In Brief: Alpha Health Alliance

 

Some readers may remember Wesley Regenbogen, who used to write for the Newser. He is still active in Second Life, and showed me a place he's been involved with lately: Alpha Health Alliance, an organization that supports people affected by rare diseases. 

 

We'll likely write a larger article on the place later. For now, here's the SURL and website.  

 

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Alpha%20Health%20Alliance/239/136/23 

 

https://alphahealthalliance.org

 

Announcement: Grand Opening of New Home of Survivors of Suicide

Please join us in celebrating what will be an exciting weekend for SOS. The unveiling of our new Forever Home on a full 20k prim region kindly given to us by our friends at Linden Labs at a nonprofit rate and lovingly built and landscaped by non other than our Director himself, Sebastien Bouevier.

Mental Health has faced a particularly difficult time during the Covid pandemic and, as a result, worldwide lockdowns. However, we have continued to support our peers and members throughout this time and now that we are, hopefully, nearing an end to the crisis - what better way to celebrate?!

The Grand Opening Weekend will commence Saturday the 21st of August at noon SLT - Sunday 22nd August. There will be 2 hours of live music and, of course, free snacks! It will also be a great opportunity for visitors to explore the new sim and check out all of our new facilities.

We really hope to see as many of you as possible at this exciting event!

On behalf of the entire SOS team, we would like to thank you all for your valued and continuous support.

Sincerely

Sherridon Mercury
Director of Events
Survivors of Suicide

 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Survivors%20of%20Suicide/75/122/25

 

Benefit Concert for Dreams Sims

By Bixyl Shuftan



On Saturday February 8, there will be a music benefit in behalf of the Dreams Sims. Contacting Sophia Krell, one of the residents there, she described the area as "a group of non-profit Sims where avatars come for support group meetings, building contests" and more. The Dreams Sims lack the ability to allow for tax deductions, so the sims have been running thanks to donations. But with the real life economy in poor shape, donations have been dropping to the point something new is needed. So they decided to start holding benefit concerts.

A notecard about the Dreams Sims described them as " place where many things happen.  Started by The Sojourner (Soj) , Rick Kent, Amalthea Blanc and a few others, a sim was created to accomplish a number of dreams. To provide a base for creative interaction among people in SL. To provide an area for teaching, holding discussions, and holding events. To provide a support base for people who encounter strokes (brain attacks) in their own lives or in the lives of their loved ones."

Six groups make the Dreams Sims their home. Besides the Dream Builders, Dream Travelers, and Dreams Tringo Players, there's the ADHD Support Group, the Brigadoon Explorers (Aspergers/Autism Support Group), and ShockProof (Stroke Support Group). Among the events are Texture Building and Speed Building contests, support group meetings, building classes, Sock Hops, and Holiday parties.

The event is Saturday February 8th at 7 PM SL time. Riendra Taselian will be the live performer for the concert, which will be at Brain Island, The Sojourners Dream (88, 41, 31).

Bixyl Shuftan

Linden Lab Brings Back Educational & Nonprofits Discount

Yesterday on July 24, Linden Lab announced on it's blog "an update to Second Life pricing for educational and nonprofit institutions." To educational institutions and nonprofit charities that qualify, the Lab is offering a 50% discount to setting up private sims and maintaining them.


Effective immediately, any accredited educational institution or any organization with a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit tax status (or equivalent) is eligible for a 50% discount on private region set-up costs and a 50% discount on private region maintenance costs.

Longtime users will remember the half-off price and tier was standard operating procedure with education and nonprofit groups in Second Life until October 2010, in which it was announced they would be paying full price in January 1, 2011. After that, a number of sims owned by such groups shut down, such as ISTE Island. Hamlet Au put the number of closings at "hundreds if not thousands." In Spring of this year, Linden Lab began quietly offering "a select number of nonprofit and educational" groups that let sims go the return of the discount if they returned. Now, the discount is back for all.

The response seems to be a varied one. At the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference, which opened that day, those I overheard talking about the announcement were pleased, considering the announcement timed with their conference. Daniel Voyager considered this development great news. Hamlet Au, not so much. He felt in the years since the discount's end, education and nonprofit groups have moved on to other places online that are much less expensive. Readers commenting to Hamlet's article had mixed opinions. Some called it good news, or at least a step in the right direction. Others felt Linden Lab's move had ruined the trust education and nonprofit groups once had in them, "it's not just about price, it's about trust and stability," and saw the move was too little too late on bringing back the groups which had left the Grid. In the SL Universe Forum thread on the topic, some posters wondered if the abuses of a few had helped contribute to the discount's end.

But for education and nonprofits that remained in Second Life, such as Virtual Ability and the Relay for Life, this move is good news and will help ensure they stay.

Sources: Linden Blog, Daniel Voyager, New World Notes, SL Universe Forums  

Bixyl Shuftan

Nonprofit Commons to Celebrate Five Years in Second Life

Nonprofit Commons announced on their blog a few days ago that on Friday September 21st, they will be celebrating their fifth anniversary. Events are scheduled at their Aloft and Plush sims throughout the day. Among them is a meeting at their amphitheater at 8:30 AM SL time in Plush to discuss their history and give awards, and a "Meet and Greet" dance party at 3:30 PM in Aloft.

Nonprofit Commons, or NPC, describe themselves as "managed by a community of volunteers, under the leadership of TechSoup Global. Nonprofit Commons was designed to lower the barriers of access to Second Life, to create a community of practice for nonprofits to explore and learn about the virtual world, and to investigate the many ways in which nonprofits might utilize this unique environment. Through this community, we provide free office space to qualifying groups, meet and network, create a cooperative learning environment and foster outreach, education, fund-raising, all in a virtual space." Meetings are held every Friday at the Plush amphitheater.

Source: Daniel Voyager