Business in SL

Last Wednesday while I was at work out of the blue I got a 1580 L$ payment from Shoshana Epsilon. When I asked her via mail what it was for she referred me to a note card she had given me in world. Reading it later that day it turned out to be a rather sad message.


Those of you who follow this blog or know me will be aware I had some pictures up at the Rezzable Cannery exhibit "A Different Light" curated by Shoshana. First of all she announced the exhibit is drawing to a close. Not the end of the world of course, it's the way things go. What made me really sad was the rest of the message:

"My apology is due to the lack of logistics on our part that prevented other things from happening.

a) There is no RL book. I know I promised it, but I was not given the opportunity to put it together. Last I heard, Vint was two weeks from finishing it. She was working on it, but she’s been pulled off to do other things. Contact RightAsRain Rimbald to get information on it.
b) There is no show sponsor. In the last show, RightAsRain found one. If there was one for this show, I haven’t heard of it.
c) The voting system is up, and has been for about 6 weeks. That and any sales are the only possible income from which you would get any monies. RightAsRain is the only person I know who might know how the financial situation is standing and how you would get your share.

My job was to get art and artists. I had your help to have classes, and I thank all of you who participated.

An apology that is just words is useless. As part of my apology to all of you for the lack of support, I will be converting $100 into Lindens and dispersing it to all artists. I want to thank you for your time, your effort, your talent, and your trust in me as a curator. I apologize profusely for having failed you.

-- Shoshana Epsilon"

I have to say I too was expecting a bit more from Rezzable as far as "A Different Light" was concerned so I understand Sho's disappointment. This whole thing put me in a bit of an awkward situation though. I find myself in the middle of a disagreement between people I consider friends. So I'm not about to chose sides or point fingers but I'll try to look at the bigger picture.

I think this dispute or incident, for lack of a better word, is unfortunately a bit symptomatic of small RL businesses in SL. The mix of volunteers or barely payed employees and the people who hope to actually start something is not always easy. Add to the mix the fact communication is not as easy as it is working with colleagues face to face and you know it will get rocky at times. That said I think the main problem for these start-ups is focus. Take Rezzable as an example: what is their aim ? What do they stand for ? I'm not too sure... I guess the uncertainty about where SL in itself is going makes it difficult. Will SL be the metaverse of the future? Is it merely a start that will soon be replaced by competing technology ? All these factors make it difficult to rely on SL as a target for business. I think it's safe to say that if at this time you want to start something, involving SL, and I don't mean a clothing shop or the likes, you're probably better of regarding SL as just a part of the whole social media scene, dividing efforts between SL and all that surrounds it. I for one am not convinced SL presently offers a sufficiently mature platform to invest any of my euros in a business relying on it.