Second Life 16th Birthday Celebration Events (SLB16) Review Pt. 1

Today sees the kick off of the annual Second Life Birthday event. I haven't been for a couple of years so was looking forward to going once again. What I'm also eager to see is the new Linden homes theme reveal!


Every year the folks at Second Life create an event celebrating the birthday of Second Life, creating a sim dedicated to exhibitions, music faire, gift hunt, and this shopping events. I've loved it when I've been previously, as the creativity of those exhibiting never disappoints. The event usually lasts a few weeks, and this years event, the 16th birthday of Second Life, has the theme of Sweet Sixteen (50's theme).  A calendar of events is always posted on the Second Life website, and related events in the Destination Guide:

SL16B Calendar of Events
SL16B Destination Guide
SL16B Music Faire 

You can see just how big the event is from the map:

Of additional interest this year is a series of 'Meet the Lindens' where lead employees of Linden Lab will be giving talks and interviews (23-27th June) at the SL16B Auditorium . With the recent introduction of the new Linden Homes,  Premium increase and hints of more things to come I expect there will be some interesting conversations. If you can't make the interviews there will probably be recordings posted online somewhere (I'll post some links when I find them).

So today I tried to have a little preliminary look around. A great way to get a look at what's going on is to take one of the SL16B Pod tours. Just jump on at the main pod station  to be taken of a tour of the event. Unfortunately today I couldn't find how to get the pod that tours the whole event instead of just the region, so will have to try that another day:( . Usually pods are great though.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SL16B%20Magnificent/34/233/23

You could also start at the Welcome area, however it gets very laggy here, but you can get a free 50's themed avatar if you want to totally blend into the theme and grab a Swaginator HUD too to play the gift hunt at the event.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SL16B%20Impressive/120/4/24 

 Another place to stop at is the free gift area! (Well free is always good right?). I haven't collected any myself yet so can't vouch for how good they are but you can find the area here
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SL16B%20Exhilarate/55/29/28

 
I did get to explore the new Linden home theme which was revealed. They are trailers, an interesting choice of home! The area was beautifully put together making for a really nice environment, so I imagine they will be popular when released. I've covered this more in a separate blog post here.

That's all I could manage today due to time and SL lag, but I'll have more coming in part 2 soon!