If someone would ask me what are you doing in Second Life? I would just simply answer "I wait for Duran Duran."
In 2006 august Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran announced their presence in a virtual world called secondlife™. Of course as a devoted fan from teenage till housewife years I searched for the world and downloaded it and got stuck on the help islands. After a few days I finally made it to the main grid and try to look in search "duranduran" but it did not show anything. At that moment I was lost and deleted my avatar.
As I did not want to give up I made a new one and wondered again out of safety on the Help island. Their I learned for the first time the dark site of this virtual world that is in same development as the WWW was in that moment.
So I deleted out of safety again that avatar.
After a month of the announcement I saw in luck a bbc morning programme where a great 3d developer explained about his project and that was the place I had to go: Avalon.
On 11 september 2006 JoJa Dhara was born. She went straight from help island quickly to the main grid and searched for Avalon. She reached there a wonderful white building with pictures she was so familiar with and a bowl with a fish she called later NickFish. From that moment she was home! She met a great angel called Misty who helped her through the first days of this amazing virtual world.
And amazing it became. As curious as she always is she figured out there is more then just this beautiful white building where she heard the sounds of her band and party along with other duranies. She started to investigate the makers and figured out the beauty of creating and that there where many magicians developing in 3d. She started to realise that companies where getting interested in this virtual world. Closely she observed the balance between the dark site of internet and the use of business and who will take over.
She started a project with a company as a personal greeter of a firm and at the end a major project made her Online Community Manager.
JoJa Dhara had now not only a personal character but also a business development character.
Through the years of community manager, trainer, connector and organizer her heart was always where she was for in the virtual world.
Patiently she kept waiting.
How longer she waited how more developed she became. Not only inworld but also outside the virtual world as she learned about the power of Social Media.
She saw the importance of meeting virtual but also real. She saw companies having time saving, cost saving conferences. She saw Machinima makers coming together showing their art. She went to many lectures speeches about the use of virtual worlds.
In 2008 when the hype was over together with virtual world residents she came together and they looked at each other and asked themselves “what will the future bring for 3d internet?”. At that point the development will never stop and move forward to a normal use as the development of the normal internet had to go through.
MetaMeets was born and these residents organized in 2009 in Amsterdam, Europe’s first Premier 3d internet developers and community conference.
JoJa Dhara kept waiting. In the meantime 4 sims where being prepared for the band she was waiting for.Many fans waited for the opening and in the first year this was at Avalon. As the announcement was made that the opening would be soon the waiting room for Duran Fan residents was closed and used for other development.
Homeless she got the change as community manager to take over a couple of sims of a project and started a community that was interactive, innovative and also fun. Serious fun as she called.
She discovered the power of cross media. Where artists, filmmakers, djees using streams to get across in the out world and in world.
She spent a weekend with the music community where music from all over the world came together in a campsite, jamming together. A weekend where nobody met each other before then only online.
In the back of her mind where she was waiting for she saw how wonderful it can be for musicians to play together but also to meet their online fans.
Her wish became stronger that her band would contact her to make them understand the power and most of all the beauty that an online community can bring. Specially in 3d.
In meantime of developing the community on Virtual Holland she met in her large network a machinima maker. In her head she was planning already to show the power of the virtual world what it can mean for the music of her favourite band. The luck was that the band announced a contest to mash up one of their songs and that was the golden opportunity.
In the end of 2007 she made with this creator and other fans still waiting this amazing
mashup Machinima. Fans from Canada, America England and Holland.It was showed in the beginning of 2008 in the hope it will be seen and attempt the opening of the four sims. No one won the contest expect for the maker itself. He started to get more projects to film for big companies.
But it did not work to get the attention she planned and so this meant more waiting.
Now yesterday this news came through our Group inworld.
’Tlon, Azizi, Sanhedralite and Khanada is gone from the SL map search / visibility. Sadly the owners of the group havent seen fit to inform any of us. Over before it began.’
Straight away I went to the map function in this Virtual World and indeed the islands are gone!
Therefore I say Goodbye. Goodbye to JoJa Dhara as fan waiting for her favourite band who thought was planning to play online and develop a fan community on a virtual world.
But she will not leave the virtual world. No the opposite she is now letting go what hold her in the world but will stand on her own feet to develop more and more a 3d identity. She will continue connecting the right people that she met in the time of her waiting. Learn more about connecting worlds. Connecting through virtual social media lines. Connecting business, education, artists, socializing people and guiding and advising their communities. Organizing or support events on this new road of the use of 3d internet.
But most imported my mission will be connecting people virtual to meet for real.
