What's In A Name? Defining What To Call SLB Events.

By Bixyl Shuftan

Overall, the Newser coverage of the Second Life Birthday has been very positive. Though one reader messaged me about one small detail. "Why call the Cake Explosion an 'unofficial event' when it's in the schedule?"

Well, it was, and it wasn't.

Strictly speaking, on the timeline page of the SLB website, it just says:

Sunday, June 17 to Sunday, June 24: SL15B open with performances!!
Saturday, June 23: Official 15th Birthday!!!
Monday, June 25 to Sunday, July 1: Regions will remain open for viewing. No performances.

Well, obviously there were performances on these days, especially the Cake Explosion and other events that day. They were simply not mentioned in the timeline or stage schedules. So yours truly made the decision to describe them as "unofficial events." The reader in question wasn't so sure that was the right term, feeling the wording I used made them sound unimportant.

It wasn't my intention to trivialize these performances. Especially the Cake Explosion, which itself has become a tradition that many look forward to. I certainly do. But when the official schedule says the last events occurred days before, well, what's to do? To add to confusion, the official webpage only mentioned the Cake Explosion after it happened in an announcement.

Perhaps there's a better wording I could have used when the official schedule says there's eight days of events and seven days when there aren't. If so, I haven't found it. But in any case, the Cake Explosion was a fun and loved happening that it and the other events after the "The Birthday" was supposed to end demonstrate that after fifteen years, the enthusiasm for the Second Life Birthdays remain high. And that we can all agree on.

Bixyl Shuftan