So over the past couple of months, I've been slowly building up Yehoodi's in-world presence in Second Life, experimenting with our new headquarters in the Plush Non-profit sim (teleport SLURL.) It's been a good learning experience for us, helping us strategize about our longer term goals in SL.
Here's a brief tour of what we've put in place so far....
As you enter our space, you encounter a reception desk with a couple of interesting objects. Clicking on the "free" box delivers to your avatar a Yehoodi tee-shirt in very fashionable yellow. On the other side of the desk is a virtual version of the book Frankie Manning: Ambassador of Lindy Hop, which came out earlier this month. Clicking on it opens up a link to the website www.frankiemanning.com.
Behind the reception desk, there's a little lobby area with a couple of couches and a coffee table. On the back wall are several informative posters. "What is Lindy Hop" if clicked delivers a short blurb about the roots of lindy hop as an artform. "Lindy Hop Today" delivers a short description of the modern lindy hop and swing movements in the US and around the world.
The "Swing Resources" sign contains various notecards, including information on swing scenes around the country and around the world, and in-world swing-related resources like vintage clothing stores and jazz venues.
To the left of the lobby area is a small bandstand, a jukebox and a dance floor, complete with a couple of "lindy" dance balls. In the future, we'd like to stream live swing bands or DJs for special parties. For now you can listen to some streaming jazz music.
Lastly, we've set up a little theater where you can currently view a promotional video for Frankie Manning: Ambassador of Lindy Hop done by my buddy Spuds. I want to have a whole set of vintage and modern dance clips available to show people how the dance has developed and evolved over the years. Also, Yehoodi does an occasional video podcast that we'd like to showcase here.
Much of this stuff is a placeholder for a more designed and carefully planned build. We have a production holodeck generously provided to us by Inside This World, which we plan on integrating in the near future.
For now, it's been a great learning experience as we plan for future educational and outreach efforts in-world.
