There’s something troubling me about SL events lately, especially weekly events. Once upon a time there weren’t as many of them as there are now, and every participating designer was able to meet the deadline and have his/her item(s) ready in due time. Now, there seems to be a new trend –or that’s what it seems to me– in that this kind of activity has become a way to drive people to stores with no intention of offering anything at all. All weekly events I try to follow distribute a list of landmarks to participating stores, and week after week for months on end now, there’s always a shop or two that either fall into the above description or aren’t really interested in participating at all, and event organizers add them anyway to –perhaps– pretend these creators support their cause, when the truth might be they do not. At least this is what I’m starting to believe is happening, I’m not saying it is actually the absolute truth. But perceptions play a leading role when it comes to understanding the –virtual– world around us.
So I have a few questions to ask each side. Designers: If you are so busy in RL or working on something else that interests you more than a mundane event, why don’t you opt out? You have that option, or are you obliged to participate every time you’re asked in order to be considered for a later time? Isn’t it possible to skip that week when you’re not ready and come back the next, instead of misleading your clients? Do you think that’s a good marketing strategy? What do you believe customers think when they TP to your store just to find out you’re once again late or not participating at all? Do you think those deceived customers will keep buying from you or coming back? Event organizers: Is it your idea, to include stores that aren’t really participating just to give the impression they are supporting your event? And if creators aren’t meeting your timeline, why do you keep inviting them after failing you time after time? Aren’t there more creators waiting for a chance to participate and promote their stores? Why don’t you invite those less known creators? Or don’t you know anyone else? It could be that you only organize events to favor a closed group of people, usually a net of friends; that’s perfectly ok. But can’t your circle accept new entries that may be more responsible and willing to meet deadlines? Do you think that by constantly including fake participants every week people will still support you? For how long? If organizing weekly events takes a lot of time (and surely that’s the case because all of us have hundreds of things to do in our lives), wouldn’t it be better to slow it down, say make them biweekly perhaps?
I also have a few questions to some particular stores: What do you think is the purpose of these events? To help you make some money of course. Then, why don’t you realize that and respond in due manner? Aren’t you interested in building a loyal customer base, people that are inspired by your creativity and want to come back and keep buying from you in the future? So, why are you offering the same old product for months on end? Don’t you think buyers notice that? If it’s too much for your RL or SL schedules, why don’t you lift that unnecessary weight up and move on to what you really need or want to take care of?
Only the laws of nature cannot be changed… unless it’s nature itself doing it, I guess.
In the picture, a few of the excellent products some of my favorite H&G shops have offered in recent events. Probably they’re no longer at 50L, 75L or 200L, but should be available in their respective stores in case you want them. From left to right: