What's that coming over the hill, is it Jack Linden? No it's silence

I can post the full text of Jack's Office hour tonight, without fear of any retribution because here is the official text:

"

"

Yes there you have it, Jack didn't show. One of the most eagerly anticipated office hours of recent weeks and not only does the organiser not show, nobody can be bothered to inform the rampaging mob until the meeting was due to finish anyway.

This is really piss poor customer service. I know people get held up but they knew people were awaiting this meeting due to the current debate and they couldn't even be bothered to get a message to the people attending. If I was writing this on livejournal there would be a "Mood : Pissed Off" icon.

I know people get busy but surely a Linden somewhere could have put a bloody sign up.

Those who did wait around discussed Cockles and Twinkies until Ancient Shriner arrived to start a discussion about advertising, aided and abetted by Gnusense Shepherd, the TAG team tried under difficult conditions to defend their practicies. How Ancient Shriner doesn't know who RN Footman is, is beyond me, but that's a side issue.

If TAG actually had responsible advertising I'd happily use them. I'm not happy with the advertising available within Second Life, I'm always on the lookout for opportunities but utilising TAG now would do far more damage to my product than it's worth, I won't touch them with a bargepole in their current guise. I'm happy advertising with Marston Davids at Club Carnage.

Marketing within Second Life just doesn't seem to have the oomph one would expect and part of this is due to the scourge on the landscape of ad farmers. Advertising is a dirty word. So when TAG say they're working on a solution that means working with parcel owners, I'm hopeful but not optimistic because they've been telling me this for some time.

The key to advertising is working with people, most advertising in Second Life works against people, indeed calling most of it advertising is a misnomer anyway. The ad networks should be working with malls and clubs and networking advertising that way, not this silly microparcel nonsense in the middle of a sim where their neighbours don't want them. This isn't exactly rocket science and yet there's a reluctance to concede control that way and this is an underlying feature of Second Life, not just in advertising.

For example content creators don't go big on distribution channels, they want their store, they want their piece of the pie, but distribution is a viable model, it gives content creators more time to create, and yet, like the advertisers, the content creators want to do it all themselves.

I'm not much different, it's only been this week that I've decided I should be employing more help with my business ventures. I'll be seeking further assistance in the future, it just seems silly for me to be spending so much of my time on matters that someone else can assist with and yet like those I've spoken of above, I'm reluctant to release control, it's my business,

Yet, in the larger scheme of things, the merits of more distribution, better advertising and more employment opportunities are better for the world as a whole. Those factors should encourage growth and see a reduction in ventures like camping, empowering more people to spend and create. Why are we so reluctant to delegate responsibility here? Is it a trust issue? Are we all really scared that people won't carry out their tasks?

In terms of retention newbies want to know how to make money here, but the market is largely self employment, not paid employment.

As for Linden Lab, look guys, if you're having trouble making signs then there are plenty of people who can make signs that catch the eye, even if they are for the wrong reasons, have a word with some of the people who have been blighting the landscape next time you can't make a meeting, that would be putting the ad farmers to good use!