Today it's a full moon, and a lunar eclipse, too. You know where the word "lunacy" comes from, right? On this night where wolves howl desperately, and maniacs locked away in mental institutions start to get frenzy, I just came up with a completely insane, lunatic idea!
But who knows, perhaps some of you might enjoy discussing it?
In the olden days of the CDS, when I was young and reckless, instead of sedate and lethargic, I was an 'aggressive expansionist'. My goal was to get at the very least one new region per year (meaning that we would be at least twice the size as we are today, and probably bankrupt ), and that was just with Government-sponsored funding; I was hoping that private development (like we had with the Monastery back then!) would an additional region on top of that! This would mean that by now we would be about the size of Caledon. Woot! My insanity had no limits...
Now I consider myself wiser, but not much wiser. In fact, while sleeping over the subject, I thought: 'What earth-shattering event could we host for the 10th Anniversary?' After all, it's such an extraordinary occasion! We should open up our purses and invest in this one-of-a-kind event!
And then it hit me: we ought to do what LL (and others) do to celebrate our anniversary: create a 'Democracy Fair'. Get a whole region with some outstanding buildings, a stage area for events, booths with commemorative souvenirs, a 'History Area' showing things from our past (like we had on the SL10B booth). Think big!
So, how much would that us set back? Buying a whole new region and setting aside some 3 months of rent (one for building, two for showing off). That would set us back half a million Linden dollars. But what would we get in return?
A central area, perhaps half the size of the region, for the 'Government' exhibit. There would be a public contest to offer designs, and the citizens would select the most crazy idea. We would be free of the constraints of themes — I always wanted to have a 'Galactic Capital' futuristic theme (aye, it once used to be part of the Masterplan), but of course that would just be one of many possible ideas. Surreal, futuristic, historical — any theme would be acceptable, any theme would be voted upon. There would be, obviously, a set of requirements:
A big stage area, to host events. Most would be music, but I also expect some discussion/presentations. Maybe we could persuade VS to host one or two sessions on the 'Democracy Fair'
Some kind of meeting place for the RA (and eventually Exec and SC as well). For the benefit of visitors, we would host the regular meetings on the Fair region. I imagine cool panels, indicating who is next in turn to speak, and green/red lights in front of each RA member to show how they voted. These would be 'experiments in democracy tools' — crazy ideas which we would never implement — but the RA sessions would be 'real'.
A 'museum' area, with a guided tour 'bot (like the Owl), explaining people about the 10 years of history of the CDS.
Some kind of area where there would be creative art (interactive, pictures, etc.) from citizens, showing their feelings about the CDS and the anniversary (this could be tied with the gardens and other more decorative spaces)
A 'recruitment' area... this would be staffed by CDS volunteers to explain how people can join. It could have a military look. Or something silly and crazy like that. But the provided information would be real! 'Join the CDS NOW! The CDS needs YOU! Your vote counts!' (wait, scratch the last one, that was used on my campaign hehe)
An exhibition area. You'll see what is going to be exhibited there (see below)
Public gardens, chill-out zones, hidden areas for people to find (like we have in NFS and CN). This could also host the above-mentioned art exhibit. But it could also host a picture contest with prizes! (see below)
Then we would have 'Citizen Booths'. I made some calculations, and, even accounting for public roads and the like, I think that we could offer something like 200 sq. m. for every citizen to place whatever they wished — shops, information, whatever. I can also imagine that people would be allowed to join parcels together and thus build a larger booth — imagine that the AM crowd gets together and creates something evocative of their lovely region. There would be a ballot system of some sort to assign parcels for each member, and some way for them to announce that they will join parcels and thus face the ballot together.
I would not be against having 'external' booths. For instance, VS certainly deserves one. But I would be fine with selling/renting booths to non-citizens who believe there would be enough traffic to warrant some sales. This, obviously, after discussing what's acceptable and what is not (note that CDS merchants and content creators would be allowed so promote and sell their wares on their own Citizen Booths).
I mentioned the picture contest because... I would like to allow everybody in SL to participate by voting. So, there would be a place where people would drop their pictures, they would be on display, and anyone could vote. This could happen over the whole two months, i.e. one voting per week. More creative people than me might suggest other ideas — thematic displays, showing off one's avatars, a building contest, whatever — that get people to participate and, most important, let them vote. The prizes? Maybe offering a discount on future parcels. Or, well, they could really earn some L$ (since this requires some skill, it's not seen as 'gambling' by LL, but merely a 'skill game with prizes'). Or vouchers to shop with the CDS merchants. We'd need to budget for this.
Obviously this would also mean registering ourselves as making part of the official Linden Winter Holiday Celebrations. We would also desperately try to invite former CDSers and let them have a 'round table of founders' — where they talk about their memories of the early days of the CDS. Some, of course, will be impossible to reach. We should also have a small spot with a memorial to Kendra. And I'd certainly love to invite Haney Linden and possibly Robin Linden too. Haney is possibly reachable through Robin; I can imagine they keep in touch. And sure, we might invite Philip Rosedale (if he's not too busy!) and some current-generation Lindens as well. I mean, Ebbe Altberg is supposed to be all for community. The worst they can say is 'no, thank you'.
Soooo.... how would this be funded?
Obviously we shouldn't simply ruin our budget and empty the bank account — Sudane would get a fatal heart attack (if she managed to read up to this point and hasn't collapsed yet!). My proposal is to get a variant of the bonds system we had to raise money for Colonia Nova, and, I think, Alpine Meadows. Naturally enough, if you haven't yet figured it out, this is a devious plan of mine to get us another region I definitely don't want to return the region to Linden Lab afterwards (unless there really isn't another option!). Although banking is disallowed these days, and so we cannot offer bonds at an interest, we certainly can pool money together from citizens and use it to buy the region and pay the first months of tier. What will citizens get in return? Free land on the region, once the Democracy Fair is over. Or a substantial discount (if citizens, after all, want bigger parcels, costing more than what they have already 'donated' towards Democracy Fair — they'd pay the difference).
You might have noticed that something is missing...! Oh yes: we obviously need a plan for the post-Fair building! And what could be better than a huge Democracy Fair where not only citizens, but all visitors, could appreciate the proposals (we would have a special area saying 'This is what this region might look like after the Fair is over!'), the planning, the in-world discussions... and probably get encouraged to 'invest' in a future parcel as well. This is the purpose of the 'exhibition area'.
(I'm not stuck with the 'Democracy Fair' name; it's just that 'CDS Fair' does not mean anything to most of the grid; we need some kind of catching name, which has some connection to us. Democracy Celebration Grounds; Freedom Fair... whatever! To be discussed!)
Crazy? Insane? Lunacy? Oh YES!
But... let's do it nevertheless; let's wow the Metaverse!
(Siren sounds. A white van stops after some squeals and the smell of smoke. Four tough guys in white coveralls exit the van, quickly approach Gwyn, and forcefully drag her towards the waiting vehicle. Kicking, screaming, and drooling, her eyes spinning wildly in their sockets, she howls: 'But it would be soooo fuuuuuuun....' The van door closes. The siren gets turned on again. More wheels squealing, the van disappears in the night at a fast speed, destination unknown.
It is full Moon. The round lunar orb, today, is bloody. Scientists say it's because of the eclipse. But is it really?...
HooooooOWWWWWWWLLLLLLL....)