January 2001

Regular scheduled events are held within the Worlds.com 3D environment for the enjoyment and pleasure of the members. These events are well attended and despite some technological restrictions such as the maximum visible users being 24 and unrestricted access to the events resulting in some occasional heckling, they are well received by the members.

The Event Schedule is posted on our web page at:

http://www.worlds.net/news/eventcalendar.html

These events include:

Trivia	Saturday 2pm & 8 pm EST
Comedy Night	Saturday 6 pm EST
WorldsMarks Tour	Sunday 2pm EST
Poetry Night	Sunday 8 pm EST
Meet the Staff	Wednesday "once a month"
Avatar Contests	Centered around a Holiday Theme
Impromptu Events	Quickie events that get conversations started
New Redesigned Rooms	Birthday Room replaces Parenting
Ideas for other spaces/events	Charlie May's ideas for future events and interesting 3D spaces

Trivia

Date/Time:     Saturday 2pm & 8pm EST

Event Host:     HOST-SirGemini & Others

Advertising:     Posted on the Events Page, poster in Ground Zero

Procedure:

This event requires weekly preparation of approximately 30 "single answer" Trivia questions per event (total of 60 questions each Saturday) of a general nature. The questions should appeal to a wide range of members from age 13 to age 60 and beyond. They should also include more than just "American" or "European" questions as the event is well attended by members from Europe and they feel left out if too much "Americanism" creeps in.

The questions can have a "theme" such as Christmas, Music, Sports, Food etc but we have found that including a variety of topics allows more members to participate with hopes they will get the answer correct.

Currently the HOST of the event meets in the Club and makes a single announcement that is broadcast to all members on Worlds such as: (Attention: Please join HOST-SirGemini for an hour of Trivia in the Club…this event begins in 2 minutes). This gentle reminder brings the members to the Club and they gather around as close as they can.

The "Rules" are then outlined: Everyone is welcome to play. The Host will ask a question and you provide an answer in Open Chat. The first three correct answers on the Host's screen will be awarded points. Five points for the 1st correct answer, 3pts for the 2nd correct answer and 1pt for the third correct answer. At the end of the first half hour (approximately 10 questions) the Host will announce the mid point scores. Then continue the second half (another approximately 10 questions or half hour). At the end of the game the scores are tallied and the top Three scorers will be asked to whisper to the HOST for instructions on how to select and receive their prize.

When we first began…we allowed everyone to "play" however, you could only win one prize a month…could still play but would be ineligible to "win" a prize if you had won in the previous four weeks. We would then skip down to the next highest score and that person would be a prize winner. As the Summer went into Fall and the Fall into Winter and the prizes dried up… I have now changed that to .. if you have won in the past..you can't win a prize but can still play. The still come and Play! It is lots of fun!

Comedy Night

Date/Time:     Saturday 6 pm EST

Event Host:     HOST-Belgarath and HOST-SoftSoul

Advertising:     Posted on the Events Page, poster in Ground Zero

Procedure:

This event is held once a week and in the Bowie Stage area. HOST- Belgarath and HOST-SoftSoul are in charge of this event. HOST-Belgarath spends about four hours a week preparing an avatar that will look like the Guest Comedian for the evening and searching web sites for comedy routines and material that represents the Comedian he has chosen. HOST-SoftSoul is there to assist him…be the "straight man" and to offer help with crowd control and hecklers and is "key" in making this a smooth fun event.

About five minutes prior to the Event…HOST-Belgarath makes a Broadcast Announcement to all the members of Worlds that the Comedy Night is about to begin and where to join him.

The members that want to participate up on stage with their own comedy routine or jokes are asked to whisper to HOST SoftSoul where she puts them on a list. HOST Belgarath does the hosting and monologs sprinkled with the jokes and his own brand of humor and routines. At some point he will slip out and HOST-SoftSoul will introduce the Guest Commedian. Host Belgarath will reappear with a new name and the Avatar of the Guest Comedian for the evening. He then does a mix of routines and comedy sessions as that Guest Comedian to the delight of the members present.

The members who want to participate are called up on stage in an orderly fashion to do their routine. Both Hosts monitor the jokes to make sure they are kept…within the Terms of Service for language and content…however, sometimes a few things slip out. Members are cautioned…. Appropriately.

In between the members that get up there to do comedy routines the Guest Comedian or HOST Belgarath if he's back as HOST fills in the gaps with jokes of his own.

At the end of the event..the names of the members that came on stage and did a comedy routine are placed in a hat and a name drawn. That member can win a Worlds Ball Cap, Mouse Mat or a VIP extension.

WorldsMarks Tour

Date/Time:     Sunday 2 pm EST

Event Host:     HOST-Schumibabe and Guests

Advertising:     Posted on the Events Page, poster in Ground Zero

Procedure:

WorldsPlayer has always had the interesting places to visit and often the members don't venture beyond the public/popular gathering spots. The WorldsMarks tour is an opportunity for the New Members as well as the Old to gather and as a group go visit some interesting places within the program.

This provides an opportunity for our members to make new friends, learn more about the program and the wonderful worlds that it contains as well as how to behave in group settings. Our Host, with assistance from other seasoned members, visit out of the way places in space, inside windows in the Worlds Mall…spaces beyond the boundaries of the Space Station and outside windows and walls that you ordinarily would not be able to reach.

It's a "fun" tour and a great learning experience for everyone.

Poetry Night

Date/Time:     Sunday 8 pm EST (and Tuesday 3pm EST Trial Period)

Event Host:     HOST-Owenej and Guests

Advertising:     Posted on the Events Page, poster in Ground Zero

Procedure:

Worlds is full of talented and not so talented members but one thing is for sure they all have a "love" of words! Poetry Night was a natural for our program and gives the members a way to express their feelings of joy, pain, frustration or just an opportunity to show off through their poetry.

At the appointed time members gather in the Ground Zero Auditorium. The HOST appears on Center Stage and welcomes everyone and announces the rules: Those that wish to read a poem must whisper to the HOST or a designated member who will put them on a list. The poet or reader will be called to the stage one at a time. While the poem is being read, everyone is to refrain from chatting in Open Chat out of respect for the Poet and the enjoyment of all. No one is to be on the stage except the person or persons reading the poems (we now have duets!). Once the poem is over there is sufficient time given for the cheers, bravos and clapping. Poems are to be kept "clean" and free from profanity and lewd or expressions of detailed sexual contact.

We experience a wide range of poems and personal thoughts from simple Jack and Jill to long threaded convoluted love stories. But the members love it and the core audience has grown over the past 6 months so much that we have experimented with a Tuesday afternoon EST time slot to accommodate more European users. This event lasts officially for two hours then goes to an "open mic" night…members have hung around for over 6 hours taking turns on their own.

All members that participate have their names put in a hat and at the end of the official part, one name is drawn with the winner receiving a Worlds Cap, Mouse Mat or a V.I.P. extension.

Meet The Staff

Date/Time:     Wednesday "once a month" 2 pm EST

Event Host:     HOST-SirGemini

Advertising:     Posted on the Events Page

Procedure:

The Meet the Staff event give the members a chance to visit with and ask a Worlds Staff Member questions about the program, upcoming features and learn there are "real" people at Worlds behind these avatars.

Charlie May solicits members of the staff to come spend a half hour in the firing line. The event is held in the Club or on the Ground Zero Auditorium and after a short introduction the Staff Member has a few words about what they do and the role they play at Worlds then it's open for questions.

We have had Artists, Developers, Programmers, Marketing, Support and even a VP there with us to share what they can about the program and to answer questions if the questions have answers.

This event can best be described as "organized chaos" as it's difficult in a crowded situation to control the input of questions and give the Staff Member a chance to formulate and type back an answer without three more questions being placed out there to answer. The interest of our members is high and most have very probing intelligent questions. HOST SirGemini helps control the flow of questions to and responses from the Staff Member on screen.

The event lasts from half hour to an hour depending on the amount of time the Staff Member has available and how comfortable they are in that situation.

Avatar Contests

Date/Time:     Centered around Holidays such as Halloween, Christmas etc.

Event Host:     Various HOSTs and Members working together

Advertising:     Posted on the Events Page and some Member Home Pages

Procedure:

Avatar Contests are a "fun" event that lends itself well with our program and the members creativity and abilities to "hack" or modify the Avatar Strings to create unusual and unique Avatar Shapes and figures.

These contests are probably the most difficult and time consuming events we hold on Worlds. They require advance planning and coordination between the event Host, judges and participants to make sure the contest flows as smoothly as possible.

The Contest begins as an idea usually centered around a holiday theme i.e. Halloween…Christmas. Someone volunteers usually a Host, to set up the date and time, criteria, rules, find judges, select the room or space to have the event and help with the advertising copy. Typically there are categories for example: "Halloween" - Creepy and Scary, Cutest, Traditional "Christmas" - Cute and Cuddly, Bold and Beautiful, Abstract and Avant-garde

The event coordinator takes care of all the details, planning, registration of participants, execution and wrap up of the event with the support of other HOSTs and Community Leader Director.

The Contest usually begins with a few Broadcast announcements reminding the members online that it's about to start, where to report and that spectators as well as participants are welcome. The contestants assemble at the instructions of the Host and Judges and whisper to a designated person who keeps the list and sorts out the order of the participants.

Each participant is called up to the stage or viewing area one at a time and the judges record their vote or remarks. Each category is judged and once the event is over the scores are tallied and winners announced.

There is one winner of each category and winner gets their choice of a Worlds Hat, Mouse Mat or VIP extension.

Impromptu events

(quickie events that get conversations started) Usually asked by Hosts

Online word games: Who kissed who on the first date? What did you like about your first car? Where's the most exciting place you have ever lived?

Name that Song: Sharing little bits of music and seeing who might know the tune.

Name that TV show: What was the name of the show that featured the Collie Dog and Timmy?

Trivia: General knowledge stuff….

New Redesigned Rooms

Julie has created a Birthday Room party room out of one of the old Parenting Rooms from within WorldsCenter and a web page cgi script link where members can go to announce their birthdays or those of their friends. This room has a very festive appearance and should become popular for these little parties! I think it's a very good use of space that was otherwise unoccupied.

Ideas

With the New Worlds such as Aerosmith…there will be more challenges to keep the Users there after the "Wow" is gone. The members have some great ideas but sometimes technically, financially and physically it's difficult or impossible to do. Chat rooms for their favorite musical artist are always possibilities. If we post on the Aerosmith home page scheduled times for Aerosmith chat they will come to WorldsPlayer.

I have made some "noise" about a World Live 3D DJ….in our club. One of our members, and I'm working with Gail on this…is a real Disk Jockey and does a live net Radio Show Wednesday and Thursday nights. We have had him on Worlds there with us as he spins the CD's and talks between songs on WLPW out of Lake Placid NY. We currently listen in to the show via RealPlayer. Frank indicates we have the technology now to stream that into the club if we wanted. I have proposed a Disk Jocky furniture set up at one end of the club where the DJ can hang and that we do indeed stream the music into the club. The members have always upon going to the club have asked … "Where's the Music?" We have the technology…need to put it into place.

I could see good publicity…free publicity and a sharing of links and announcements on WLPW to come to Worlds.com and download the 3D software. They reach an audience of 132,000 according to the DJ. More as things develop.

I am always looking for ideas and thoughts that would be "fun" and exciting for the members to too. Some of these are:

Tech Room:
A room that looks like the inside of a computer...were members from newbies to the most experienced could gather to talk and share ideas and get help about the worldsplayer program, upgrades, avatar modification, worlds.ini files, problems they experience with their computers, AMD upgrades etc. This room could have clickable links to Microsoft, Troubleshooting tips, FAQ, Instructions for Newbies, etc as a resource and a single point of reference to go to when having problems. Even cgi forms for feedback to support or worlds...a place for suggestions and recommendations. If we had a place like this we might be able to invite special guests from ZDTV or other computer TV shows and Tech Magazines to come give a little talk about technology....or get some of our more experienced and talented members to do that themselves.

Worlds Disk Jockey:
The addition of a Disk Jockey Console and streamed in music from some net radio would give the Club an interesting flair. You already know we have a member who does live Radio from WLPW in Lake Placid NY that is on Worlds live while his show is on the air. We sometimes listen to his show via our IE or Netscape browser and headphones while he's spinning the CD's.

Worlds Kitchen:
Now this seems a bit far fetched maybe but a Room with a Kitchen and Fridge that opens...Oven that opens...place to go to share receipes and healthy eating tips. Holiday meals...deserts...special foods from around the world...and we have many from around the world in the program. A submit your favorite receipe page or form and of course links for Quick Dinners, Nutrition, and Dieting. A good Worlds Kitchen idea is in the CastleGarden world that Concorde constructed.

Library Room:
A virtual library space for members to go talk about the books they have read, to do some research with links to the Major Libraries and museums of the World. Plenty of couches and places to sit and relax.

Worlds Kennel:
Virtual Pets mainly dogs and cats that could be adopted and owned for a short period of time. Envisioning a way to click on a cage...have the pet twirl and turn like selecting an avatar but then this bot if selected would follow you around with certain behaviors and be yours for an hour or so...then *poof* it returns to it's cage to be adopted again.

Worlds Deck and BBQ Spot:
Mike had talked about opening up GZ to the outside....and I had suggested a large expansive deck complete with BBQ, deck furniture, tables, umbrellas, coolers, boxes of soda and other things you would see on a deck at a party. Another space for members to gather and play.

The last issue is "Textures" … rich exciting textures the users can apply to their avatars and to some of the worlds that they create. There are a number of wonderful new textures that have been uploaded for the members to use and they are excited and look so much better then the original ones that were available. There are a number of new .mov files I have helped with that would increase the enjoyment and pleasure of the users. The experiment seems to have been very well received and these new .mov files await permission to be uploaded.

I hope this has helped….I just love this program!

Charlie May