Hola Amigos,

First of all I want to apologize for not posting the Estate Status report like we always do the on 1st of each month. The day I was about to send the final notecard draft to Ryker, on our usual schedule of two days prior to the deadline, I logged into Second Life® to find that a significant number of my items were missing from my inventory. Among those, several important notecards, including the one with the information for this month's Estate Status Report. Right away, I contacted Linden Lab, and within seconds they started to look for my missing items, but sadly with no positive outcome.

"Hello Giancarlo,

We have tried to recover the inventory you have lost. Unfortunately we have been unable to do so. I am afraid the items are regarded to be lost permanently.

Developers scoured not only your inventory but also our backup servers for the notecards by name, as well as by specific lines in the notecard that you shared with me.

I am so sorry this has happened to you and it is with regret that I tell you there is nothing further we can do to retrieve the items. I have been in this same situation on my own alt, so I truly understand how frustrating this can be."

Even though the outcome was not what I hoped for, once again I would like to thank all our friends at Linden Lab for always doing their best every time I need to contact them.

But now, let us talk about what matters the most. It is official! Our beautiful estate is now three years old and what an amazing celebration we had! For me, it feels like just yesterday when our first region, Guanacaste, came online back in September 2007.

Today, three years later, we still have many of the first 12 original residents that became part of this journey and have witnessed the growth of our magnificent estate since the early days.

Seeing how much the residents of Costa Rica Sims love their Second Life® home, I always remind myself, and all the other members of the Costa Rica Sims Executive Team, that the greatest reward from being a part of this magnificent estate and working for the residents, is to know we are providing them with the best possible Second Life® experience. And with our hard work and dedication, one of our residents, somewhere around the world, just had a better day because of what we have created here in SL™ for them.

I want to thank, from the bottom of my heart, all the wonderful, talented, loyal and caring people that in one way or another have contributed into making Costa Rica Sims what it is today, the most beautiful estate in all of Second Life®.

To Ryker Infinity, our CFO and my partner, you know you have been such an important role in the overall success of this dream. Your advice and perseverance to stand for what you believe is the best for our community are two of the things I admire the most in you. You have been a part of my real life for more than two years now. Time after time, you have showed me both in real life and in Second Life®, how much Costa Rica Sims means to you. Thank you for all you have done and for your unconditional love and incredible patience, even when you tell me that I'm being snippy. 

To Costa Rica Sims Executives, I thank you for always giving 100% in what you do for our community. There is no doubt that we have the most professional and dedicated team of Executives within all estates in Second Life®. You, my closest friends, are always making sure everything runs smoothly, putting the needs of the estate and our community first. It is because of you that the residents of our estate love Costa Rica Sims so much!

To our business partners, who have contributed in so many different ways, I thank you for taking a chance during these 3 years by supporting Costa Rica Sims. I am proud and honored that Costa Rica Sims has indeed inspired you to become more creative.

To the Linden Lab® Team, especially the Concierge Team, thanks for the love, patience and support during our 3 year journey. You guys have always been here for us since the early days and we shall never forget your support. It makes me really proud that even some of you have even chosen Costa Rica Sims as your Second Life® home when using your alts just to enjoy SL™.

But above all I just mentioned, the truth is, that Costa Rica Sims would not be here without its residents. You are the real owners of this beautiful estate we all call home in Second Life®. You, the residents, are the heart and soul of our estate and what makes it unique. You come in-world every day to be part of a beautiful community where indeed people care about each other, a community were there are no colors or backgrounds. We are a family where everyone is respected regardless of their personal beliefs.

To you, our dear 350+ residents that come from every corner of the world: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Macedonia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Scotland, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela & Wales. Thank you for making Costa Rica Sims the most beautiful community in all Second Life®.

There are many wonderful things coming our way, some which you will start noticing very soon and others during the first months of 2011. But for now, let’s recap this past month when we celebrated our 3rd year anniversary.

New Business Partners

It is when people collaborate together that wonderful things happen. It has been proven over and over that when people put differences aside and work together for the benefit of all, evolution happens faster. One of the reasons why Costa Rica Sims has been such a success since day one is because of the partnerships and friendships we have created along the way with some of the most successful brands in Second Life®. All our business partners share one goal, to bring the best possible Second Life® experience with their brands to the thousands of residents that log every day into this virtual world we all love so much. When the Costa Rica Sims brand is approached by different content creators, companies or brands wanting to create a partnership with us, the first question we always ask is how will our community benefit from such a partnership? The reason we ask this question is simply because for us, as you all know, our community always comes first.

Today, I am honored to present 3 new business partners. They will add more value to our community by providing new resources for all our residents to enjoy.

Azure Yachts

Founded in 2009 by Niyo Batista, who consulted veteran yacht-designer Chandon Dollinger to build the range of yachts, Azure Yachts current line consists of 6 yachts, with 3 currently in the making. They will be moving their sim, Azure Yachts,to the west of San Jose East1, which will give our community a beautiful new marina to enjoy. This is the first time Costa Rica Sims allows another region to be connected to our estate. We will also be adding an open space with water south of Heart of Glass, and west of Azure Yacht’s sim, to give the marina access to our over 2 million square meters of open waters in our estate.

Prim Perfect Publications

Prim Perfect Publications is the media organization behind Prim Perfect and The Primgraph Magazines, Designing Worlds and Metaverse Arts television shows (both on treet.tv), and The Quest for the Golden Prim web comic.  Over the last three and a half years in Second Life®, the Prim Perfect brand has come to represent professional, stylish and elegant media productions, with impeccably high standards in terms of content and design. Their new headquarters will also be located in San Jose East1. Visit the following web sites to learn more:

http://primperfectblog.wordpress.com/

http://en.calameo.com/accounts/4234

http://treet.tv/shows/designingworlds

http://www.designingworlds.tv

http://primgraph.blogspot.com/

http://goldenprim.blogspot.com/

The SL Enquirer

The SL Enquirer has been covering virtual world news since 2005. Visit them at The SL Enquirer Media center in San Jose East1, which is also home to the SLE on-the-air news program. You can also join the SL enquirer Media Group to find out about the latest SL™ community News and events. Contact them at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with news, Spotlight Features and to find out about advertising with them.

Advertisment Campaigns

Most Beautiful & Powerful

Just released is the third advertisement for our “Most Beautiful & Powerful Women” campaign. We profile another four amazing ladies who honor us by calling the Costa Rica Sims their SL™ home.

Notable news from Linden Lab®

Avatars United Shuts Down, Mesh Coming & 13 to 15 year olds having limited access to the grid.

Just a quick recap of a few points of interest going on at the Lab. The first being the closing of Avatar United, a social networking site that was sometimes referred to as Facebook for avatars, was removed by the Lab, with a promise to integrate social networking capabilities, powered by Avatars United technology, directly into the Second Life® experience. For those who used Avatar United, the Lab should have sent e-mails to your respective accounts to help with the shut down process.

Next, Mesh Open Beta begins on October 13^th, when you’ll be able to download a Mesh Project Viewer, upload mesh files, define their physical shape, apply them to objects, and link multiple mesh objects together. For those unfamiliar with Mesh, it allows content created in the mainstream 3D creation tools, such as Maya or Blender, to be imported directly into Second Life®, in much the same way that animations and textures can be uploaded today. This promises to bring many new and exciting things into SL™.

Finally, since the Lab will shut down Teen Second Life® by the end of this year, and they will now allow 13- to 15-year-olds access to limited locations on the main grid, with appropriate controls for administrators. They will implement these controls and transfer these rich and exciting projects from Teen Second Life® before the end of 2010.

Land Sales

In September, we added a new commercial region, San Jose East1, as we continue with our plan to expand our estate to the east. Many of you know that San Jose is the capital of Costa Rica and in like major urban areas it is there where the most commercial activities are located. Our original plan when creating San Jose was, and still is, to bring as many as possible mainstores to this part of the estate.

There are still 4 parcels available with 937 prims each, so if you, or someone you know, is looking to open a business, make sure to visit our Land Store to find more details. We closed September with an occupancy rate of 99.6%.

Events

Miss Costa Rica Sims 2011

Congratulations to Miss Reign Congrejo, our new Miss Costa Rica Sims. I cannot tell you how pleased I am that one of our contestants finally got to wear the crown, especially since the sim crashed 7 times during the 5 hour pageant LOL! I think it was karma since earlier I was making fun on how long the Miss Virtual World always is.

This has been the most successful and well planned Miss Costa Rica Sims so far and we must give thanks to our amazing Executives & Pageants Director, Miss Payton Heron, and Samantha Ohrberg, our Events Manager. To my co-host, the lovely, sexy and bubbly Miss Italia Viotta, thank you for making me feel at ease at all times. To Nisa Constantine, Miss Costa Rica Sims 2010, that for all the hard work you did for us in this past year and we cannot wait for what is next for you. And finally, to our fabulous panel of judges and sponsors, we could have not done it without you.

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All contestants gave their best and I am sure they will have long lasting memories and friendships because of the pageant. This year's pageant was the first one where the winner also won 3 out of 4 titles. Not only was Reign crowned Miss Costa Rica Sims 2011, but she also won Miss Web Photogenic and Miss Photogenic. Now, our new Miss Costa Rica enters a new phase, one that will take her into a journey representing all of Costa Rica Sims residents in the Miss Virtual World 2011. I know I can talk on behalf of all of us when I say that our new Miss Costa Rica Sims will do her very best to show all other contestants at the Miss Virtual World what a magnificent woman she is, and also our greatest female ambassador. She will make us all proud.

On behalf of all us here at Costa Rica Sims, I want to thank all the all contestants for their hard work, love and dedication during the pageant. Please always remember what I said, during the last rehearsal. By committing to this long process, the day of the pageant you will providing others, people you have never seen, nor will ever meet, with a pleasant escape where all can relax for a few hours and forget about any issues or problems they may be dealing with in real life, and that should be your biggest reward!

Rezz Days Party

Our PJ party was for me, one of the best rezz days parties ever. The design of the venue gave us the opportunity to see how a mouse would feel inside a room. I have to admit that I am turning into one of those groupies. I am totally addicted to DJ Mikee Gemini. He is simply amazing! The way he DJs and how he can keep a crowd going wild is something I had never seen in SL™ before. At the party he gave us a... Umm inside look about the story of Samantha our Events Manager and a rabbit. If you were not able to attend the party, you may want to ask around to those who did to learn about this fascinating tale. But let me tell you, that after that story, I won't be able to look at rabbits the way I did before! Let's hope that either Sammy or the rabbit can persuade Mikee to move Costa Rica Sims PLEASE!

I want to wish all our September babies many more happy rezz days!

The Influentials

In September, we paid tribute to July Raymaker as one of our Influentials, Top Fashion Model, and the Owner and CEO of Manifeste: The Art of Posing. If you want to read about July, here is Takeshi’s interview and review of the party. Manifeste is also moving the Mainstore to the San Jose East1 Sim.

To read more details on all events as a part of our 3rd Anniversary celebration, plus all other September events, click on the links below.

Toshas Swingin' Birthday!

Costa Rica Sims 3rd Anniversary: And the Winner is...

Costa Rica Sims Top Models Of The Year Fashion Show

Bunneh Hunt & A Tiny Affair After Party

September's Community Ball

A conversation with Master Builder, Barnesworth Anubis

Costa Rica Sims Ladies' Society Friendship Ball

Costa Rica Sims Top Models Of The Year Finalists

Upcoming Events

We will have to stay tuned for our upcoming events because our wonderful Event Manager, Samatha Ohrberg, is cooking up a bountiful feast of entertainment for all of you. She will post her own blog with all the details soon.

Merchant News

With the arrival of our latest commercial region, San Jose East1, we also welcomed two new merchants to our estate. Some of you may know that San Jose is the capital of Costa Rica and like in most major capitals of the world it there where you will find the biggest concentration of commerce. As you already noticed all San Jose regions are commercial and the plan is to bring as many established brands with their mainstores to those regions as possible. Below some information of the new merchants calling Costa Rica Sims their mainstores home.

Odyssey Photography was founded by Homer Hanly and Calypso Sparrowtree over a shared love of photography. Together, they are committed to excellence and use various software platforms to produce exceptional visual works of art.
 
Portraits, couples, still life and product services are available. Odyssey Photography has a structured rate system in place, but all clients will be given specific packages and prices tailored to fit their needs. They offer Flickr previews for our client's purchase orders, as well as various levels of permissions for the in-world product, Odyssey.

To inquire about rates and schedule your photography shoot, please contact Homer Hanly or Calypso Sparrowtree in-world, via IM or notecard. If you would prefer, you may e-mail them at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
 
They are proud to join the Costa Rica Sims family and look forward in getting to know all the members of this amazing community and capture our most memorable moments. They encourage you to stop by and visit Odyssey Photography to view their work and receive a free gift just for stopping by.

SURA Hairstyles

A brand new shop including all sorts of hairstyles designed by Sura Solo. The hairstyles you'll find in the store can be categorized as: casual, elegant, traditional and modern. Some designs are made to wear daily, others are more appropriate for photography or catwalk.
 

Specifications
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Each hairstyle has a demo, a fat pack and 4 colour-packs; Blond, Black, Brown and the Red. Each pack has 4 colours in them.

Permissions:
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All hairstyles are modify and copy.

Gifts:
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If you would like to provide a gift from SURA Hairstyles, there are gift cards that you can purchase for different amounts.

Customer Service:
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Each purchase (except the gift cards) can be redelivered through the redelivery terminal.

Updates

New Amenity: Rafting River

It always makes us happy to add amenities which were made here in our estate. I would like to thank Dolci Woodget and Clay Ellison, both excellent builders and scripters and part of the Costa Rica Sims Executive Team, for creating such a fantastic new addition to our amenities. If you want to have an exciting time with your friends experiencing a quintessential Costa Rican adventure, head on over to the river and prepare for a wet and wild ride!

Leatherback Turtle Trust

In September, we raised L$4050. I would like to thank all residents and friends of the estate who kindly donated to this worthy cause: Aeva Melody, Eliza Wierwight, Athena Pappentas, Minsha Little, Kodo Luckstone, Carmichael Caudron, Yen Aura, Aaliyah Munro, Heath Pevensey, Rory Larnia, Melisa McAndrews, marda Ashby, Lace Hilltop & Rory Serpente.

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

The Geko Stoop butterflies sales

October will be the last month that we will raise funds for the American Cancer Society via the sales of the Geko Stoop Butterfly. We will still support the American Cancer Society, but we will create a new item for people to buy. As soon as details come available, we will blog about it. In September, we raised L$5,940 from all sales of Geko’s butterflies. Thank you so much to all the people who donated: Heather Genosse, SunnyJoo Shan, Smooth Hammerer, Twalia Pizarro & Aspen Parx.

Below there is a photo for the transaction made at the American Cancer Society Region.

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: Aaliyah, Alexandra, Amberlea, Archivist, Barney, Buddy, Calima, Carys, Cheyenne, Delinda, Derick, Drager, Eve ,Ezechiel, FifiLamere, Froramir, Giaku, Haley, Hanley, Heather, Hepzibah, Homer, Hunter, Jasper, Johndoe, Kaelyb, Lanai, Landra, Laguna, Livia, Malate, Pheonix, Ree, Saffia, Sasy, ScarlettLa, Sebastien, SirMarcus, Sura & Solo. Welcome home!

There you have it my friends. Our 3^rd Anniversary month showcased the beauty of our estate and the love all of us share for our vibrant community. I thank all of you, especially our residents, from the bottom of my heart for making this dream come true and calling this your home in Second Life®.

Love & Light,

Gian