Hola Amigos,

Can you believe another month has flown by! Amazing that we are just 6 months away for Christmas time. Second Life® turns 7 this month and many of our, um, oldest residents can remember how different things were back in the early days. When I came here in June 2007, I remember how unstable the grid was. We crashed constantly and Second Life® was down for maintenance every Wednesday morning. Others even older than myself remember the days when there was no flexi hair, the horror! And someone even told me since SL was so small, the Lindens would send daily group notices about events happening around the grid.

So here’s for another 7 years of prosperity to this virtual environment we all love so much!

Let’s recap once again everything that happened in our estate during the past month of May:

Notable news from Linden Lab®

On June 23, 2010, Second Life® will be officially seven years old. In preparation of the annual birthday bash, Lindens and Resident volunteers have been busy parceling, landscaping, and laying the groundwork for all of us to celebrate!

The event kicks off at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, June 21 and runs through Sunday, June 27 with a sampling of the best and brightest of Second Life, including musicians, speakers, artists, business leaders, media mavens, merchants and social butterflies .

Commercial Land

i-Learning Workshops & Studio 240

We welcomed a new commercial tenant to our estate, i-Learning Workshops. They are a team of consultants using Second Life® for expanding their services into the 3-D “Immersive Internet.” Founded by Trudy Takacs and Evad Slade, it specializes in using SL™ for education and employee training. In addition, Evad's expertise is in e-publishing, design and photography and Studio 240 will be showcasing fine art, photography & media graphics. The i-Learning Workshops and Studio 240 are products of DHR New Media, LLC: http://dhrnewmedia.com. Currently they are profiling RL Costa Rica, so be sure to head over to the campus at San Jose City and welcome our newest members to the Costa Rica Sims family.

Queens Main Store

Fabulous new main store at the San Jose City Sim. Our beautiful resident, face of Moolto and co-owner of the Queens brand, Mina Pelazzi opened the store with a party meant for royalty. Guest were treated to a fabulous fashion show. This store is a must stop for all the ladies that are looking for the best couture in SL. 

New Members of the Executive Team

As you all know, since our estate keeps growing the number of events the estate puts on has increased over the past month making it essential for us to add new members to the Executive Team to continue providing the highest level of service and attention to detail our residents have come to expect and enjoy.

Samantha Ohrberg is ready to jump right in and take the reins of our events management. Samantha will now be the main point of contact for all current and proposed events, so please direct any inquiries to her. She is still learning the ropes to some degree so be sure to go easy on her and make her feel right at home in her new position.

Clay Ellison joins the Executive Team as our Prim Professor. Many of you know Clay is the partner of our Estate Manager, Dolci Woodget. He is a very talented builder and will bring back our weekly building classes. If you want to join the building group please contact him in-world.

Finally, Tempest Hennesy returns to the Executive Team as the new Director of Costa Rica Sims Productions. She will take over Clyde Saunders' position and bring our now famous fashion shows each month.

Land Sales

Once again fortune has shined upon our estate and we closed the month with a 99% occupancy rate!

Events

The WK Ganesvoort Community Ball

What a wonderful turnout for our first Community Ball at WK Ganesvoort’s palatial house. Guests were dressed to the nines as they danced the night away on the manicured grounds, the elegant voice of Ceci Dover filling the air with romance and magic.

I believe this is going to quickly become of the favorite monthly rendezvous for residents in our estate, so be sure to make shopping time for more elegant ensembles to wow the audience. Many thanks to our host, friend and longtime resident of the estate, Mr. WK Ganesvoort.

To catch up on the details, read the review posted by our estate blogger Takeshi Kiama.

Natural Wonders Contest Party May

Congratulations to Dahlia Jayaram for taking the winning photo of the Geko Stoop Memorial Statue for this month’s Natural Wonders Contest and taking home the L$5,000 cash prize! Partygoers celebrated her win in our beautiful Opera House.

Ceci Dover once again delivered a flawless performance with a great selection of music that included, Pop, Salsa and Bossanova. Her rendition of Whitney Houston’s ¨One Moment In Time¨ brought the house down. If you were not able to attend the event, read the review posted by our estate blogger Takeshi Kiama to get all the details.

Don’t forget the contest is up and running again for June, so be sure to click here to read all the information on Moolto.com about how you can enter to win L$5,000.

The Influentials with Payton Heron

This was such an amazing party with so many outstanding examples by those in attendance of fashion trends in SL.

This monthly event pays tribute to our residents that have contributed to the world of SL fashion. Our first honoree was Miss Payton Heron. She is one of the most celebrated SL models. As always, Payton was dressed to impress and brought new meaning to the term haute couture. If you want to learn about Payton's many accomplishments, click here.

Our very own DJ/Fashionisto, Azu Catteneo, provided the tunes with the best of electronic music. Be sure to read Takeshi Kiama’s interview with her and his review of the party!

Rezz Days Party

Sailing the beautiful pristine waters was the theme for our May Rezz Days Party as our May babies boarded our romantic yacht to celebrate. Many more happy rezz days to: AnimaDannata, Aspen, Cedric, Diesel, Genkisudo, Gwen, Jayjay, Jax, Lucia, Nina, Payton, Solar, Solitaire, Sora & Takeshi.

If you were not able to attend the party, read the review posted by our estate blogger Takeshi Kiama.

Upcoming Events

Building Classes with our Prim Professor Clay Ellison.

Clay will be opening his building classes this month. Residents who want to learn the arts of building in SL must contact him via IM or notecard in order to reserve a space. Classes will start at noon SLT June 15, 2010.

Updates

Leatherback Turtle Trust

In May, we raised L$3,510. I would like to thank all residents and friends of the estate who kindly donated to this worthy cause: D520 Dewoitine, Bareges Lancrae, Silber Sands, Carmichael Caudron, LexiDare Claven, Ashton Hannu, Angust Firethorn, Josain Zsun, Even Maven, Maririko Torok, Anthony McMasters, Ravenlea Steamer & Betz Darwinian. 

As always, here is a photo of the transaction made via Paypal for last month’s donation.

The Geko Stoop butterflies sales

As you all know, all proceeds from the sales of Geko’s butterflies go to the American Cancer Society via their Relay For Life kiosk, located at the Geko Stoop’s Memorial Forest sim.

In May, we raised L$3,780 from all proceeds from the sales of Geko’s butterflies. Thank you to the people who donated: Dylann Oleander, Alexandros Sciavo, Trudy Takacs, Sunshine Zhangsun, Airaoch Macbeth, Rufferto Rutherford and special thanks to Lo Bloch & Bogart Bloobury for their multiple donations.

Also many thanks to all of you who also donated to the Relay For Life kiosk, bringing the total amount raised so far to L$19,100

Below is a photo for the transaction made via the Relay For Life kiosk.

And finally I would like to welcome all the new residents that moved to the estate in the past month and are now part of our growing family: AllSpicey, Amaoi, Angus, Antonio, Antje, Bast, Blondy, Brigitte,  Cooper, Debbie, Deliziona, Earl, Enjay, Enzo, Eve, Gidget, Hamish, Iqlia, Jes, Jimbo, Jrsrose88, Krazy, Liane, Lindsay, Lisiel, Luc, Lucia, Liane, Lindsay, Luc, Markvini, MissRoxy, Nyra, Outrageous, Roberto, Robby, Rocio, Ron, Solar, Suzita, Tray, Ty, Valeri, Vladi & Wysnhymr. Welcome home!

Until next time!

Love & Light,

Gian