Creative IT® Videos, The Brainchild of Pamila Tiponi.

Written by Margaux Dufaux

When Pamila Tiponi first came to Second Life™ (SL) almost 3 years ago she wanted to see what this interesting virtual world was about. She came on to explore and in short time met a friend that provided her with her first lindens and helped her learn her way around. Before long she was employed as a hostess and through her work there she met many wonderful new people, landing her a job playing in a band, and eventually getting into modeling. It was while training to be model she started to experiment with making videos, which is also a real life interest for her.

When she decided to make her first video, she asked her friend Spirited Emor if she could record a music video for him  and she asked friends to join in. (see that video below).

"Spirited Emor- Stand By Me"

Pamila, a recent college graduate, continued to explore SL, making videos applying her real life skills to improve.  While working as a manager for a music business  she filmed her first wedding video. Wedding videos are the bulk of the business now and for Pamila the most enjoyable part of her work " I love to make Customers happy, to give them the best moment in their SL life captured by us".

This video  "Yannick & Curvey" is one of her wedding videos.




As more and more people started to become aware of her work approaching her to record for them she decided then it was time to learn how to establish and promote her own business.

Creative IT® Videos Production was born, to date they have produced 85 videos (35 of them being wedding videos).

Logo of Creative IT Videos production

 

One of her favorite and most successful projects was the sexy belly dance video she did, for a client:
See it below:




This video has had over 6500 views from all over the world and was named one of the best Second Life™ videos of 2012 by Momac.
It was one of the best of Momac Videos of August 2012. Be sure to check out the Creative IT Youtube™ channel https://www.youtube.com/user/MissArubiana so that you can see their full body of work ranging from performance pieces, to weddings, to promo videos. 

In addition to videos with Creative IT, Pamila also offers modeling, clothing design https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/86738 and wedding consultation services. Many of her past clients like Rose/ rfb morpork of Paris Metro™, and lovelyrans of Love Dreamers™ are now part of the network she utilizes to help provide her clients with full service experience. In addition to video services providing help with anything you need for that special day, from advice on finding that perfect gown to arranging the reception of your dreams. Attending to all needs of the client is what she credits with their success. They all recently teamed up under Creative IT to sponsor a contest to find the perfect bride and groom. See details here https://www.facebook.com/pages/Creative-IT-Videos/299160863484322?ref=stream&hc_location=timeline

Pamila plans to continue making videos and sharing in some the most special moments of people. Her greatest satisfaction comes in knowing she was able to capture the quiet beauty and tender emotion of those precious moments, for her clients to enjoy for years to come. See for yourself what her customers have to say https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Creative-IT-WEDDING-VIDEO-S/4587280. As for the future she is exploring SL to real life possibilities for growing a successful business doing what she loves using skills gained on both sides of the grid.

The Creative IT team also do Live events for customers and fans one of them are Weddings contest here is an example of  a Second Life wedding contest of Creative IT:



If you want to participate in their videos as actor or want to participate in their contest feel free to contact Pamila Tiponi in Second Life.

GraffitiWear™ Is Fashion By Designer, Chalice Piers.

Written by Fuzzball

GraffitiWear, founded & owned by its designer Chalice Piers-Soulstar (Soulstar is her partner's last name) is a shop that, upon first glance, seems to be just another clothing store in Second Life™ virtual world, but after a look around, it's much more than that. It's a store for both men and women, who are looking for clothes, at a reasonable price.

GraffitiWear Gowns for L$ 225 each in 4 assorted colors (shown above are the red and purple ones)

               The dresses found here, are not only creations of the store owner, but are also better looking than others, and cheaper than far more. In Second Life (SL) a single dress, of this caliber, can go for about L$ 500 to L$ 1000. At GraffitiWear, they are sold for the mere price of L$ 225, each. Dresses aren't the only item sold here, for a cheap price, skirts also made by the store's owner, are sold for as low as L$ 25, each, and look a lot better than most, that are sold for four times as much.

Velour Skirts @ L$ 25L each

                What store is complete without a few games? There are two Gatcha machines here, as well as an Unlucky Dip. Gatcha machines have become a sort of necessity in an SL store. However not many people have probably heard of the Unlucky Dip. It's a game that has basically the same principals of Bobbing for Apples, but instead of apples, you're bobbing for prizes.

Currently their best selling item, the Lace Tees @ L$ 50 each

                The design of this place is just as top notch as its merchandise. With the bottom floor filled with woman's wear such as the Lace Tees the best selling items currently selling for L$ 50 each, and the top floor with men's wear and accessories, one might think of a bunch of boxes just stacked everywhere, but once you see how the design of the store works well with the placement of the products, you will realize there are no boxes here.

                Of course, most stores have boxes, though this store has the bottoms hanging on hangers. Even a lot of the tops are on hangers. This store is truly one that had the goal of looking realistic, and not only reaching that goal, but perfectly, and flawlessly, exceeding the goal.

                The lady's section is split in three parts, with the new products in the middle. To the north is the single piece items, as in the shirts, the pants, the skirts etc. To the south is where the ladies outfits are sold, giving it a more organized look. The men's and accessories section is split in half. The men's wear is to the north, and the accessories is to the south. Fat-packs (an item packaged in a bundle of sorted colors) are sold with the items that are in the fat-packs..

GraffitiWear men's wear Hawaiian shirts @ L$ 95 each

                Don't be discouraged if you don't have enough linden for something, because they have a mini mania board, as well as a lucky letter board, too. So the store is nicer than a lot of other stores that only want your linden. This store actually wants you to have clothes, that's why their prices are cheaper than most.

                A place of amazing clothes at cheap prices, and fun almost addicting games, and an amazing design, make this store one of the best in SL. It is definitely worth a visit.

Below are GraffitiWear new releases which include Jewelry sets and Pleated Skirt & Top sets.
To see more of the designs online, please visit Chalice's Flickr™ account http://www.flickr.com/photos/chalicepiers/
Thank you for reading my review of GraffitiWear, my avatar name in SL is Fuzzball! (theonlyjohnny) reporting for OI Magazine SL.

These new released jewelry sets are sold at L$ 95 a piece sold in assorted colors each

The Pleated Skirt and Top Set are also new releases that are L$ 150 per set

Asia, Isn't It Wonderful?A Review of Second Life® 's Virtual Asia

Built in less than two weeks, Virtual Asia® had just kicked off officially earlier today,August 25th with a huge Tokyo fashion show produced by ProFashion Productions though it has been open to the public for quite a while now.

Video of the Virtual Asia Fashion show (provided by Roe Woodford):




Virtual Asia,Owned by Javabox Kawanishi, is a commercial sim with a Tokyo-styled theme. The streets are lined with popular SL® stores handpicked by the Virtual Asia staff. Java says, "We are very selective with the designers that we bring to the city. One of the conditions of being a designer in the city is to be part of our monthly meetings where we discuss business trends, sales and marketing. There are wonderful great designers here. The reason they are here is because our designers strive to collaborate."



Pro Shot of Javabox Kawanishi by OI Magazine Photographer Angeli Optera

Mr Kawanishi remarked that when he had been searching for new ideas and opportunities for his real life company, Virtual Adventures, he came across Second Life as he was conducting research for a client in RL regarding a 3D shopping center. He remarked that although it wasn't the first time he had heard about the game, having seen it before on a Dutch television, he got a little more than curious especially when he saw that he can fly and build in-world. Deciding to try it out was only the first step in the launching and organizing of Virtual Asia.

When asked how do they attract customers and traffic to the sim, Mr Kawanishi had this for an answer, "Our focus is not to attract customers, but rather is to interact with the community by offering something of value. Value is given by things like free apartments, a movie cinema, several cafes/lounges, a nightclub and some great photo opportunities that we offer. We also have many creative events that keep the community active. By serving the community well, our residents will bring others to the city. "

They normally don't get troublemakers at the sim as the residents there are generally peaceful, but the biggest setback they have encountered at the moment is the prim count limit and the limit on the number of avatars they can have on the sim. Though handling any businesses is hard, he says that, "Such as in real life, you have to have a business plan and a clear focus on a vision. If you do not have that, then everything you set up is doomed to fail. It is also critical to never give up". He also stresses out the fact that as an entrepreneur, you have to be always open to new ideas and knowledge. You should always maintain open channels to fellow entrepreneurs so that there's exchange of information you can use later on for your business. Listening to the community and customers is always a must too. Figure out what they want and what's the current trend.

Handling a business can often be tiring and disheartening, but according to Mr Kawanishi, "I strongly believe in the vision that I have in my mind. I accept that failing comes with building a successful company. I have made several attempts previously. I will continue trying until I succeed with the vision behind Virtual Asia."

Visit Virtual Asia now or you can check out their site for more information about the sim and it's projects. Currently, they have ongoing events such as The Face of Virtual Asia contest, music events in Club Chica Boom, jazz events in Zo Restaurant, and street parties. A lot more are in the works as they are always looking for new ways to set up creative events.

VIRTUAL ASIA SLURL:http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/MaxStudio/208/150/4000

VIRTUAL ASIA BLOG: http://virtualasiasecondlife.blogspot.com/

Promo Commercial for Virtual Asia on Youtube:  

Pictures of Virtual Asia:

virtual asia picture 1

virtual asia picture 2

virtual asia pic 3

My name is Luc Fray, thank you for reading my review of Virtual Asia and like to thank its creator Mr Javabox Kawanishi for his time to meet with me, feel free to comment as always!

Introducing Yves Firlan, Fashion Blogger & Editor

By Mikayla Nightfire

Dedicated blogger, fashion guru for men, style in its very definition. These are all things that describe the man known as Yves Firlan. His tale is inspirational, motivational, and humbling. It is that of a man who puts his passions to work and eventually accomplished a dream successfully. If you were to type the words “Men Freebies SL” into Google, the first two blogs that will appear both belong to Yves. Although he is from Germany and I am from the Middle of the US, we eventually met up and were able to conduct an interview within Second Life®, where I was inspired, awed and entertained by the courteous, laid-back individual at my Holodeck.

Yves’s initial goal with his blog was to showcase the amazing freebies available to men in SL™ and share the information on where to find them with the rest of the community. Readership grew at a steady rate from month to month, fueled primarily by mouth-to-mouth propaganda. As much as he wanted to see the blog continuously gain popularity, Yves had to realize that there are only so many clicks one can achieve as a single writer. He then began setting himself new goals such as finding co-bloggers, people who were interested in fashion and freebies, that shared his vision and were prepared to blog on a regular basis. This way he could concentrate on also blogging pay items, something he turned to full-time when designers began to release mesh clothes on a bigger scale. Nowadays he leaves most of the freebie blogging to his newly found co-bloggers.

Pro Headshot of Mr Yves Firlan by OI Magazine photographer Angeli Optera

Obviously, a lot of the reward in blogging has to do with ranking, but for him it became more than just numbers. When asked about how long he’s willing to pursue this “love” the man says “It’s just something that I’m going to do as long as its fun to do and people appreciate our work." Since he first began his blogging, he has been recognized by followers and has even achieved the occasional high Alexa ranking, but rankings vary from month to month and, “if you let yourself be motivated/demotivated only by the change of a number, you won't last long in this business”, he declared.

Yves' journey started at Wordpress™, where he tried to give each look that he had created a story that added a funny twist to his choices. Unfortunately he had to leave this site after 13 months because Wordpress wouldn't allow advertising. Putting designer/sponsor logos on a blog is common practice among bloggers though and one way to promote the people that provide them with review copies. Btw: You can still access this old account though (and I’ve provided a link at the end of the article).

Now posting at Google™ Blogger, Yves still encountered the occasional setback like having to rebuild readership to the levels seen on the old site. But although his journey has had many ups and downs, I would call Yves’s blogs a breathing success. Once at his page, the man’s unique styles and diversity are brought to life, depicting the many different lives we live as Second Lifers, be it for free, for little money or actually spending big bucks on designer couture for men. 

Even though the number of male fashion stores increased a lot during the past years, it is still unlikely to just stumble upon a high quality freebies. If you’re after free mesh items, then you chances are even more slim. Yves and his colleagues have found the way for the fashionable man to find quality freebies and other fashion items, whether you are a fan of mesh or not.

In his business, Yves has seen many good blogs come and go. As the years have gone by, his blogs have evolved into a piece of him that is extending as arms of help for those who need it. Although new SL blogs are popping up everywhere, he has the hope of passing his blog eventually to a new generation of bloggers, keeping it well alive and in tact so that the generation to come may follow suit. He has currently been giving people the freedom of creativity, sitting back to edit every once in a while and building them up in their ideas as they go along.

When asked about what advice he would pass along to the next set of bloggers, he said “If I can inspire people into trying it out and having fun with it, that's all they need for starters." Yves has marked the way for hundreds to come, whether its helping them achieve their look for less or find their inner voices.

The new “Mix 'n' MESH” Blog: http://mix-and-mesh.blogspot.de/



The “Fashion + Freebies For Men” Blog: http://ffform.blogspot.de/



One of Yves’s Favorite Blogs: http://slipsters.wordpress.com/



Thank you for reading my article about Mr Yves Firlan, my name is Mikayla Nightfire, feel free to comment ^^