Downtown; New Appearance, Same Vision

Let’s enjoy and appreciate the outward beauty and better understand our city’s underpinnings.

Today’s story has more substance and depth than usual. It is based on an interview with GordonGekko Haroldsen and MariadelCarmen Bekkers RL and In World CEO’s. They related the most current news of a major enhancement beginning in Downtown New York, our development and testing sim. This will eventually be shared with our 3 sister sims. They discussed that the outward appearance will be beautiful and new; they also reflected on the real nature of our city; its purpose, the people and the business climate allowing us to provide this virtual experience and a commercial bridge between the two worlds as well. They emphasized these points because there are many fine stores and malls in SL; precious few city sims, and almost none that bridge to RL. Add to that the vision of providing RL work opportunities for people in 3rd world countries and you arrive at solely unique. So while today we’ll focus on the “physical” appearance of the sims, please think about them in the totality of the vision. Cities are not static; they grow and change over time; ours is no different. Over the next couple of weeks you’ll be seeing new buildings, textures, roads and many other features improved becoming even more interesting and lifelike. Gordon shared that there will be over 200 textures; most of us will not have a true appreciation for that as we enjoy the city. It is one more differentiator. While this makeover will show the obvious signs of being new and improved; we’re like a real city in the respect that we have friends and neighbors living here and others who come for a visit. Guys invite girls out on dates, people come to shop; everyone is seeking things that they cannot get in their own town. The new enhancements will improve the experience and subsequently more visitors will come and enjoy the city. So how is this possible to construct and operate? Like a RL city ours has an infrastructure. True there is no plumbing or sewers, not even a mayor. However, we do have a complex set of activities and arrangements with designers, business owners, services and activities. While most residents will not have a reason to see these arrangements; they are part of the infrastructure that allows us to experience of city life. This infrastructure will be changing as we move forward as well offering new and improved opportunities for businesses to operate or partner with us. Gordon related to his vision that “When cities stop changing, then they stop growing.” So he is driven for ongoing change. Maria reflected on the need for governance and managerial consistency allowing for rationality in decision making and planned improvements. “We’ll need to engage our entire community with regular communications and in particular our partners having input to key decisions.” Look to Maria’s in world leadership on executive topics such as competitor intelligence, market trends and more over the coming months. Like all ground breaking and visionary breakthroughs there will be tension between creative breakthroughs and the ability to rationally place them in service. That is part of the joy and challenge. Help us change the future beginning today! azi:)