Bulk Upload: Too many metaphors for a good title

May 26, 2006

Too many metaphors for a good title

Knock Knock.

Who's there?

Buhbuhcuh Fairchild

Buhbuhcuh Fairchild Who?

Buhbuhcuh Fairchild my alt.

Ok, worst way to reveal worst kept secret EVAR, but it needed to be done. Why, so soon after I wrestled with the question of outing myself, and decided not to?

I've been active in Second Life both as a job and as a hobby for some time now. In fact, it is almost exactly 4 years since I was invited to join what was then Lindenworld (oooo foreshadowing). Back then, we had to fax in NDAs and I needed to get broadband, ram, and an operating system that would let me run it, so it took me over a month before I was actually able to log in. As my relationship with SL and Linden Lab has progressed, the gap between lives one and two gradually narrowed.

My professional life, and my personal life were both deeply enmeshed in this virtual world. There are criticisms of this from some in the community, who are understandably afraid of a conflict of interest resulting in my favoring the friends I have made and the communities I am part of. For that reason, I have always tried to be very transparent with my employers, and they have always been satisfied with my behavior.

For the reasons I discussed last time, I have been content living two separate lives. Recently though some of my personal projects in Second Life have made me want to cross things into real life. As some of my readers know, I'm a big fan of machinima in SL - I made some of the earliest examples in SL, and you have seen my little movies here. As Buhbuhcuh, I started a group called Alt-Zoom Studios, which is trying to create a community around machinima in SL. We have been having festivals and classes and generally just trying to nursemaid it into existence.

When I found out that SLCC was coming to San Francisco, I wanted to do a festival screening of the Take5 Festival. I realized that getting a RL venue is a lot more expensive than a real life one, and I did not think it was appropriate to ask Linden to sponsor it - after all, it is a personal project. A few days later, completely independently, Buhbuhcuh was approached by some people who wanted help making machinima for a RL project, and were willing to pay for it.

Now, this is where it gets tricky. I want to help them, it will fund my SLCC ambitions, but I don't want to put myself into a position where I am creating a conflict of interest. I brought it up at the office, talked to 2 VPs, and the thinking is that it is probably OK, as long as I disclose what I am doing, and how much money I am making - basically following our current policy to report currency trades from LindeX trades. Basically, I was told to be transparent about it.

It was also suggested to me that it might be a good idea to be transparent with our community. After all, you guys have as much stake in SL as we do, and are as sensitive to conflicts of interest. This made sense to me, while I don't think it was anyone's business what I do with my personal time, I think that if it has a reasonable potential to impact my professional Second Life, then there is cause to be open.

So Voila, you have it. I am Buhbuhcuh, and I am Ben. I am currently working on one project, and negotiating for a second - they should be sufficient to fund Alt-Zoom's SLCC. However, they are my personal projects, and for that reason beyond disclosure, they are completely the realm of Buhbuhcuh.
I will not be using this blog, or any Linden resources to accomplish or promote my projects. If you think that for any reason, there is a conflict of interest in my behavior, I would ask you to please email Robin (VP over my dept) at [email protected], or Ginsu, (VP and General Legal Counsel) at [email protected] You are also, of course, welcome to come talk to me about it too.

May 26, 2006 in |_|_ | Permalink

Comments

Very brave step Ben. Wish you the best of luck as always.

Glad to hear the Alt-Zoom stuff is going well. Wish I would actualy get off my ass and make some movies. :P

Hope the SLCC stuff works out! Sorry I won't be there to see it.

Posted by: Oz Spade | May 26, 2006 at 10:16 PM

My respect for BenBuhCuh extends back to my first month in SL, where I found BBC's forum postings (whilst researching Nexus Prime) and then OMG HE LEFT A COMMENT ON MY BLOG! And it was like this really wizened elder Resident had come to me to impart words of wisdom.

Somewhere down the line came the "my nemesis is" (if you remember that, Ben, hehe)... and those pieces of the puzzle fit.

So, this really encouraged me to get further involved with SL. The present is as you know it.

I think Ben's having been with SL for so long--and still going strong with fresh projects like Take5--inspires me a lot, and inspires a lot, period. A lot comes and goes, and it takes a special person to be the candle that burns twice as brightly, but doesn't burn half as long. ;p

My personal opinion only about the broader scope:

I do not believe one's personal projects need be so insular: the state of SL moviemaking has been boosted by BenBuhCuh's work, and thus, LL has been boosted with it--heck, those "new features vids" are the product of transferable, applicable skillz! Connect the dots. Being *transparent* about this only makes the watermelon riper, so to speak.

Aye, history was made. Hardware lighting and flexiprims are live. And wrapping it all back in, I look forward to seeing them in many movies to come.

Eventually I'll want to cross some things into this weird "RL" (what I've been calling "OL", for "Offline Life") too.

It's a beautiful day.

Posted by: Torley Linden | May 27, 2006 at 02:05 PM

I highly condone Lindens living in the world (platform) they create and manage. It has obvious benefits such as seeing the world through the eyes of a user and being able to adapt the platform towards something we can all enjoy.

Rock on, Benjamin!

Posted by: Timeless Prototype | May 28, 2006 at 12:17 AM

You're no Anche too are you? - Well, I've had good dealings with both of you Ben and BBC, can't see any problems from my point of view - you 'ol dog you!

Posted by: Robbie D | June 23, 2006 at 03:09 PM