Announcement from Traders' Association (yes, it's baaaack...

[solomon mosely]

Greetings,

It's time, once again, for the annual revitalization of the CDS Chamber of Commerce Festival!

For those that missed yesterday's Town Hall (for any number of reasons that can be peacefully (cough) discussed in more meetings), it was discussed and decided that another wild stab would be taken at the elusive C of C beast. In fact, to simplify and consolidate all the past efforts, we decided to kill off some of the other groups that started and never got off the ground and just pick one to run with. In the interest of ease and convenience and not seeing how the name really mattered, we decided to go with one of the existing groups with a founder that was still known to be in-world and available for any modifications to the group profile stuff, and more convenience. We went with the Traders' Association (TA), founded by Pat. He also just happened to be at the meeting and could invite folks, so that made it easy.
Also, a plot was hatched to create a business directory to highlight all businesses in CDS, and have them in Sim centers across the land. Now, this is no doubt raising ooOodles of questions about usefulness, aesthetic, cost, maintenance, scale, and most importantly, does this really meet the true desires and needs of the community and properly and fairly express the passion and creative genius pumping so fiercely through the veins of all CDS citizens?

i dont know....

But, there are a lot of great businesses in CDS and there have been many that have left for many different reasons. Some feel some steps should be taken to strengthen the commercial side of our fair state and this directory is a simple, relatively harmless first step. Let me emphasize, First Step. We know it is not the final answer or missing link to financial success for all our businesses for all time, but it's low hanging fruit to tide us over till we get dinner ready.

Of course, you are all invited to the table and what's more, you're all invited to propose how to best prepare the fruit however you like. We're giving an open invite to any who would like to submit a model kiosk system.

That's right, we're holding a KIOSK KONTEST! The winner(s) get: bragging rights, free beer for life at my place, The Outhouse, and a photo-op with the new kiosk so they can send pics to their friends and family and gloat till their hearts content. Oh, maybe we can even wring some compensation from the RA and funding for required system purchases, if needed.

here's the deal: Due date for submissions: March 14th.
It should be able to display at least 24 businesses, the ideal kiosk will be scalable to whatever number we need as we grow. There is not an accurate, or complete list of all the businesses and services in CDS, so we don't know how large to make it, but what we do know is that it can't be a monster. Since the CDS intends to keep growing, it really doesn't matter how many businesses we have at the moment, the design has to be relatively compact, scalable, attractive, easily navigable for guests, and informative.

It has to fit in the scale and style of our various sim themes with a consistent look so it's easily recognizable to guests as they sim hop, shop and look for places to blow all their cash on us, so not a different one on each sim.

Oh, and it of course needs to be easy to update and set up for current and future staff to distribute and maintain.

Drop the submissions with full perms on me in a labeled folder: CDS Business Directory Kiosk submission - <YOUR NAME>, with a NC about its design and function along with any other info you think is important about it, and post a message in this forum that you have done so and give a little synopsis of it, to make your submission official, get on the record, and let the group know about your idea.

and that's it. pretty simple ground rules.

The TA will go over all the submissions, decide on a prototype of the kiosk and system to propose to the RA the following week for approval. Then, as soon after that as possible, the system will be in place. Notices, hook, crook, and hoopla will be used to campaign for business participation and shops will be responsible for submitting the needed materials to participate.

The directory will be mirrored on the website.

Now, some of you are great designers/builders, some are great scripters, others are great planners and system architects, but can't build or script. If you have a good, complete idea, bring it. For example: Perhaps resident A will have a beautiful design, that fits all our physical needs, and has an outline for function, but can't script, while resident B has scripted a hot dog information system and can't can't rez a box to save his avie. we can work with that. Submitters need to be willing to possibly have any part or all of their submission used in some way to create the desired end result. If someone knows of a particular pre-fab system, submit the information to me in a NC, labeled like a standard submission (see above) with a link to any Xstreet page and website and any specific info about the particular product with your thoughts on its relevance to our needs. Then also post about it here and note that you submitted it to me.

Over the next two weeks, through the magic of the forums and a couple in-world meetings, the TA will take shape from volunteer citizens. For now, most surprisingly and most inevitable detriment to the nation, it will be led by me cuz i was the dummy with the big mouth and no brains that kinda pushed it. With any luck, by the 14th, others will step up to properly head the TA and the rest of the volunteer group can decide on a Chair.
Our beloved Stui, as head of the last RAs Commerce Commission, has been met with and is okey-fine with participating in and supporting the current efforts, as the primary directive of that Commission has been executed and the existence of it in the current RA is completely unknown.

So that's it. get your submissions and/or completed system outlines in by the 14th, post responses here in the forum and come to one of the next meetings of TA to be held this Thursday, March 4th in the amphitheater in CN at either 11 A.M. SLT and 7 P.M. SLT to discuss the kiosk project, purpose, organization, and mission of the TA and for the love of sweet Mary's sacred baby boy, pick a new leader for it.

Thank you,
Solomon Mosely
Chief Head Master KIng Honcho Pooba with tomato, onions, and extra cheese of the CDS Trader's Association

[Sylvia]

Hello,

I am interested in getting in involved in this thingie, but I'm not a citizen (only a "friend" of the CDS), the reason being I can't see anywhere in Nstadt where I can open a shop. (and I'm kind of not ready to quite yet anyway).

Perhaps my observations as a sort of "outside observer" might be relevant. I was thinking of opening a shop in Neufreistadt in the CDS so I've wandered around the city a bit lately looking and as far as I can see there is no land for sale, and no shops or even space on carts for rent. In reality, I'm sure there probably is, but it sure isn't apparent to anyone walking around (at least not me anyway.) This seems like a barrier to business IMO. Most places also seem to have some carts or stalls that are easily rentable, usually in the town square, for folks that have only a few things to sell and not much money. I don't see any of those in Neufreistadt although maybe they are in some of the other CDS sims. This can also be a barrier to business growth in that if one has to own a significant chunk of land before being able to open a store, well ... it's just like turning people away for what seems like no reason at all!

In any event, I'd like to get involved. I'd also maybe like to enter the kiosk contest, but despite the description I'm not sure what the TA is looking for. Could someone maybe point at a similar kiosk somewhere else for comparison? Or maybe post what general size, such a kiosk would be?

[Rose Springvale]

Solomon,
The whole kiosk, event sign, merchant poster, link to website, etc etc, issue has been an ongoing project for several terms now, the most recent iteration the CDS kiosks that Brian Livingston made. Those are designed to take notecards and link to the portal, and some of them are actually set to be modified by the group. I know i was able to put event notes and land lists in, i think, the ones in NFS and CN.

My point is not to discourage this group.. it is great to see some action here, but only to let you know that a lot of people have had very strong opinions on this issue. I'm told all the time that we have to have our history available and that is one of the reasons we have the portal... so maybe a review of the meetings so many of us participated in would help too. I think you can find the transcripts in the new guild threads.

let me know if you want/need help.

[Rose Springvale]

Sylvia,

At the end of the term there were two fachwerk houses available in NFS, both i think on Ursalaweg, near the school. Neither had many prims available, one only 2 aside from the house as i recall, though i think there may be some prim land available. Here is the link to the master parcel list, which shows pricing and tier: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key= ... 5SoA3QNDOg. CDS policy right now is that all land sells at the list price.

There is at least a parcel or two available in each of the original CDS sims i think. The chancellor is in charge of land transfers, so perhaps you can check with Sonja if you find one you like. Generally, if a parcel is owned by Rudeen, it can be purchased.

As for kiosks and carts, NFS is severely limited on prims, so we have in the past only offered those as seasonal benefits for residents, usually limited to 10 prims and offered first come first served through oktoberfest and recently, the Christmas market. By the time we take them down, we've always had complaints about the clutter on the platz. It's all a balancing act.

Another issue is that CDS doesn't officially allow rentals. These are all issues that may make the agenda of the Representative Assembly.

[Sylvia]

Ah, that's a shame.

I'm not really sure what the point of starting the Trading Association up again is then. It seems like the barriers to anyone selling themed products for our communities are very, very high indeed!

I know something of the history of the CDS so I understand the reasoning behind some of those decisions and I know how long it takes to make any changes to policy in CDS, but it seems like the net effect of this is that there is:

- (practically speaking) no new commercial space available in Neufreistadt (even for residents)
- no ability for anyone from outside the community to do business here at all.
- (ironically) empty "stores" all over the city.

I'm trying to stay positive, but isn't this almost the worst combination of effects possible for making a successful business? It turns away potential (successful) outside businesses and groups, and severely limits even what residents can do in terms of selling their wares. It also requires a huge initial investment (including citizenship and parcel ownership), to even get started. The empty buildings (some even on the Platz), then make the whole area look like a ghost-town or a bad place to shop.

In any case, I'm still actively interested in being a part of the TA or contributing or whatever and would like to be included in any meetings etc. that go on.

[Rose Springvale]

I agree! i'd love to see CDS become more commercial friendly. At one point i ran a whole "department store"... The Emporium Romani in CN, but because we had to get around the no rental issue, we only were allowed to host vendors there that split profits. Even though we had some of the top vendors in SL, the reality was that people tended to click through to the "main stores," and thus we could never even cover tier from vendors, let alone the cost of entertainment or events there.

I wasn't around when the decision was made not to rent shops, but i am aware that some cling to the idea that not renting insures that we don't have "non resident landlords." But as you've correctly observed, what we have instead are non resident land owners. Three reasons for this: 1) Some people just buy land for the citizenship ... this leaves NFS with its very low tier completely vulnerable, and why there are so many empty shops... 2)coupled with the dearth of prims! Even with the one allowed prim lot, only the very clever can have the structure and the contents do much with around 60 prims. Then there is 3) the parcels that have been owned by the same people for a very long time, who have really moved on to other projects but keep a hand in CDS out of sentimentality, interest or friendship. We almost never see these people in world, or at events.

Allowing rental isn't the only answer to this i'm afraid, as we see each time we put up our market stands, and as most recently shown through the To Limani experiment, which we have to conclude was terminated due to financial reasons. The reality is that successful sims have successful commercial areas because they have a) space b) quality goods and c) events (including just observation of beautiful builds) that bring in traffic so that the SL world is aware of the products. Directories wont' help if there is no traffic. There won't be traffic without events,preferably that relate to or support the theme and the traffic produced won't matter if there is no place open for shops to locate. Shops can't locate if all the inexpensive commercial space is taken up by "citizens."

That said, CDS has never been presented as just a sim project... by definition our project is democracy, not community building, not commercial center. (See the recent debates on the sale of land for much of this opinion) The conclusions i draw are that this is what the historical majority of CDS wants.

[Sylvia]

Thanks for the background Rose, business in the CDS is indeed a tangled web.

It seems to me that at least part of the problem is that our communities don't really function as such. Specifically, while the individual communities or cities act as political entities, they don't act well as fiscal entities, or social entities.

The rental carts for instance are a well recognised, useful and quite popular solution in many other SL communities. The obvious solution for the financial problems is that they should be a resource provided by the community (for purposes of maintaining the vibrance of said community), and just a part of the city budget. 100 prims divided into 10 carts would be more than sufficient and in the general scheme of things a worthy "spending" of the sims overall resources considering the possible benefit. The city or sim could take a cut of sales as is customary but not necessarily view it as a profit situation or necessarily making all it's money back.

The other obvious RL solution to some of these problems (and another way in which we do not operate like a RL community or city), is zoning and city planning. If a body, such as the Guild, had planning and zoning control, many of the problems could be worked around without having to send every decision up the chain to the RA. Many of the arguments that occupy us for weeks and months could be much more quickly and practically decided by a group that is empowered to do things like move stores around, and make decisions about prim allocation etc.

We are "about" government it seems, as you point out, but our government is very flat. It seems like even tiny descisions must be sent to the RA. This kind of like the city of Denver having to argue before the US Congress to get permission to pave a road, and then follow it up with a hearing before the Supreme Court because someone in a small town in Deleware disagrees with the funding proposal on a technicality.

These descisions also can take a longer time than the whole lifetime of an SL business or even the "lifetime" of an avatar.

My understanding is that the CDS Is about "Virtual World Democracy." It seems like a large part of that project should be concerned with the adjustments that need to be made in order for Democracy to work in a virtual world. Maybe voting on every single thing by the whole community is one of those things that needs to be changed.

To end with a positive suggestion... Another way to tackle the poor business environment is for the individual communities of the CDS to open a "company store" of sorts. Imagine if one side of the Platz were one large store with vendors for members of the TA or the Guild. Many more businesses could be accomodated, with far fewer prims and in much less space. The city would make money off the sales and to the degree that a vibrant business "zone" is created, the tier of the residential areas could go down. Just like in RL.

[Rose Springvale]

Many good points Sylvia. Only one reply,from me (maybe others will have thoughts ) and that is that i think the Chancellor's office has the power to do what you are suggesting. The Guild, as an NGO, doesn't really have any authority over anything but its own projects.

[Sylvia]

Right. Thanks again Rose. I forgot the government structure was changed and that the guild didn't have the power anymore.

[Sonja Strom]

As Solomon referred to in his post at the beginning of this thread, these conversations came up in the last Town Hall meeting, which was held in Al Andalus. I am happy to see commercial activity in the CDS receiving support, and I am also supporting these efforts. Hopefully our shop owners and others interested will all take part and help to make this an enjoyable and successful community project.

[Arria Perreault]

I think it is a really good initiative. I have joined the group of Traders' Association, but I was not able to attend the first meeting.
If the Traders' Association needs anything from the RA, I'll happy to add a point to the agenda of an RA meeting.

I would also suggest that we add a list of all businesses in the portal, besides the kiosk.