State of the CDS
Good morning, Madam LRA, members of the RA and public.
This term we enter a new period of the CDS as a member of the Eduverse. The CDS brings its unique form of democracy in Second Life to the attention of a wider audience. In these times of anti-democratic movements across the globe, but particularly in the country where SL is located, a demonstration of democracy here adds a small light in the world, not just a virtual world. On behalf of the CDS, I thank Kyoko Barzane (samara.barzane) for her work the VWEC and our move to the Eduverse. In addition, Word assisted Kyoko and deserves a load of thanks during the last term in the Eduverse effort. I note too that Rosie Gray and Lilith Ivory have been emissaries by volunteering to help with VWEC events. Lastly, Delia Lake offered her landscaping skills on the VWEC hub island. As you can see, CDS members have already had a positive impact on the Eduverse.
A few points about the Eduverse. First we have been positioned very well. We are near the VWEC Eduverse Hub island. When people look on the map for the VWEC Eduverse island, we will be one of the estates in view. Hopefully, this will encourage visits to the CDS and interest in our democracy.
In addition, Etopia is our nearest neighbor. It is an excellent community of about 40 individuals and seven regions. Four of which are full regions and most of them have navigable water. We have already broached the idea of connection via water sims. However, a word of caution. Connection with Etopia is more of a brainstorm than a plan at the moment. It is an idea that is worth discussion. Connection via two water sims would allow sailing over about seven sims, perhaps eight if you count the river running though LA and CN. I have introduced my self to the EO of Etopia and Sudane and Kyoko have had fruitful meetings with her.
Over the last term, we have done well in terms of activity. We have some new and returning citizens. Some of which have been active in government or administration. We have a new EM, Ryonen Moon (ryonen). Events have been well received with the help of Kyoko who has done a wonderful job.
Moon Adamant, Rosie, Han Held, and I worked worked to create a well received SL19B exhibit on behalf of the CDS. Moon especially did the heavy lifting with her Nutcracker Music Box. It was a wonderful exhibit for the CDS and a tasteful homage to our late founder, Kendra Bancroft. The exhibit would not have been fully complete without the landscaping work done by Rosie, and, of course, my posters. Hats off to the CDS SL19B team! You really should visit it before goes, if you have not done so already. The SL19B Celebration will end on July 5th. CDS SL19B Exhibit
It is worth mentioning that during this past week, VWEC lead a tour of the member SL19B exhibits. The CDS exhibit was well received by our fellows in the VWEC.
Over the last term, I have promoted the CDS on the SL Forums and highlighted most of the regions. More will be done there. Postings there are free and do get more than 60 views.
The Casper Land Page has been fine tuned to include pictures or ads for each of the available parcels. This tool is available on our webpage, linked to my forum postings and linked to the casper vendors located in Colonia Nova. This tool will make finding a suitable parcel easier.
I set up the Casper kiosk in the Rathaus. This kiosk will allow a citizen to pay multiple tier boxes at one location. Very handy for many of us to be sure. One nice perk is that you can see all the casper tier boxes where you might owe tier. You can only pay the CDS tier at this kiosk but you can use it to look at parcels you might own elsewhere.
Sylvia Tamalyn updated our EM Info. She and Rosie have trained and helped our new EM, Ryonen Moon (ryonen).
Lastly, due to SL ending it practice of absorbing sales tax, our sims had an increase in tier. Rosie, Sylvia and Lilith did a wonderful job updating all the over 200 parcels of CDS and the Casper admin page. Three cheers for that effort. It was huge. I showed up with my coffee and donut just as work was ending. So a round of applause for those three hard workers.
The fact remains we have not increased our numbers. We hover around 70 citizens. Some of us have also shed additional parcels. So I have a lot of work ahead this term to gain new members. We have already started since joining the Eduverse. I hope this trend continues. We are not in danger but we can not run forever on our reserves, a fund established years ago by many who are no longer active members of our community and paid a great deal more tier than we do now.
This term Kyoko will server as PIO and handle events. I intend to share responsibility with promotion and hosting as necessary. Additional help will probably be needed for Oktoberfest events and balls. I am envisioning a spread out Oktoberfest, but more on that later.
I have asked Lilith to work with building a cabaret in the event space below the Platz. We will plan an event around that space.
More work on promotion on the forums will highlight the remainder of our regions and probably cycle though others.
I propose a portal to the VWEC Eduverese Hub on our our Platz. I am suggesting the empty area near the wall and the bridge just south of the Kirche for the location of a portal.
Finally, I urge consideration of the Budget asap. Budget for the 37th Term It is much like the budget for the last term. I have made some room for sim improvement and Oktoberfest. I anticipate some improvements needed to LA in particular if we go ahead with linking to Etopia.
Thank you for your attention.