[awards] inevitable post-mortem

Awards about to begin - people taking up position. Tom Paine at the awards table, yours truly near the podium, Welshcakes in the foreground and Chipendale in the background coming to grips with himself

Higham's take on the scenario

Picture a large cyber-city community in which Tom Paine has steadily bought up property ["the money's real, the reality's not", as one American told me yesterday].

A group of bloggers called Blogpower, who began as an angry response to glitzy closed awards competitions, together with their friends and colleagues and others who dropped by, having an awards ceremony of their own.

The Second Life programme as the engine, which required us to "build" and edit our own bodies, down to cheek bone position and "love handles", floating around, Matrix like, in a new reality which looked awfully like the real world and yet was a painted backdrop, a canvas which was lost when one stepped too far over the edge [a la Twilight Zone].

IM, Chat, Teleporting and the arrows keys on the keyboard the main means of communicating and getting around.

LtoR: Free Jersey, Ordovicius Kidd, Yours truly [foreground], Devil's Kitchen [typing at the bar], Delicolor and the resplendent Mutley the Dog

What happened

As it turned out, the Ceremony itself was swept up in a flood of visits over many days, even weeks, from all colour of guests - much of my blogroll in all categories turning up at one time or another but fewer at the actual ceremony at the actual time and we need to possibly think of a new way to present these things.

My own speech lost in a technical nightmare where the slow dial-up connection meant my body was still building and the Awards Deck had not painted itself at the moment I was required to "speak".

This gave the appearance of being "tongue-tied" when I was actually furiously typing in the speech. By the time it was delivered, the ceremony had already moved on. I noticed Chipendale shooting past a few times too, as he tried to master his locomotion.

Assessment

Hugely successful for reasons other than the actual Awards, which were just one part of the weekend. Tom Paine's meticulous cyber-organizing which had everything dovetailed to beam people to this location or that had everyone dancing, drinking, eating, visiting shops and swimming at the pool and it became like a giant fiesta.

The bringing together in a Chat situation of bloggers from everywhere - Jon Swift, Devil's Kitchen, the Englishman, JMB from Vancouver, Jocko from South Australia and the estimated 40 others - their avatars standing at ease besides one another at the bar, chatting about anything under the sun - this was the real plus of the affair. Not possible in a blog or e-mail situation.

Late into the night, we were still shooting the breeze at the bar - you can just see DK typing something in ...

Highlights

The way Blogpower and so many from outside were there for the beano. Bag was there busily teleporting people and serving them with conscious altering drinks, Jocko was the life of the party, yours truly played the aging satyr with large biceps and a penchant for taking his clothes off and falling through floors, Welshcakes, Ruthie and the other ladies were Hot to Trot, Tom was the suave, tuxedo-bedecked ubiquitous host, aided by a team of cyber-experts and security men and women and a fun atmosphere pervaded.

Regrets

Those very close to us who didn't visit. Very sad.

Do it again?

You bet! Please put your hands together now, Ladies and Gentlemen, in a warm show of appreciation for Tom and all his efforts and hope he'll have us again.