We’ve moved!

Kinda a late post to let people know that I’ve moved my writing over to http://chelpixie.com.

If you’re so inclined to keep in touch, please follow me there~!

xoxo

chelpixie

TheNines comes to Second Life

This afternoon, Director John August will step into Second Life, a whole new world, to speak to the press and answer questions on his upcoming movie The Nines.

Metaversatility is managing the event and the game that is making its way through new media and with clues that lead to places in RL and in SL.

Interesting concept that blends real life and Second Life, plus a movie you will not want to miss, join this event by teleporting directly to here in Second Life or IMing Peter Newell for enterance to the event!

[SL] L$32,069,017!

The’s the number. For the year 2007, Second Life’s Relay for Life raised the rough equivalent of US$130,000. Each donation, each penny, made it happen and takes the research one step closer.

While Relayers made their rounds on the track, some excellent music was played, survivors were honored and hopes were offered. Some musicians remarkably offered to match if donations reached a certain number while they played. One friend, asked for donations to reach L$150,000 on one kiosk and he would lay down L$100,000 on top of it. A few seconds later and it was well past the $L150K mark. It was a remarkable moment.

Later that evening as I took the track while the last band played, I was drowsy and worn out, I received a Skype call from Ed Roberts who made me laugh and put up with my bad sense or humor for a few “miles”. IMs were crazy to manage I found, but all of the people who kept me talking that night, thank you. Beautiful effort was made on the team sites to make them entertaining to bounce through, aye, because I pogo’ed the entire track. I won’t mention specific sims here, that’s already been done, but excellent job builders and thanks for the remarkable views.

By the end of the walk I was wide awake again, so I hung out the Spin Martin/Eric Rice for a while and let me tell ya, that guy has lots of strange vehicles in Second Life. Even smacked me into a wall a time or two, much I’m sure, to his amusement. Part of what’s so great about working with Spin on any project is that he gives you something and then believes that you’ll handle it. If you have a problem, he’ll come to your rescue. He will keep you going when you get tired. In complete awe how that man never seems tired. Managing the stages with him and with Fleep was great fun and laughter. Two great people, steady fun, commitment to getting things done and making things flow with ease. Thanks you two for making it so much fun.

The next day was pretty effortless, some morning bands, Relayers still racing. DrFran was still on the track and pushing herself to more laps. She did a remarkable job pushing herself to stay on the track and compete for the most laps.

And when the time came, the closing ceremonies began and we listened to the tallys, we applauded each others efforts and celebrated the excellent job well done by everyone. Once the fireworks started, everyone was very ready to celebrate! Parties erupted and fireworks followed. It was a beautiful celebration.

To those who made donations on the real life donations page, Christopher Penn, Becky McCray and geORge Brett, in memory of your loved ones, thank you. If you’d like to donate, the page is still up and accepting donations, http://todayisave.com/alife or http://www.helpingthecause.com. Thanks to Chris Penn and C.C. Chapman for donating these urls for easy connecting.

And a special thank you to the Buckets, Corey Akula donated 10% of his DJing tips from Bucket parties to Relay!

If you took one moment to help during this year’s RFL at my request, you know who you are, thank you. It means a lot me that you have donated your time and your effort. I look forward to working with you again and eagerly anticipate the 2008 Relay for Life.

(For photos you can visit, http://www.flickr.com/chelpixie)

[RL] 8 things continued for Mr. Brogan

I decided to write 8 more things about me because Chris Brogan also tagged me. I previously answered this meme when tagged by MrsB aka Karen Cardoza. But hey, Brogan is a hero of mine so I’ll answer any question he wants to ask, if I can.

- Before Virtual Hot Wings, I felt stuck in Arkansas and much like I couldn’t make a difference from there in anyone’s life. Add a little marketing, a little ninja, a new business, great clients, wonderful community and poof! Confidence! Achievement! I’ve changed so much over the last two-three months that my best friend was shocked when we had a phone conversation a couple days ago. Thank you, Chris, Matthew, C.C. and Brogan!

- I have a habit of saying thank you to people when I’ve connected with them or when they’ve touched my life in a way that changes it. I appreciate each touch, each change and think that people should know the effect that they’ve had on me.

- I’m hyperfocused. I get attached to projects emotionally. It helps me to be good at what I do but also affected by the outcome. That can be both good and bad at times.

- My goal in the next 5 years is to be front and center on the new media and music marketing stage. I believe that extending my ability to create fast and interesting media and connecting with many people on a personal level are the keys. I’m great at connecting, just need to focus it. And gather more tools for creating the means

- Almost daily I look at the clock at exactly 9:11. Strange but true. I am slightly superstitious but not about every little thing.

- I hate needles. I abhor needles. If given a choice I will not get a shot or blood drawn. I refuse to have my finger poked with those tiny needles. Nope.

- I have a thing for superheroes. Superman, Wonder Woman or just Heroes. Superheroes rock.

- I like to read. I started at age 3 and spent most of my early life as a bookworm. My favorites varied between classics and Sweet Valley High, Nancy Drew.

- When I want to recharge, I go out to dinner with a friend or crank up “Working Sunday” by Dorado Sound. Nothing like dancing around in private to change the mood.

Hmmm. Who to tag this time around? How about Neil, Chris, Matthew, Peter and Clarence, if they haven’t been tagged already!

Relay for Life in Second Life starts Saturday!

Saturday comes Relay for Life in Second Life after months of fund raising by some remarkable teams. It’s the last day to donate and make a difference.

Donations in the past led to the HPV vaccine which will lead to the prevention of cervical cancer. $20 today could save the life of your mother, child, or best friend tomorrow.

1. Donate! Go to the surl below to donate in L$. If you would prefer to donate in USD, you can do so here.
   • http://slurl.com/secondlife/crayon/153/146/33
2. Spread the word! Tell everyone you know that SL RFL is happening tomorrow and encourage them to spread the word.
   • Email your friends!
   • Join the Facebook group and invite others to come as well!
   • Blog about it on your blog!

 

Click to Donate!

[RL] Fighting for New Orleans

2 years.

That’s how long it’s taken our country to forget about New Orleans and the 9th Ward. To erase from our minds what happened when Hurricane Katrina with all its force took down a city so rich in culture and full of history and made it a swamp. In a heartbeat, thousands of people were left homeless. With some kind of luck, the Hurricane didn’t take the lives of as many feared.

Earlier tonight Chris Penn posted a little map on his blog showing how the 9th Ward looks now. How little progress that has been made is shocking.

People have forgotten, Americans have forgotten what it was like to watch people standing on their roofs waiting for rescue. To hear the stories and see the horrifying evidence that our country was a failure at meeting the needs of its citizens in a major city during a crisis that was *anticipated*.

When are we going to learn? When are Americans going to learn to stop being refocused by the media, to stop forgetting about things that have scarred our hearts and start fighting for answers?

Has anyone noticed that Katrina isn’t even a major issue for Presidential candidates? No one is asking questions. Take a look at Hillary Clinton‘s website. See, there, under issues? Nothing on Katrina. Go visit Barack Obama‘s website. Issues? Katrina? Nope. But the #2 thing? Strengthing American ties overseas. Hm. Could it be that showing other countries that we care about our own might help that?

What if several organizations got together and invaded New Orleans at the same time? What if we together brought the media to New Orleans around election time? What if they couldn’t ignore the questions anymore a month to two weeks before the election?

Are you willing to help? How?

Podcamp New Orleans.

Since the mention of Podcamp New Orleans I’ve been excited that sometime soon in the future my community will choose to make a difference. We’ll stand in New Orleans and get the stories that should be told and make sure that they are heard. We can only do this *together*.

I’m tired of no answers. I’m tired of inaction. I suspect people in the 9th Ward are more tired than any of us.

Instead of being tired, I’m going to take action. A friend told me a few weeks ago that many people are willing to stand up but sometimes not as many are willing to take action to make something happen. I want to take action. I want to make a difference during Podcamp New Orleans. I want YOU to make a difference, too. I want you to consider that your time and effort could affect a huge change in one person’s life by the time that weekend is over.

I know my community can stand up, question is, are you willing to take action?

[RL] Prince, the Mail, and his free release

Say what? Prince is releasing free copies of his CD in the Sunday Mail?

Fans love this kind of stuff. People in general love *free* stuff. It’s free *Prince*. Drop “shipping” your CD to thousands of people at no cost to them and they just might give a listen. They might fall in love with the music (and even purchase tickets to a fall tour as a result .

The ERA’s co-chairman Paul Quirk made a comment to the press about the paper/CD release:

“The Artist formerly known as Prince should know that with behaviour like this he will soon be the Artist Formerly Available in Record Stores,” he said.

“It is an insult to all those record stores who have supported Prince throughout his career. It is yet another example of the damaging covermount culture which is destroying any perception of value around recorded music,” Quirk told a music conference in London.

I’m with indiemusician.com, whose music is this again? Prince’s music not in record stores? Cold day in hell anyone?

I’ve said it before, the fans are what make the music successful. This inspires confidence that Prince cares about his fans. Inspiring that confidence is gold. If he/they can do that and bypass the machines of the RIAA and the ERA? Brilliant.

Inspiring fans creates publicity, publicity creates curiosity, curiosity creates new fans. If there’s anything that we’ve learned from the iPhone hype it should be that the right publicity can inspire joy in a product. Inspire the kind of joy that makes someone sleep with their newly purchased iPhone in hand….that’s marketing genius. Tap into that publicity for a CD release? Hello success.

Both associations and record labels need to put aside their old way of doing things and embrace new media and fast. Unless they innovate themselves instead of wasting time getting angry, they will soon find themselves obsolete.

P.S. Thank you Prince for standing up and making some noise.

[RL] definition of a pixie

I think I need to introduce myself.

Hi. I’m Michelle Wolverton. Also known as Chel Pixie. Now that you know my name, let me tell you who I am.

I came to the web to find community outside of the small sleepy Arkansas town I lived in. To that end, I joined Memespace (the old version on Caucus), which was founded by Christopher Abraham. Memespace held a lot of interesting people who inspired each other. I was a host there for a period of time before the Caucus version closed it’s doors and moved.

From there, I found my way to Howard Rheingold’s Brainstorms. I’ve been a member of this virtual community since 1999. Here I learned to communicate better online, to voice my opinions to a group of people and hosted two or three conferences. I was also editor of The Brainstorms Scoop for a time before several projects refocused by attention.

During this time, I also majored in Paralegal Studies at Kaplan University. I am member of Lambda Epsilon Chi honor society. I love reading and writing legal documents and doing legal research for cases. Family law is most interesting to me though Contracts is a close second.

Last year, I discovered Second Life. My avatar’s name is Chel Pixie. I am events planner/coordinator for SL Brand. I am a Second Life Relay for Life team member. I love events and people and live music. I love planning events and creating an environment for people to have a good time. Second Life is a great platform for live music, several musicians that I’ve had the opportunity to hear are Rich Desoto, Cylindrian, Uncle Seth, Jaycatt Nico, Kurt Bestor, and Louis Volare.

I discovered podcasting through Bucket and went on to add a list of podcasts that I’ve found interesting and inspiring. I am contemplating my own and working on a project that is inspired by podsafe music. I am looking forward to PodCamp Boston2 to learn more from people who are willing to hand you their knowledge and inspire you to use it.

Professionally, I’m working with my partner and mentor Christopher Penn as Project Lead and Marketing with Virtual Hot Wings. Virtual Hot Wings is a digital CD of tunes from Matthew Ebel‘s Second Life tour. Many people have asked why are you talking about this musician at great length? Are you getting paid for this? And er, some other not really repeatable suggestions. Isn’t enough that I believe in someone enough to give them my energy and time?

I am spreading the word about Matthew because his music is more than just another album released. Each song tells a story and I relate to each story. His music inspires me every morning when I wake to do better, to do more, to make my effort on something that matters. He’s very gracious and for the record has never asked for anything of me. I’m fueled by my own desire to help him and others.

My desire, my goal isn’t only to reach people about Matthew Ebel or Anji Bee but to make them pay attention to the issues in the music industry and to help them discover why indie music is so important. Imagine shutting down the RIAA because the public takes their listening habits in their own hands and makes the decision to listen to independent and podsafe music. There is a community available that I have joined that can help make that happen.

I am the pixie behind WickedPixieMedia.com. WickedPixieMedia is new media music label. It is representative of the musicians and the music that I promote and support, using new media to reach out to others about independent music. Then to encourage others to discover independent music, to encourage them to realize that it’s only with a community that a change can begin.

I am the student of new media and using it to market an idea or thought or presence that seems interesting to me and that I think other’s will find interesting. Ideas that can expand the community and its knowledge. I love learning how to apply these skills to reach people. In the past, I’ve managed an office, been an assistant to 2 CEOs, a receptionist and then later a legal assistant.

Who I am has changed in the last couple months. My mind has been opened to what I can achieve and how. I’ve found confidence that I didn’t have before in my ability to make a difference. A little instruction and an open door can go a long way in bringing out the best in people and inspire them to great lengths (thanks ninja).

I think I’ve summarized in a few sentences what’s next and in more than a few who I am. That’s changing because we grow and change on a daily basis. Want to find out more about how to open the doors? Just click on that contact me button at the top of the page, I love conversation.

[RL] 100 comments

Chris Brogan wrote a blog post asking to start a community driven conversation in his blog comments.  When those useful comments reach 100, then there will be a new topic.

The first question is

Why does some video content grab viewers by the throat, compel them to watch
and then suck their mouse towards the bookmark/email/blog about link?

How do we get us some of that mojo for our productions?

Mine ended in my own question:

However, there is no one answer, each person is grabbed by something different. So, who do you want to attract?

Go over to his blog at http://grasshopperfactory.com and be a part of the conversation.

[RL] the joke that is called our legal system…

Note: Just for reference, those of you who do not know, I am a legal assistant so this type of thing draws my attention.

This morning I woke to this article regarding a judge ruling that a bin Laden tape could be played to the Padilla jury. The problem is that defense for Padilla says that there’s no evidence he even *saw* the tape. Yet the judge ruled that the jury could view it and make a decision about Padilla’s life based on that viewing.

The jury was “warned” that the tape had nothing to do with Septemeber 11th, but that day is emotionally charged and linked to bin Laden. A tape of that man clearly sends out a signal, intentional or not. There is no proof that Padilla viewed it. The prosecutors office admits that freely, they only claim the other two defendants have seen the tape.

The US legal system should not be used as revenge. The US is sinking to the level of that of a bully on the playground. The enemy combatant status and this ruling are step one and two of getting down to that level.

It only hurts our country in the end if we change our rules so much that we come to accept this obvious violation of our justice system. Wanting to put a terrorist behind bars is admirable but it should fail if the best case that the prosecutors have is that this video was viewed by co-defendants.

Do we really want to become so jaded over 9/11 that we change our rules of engagement? That we change what is supposed to be the fundamental values of our country? I’m not saying that Padilla shouldn’t be punished for what he *did* do.

In the coming months we can look forward to reports of the defense asking for a mistrial, they may not receive it from this court. Any tape of bin Laden is going to be emotional for a jury of American people and yes influencing the jury with something like this is *wrong*. Hopefully a higher court will point out the mistake and grant the mistrial and force our legal system back on track. Retrying Padilla and retrying him using the legal system the way that it is meant to be used.