Jessica Lyon, Founder of Team Firestorm, Steps Down as Project Manager

 

 

Since she founded it in 2010 as Team Phoenix, Jessica Lyon has been in charge and in control of Team Firestorm, the people behind the Firestorm Viewer, the most popular viewer used by Second Life residents. Not only was she it's CEO, but Project Manager. But as of January 1, this has changed. The day before, Jessica had announced on the Firestorm blog that she would be stepping down as Project Manager at Midnight. 

What you may not know is that for the past year or so I have been taking a back seat to the management side of things as I deal with matters in my personal life. These matters are on going and demanding of my time. The members of this team, and all of you deserve and require an active and present Project Manager to keep this ship on an even keel.

As the sun sets for the last time in 2023, and rises for the first time welcoming in 2024… So too will an era change for Firestorm. The time has come for me to resign my position as Project Manager and hand the helm over to someone else. I will remain CEO and stay involved for life eternal, but will no longer steer the ship… though I may still influence the wind in our sails.

She also announced Beq Janus would be taking over the role as Project Manager, "Beq is not new to you or to us… in fact she has been performing this role for over a year in my absence. She has more than proven herself to be exceptional in all the aspects this demanding role requires and I have every confidence in her. Beq brings new hope to me for the future of the Firestorm Project."

And so the team behind Second Life's most popular viewer finds itself with a new leader for day to day matters. 

Hat tip: Daniel Voyager

Bixyl Shuftan

Caledon's Governor Desmond Shang To Retire

 

September 12th 2023 became a red letter day in Caledon history. Desmond Shang, Governor of the Independent State of Caledon since 2006, has announced that he will be stepping down. The position, fondly called by its citizens “Guvnah” will be assumed by NeoBokrug Elytis. It is understood that Caledon is not sold just placed into the hands of a new Governor. Desmond has known NeoBokrug for nearly 20 years and NeoBokrug is owner of The Wastelands which itself is 16 years old, thus clearly Caledon’s new Governor is well chosen. 

 

This does not mean that Desmond is leaving; it is only a retirement. He will still be a citizen of Caledon and will be present it is just that real life is even more demanding and can’t allow him to give Caledon the attention it needs. A Town Hall meeting is scheduled for September 16 at 2pm SLT at the Governor’s Mansion for the formal change of office and public introduction. Later within the week NeoBokrug will be sending out inaugural invitations so more information will be coming. 

Cynthia Farshore
Duchess of Caledon Downs

 

"Goodbye Jasmine" - DJ Jazzy's Last Performance (For Now)

 

The Happy Vixen Beach Club bade farewell to one of it's DJs last weekend: DJ Jazzy/Jasmine Dawn. The giraffe DJ had quite a sendoff, with regulars and old friends coming by to celebrate her time around and wish her well.

Read more in Events. 

Arton Tripsa’s Party at Book Island

Book Island recently bade farewell to it's manager, Arton Tripsa. For four years, she helped make the place run. She will be missed, and the people there threw her a party to say farewell. Grease Coakes was there, and got the story on what happened.

Read Grease's article in Events.

Virtual Railway Consortium Gives Thanks to Former Leader

Second Life Newser recently reported on a resignation in the Virtual Railway Consortium, it's former Secretary Stryker Jenkins. Since then, there has been an official statement from the VRC, thanking him for his service.

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On behalf of all VRC members, thank you to Stryker Jenkins for his tireless service in the group, specifically in the official role of Secretary from which he recently resigned. Stryker's dedication to the group leadership work will be missed, and we're grateful that he plans to continue the many voluntary efforts he's done for the group, including mapmaking, building, recruiting new members, maintaining the website, and more.

Striker's hard work during his term has made it possible to manage the group with much less effort than before, but we do need to elect a new Secretary to fill the vacant position; we plan to initiate the formal election process after SL9B has concluded and well before major work begins on Rail Rally 2012.

The VRC is a bigger and more active group in Second Life than ever before, in many ways due to Stryker's diligent participation. We hope his interest will continue and grow along with the group.

Thank you Stryker!

Leadership Team
Virtual Railway Consortium

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For more on the Virtual Railway Consortium, check out it's website: http://www.virtualrailwayconsortium.org/ .

Gemma Cleanslate

Virtual Railway Consortium Secretary Stryker Jenkins Steps Down

It's been some time since Gemma Cleanslate last reported on the railroad in Second Life. She recently heard about some news about one of the more noted railroad groups, the Virtual Railroad Consortium. Stryker Jenkins, the group's Secretary, stepped down from his position.

Read more in People.

BREAKING NEWS: Philip Linden to Step Down as CEO, BK Linden to Lead Linden Labs Durring Search

After about four months as interim CEO, working closely with Bob Komin, the management team, and the board, we've decided we are ready to start the search for a new CEO. I'll be leaving day-to-day management of the company and continuing in my role on the board, including helping in the search to find a great CEO. I will also be continuing my work with my new company, LoveMachine. Bob will lead Linden Lab while we conduct the search. It's been an intense few months of transition, and we all feel like we are in a better place now, with a clearer sense of direction and more focus, and are ready to bring someone new into the mix as a leader.

From the Linden Blog.

BREAKING NEWS: M Linden to "Step Down," Philip to Return

In a statement on the Linden blog, Philip Linden announced that M would be resigning his post as Chief Executive Officer of Linden Labs, and would be taking the position of "interim" CEO. Bob Komin, former Chief Financial Officer, would be promoted to Chief Operations Officer and work "side by side" with Philip.

This is a big, tough change but one the board of directors and management team deeply believes in. We owe Mark great thanks for the many things we've accomplished in these last two years -- most notably a great improvement in the stability of Second Life, and also the hiring and nurturing of a strong team of new leaders who are now ready to do some amazing work together.

Our thinking as a team is that my returning to the CEO job now can bring a product and technology focus that will help rapidly improve Second Life. We need to simplify and focus our product priorities -- concentrating all our capabilities on making Second Life easier to use and better for the core experiences that it is delivering today. I think that I can be a great help and a strong leader in that process.

It is an honor to have a chance to help more directly again, and I come to this mission with energy, excitement, and an open mind about what we need and how we need to do it. I want to see Second Life continue to grow, amaze, and change the world. It's what gets me up in the morning. Despite the challenges of such a big change, I am happy to be drafting this blog post while sitting in our San Francisco office, surrounded by the many Lindens who have made it all possible.

More to come, as soon as we all get settled and figure out how best to work together!

Details are still coming in as to yet another major news story in what has been a month full of surprises for Second Life.