The Embers of Burn2 2011 in Second Life

The Temple Burns 2011

There is a lot of smoke and ash on the Burn2  playa today.  The festival ended last night with the Temple Burn and a lot of tears from sleep deprived eyes after an amazing, intense and busy nine days.

It will take me a while to process everything that happened but I want to share some thoughts that come immediately to mind.

The Temple Burns 2011

The Burn is all about the 10 Principles and experiencing them in the desert and interacting with the amazing art and appreciating wonderful music from around the world.  But most of all it's about the people and I worked with a team of fabulous individuals.  The Core Team and the staff in the various departments are dedicated and supportive and hard working.  The Community team was a joy and I wouldn't trade a moment with any of them even if you offered me the opportunity to get some sleep.

I have memories of being set on fire and having marshmallows roasted on me.  I watched an Italian greeter spend a long time with a spanish newcomer to show her how to get around inworld and even dance.  I saw another team member arrive at Center Camp with a bus to take tired people over to the other stage to save them the effort of moving.  I also have memories of joy and silliness and amazing acts of dedication and a determination to make the experience the best it could be for everyone.

The Temple Burns 2011

There were lots of glitches of course.  Two of the sims really require couples counselling because they would frequently refuse to speak to each other.  There were lessons learned all day everyday - livestreaming taught us all the value of protecting a keyboard and mouse from a cat so the camera doesn't shift to just show feet, that sim and equipment crashes have a huge impact on your ability to stream anything and you really need more than one person being a camera because shiny things are attractive and can divert their attention.

We learned that when newbies arrive in hordes they tend to start running as soon as they land (my theory is that they're used to WOW and are afraid of being shot).  They are also very slippery and tough to catch.  Luckily the greeters and guides are skilled trackers.

The Temple Burns 2011

Working on events like the Burn is my favourite part of Second Life.  The people who volunteered, who built camps and the people who came to participate and enjoy made this a very special experience on a personal level and kept me going even when my real life avatar was having difficulty seeing the screen.

The sims are still open for you to explore for the next few days.  There might be some camps falling down or catching fire so watch where you go. :)

Thank you to everybody who made Burn2 2011 so very successful in so many ways.  I'll leave you with a video of the man burn.  I'm going to get some sleep now and then I should spend time organizing an inventory that went crazy this week.  The concept of gifting can sometimes get completely out of hand.