone will have a wonderful day and evening (big smile)."

Before heading out, I checked out the other room in the Art Cafe. There were a number of artworks there. Among them, a painting by Artistic Fimicloud, the noted artist and Relayer whose struggle in the face of cancer inspired many, including her neighbors the Sunweavers whom would join the Passionate Redheads Relay team, and carry on when it folded as the Sunbeamer RFL team. While the event this day was for the living, one woman no longer with us was also being honored.

The Art Cafe is located at Locus Amoenus (122/187/26)

Bixyl Shuftan