A week or so ago, I attended iVillage's Girls Night Out Fashion Show extravaganza. Now, I've only been in SL for about 6 months, but even I figured out that this was one of the *hottest* events of the year. Talked about on all the SL fashion blogs. Greatly anticipated by those of us who love a free fashion goody bag. So when one of the designers who was attending the show sent a quick IM "It's 4 hours before the show, but the place is filling up!" did I hop into SL to secure my seat? Yes, I did. That's me, on the right, second row back.
I bought a new outfit for the fashion show (because you can't GO to a fashion show looking like you *need* some fashion help). You certainly can't see it in the picture, but its pretty nifty. A tartan bodice and black skirt. Not sure who the designer is. Will look it up.
iVillage hosted this event with the support of Electric Sheep Company, who clearly knew it would be popular and tried to split the avatar load across 4 sims.
Following is what the stage looked like from an avatar's POV:
Once the show got started, the lag was pretty awful. Avatars repeatedly reported that they were getting booted out of their seats, being dumped from the various sims, not being able to teleport in and not being able to see the models and/or the clothes they were wearing. I had pretty good luck. I stayed in my seat, zoomed my camera on the stage and didn't breathe. I snapped very few photos ... a lot of the clothes didn't rez for me. This is probably the best one I took. The wedding dress is by Simone Design!
Following the fashion show, Sabrina Doolittle (co-author of my favourite SL Fashion Blog, Linden Lifestyles) wrote a great piece on the highs and lows of the show, with some excellent advice for anyone planning this kind of big event in SL. A veteran of SL and having planned her own events, she knows her stuff. The comments are great too ... a couple of designers, newbies and folks from Electric Sheep all chime in. Highlights of her advice:
* I would not attempt to pack a large number of avatars into a single event, even across multiple sims. I think it is a better idea to re-run the same event a few times in one day with lighter numbers.
* If you want members of what is realistically SL’s fashion press to be able to cover your event and give you press that doesn’t include the word Satan in the title, have a press preview so we can actually see the items and shoot them. We’re not a big guest list, and we’re perfectly capable of respecting a release embargo.
* At a bare minimum, provide a notecard with a shot of each outfit and it’s details so that people can see snapshots of what they can’t see on the runway. You don’t have to make the card dispenser operable in advance.
* Never, ever rely on audio commentary.
* If you can anticipate that crowds will be early, do something - anything - to entertain them. A hostile crowd is just that much harder to win over and there are plenty of activities that can be enjoyed by seated avatars. Play some music, dish out some trivia, play Name That Tune… anything.
She also raises the idea of an event "uniform" ... one that is low in "prims" (prims are what make up most objects in SL. Outfits have prims, accessories have prims, even hair has prims. All these prims (in addition to the ones that make up the buildings and land) create a drain on the system. Each sim can have a limited number of prims. So if I'm wearing something that has a lot of prims, I am likely hindering someone else's experience. A "tragedy of the commons" situation.).
So, if you're a marketer considering an event in SL, read Sabrina's piece. And then attend a couple of events. BIG events. So you get a sense of what people experience. SL is new and using new technologies as marketing platforms is always tricky. But we need to do it; we need to experiment. But in cases like these, technology impacts your brand. And even more importantly, the social mores and norms of a community that is likely foreign to you ALSO impacts your brand. Learn from residents who take the time to offer advice.
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