Interview With Markus Damone of AllFurRadio

By Bixyl Shuftan

Recently, I met up with Markus Damone, the founder and owner of the AllFurRadio station. Although AllFurRadio is considered an Internet Radio station, it did get it's start in Second Life. After about four years of operation, it closed with the intention or reopening later. In  August 2017, the station would reopen and quickly regain a following inside and out of Second Life. Among it's shows is "Two Vixens and a Wolf," which the Newser wrote about in July.

We met up at at the All Fur Radio Club, which is still under construction, in the FnF AFMedia sim. Although incomplete, the two-story club had a number of furnishings, such as dancepoles and nearby seats, a DJ booth on the first floor, and more.

When asked about where did he first hear about Second Life, Markus answered, "Oh wow.  Um it (was) early 2006, and I did a Google search for free MMOs and it was the only one on the site that was actually free. The ad showed a picture of a goth chick kneeling, and I was like 'sure why not?' Plus it stated you get free in-game currency weekly, like 100 Lindens. So it was like win-win."

Once inworld, "Well, I was a little unimpressed. But then I found the search function, and was like 'Oh hey, furries. I know those things.' I met a fur in Luskwood as I was wondering how to get more Lindens to buy my furry avatar. After the help, I was able to have a little more fun, hitting some casinos, doing some club contests, and after about a month I had my first furry av. After that, I was hooked."

I asked Markus where he first got the idea for a music station. He askered, "I found Furnation and the radio station there. They paid money, and I was like 'Hey I can be entertaining on the air.' So I joined. But my third show, the DJ manager was very rude and disrespectful. So I said, 'You know what, I can do this better.' That was about April 2006. So I started AllFurRadio." But his initial performance was basically a trial run for what lay ahead, though a highly successful one, "The first time I opened up AFRadio  it was packed. Though it was short lived due to the lack of money to buy a streaming server.  But the first airing of it, there was about 80 listeners.  And i knew then that if I had ever gotten the money up (front), I would do it again. So after a day and one airing, I shut it down and went back to work with the station I had came from."

Markus would continue working for someone else for about six months. About then "Several of the DJjs with that station who had became DJs because of my shows came to me complaining. When I heard their talk, I reached out and was like 'Well, I have this idea I did before, and it was great then. I am sure it will be great now.'" They restarted in October 2006.

The reboot in Markus' words, "was like an explosion.  I hit the air with a stream, and before I knew it we had 12 DJs and a battle for Furnation had began between us and the previous station we worked for.  The listener counts peaked and it grew fast and aggressive." The first year was a great success, as was the second, "The first year we hit peaks in the 100s and then we did a live show at Anthrocon.  And  that only peaked us more. Soon we were in all of Furnation. Then we were the official station of Lost Furest, then ZZ Studios, and so many other sims and location began to stream us when they didn't have a live show.  It was fast and crazy."

And they had some inworld locations on sims, "We had several. Our main branch was based in Furnation Kitsune as a dojo.  And then we setup small stations all around.  Furnation also set their Furnation Prime station, and I built a second one in the Ryder sims.  The idea was to make there be a place everywhere that AllFurRadio was." But they eventually closed down, "slowly. That was because the sims ended up going down, and they never got used. We had such a presence in all the sims we broadcasted in that we didn't need to pay for a location. It was just given to us for use. So we would have random shows in the middle of sandboxes because we could.  It got to the point that we had no need for them. No one used them. So I shut the places down to reallocate the money elsewhere."

It didn't take long for their listenership to spread beyond Second Life residents, "Our first convention is when we really started to spread outside. along with starting a branch in Furcadia.  And it was rather successful." But there was one development that dropped their numbers inworld for a time, when the Voice option was added to Second Life, "I started realizing that we had more listeners on the page than in-game. And it was mainly due to Voice being so new. And yes, sadly the moment Voice was enabled in SL, our numbers dropped. Everyone would rather voice with each other then turn the stream and and listen to us."

The station would recover those numbers soon, but from outside Second Life, "by the time that had taken full swing, we had already (been) down several conventions. So a large number of the base was outside of Second Life, (and) had never even heard of SL. And since there is no voice chat in Furcadia, we still increased. So overall, the base in Second Life dropped, but outside it increased.  We also found that the listeners outside of SL listened longer, and were less likely to stop listening in exchange for something else, because at that time, there was nothing else furry related on the net."

The station would have it's challenges over time, "We had  several.  Some DJ would say something and p*ss another off.  The worest though was what helped lead to the station closing   It detailed with one staff member getting so mad, I cant even remember what for, and he convinced the general manager to leave AFradio's Furcadia branch  and all the DJs as well. Overnight the station went dark. This was in March 2011. ... The station closed down." Markus told me real-life matters were part of the reason for the closing, "I had just become a father, (and) I was working crazy hours." He did make one attempt to reopen it a year later, "but it wasn't going to happen."

But in September 23, 2017, AllFurRadio officially reopened, "It was welcomed  and to my surprise many were happy to see if back." It was successful from the start, though Markus credits the "Two Vixens and a Wolf" radio show by Svetlana Snowpaw, Roxy Noir-Snowpaw, and Greigh VonGottreich,  "I was finding it hard to get broadcasters, and when they came along their excitement and enthusiasm was what I needed to refuel the fire. And yes, their show attracts a lot of new listeners each show. It's the entertainment furs want, not just  playing music like a Second Life DJ, but doing a real show that is professional in nature. They showed me what I had forgotten and what I was missing, that excitement, that passion, that form, the time I had lost due to all the things that had slowed down the station."

When I asked about what special event was being planned to celebrate the anniversary of AllFurRadio's reopening, Markus told me although officially it reopened in September, the real reopening was a month earlier, "That's the funny part. The opening was in August, so we ran as soft opened for the time. Our celebrated reopening date was August the 10th 2018. So this day to be honest will just (be) spent with the staff.and enjoyed with each other and our hard work thus far."

And what are the future plans for the station? Markus answered, "More cons for one. We are also opening up our other branches: AllFurMedia and AllFurNews.  Allfurmedia is schedule to be fully open sometime at the beginning of the year with the sitcom "Are You Furreal." AllFurNews "is suppose to be mainly about furry events. Right now, we are working with a contributor,  The Furry Times, and getting them setup as well looking for other correspondence and contributors. We are working on a lot of different things. Thinking of SL shows. full animation. live video, but most of this is in the infancy."

And what do his real life friends and family think of his radio station? Markus answered, "My wife does, and my mother-in-law are both co-owners.  In fact, I met my wife from one of my DJs back when I first ran the station." Second Life and the station had worked out well for him, "Indeed it has. To always for the best, but always great in the end."

A year after AllFur Radio's official reopening, Markus and his station are doing well.

Bixyl Shuftan

Interview with GoSpeed Racer (GoSpeed Rasere)

By Deaflegacy

GoSpeed Racer, best known for being the owner of KONA Radio, the DJ for many of Bay City's events, and a display name matching the name of a Japanese cartoon character, was recently crowned Miss Bay City near the end of it's "Hot Bay City Nights" yearly summer car show. GoSpeed had been Djing the Miss Bay City Contest for the past few years and had entered once before.  “I figured I'd give it a shot this year,” she explained.

I asked GoSpeed why she chose her particular account name. She answered, “When I first signed up in 2006 I was going through the list of available last names. As I scrolled past Racer, I saw the GEICO Insurance commercial featuring Speed Racer (on TV). So, on a lark I chose GoSpeed Racer.” Recently, she has been using the display name "GoSpeed Rasere." She explained,  “This past year I changed it to Rasere because I am using GoSpeed as a character in my writing and I wanted to avoid intellectual property issues with my name.”

GoSpeed does have a "Mark-Five," the car her cartoon counterpart drives, which was in the Newser for a cartoon in 2011. When I asked her if she had ever raced with it, she said, “No, it's a very fast vehicle and that often leads to crashes and horrible sim crossing snafus.” She won a nice sports car from 2Zm as a prize for winning the Miss Bay City Contest. That it had a "5" painted on it, GoSpeed smiled, calling it "Pure coincidence."

When I asked if there are any other peaks to winning the Miss Bay City Contest beside the title and bragging rights, she answered, “Nope, nothing else!” There are no specific events she has to attend, or/and responsibilities of the title, but GoSpeed intend to attend as many Bay City events as possible. Of the crown, she says she will wear it mainly at these events. GoSpeed has been attending events in Bay City since 2009.

GoSpeed would like people to know that KONA Stream is still alive and kicking after nearly 11 years inworld, "Our homepage is www.konastream.com . It's (been) doing quite well the past year. Listenership in and offworld has increased.”

GoSpeed is also a budding novelist, who has completed the drafts to two novels  She is working on a third.  When asked what they were about, she explained, "They are novels about a futuristic simulation where SL avatars are reconstituted as living AI. Our social media presence is preserved and then used with computer algorithms to synthesize personalities." That is, their personalities are based on how their users used the avatars in actions and virtual speech, and, "on how the algorithm interprets the imagery, blogs, etc... You may have read an article where researchers say that based on a person's lifelong Facebook and other social media postings that an somewhat accurate represntation of their personality can be emulated. So, our avatars live on, but they won't totally be us.  I hope to self publish by the new year."

You can go to her personal Second Life blog at https://gospeedracer.wordpress.com/  to read more about her stories and other things about her.  The link to GoSpeed's blog as well as her other media sites is:  http://about.me/GoSpeed_Racer .

Pictures from Bixyl Shuftan and GoSpeed Racer.

Deaflegacy

An Interview with Hatton Hunghi (Hatton Humphrey), Talk Show/Podcast Host

Talk shows are something people think of being on the radio rather than on the Internet or Second Life. But they can be found here on the Grid. One such show is "East Coast Conservative," hosted by Hatton Humphrey and Ken Johnson, which besides podcasted on the Internet and the Red State Radio Network and on several locations in Second Life. Hatton Humphrey is also known in Second Life by his avatar, Hatton Hunghi, and has a place for the show at the mainland Pop sim. Recently, he contacted me, and we soon agreed to an interview.

When I arrived at his location, Hatton Hunghi greeted me, "Well, this is my new 'home' in Second Life. Let me give you the tour. The first was a prefab that I shoehorned stuff into." The room we were in looked like a cozy den with a couple chairs and an American flag on the wall. He called this his basement.

Hatton paused momentarily, " One of the things that happened recently was a bit of a change in the presence of the GOP in Second Life. Much like what happened in 2007 between the pro and anti McCain folks, there are once again two different GOP groups with individual locations and events. Understand, i've been streaming the recording sessions for my podcast into SL since 2007; I've seen a lot change in the groups and support."

Hatton pointed to a wall, which had six signs on it, "This wall is something I've put up to provide 'equal access,' three groups and three landmarks. Though any group or location that wants to be on the board and fits the description can get a spot or three." With just six in the upper left corner, the wall looked a bit bare, "I'd love to see this thing filled up. But we'll talk about that more later, on with the tour!"

We stepped outside, the adjacent Second Life Highway clearly visible with an occasional bus driving down it, and walked the stairs to the top, where there was a semicircle seating stand: the theater, "It's custom built by a couple of GOP members, my building skills are about as good as my graphics. I constantly say me and graphics equals stick figures. People think I'm joking until I point out the show's logo is an example of my graphics skills … I'm a technologist and programmer by trade, graphics has never been my strong suit."

"There is some hidden technology running behind the scenes here," he pointed to the talk show's sign, "the easel with the show notes is actually part of a networked notecard giver that runs grid-wide, and there is an intercom system that will relay local chat to any other box. There are similar, though not same shaped, intercom devices in each of the other GOP locations as well as easels. What this allows me to do is host the show from here but get SL input from any place that has the easel and the intercom. The system that we use to record the podcast generates an MP3 steam that can be loaded into the audio section to Second Life. I'll spare you the sausage factory on how it works (grin). In each place it's 'hidden,' here it's the (sign) frame. … that's a programming reference - nobody wants to know what goes on in the sausage factory just like nobody wants to know the technical details of how something works. Right now all the other intercoms are probably turned off. Notice how the frame changed to full bright? That means it's on. I'm checking to see if one of the others can turn on their end."

Looking back at the audience area, "nyway, seating was a concern and the risers are all sittable. At this point I'm not sure what full capacity is." He then walked a bit to a teleporter, "Okay, the last part of the spot is at the other end of the teleporter … This is something that I just started working on." We took the teleporter to a skybox, which he called a future showcase for conservatives, "It's bare at the moment, but plans are to put links and info about famous conservatives, links to writings by the founding fathers, information about what I call "Civics 101", videos produced by another SL member, things like that."

We then headed back to the show location's "basement. " Asking him what gave him the idea to do the show, Hatton informed this was his second talk show, "he first one was a drive-rant recording called the 'Nifty Things' report to go with the domain I owned, ithinkitsnifty.com - it was a play on a blog I used to read that was ithinkitsucks.com. Podcasting allows gives you the ability to put emphasis on words and ideas that writing does not."

"The East Coast Conservative podcast actually came out of a blog site as well. I served in the Navy with Ken Johnston, my co-host on the podcast. We started off with a blog site called the 'Three-Legged Dog,' an homage to Ken's real-life rescue dog Rocky. After some time we realized we were talking more about things on the phone than we were posting on the site and the idea of the podcast came about. … We recorded our first two episodes using Skype in 2007. However because of hardware problems only the first episode was published. We 're-launched' the podcast in November 2007."

The size of East Coast's Conservative's audience can vary "wildly," at least those whom listen through podcast downloads from the Internet, "During the 2008 elections we were as high as 350-375 downloads per week. In slow times it's been as low as 65-75 per week." With the 2012 Presidential election season, ratings have picked up again, "the long run of the primaries has helped." Besides the podcasts downloads and listening in through the website and Second Life, "we have additional distribution channels. Stitcher.com carries the show as does the Red State Talk Radio network. … it's more exposure for the show, though tracking can be a bit tedious. Between feedburner, talkshoe stats, google analytics, stitcher stats and monthly reports from the radio station, keeping track of the numbers can get your eyes crossed."

Hatton first began running the show from Second Life in 2008. The sim "was the home of the 'Republican Party in SL.' They were recording a podcast of their own, Conservative Matters with Ron Skytower, and I offered to bring my show in-world as well. That was in June of 2008, episode 32, and unless there's been technical issues, we've been doing it every week since then, except for the odd Christmas, Thanksgiving or other vacation."

Of the show's topics, "We open our podcast with a funny/odd/human interest story. Over the years those have been the most fun. For example, when there were shark attacks in Egypt on the Red Sea resorts, there was an article accusing the Israelis of planting the shark near those shores. Then a couple of weeks later we opened with an article about a Romanian that was on holiday at one of those resorts, got plastered, and jumped off a pier and landed directly on a shark, killing it. So those were each opening articles. But for me the interesting articles are those that make me appreciate some kind of positive in the world, which, due to the nature of our podcast, we don't get to talk about as often as I'd like."

When asked how rough the political talk can get, "It can, absolutely, and not always in ways you might be able to directly infer. Since we depend on news articles and the occasional blog entry for our content, a slow news week can be a bit of a challenge when it comes time to put together the program. And then there are times when there are tons of things going on and I have 40-50 articles to pick 7-9 out of for the content. Generally, though, the attitude and flow that Ken and I have established over the years lends itself to more comfortable conversation. We have regular listeners from many different political areas, including liberals, moderates, conservative democrats and libertarians."

For a time, the show was at the GOP sim, "I've always wanted 'my own place' for the podcast, and had planned to make the investment when Keen closed down. The owner of Sagamore (later renamed Grand Old Party) offered me free space. I'd been toying with the idea more and more over the last 6 months or so. Then there were some changes that happened within the support structure of the groups behind that sim and the decision was made to close it. That kinda sealed the concept for me. This spot is the podcast's second true 'home.' The Cafe and the Theater on Keen before it were broadcast points. We had built a 'radio station' on GOP and I was able to put things but there was a disconnection between the information and the recording location. Here that's not the case."

Asked about visitors of different persuasions coming by, "we do get some visitors. Being so new on the mainland I'm still building up a search presence for this location. On GOP or Keen I saw so many people go by, but they were there for that sim, not always my podcast. … if they came in as griefers they probably didn't stay for very long. Griefers were not tolerated on Keen or Sagamore. Sometimes we do get comments or contact from folks that don't agree with something we're saying. If the comments are worth mentioning then I'll address them in the recording. If they're just there to be an ass, that's a different story. But that goes back to the concept that I have about debate and conversation. If one has no other response than a rude one, they're not worth making my blood pressure medication work harder and SL has this nifty 'mute' button. A freedom of speech does not translate to a freedom to be heard (grin). That's one of the joys of modern media." When asked about the "Occupy" movement, "I've had interactions with Occupy folks on other podcasts but none directly on mine. And no, nobody's occupied Pop yet."

For now, there is nothing special planned for the nomination conventions or Election Night, "Right now we are sticking with the regular schedule. … Ken and I may opt for something different as time draws nearer, however for other dates I tend to join in with a round-table of other Republican/conservative podcast hosts for a special event."

For the moment, Hatton isn't doing much else in Second Life, "In the past I was involved in various religious debates but those got a bit heated at times. I've got a lot of different real-life things going on, between band (I'm a tuba player), church, work, kids and studying for a MBA. … I've come across some interesting places in SL but none that have ever made me consider sticking around. I am a little active in the US Military Veteran group, mainly when they need someone to confirm a Navy vet in the time frame that I served. It's been interesting to watch Second Life grow over the years. It's a very fluid environment and continues to surprise me in what folks can do with it. Politics in SL is also very fluid. SL provides a microcosm in which the whole spectrum of though can be found and, when amiable, shared."

"I'm working to provide a place where folks can learn about conservatism, talk about politics in a friendly manner and relax a bit. Though to be honest that last part is the least represented in what I've put together so far. This place will continue to grow. Being a land owner is a new experience and I'm sure I've only scratched the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what can and will be done here."

Second Life's East Coast Conservative location can be found at the Pop sim at (158, 21, 68), next to the Inter-sim Highway. The website for the show is at: http://www.eastcoastconservative.com .

Bixyl Shuftan