Global Kids' Digital Media Initiative

A Walkthrough of Our Journey:

I was among one of the few teens that got the wonderful privilege to go to Chicago, with Global Kids, from August 24th to August 26th to attend the Second Life Community Convention. It was an exciting experience because I would also get the opportunity to present “A Child’s War,” which was a machinima we made in Global Kids’ Virtual Video Project. The reason this was significant was because we filmed this machinima in Second Life; in addition, this experience was much different from the Service Learning Conference I attended in New Mexico because people actually knew what Second Life was and “Machinima” did not necessarily need much explaining. Overall, the experience was absolutely great, and I feel very fortunate to be among the few that got to go with Global Kids.

On Friday, getting to Chicago itself was an interesting experience. There was some kind of storm, or in general the weather in Chicago was bad, so we were delayed a bit. Thankfully, it was not by much time, and we arrived to Chicago pretty smoothly and in very good time. When we arrived we spent some time checking into the hotel and then practicing for our panel, which was on the next day. Also during panel practice we got to meet some of the teens we knew from Teen Second Life and never got to meet them in real life. We got to meet Ryan (Mercury Metropolitan), Brooke Barmy, Chilko Tardis (who I met for the first time at SLCC) and Malarthi Behemoth. I always worked with Mercury in some way because I had met him the first day I entered TSL and he has always been there with Global Kids helping them. Brooke, I knew because he helped us so much with making all the props for “A Child’s War.” Then we registered for the convention, which took about 35 seconds!

So, before going off to dinner, we got to meet a couple of people—including “Draxtor Despres,” who is the news director from Virtual Worlds Radio Network; he approached us because he had watched “A Child’s War” and wanted to interview us. It was interesting to meet him because he was from Germany, and he had seen our machinima and liked it; the reason meeting him felt so fulfilling was because we produced machinima, like “A Child’s War,” to raise awareness about the issue globally—and seeing someone who had watched it from Europe really made me feel like we actually reached our goal.

So after dinner, we got to go to the Machinima Social, and I got to see Ben/Buhbuhcuh Fairchild (Alt-Zoom Studios) again; it was good to see a familiar face outside of Global Kids, and Ben is really talented and fun (and a very positive thinker, and a calm person). So after Machinima Social, I met Susan Tenby, who is the Senior Online Community Manager of TechSoup. She was interested in working with teens, so it was great meeting her. After that, we went off to the SLCC Meet and Greet. Although we did not RSVP, we got in because we were teens, which was totally awesome and everyone was really nice. I got to meet Moo Money and Claudia Linden; Claudia is really nice and it was great to know that she had seen our work as well. Also, this was the first time I met Blue Linden, and all I can say is that…he REALLY is tall. He seemed like a very nice—and popular—guy, and he seemed very sincere and calm as well. I also met…a number of people, and it’s hard to remember all of their names (but having some of their business cards right beside me helps), amongst them were Kimberly Rufer-Bach and Jonathan Sturges. I had to leave early because I wanted to get at least a good about of sleep because our panel was the next day, also I felt tired easily because Chicago (Illinois) was an hour behind us, so when it was 11 it felt like it was 12. So I went to bed early, and fell asleep almost instantly!

The next day, we had breakfast and then went to listen to Philip Linden (Philip Rosendale) speak. He really is a good speaker, and he seems to firmly believe in Second Life becoming something even greater than the World Wide Web, because it in some way bridges certain digital divides. He explained that a person can try to find out information about a country or their news through the World Wide Web, but then it may require them to be fluent in that language and also very literate. However, when it comes to Second Life, you can meet people from different parts of the world and they will be able to communicate in English. So in that way, it is somewhat like globalization and creating a flat playing field for all people and giving them equal access to the same things.

I thought it was a good point, however, I did find flaws in his ‘theory’ or my perception of his theory anyway. Second Life, although it is an absolutely great tool for learning/teaching/communicating, cannot reach out to everyone. Even people in the United States may have computers that are not compatible with Second Life. Also, in places like third-world countries, people are going to be first concerned about getting their first lives together and stable. Also, Second Life is a privilege that many of us have the opportunity of using; that is why I feel that it is necessary to use it to raise awareness about all the global issues that there are, and all those people who are being exploited—because they are the people who do not have the same privileges that we do, and that is why it is important that the world recognizes the trouble they face. Also, in some way, Second Life can make the digital divide even greater; this is because not everyone can have access to it. Some people do not have the right kind of computer, and others do not even have computers, however they may be able to get internet access. So in that way, it does not exactly exceed the World Wide Web. Nonetheless, it is a good point, and he does make a strong argument.

Afterwards, we got to go see the speech that Connie Yowell made. She is a great speaker and gave a very good speech. Some of it is actually in the video of clips from SLCC that Barry put together. Afterwards, it was time to do some more prepping for the Panel, especially since it was coming up very soon. This time, Chilko, Rafi, and Barry watched us as we practiced. Barry also did a little video of us before we were going to speak on the panel to see how we felt before and after the panel. The video is located here.

Speaking on the panel was somewhat nerve-wrecking, and scary...even though I have spoken at the Service Learning Conference in front of a larger number of people. However, I think it went pretty well. We got some great questions and feedback from people. We also learned that Peggy Sheehy/Maggie Marat (aka Meghan's mom) had shown our work to her kids in her school and it inspired them to do something like that, which is shown at the end of the video Barry put together. That was really a great for us to hear that because we also wanted to inspire others to take some kind of action to raise awareness about the issues that are going on. So, to end the panel like that, was absolutely great. Also, after the panel, Douglas Gayeton from "Millions of Us" approached us and gave us his card and told us about machinima internships with them. So it was really amazing. Also, in addition to that, Angela and I got interviewed by Draxddtor Despres from Virtual Word Radio Network. So it was really an amazing experience.

Later that day, we got to have a dinner party with Blue Linden to celebrate Lucky's birthday! I thought it was a perfect way for her to celebrate her sweet sixteen. We went to dinner with Blue, Laura (who is so wonderful and kind), Chilko, Barry, Malarthi Lucky (of course), Ryan, Brooke Angela, Tabitha, me and of course our surprise guest--Philip Linden. It was an interesting dinner because we really did not expect to have dinner with the CEO of Second Life, but it was really amazing to get to spend that time with someone so important. After dinner, we went back to the hotel and watched a scary movie (The Messengers) just for the fun of it. Afterwards, we went to bed and had a good nights sleep.

The next day was great too! I got the opportunity to meet Alex Struminger; it was great meeting him because he was from United Nations Children's Fund, and I was involved in the contest they had with Global Kids in Teen Second Life and also the CRC Machinima Camp. However, the way I met him was slightly strange because he had presented the World Fit For Children video (which I so ironically happened to be in) during the Social Track, and that is when Tabitha introduced me to him. He seemed very interested in the work that Global Kids was doing and all the things I had been involved in. So it was great to meet him. In some way, after that, it was slightly sad because we had to say goodbye to everyone and leave Chicago to get back to New York. Overall, it was a fun experience and I really hope that more teens get the opportunity to go to the next SLCC with Global Kids and speak on behalf of Global Kids and all the great opportunities that they are giving us teens. I also look forward to continuing to be with Global Kids and using machinima for purposes of raising awareness.