Wed, 28/07/2010 - 17:42
So it happened! Philip announced when the meeting will happen and while it seems like they indeed have realized that they have to prevent the usual screaming competition it left me with what I usually describe as a 'oO'-moment. But read yourself and don't leave the comments below out since they sum up a lot of what the concerns of the residents are and show the points that are being criticised:
http://blogs.secondlife.com/community/features/blog/2010/07/26/join-phil...
But well, I will try to get there no matter how futile this exercise will most likely be. I mean, this does not seem to be in any way a meeting where questions can really be asked and it indeed excludes large parts of the population. After all, Philip has not written anything about this being one of several meetings that would make possible to not only include a bigger number of residents but also to spread it across the time zones. So Europeans will be happy as 10am SLT on Friday is a good time for most of them, but it leaves a sour taste with Asia and the Americas. Does LL actually want to hide the meeting? I don't know but also the twitter-limit makes it look like they are deliberately trying to limit the possibilities to ask questions and to participate in this event. It also rises questions about the actual usability as what SL has been marketed before. As a tool to hold virtual meetings. Now this is either the proof that LLs own advertisement has been misleading and that the platform is unable to provide such functionality (what is true considering lag and the avatar limits on sims) or it shows, that LL tries to turn this meeting into one more corporate spin event trying to show themselves in a good light that hopefully will blind everybody enough so they wont notice the disaster behind it.
With the lottery for entry tickets LL might have avoided the sim to fill up too quickly, but they have also banned all inworld news outlets, bloggers and interested parties from actually being sure that they will be represented and able to participate in real time. The questions on twitter will surely flock in in masses and unless there is a whole team of LL employees sorting them, it can be taken as granted that most will be ignored claiming that they could not answer everything. The questions that can be answered positively however surely will. I have little faith in people who seem to engage in corporate spinning meetings and don't seem to realise that this is exactly the opposite of what people would like to see.
On the other hand, I am still supportive of the idea since I believe in inworld meetings as much as in, what was offered as a suggestion in one of the answers to Philips announcement, special blogs and even forums. Yes, not all of them are filled with drama and trolls. Any ways, I will try to get a seat and see how they will perform and actually how much time of the meeting will be al about speeches and how much will be left for the answering of the already prefiltered questions. We will see and if I should not make it there, I will for sure look for transcripts and videos to get through what would be said on the meeting on Friday.
Good luck for anyone submitting a request for a ticket!
