Thank you for your interest in becoming an event partner! We're excited about this new way for the community to participate in the events, and hope that you get a lot out of it. Remember that as an event partner, this is very much your event. You are not just a secondary overflow location, but an important part of what's happening around Second Life!
What is an Event Partner?
Metaversed Event Partners hold events around Second Life where, as a feature of their events, they stream our live events into their spaces. On event days people are often scrambling for a place to participate, so they'll look through the list and find a venue that works for them. Make sure to offer something unique and entertaining!
Of course, some venues stay empty. Streaming a Metaversed event isn't enough to guarantee a crowd. Below we'll get into detail about how to carry off a successful event, and point out how to best leverage what we do to your advantage.
Event Partner Checklist
Here are seven steps to a successful event:
- Join the Group
To become a Metaversed Event Partner, simply join the Metaversed Event Partners group in Second Life. We send out important updates and promotional materials through there, so be sure to join in order to keep from missing something important.
- Promote your event
Venues that don't promote themselves stay empty! Always remember that this is your venue, and your event. It's up to you to make it a success.
As a bare minimum, always post to http://secondlife.com/events/ right away. This has been the make or break of a successful venue. Those who post to the events calendar get a good number of visitors, while those who don't will struggle.
See below this checklist for more promotion ideas!
- Get the Metaversed Care Pack and unpack it.
The Metaversed Care Pack is sent to the Metaversed Event Partners group about once a week. If you're new to the group and need it right away, email events@metaversed.com with your request and Second Life name and we'll get it to you right away.
Inside there are all sorts of great things for your venue. There are banners, t-shirts, and several types of signs. Everything in it is completely optional and full-mod, so make it work for your venue.
There is one requirement: the sponsors need to be represented. There are horizontal and vertical columns that have the sponsors signs on them. You can display either one, and can re-texture and resize them to match your decor.
- Direct your visitors to join the 'Metanomics' group.
As people arrive and get comfortable, make sure to remind them to join the 'Metanomics' group. One of the very best parts about Metanomics events is the backchat. Since we're spread all over Second Life, the best way to have a group conversation is through group IM.
Speakers often watch the Metanomics group for feedback while they're presenting. This can actually shape the presentation itself. Join the conversation!
- Activate the media stream.
Our events are broadcast live through SLCN.tv. To activate it on your land parcel's media settings, go to World -> About Land -> Media. You will then put in:
http://streams.slcn.tv/live.mov
The right time to do this is usually at around five minutes before the the live feed from Metanomics begins, but it really depends on how your event is being run. Some like to have it blank before the event, some put in music videos, and some put the recorded programming from Metaversed up:
- Run security.
Let's face it - popular events attract some really great people, but sometimes someone shows up to make everyone as unhappy as possible. Be ready with the kick/ban/mute stick, and we'll handle things in the group chat.
To kick/ban someone, right-click on them, select "More", "Eject", and click the "Eject And Ban" button. If you'd like to prevent them from sending you IM's, just open their profile and click the "Mute" button.
- Get help!
If there's anything at all that we can do for you to help make your event a success please let us know. The best way at the moment is through email: events@metaversed.com. If you have questions, want a specific kind of sign made, or have a fun freebie idea, we'd love to hear it!
Promotion Ideas
There are many ways to promote events around Second Life. Here are just a few:
- Post to the Second Life events calendar!
One of the most important, posting to the Events Calendar, is often overlooked. Do this now. It's free and very effective.
When you do, be sure to include details of pre-events or post-events that you have planned. Many plan discussions, hold meetings, have follow-up speakers, or hand out freebies of their own.
If you're looking for ideas of what to write in your event posting, check existing entries for one posted by "Onder Skall" - that will be Metaversed.com's announcement about the general event. Of course, you can always just look at the front page of Metaversed.com; our events get announced there too.
- Post to your own website.
If you have a website or blog don't forget to make postings about your event. Be sure to post about the event as soon as you know about it, and also post on the day of the event. Make sure to include the SLURL as a live link!
We've made a package of Metaversed and Metanomics related graphics available for download. Feel free to download these and use them!
- Send group notices.
Sending group notices to your already-established groups is extremely effective. This is done by going into your group settings (hit the Info button), click the tab marked "Notices", "Create New Notice", "Send Notice". Don't forget to attach a landmark!
Generally it's a good idea to send group notices out ASAP, but including one the day of the event and an hour before helps a lot.
When your event is about start, send IM's to your group chat - this is a non-intrusive and often a welcome reminder. Be sure to copy/paste the SLURL into chat too.
- Post on Twitter / Facebook / Other social network
If you've spent forever building up a YouTube audience, or crafting your Facebook profile, or building your Twitter following, it's time to make that pay off. Never forget to mention your events at these places.
When you should post depends on the media. Post to Twitter just as your event begins. YouTube, maybe the day before. Facebook ASAP. Use your best judgment.
Troubleshooting
Audio Trouble - Sometimes audio breaks up even though the video seems fine. This is almost always because there's a problem at the client end. Have them go into their preferences and make sure they have enough bandwidth allocated or, barring that, make sure they're not running any other applications.
Video Cuts Out - A momentary network outage will make it look like the video stopped. Just have people hit the Stop and Play buttons on their media controls.
If all else fails - If, for whatever reason, people just can't view the video, you can switch to audio. Put this in your audio stream: http://media-us-1.soundreach.net:8811/metaversed.mp3
If you still have the video URL loaded people will see TWO media controls at the bottom of their screens. Make sure they hit Stop on video, and Start on audio. If they somehow get both playing at once it'll be echoing dissonance, so hold off on this until you absolutely have to.
Suggestions
We'd love to hear from you about all of this. Email questions, comments or concerns to events@metaversed.com and we'll get back to you ASAP. You can also use the comments field on this page.