FASHION!

OCTOBER 15, 2007

57 MILES: We do have something rather special for you today. Professor Robert

Bloomfield from Cornell University who runs the Metanomics series with us has some great

guests, which you will meet in just a couple of seconds.

Before I pass you over, I would like to very quickly thank Generali, Kelly Services, The

Otherland Group, who are the main sponsors of the island, Sun Microsystems, Saxo Bank,

Cisco Systems, and SAP, the partners of Metaversed who make all of this stuff possible.

Without them, we couldn’t do it. It’s as simple as that. On your way out you can see them as

you go out of the back gate there and into the business center. Without further ado I will

hand you over to Robert Bloomfield, who will introduce his guests for today.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Thanks a lot, Nick. So welcome, everyone, to another episode of

Metanomics and today, instead of just having one guest, we’ve got three. We’ve got Raven

Pennyfeather, who is the creator of House RFYER Fashions, and you just saw her models

strutting their stuff a few minutes ago. She has a fashion business entirely within Second

Life, someone I call an immersionist because she is just creating a business within Second

Life and that’s pretty much what the business does, is become part of the Second Life

economy.

Nyla Cheeky has a real-life fashion house, House of Nyla, way up in western Canada in

Vancouver, and she is someone I would call an aggregationist. She’s got a real business

outside Second Life and then is using Second Life to augment what she’s doing.

Finally, we’ve got Jack Meyers, who actually made his start in TV, and is a very well-known

commentator and consultant on marketing, and is the author of Virtual Worlds: Rewiring

Your Emotional Future. He will be talking about what the two ladies on our panel are doing

and his take on fashion marketing and emotion in Second Life.

So before we go on, I do want to thank the people who are making it possible for the world

not in Second Life to see what we are doing. That’s the Second Life cable network,

SLCN.TV, and you can always see our shows live on SLCN.TV and also see them after the

fact. Okay. Without further ado, let’s start with Raven. Hi, Raven.

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: Good afternoon.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: So I understand your career, before you got into Second Life

fashion, had very little to do with fashion. Can you just give us a sense of who you are and

what brought you into this business and what you’re doing now?

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: Yes, certainly. My background has been in residential lending,

with an emphasis in compliance and software development. I have also run a parallel career

as a freelance artist, and I was able to obtain also a degree in graphic design here in my

area, and began my wonderful experience in Second Life starting in September of 2004. So

I’ve been here almost three years now, so again, my background is kind of diverse and

eclectic. I think that a lot of what I’ve done has been able to be applicable to what I’m doing

here in-world.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: So is this a full-time job for you now?

RAVEN P0ENNYFEATHER: Yes. As of January of this year I was able to take the step and

be involved in Second Life and my business here on a full-time basis. So at that point it was

able to support me, and I wanted to see how far I could take it.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Congratulations. I’ve been reading this book on networks and the

power of these new media by lawyer, Yochai Bankler, and one of the things that he talks

about, from an economic point of view, is that technologies like Second Life so dramatically

lower the entry costs into businesses like this that people can just quit their jobs and are

able to sustain themselves without having a huge market, huge revenue stream, because

you don’t have the factories and you don’t have to deal with the enormous tons of fabric that

you would need in a normal business.

I’m hoping you can talk a little bit about the differences between the RL and the SL fashion

industry, Real Life and Second Life. And the most obvious is you don’t really have factories

and you don’t have fabric. Can you just sort of walk us through the logistics from the

beginning--you know, like you conceive of an idea--all the way to getting your product to the

customers in Second Life. What’s involved?

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: Certainly. Well, again, our designs kind of fit into a niche

product right now. I specialize in period and gothic historical type of costuming in addition to

kind of melding that with a modern style. Basically, what you’re looking at is starting from

sketching of proofs, designing of different items, pulling them into various graphical

programs such as PhotoShop, which is what I do primarily.

From that point you’re developing the various outfits, and those can range from as little as

maybe four to five hours and, on average, most of my designs have at least 20-plus hours of

work into them. These graphical files are then imported into Second Life--and again, these

are all created off of templates. From that point--

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Raven, if I can just interrupt. When you say a design takes you

that long--I know I went into a store and saw some of your stuff and you would sell the entire

outfit; it would be shoes and stockings and everything, so you’re talking about that many

hours just for the shoes?

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: No, actually, that is probably in total. That has to do with the

development of the template graphical files and in-world prim clothing objects that have to

be modeled. So I would say that would encompass a total outfit.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Okay. My understanding is once you make an outfit once it’s

basically costless to keep reproducing the identical thing. Is that right?

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: Exactly. That’s correct, yes.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Now what about if you’re going to make something--you know,

you’ve made a dress and you’re thinking of making a somewhat different dress, are you

doing this more and more quickly because you’re using old templates every time?

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: Again, I try to stay away from what we call “recycling.” The

designs that I make, for the most part, are from the get-go. So if there’s prim attachments,

they’re remade. The templates that I do have--I mean, these are all unique designs.

Everybody has a different approach. My approach is to create the actual fabrics from

scratch and import those into the templates. So my approach is maybe different from

another designer’s, but that’s a particular way that I do it.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Okay. Let’s talk a little bit about marketing. So you’ve got your

designs; you’ve spent those—whatever, five to 20 hours or so, and now you’ve got to get it

to the customer. How does that work?

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: Okay. Typically, when I start I will package the outfit. By

“packaging,” that is a process that we follow to get everything into a folder and then

ultimately into what we call a prim panel. Now, again, different approaches here. Some

people use scripted vendors. I use the Second Life technology of a prim that can be set for

sale. From that point--

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Can you just explain what those are, the scripted vendor?

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: There are some vendors available out there, and it’s basically a

prim item that has a computer script that allows for a sales transaction to take place. And

again, there’s so many different types, you know, just from a high level. Again, basically it

performs the function of distributing the item to the customer. So the customer interacts with

this vending machine. Somewhat similar to kind of like an ATM. I believe that was

something that you had mentioned.

Okay. The difference between what I use in a prim item versus a prim vendor is there’s no

scripts in mine, other than what Second Life places into them. These other vendors have

scripts in them that are developed by different programmers outside Second Life. So with

that in mind, once that is loaded then I begin my distribution to my 111 locations throughout

Second Life, and the process is a little bit more cumbersome for someone like me, but I find

it more to my advantage because there’s so many changes in the Second Life programming

languages that a lot of times there are additional issues that can go wrong with a scripted

vendor, and it becomes a customer service nightmare. So again, everybody has a different

outlook and a different approach, but I’ve found this one to serve my group the best and with

the least amount of customer issues.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Okay. And then you said you have 111 locations--

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: Yes.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: --all around Second Life. So how do you choose those? Do you

try to be next to the Goth clubs or something like that?

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: Well, again, sure we want to target our audience. And yes we

do look at Goth clubs, but we don’t look specifically at Goth clubs. Again, my design line is

fairly eclectic so it can fit into a lot different types of areas. What do we look for? Again,

traffic is always a consideration and we’re looking at real versus artificial traffic. Some

places have different devices that will drive the traffic level up. We try to ensure that there

are just some kinds of basic things that have to be in place. You know, are we looking at

experienced versus inexperienced players? These are just some of the factors that we look

at when we’re scouting a location.

A lot of times what happens, too, is you get a lot of invitations. People become familiar with

your work and they open up a mall location, and they invite you to join them. In some cases

we act on that immediately. Again, it’s first-come, first-served in that situation, so we try to

respond quickly to those invitations and get us out there, and then monitor them for

performance.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Now, which way does the money flow? You obviously want an

outlet, but they also want to be a store that has a lot of variety. So who’s paying who when

you start up a new location?

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: Well, typically we are paying them to rent a space. In turn for

that rental we look to see from them what kind of advertising they’re going to do. And

usually this is all spelled on a note card from the party that you’re renting from. In terms of

performance, we pay X amount on a weekly basis--and again, some places will ask you to

rent a minimum of one week, some places will ask you to rent a minimum of four weeks.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: What’s the typical rental amount?

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: Average rental amount, right now it’s running at about $10 per

print, per item that you place in their stores.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Per week?

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: That’s correct, mm-hmm.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Ten dollars a week. Okay.

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: Ten Lindens.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Oh, oh. Excuse me. Ten Lindens.

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: Yes.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: That’s a rather different thing. I was thinking they that was quite a

bit of traffic if you’re just going to be giving them $10 an object a week.

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: No.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Okay. Let’s bring Nyla into the conversation. So Nyla, you’re

really in a pretty different position here because I assume your primary business, in your

mind, is your real-life fashion business?

NYLA CHEEKY: Hello. Yes, that is correct.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: So can you just tell us a little bit about what type of products

you’re making; what your audience is in real life?

NYLA CHEEKY: In real life I create a lot of one-of-a-kind pieces for my particular client who

comes to see me often via my web site or word of mouth, so bringing my items into Second

Life is generating me a larger audience.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: And just so everyone knows your web site is HouseofNyla.com. I

believe I have that right. And that’s N-y-l-a. Oh, I see you even have it over your head in

Second Life.

So I seem to remember when we chatted a while ago you were talking about some fairly

high-profile clients. And your dresses are very expensive, right?

NYLA CHEEKY: Well, they’re all handmade, hand-beaded couture for the individual person

made to fit their exact measurements. Yeah, they are pricey dresses, but Second Life allows

me to bring those items in for people to see and experience that might not have the

opportunity.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Okay. And so I know that you’ve gotten a fair bit of publicity

through your Second Life work. You’ve gotten in some major fashion magazines. I think one

of the European versions of Vogue and so on. And that’s got to be a kick.

NYLA CHEEKY: Yeah. It’s been excellent. For a real-life designer to build their name and

their brand is quite difficult, and it’s a lengthy process. Second Life can and will speed that

up for people like me.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: And so have you had anyone actually say, “Oh, well, can I come

into Second Life and see some of your fashions?” I mean, has it lead yet to real business?

NYLA CHEEKY: Through Second Life it has lead to real business. I have made some real-

life sales through Second Life, but I haven’t had it work the other way yet. I have just

recently added it to my web site, HouseofNyla.com, and look forward to generating traffic in

that direction as well. It is a new tool for me so I’m learning it as I go.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: And since you’re primarily in real-life fashion and then you see all

this Second Life fashion around you, what’s your impression of some of the big differences

and similarities?

NYLA CHEEKY: Well, the differences are that you cannot touch the fabric, be with it, work

with it. The similarities are the way it lays on the body, the fits, the cuts, the styles. It’s an

excellent tool for anybody learning or who desires to get into fashion design. It can really

work both ways. As for Raven, she could build out of this and create a real-life label. For

me, it can garner me press and recognition to build my real-life label.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: So Raven, any thoughts along those lines?

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: Well, of course we’re always interested in expanding our

markets and seeing what’s out there, and that’s part of the whole philosophy and why I took

the plunge into this, just to see how far we can take this and what avenues we can ______.

So it’s very exciting. Very, very enjoyable process.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Yeah, well, I’ve been contacted by some people in real-life

fashions, so who knows. They may see this show and give you a call, so I would love to

know something good came out of this episode. So let’s see. So Jack--

JACK MEYERS: Yes. Hi.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Sort of the last here--on the left here on the Media Blessed is

Jack Meyers, and so you’re really primarily coming from a real-world marketing perspective

and, in particular, you’ve been pushing a certain philosophy or approach to marketing, which

is making this emotional connection. So I’m wondering if you can just talk a little about that

in general, and then apply it to what you’re seeing in the Second Life fashion industry?

JACK MEYERS: Well, thank you, and my congratulations to everyone. I’m not as versed or

expert in Second Life or virtual worlds as you folks are, and my background and experience

comes from really tracking media industry trends, advertising and marketing industry trends

and reporting on them. And I’ve become increasingly convinced that in the long term, virtual

worlds and Second Life are going to have a significant impact on overall marketing and how

media companies and marketers communicate with people, and I think that’s more because

of what’s happening in sites like Gia and Club Penguin and Webkinz, Neopets, some of the

worlds that have been created for the under-10 generation.

And I think all of us who are in Second Life and spending time here realizes it changes the

way we think about communications, the way we practice and in many ways the way we

make decisions. I think we’ve all been trained for generations to act intellectually first, and

we’ve learned somewhat, especially in business, to repress our heart and our gut, our

emotional sensitivities. We’re told to think before we act, and we’re challenged when we act

emotionally with our heart or with our gut. And I think what we’re learning and what younger

generations are learning is that the heart and the gut, the emotions can take, if not

precedence, certainly equal footing with the intellect, and that changes how marketers are

going to have to respond to the opportunities that exist in Second Life, and I think it’s why

people like Nyla and Raven can have successful businesses, because they’re marketing

themselves with a Second Life sensitivity as opposed to a physical world sensitivity and

experience.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Yeah. I mean, it strikes me that when you talk about the heart

and the gut, fashion is really--of all the businesses in Second Life--really seems to be

tapping into that most directly. I know you look around at the beautiful avatars, and it’s hard

to remember that it’s just a cartoon and it’s not a beautiful woman. And I know that a

number of people who are doing research are finding, from a rigorous point of view, that

people are first reacting to the beauty, to the look, and only then does the intellect kick in

and--

JACK MEYERS: One of the points I make in my book is that I don’t use the word “real”

versus “in-life” or “virtual”; I consider this experience to be as real in our day-to-day lives as

any other. For those of us who are here, this is a real experience; it’s not imagined. And

while we may take on other personalities or other approaches, I think one of the lessons for

the fashion industry is that the traditional brands cannot just come into--thank you Sten

Bag(?).

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Yes, I see you’re getting kudos for what you just said, and I

apologize deeply to anyone I may have offended.

JACK MEYERS: But I think for the fashion industry it’s particularly noteworthy that the

traditional designers, whether it’s Ralph Lauren or Calvin Klein or any of the newer

designers, can’t simply take their existing brands and expect to be successful in a Second

Life business model. I think that they really have to adapt to the sensibilities and the

sensitivities, and I think they have to discard their intellectual business processes and their

experiences in coming in and really start from scratch. And in many ways I think the

traditional brands are operating at a disadvantage. And that’s why I think it’s so critically

important to really understand the implications and what all of us and all of you in the

audience really gain from this experience and what it means to us emotionally. And I think

the dangerous part or the interesting part is that I think if we start studying it and we start

trying to quantify it, then we work at counter purposes to what it’s all about. If we try to

intellectualize this process, I think we disrupt what Second Life and virtual worlds are really

all about, which is empowering the emotions to have their voice.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Yeah. So that brings up a question that I was hoping to ask

Raven. The look of your line is fairly counter-culture, and I’m wondering if that affects the

type of marketing that you do because I think you might say that a lot of Second Life is

counter-culture, so are you trying to do things along the lines of viral marketing or just being

very cautious about not seeming too conventional?

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: Again, I really just wanted to make the comment also about the

emotional aspect of designing here and how transformative this medium is. In terms of my

designs, simply put, this is what I love to do. Okay? These are the styles that I have always

loved for many years. So it’s a realization of that. My tastes are very eclectic--

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: A Goth mortgage officer; is that--

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: Probably more aptly put would be a kind of slightly Bohemian

mortgage compliance officer/software developer. Again, my ideas, my concepts, my

designs, don’t fit neatly into any one particular camp, but I am getting a lot of attention with

certain sectors within Second Life. And yes, I do market to those sectors, but we are

constantly evolving, constantly changing, and looking to broaden our markets in here, and

along with the branding. So I don’t know if that answers your question.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Well, that does. I might press you a bit on that. So without losing

our PG status on the sim, can you tell us one, a little about the sectors that you’re referring

to, and then two, how is that you market to them?

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: Well, again, there’s a number of different markets. For one, of

course there’s the Gothic group and their various sims, also the role playing group. Again,

that encompasses action heroes, that encompasses darker esthetics within those role

playing. Also, we have historical sims, sims that are Medieval-based or Renaissance-based,

and we do fairly well there as well. And even in some more mainstream type of couture

areas, which we’re branching out into now that we’re getting some real positive feedback.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Okay. And so when you say you market to these groups, this is

about prim outlet placement?

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: Yes, it’s about placement. It’s also about assisting certain sim

owners with different events, participating in those events, lending our creativity and our

input into them, and drawing more attention to not only their sim, but our brand as well.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Okay. Let’s see. Raven, I wanted to talk a little more about

marketing, and I apologize that I am in fact an accountant, and so I’m really interested in

data, and in fact one of the fascinating things about doing business in Second Life is that

every transaction with anyone is going to be recorded. So are you collecting a database that

helps you with marketing decisions?

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: Oh, yes. Very much so. We have been compiling our marketing

data now for about two and a half years, and of course with managing the amount of stores

that we do, we want to make sure that there are sales there. So we are running various

reports. We’re kind of on a home-grown system, and we’re looking to expand that and

develop something a little bit more intricate in the way of a database that might help us with

that process and maybe even help other business owners within Second Life. So that’s kind

of brand-new. We’ve just begun that.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: I’m not that familiar with the nuts and bolts so, what, every time

someone goes to a prim and clicks on one of your products to buy it, you get a report from

Second Life on who that was, when it was, where it was--

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: Sure do.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: --what they got, how much they paid, all of that stuff, isn’t that so?

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: Well, you do kind of get a transaction if you go to--anyone who

has a Second Life account can go into transaction details and it will give you the date and it

will give you the time, it will show you the amount, it will show you the description the

individual vendor or seller is responsible for completing, telling you what you’re purchasing,

and it will show the type of transaction that it was. There’s a dropdown menu whether it was

an object sale, etcetera. And this is stored on Second Life’s account information. You have

about 30 days worth of historical data, and you do have the ability to view it online and

download in whatever format you like, whether it’s an Excel format or a CSV format. You

can retain that information.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Mm-hmm. Okay. So you just need to find yourself someone

who’s really good with databases. You must have a lot of data you can play around with,

two and a half years of all that stuff.

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: Yeah, it’s quite a bit. We’ve got a really great group that’s

working on the project now, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what we’re able to

develop.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Mm-hmm. Okay. And so Nyla, I imagine your strategy is

somewhat different, and in-world you have a smaller operation. Can you talk about--

NYLA CHEEKY: Yeah, it is quite a bit different than Raven’s. I have branched out a small

amount, but I am really sticking to one location because it really is a virtual extension of my

real-life work. Spreading out throughout Second Life isn’t really my main goal but to create a

voice for what I do in real life.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Mm-hmm. People talk about the power of networks and meeting

people in places like Second Life. Are you spending a lot of time sort of schmoozing?

NYLA CHEEKY: Yes, and I also have set up profiles, SLME and SLPROFILES which have

also developed large group lists, so that when I have new products I can contact them, send

a note, images and messages on what is latest and greatest.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: And you mean new RL or new SL products?

NYLA CHEEKY: New SL products as of now but, within the next few weeks, I am going to

start implementing real-life products. I’m going to be creating a one-of-a-kind item, and then

I will create a Second Life version then I’ll have the one of item up for sale to all of the ladies

in my group, so that one person can own the piece and then the other ladies in Second Life

can enjoy the virtual item. So it’s a tool for me to develop and use, to understand. From

week-to-week I get ideas about how it can better me, how I can use it, and the future just

keeps developing.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Interesting. So that brings up a couple questions when you’re

talking about the uniqueness of your real life items. I’m trying to put a bunch of different

pieces together in my head. One is I know women get very upset when they show up to a

party and someone else is wearing the same thing they are, and then I combine that with

the fact that, in Second Life once you’ve made one item, then you can sell any number of

them, and it doesn’t cost you anymore. So no doubt there’s a bit of an incentive to do that.

So I’m wondering are you controlling how much of a single dress gets out there?

NYLA CHEEKY: No, I’m not, because I’m giving women the opportunity that wouldn’t have

the chance the purchase a dress for $2,500 to $5,000 the opportunity to wear a fantasy, and

that’s the niche that I believe I play in Second Life.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: And Raven, how about you?

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: Another interesting comment that I would like to make is so

often you will see individual participants here in Second Life mix and match. You’ll see them

wear, maybe, three or four different designers, and that also helps lend for a sense of

unique identity with the individual person that they do this. Many times I have seen maybe

my blouse and someone else’s prim attachments and so on, so it’s interesting how the

fashions are used in here.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Well, and--go ahead. Nyla?

NYLA CHEEKY: I think as designers that gives us the opportunity to see our work in

different ways. Like Raven just mentioned seeing her blouse with different prim attachments

can give her the new design in her imagination, “Oh, wow, that looks good.”

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: Exactly. Yes. Exactly. Very much so.

NYLA CHEEKY: For me as well.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Well, I admit I let other people choose my clothes, and I wear

basically the same thing every day except today, for the fashion occasion, I put on a tux,

which someone else chooses for me.

JACK MEYERS: Well, I think I need Nyla and Raven to help me become more of a Second

Life fashion maven.

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: We’ll be more than happy to.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: So I have a question Media--Jack, I have a question for you, and

it comes from Safrosini Stenvag(?) and it actually touches also on this issue that the

consumers have more power in a place like Second Life, that they can play around, mix and

match, in some cases modify design. And this is a question about--so you and other people

have argued that virtual worlds discourage the whole producer/consumer model of

entertainment. And then before broadcast we had more of a peer-to-peer entertainment

model, you know, people getting together in their salons and entertaining one another. And

so the question is, “Do you think we’re going to be looking back to that, or are we spiraling

around and doing something new?”

JACK MEYERS: It’s a really great question, and I think if you take kind of the best of the

18th century and 19th century pre-industrial age, when we were in local communities where

we knew each other, where people had a real relationship and where there was less

anonymity before it was a mass culture of kind of one too many. Then throughout the 1900s

and into the 21st Century, it’s all been a focus on communicating with mass marketing,

mass merchandising, mass media, and now we’re kind of returning back to that I call the

"relationship age." We’re returning back to that period of time when we really built

interpersonal relationships.

And whether they’re in a virtual world, Second Life, or in a Facebook or a MySpace, or

whether they’re in local meet-up communities, I think we’re returning to a point where we

need that interpersonal relationship, and the fact that we’ve now created a model where that

can happen online I think still represents a return to a very one-to-one interpersonal time

when relationships with each other, and one-to-one relationships, whether it’s fashion

designers or other types of marketers, to their customers, are going to be at the preeminent-

-

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: If I can just interject one moment here.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Yes, please do.

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: This is Raven. I’d like to add to that because this has been the

most incredible experience of having the opportunity to meet so many creative people in

such a small virtual space. There is no outlet for that. I mean, there are some here where I

live, but not to the degree and the synergy between the different artists I’ve experienced

here has been incredibly rewarding, so I just wanted to add that. Thanks.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Yup. Is there--

NYLA CHEEKY: I would also like to add a little.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Oh, go ahead, Nyla.

NYLA CHEEKY: I would have to agree 100 percent with Media. Big companies, the reason

that they will have a hard time in Second Life is because they don’t have the time, nor the

person like me or Raven, to communicate with our buyer. Just like he said, it is coming back

to the time where it’s you and I and how we connect and what we build from that. It’s not

major companies where it is product and consumer. It is going back, like he said. I would

just like to agree with that.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Yeah. So do you two see opportunities--I mean, when we talk

about this peer-to-peer model and the collaborative model, almost like a Wikipedia, do you

see a way to get a Wikipedia model of fashion, or is it really going to come down primarily to

people like you who are spending the time to make things that others are going to buy?

NYLA CHEEKY: I think that and also an evolution of the relationship between me and my

buyer, and how they will help me or guide me to the things that they enjoy about my work so

that I can go into those areas of my work and explore them and in some ways, give my

customer really what they’re looking for.

RAVEN PENNYFEATHER: Agreed. I’ve gotten some excellent feedback from my

customers, and it is all about the relationship and cultivating and nurturing that relationship.

ROBERT BLOOMFIELD: Yeah. Wonderful. Well, I think we’re just about out of time, and I’d

like to thank all of our panelists. We’ve got Raven Pennyfeather, who runs House of RFYER

Fashions, and gave us a show beforehand. Thank you, Raven, even though you had to do it

without music. Nyla Cheeky, House of Nyla, real-life fashions, now augmenting that

business with a Second Life presence. And Media Blessed, also Jack Meyers. He’s got a

website, JackMeyers.com, and I think we’re probably going to have Jack on later to talk

specifically about some of the media issues that are creeping up, not just in Second Life, but

also in a lot of other worlds.

And let me just take a moment to remind everyone that this show, Metanomics, although

right now taking place in Second Life, really is a Metaversed-wide show, and we are working

quickly to try to get this into as many other worlds as we can, and to cover other worlds, so

there’s a lot of media in--for example, there and Laguna Beach, MTV’s been doing a lot and

as Jack mentioned, there are these kids worlds that are huge.

Frolic Mills has started up a magazine, The Best of SL, and so while you’re all filtering out,

you can go to a kiosk that he’s setting up--I see it’s up here behind our chairs, and you can

click on that to get this new magazine which covers The Best of Second Life, so take a look

at that.

A final shoutout to all of our sponsors: SAP, SUN, Saxo Bank, Kelly, Generali Group, and

let’s see, I guess Cisco has helped us out as well and of course, my institution, the Johnson

Graduate School of Management here at Cornell University. If anyone is interested in an

MBA or a PhD, feel free to contact me.

Let’s see. I guess we are just about out of time. So thank you again everyone for showing

up. Remember, you can see this live on Second Life cable network, SLCN.TV and you can

also see the archives on SLCN.TV. This is Beyers Sellers/Rob Bloomfield signing off.

Thanks a lot.

JACK MEYERS: Thank you.

[END OF AUDIO]

Document: unproofed_cor2006.doc Transcribed by: http://www.hiredhand.coms Second Life Avatar: Transcriptionist Writer