Me hanging out with Hamlet Au of New World Notes, March 2007
For more than a year, I have had the pleasure of working with Hamlet Au of New World Notes to write a weekly "Event Picks" listing for the venerable Second Life news site. As Hamlet just announced today, I will be stepping down to make way for new events goddess, Ms. Charlanna Beresford!
It’s been a great experience covering the weekly happenings in the metaverse. I’ve met so many great people, learned about so many cool sub-cultures and locales in SL, and hopefully helped bring greater traffic to some worthy events over the course of the year.
Why am I stepping down? Mostly because of my ridiculous schedule. My work at Global Kids, helping run the swing dance website Yehoodi.com, dancing both hip-hop and lindy hop, and other commitments, have decreased the amount of time I have to compile, edit and collect images for my event picks. I’d rather step down while I still am maintaining a decent level of quality to my postings than wait till they start to suffer from my schedule overload. And I think it’s always a good idea to let new blood in to bring fresh energy to what was becoming somewhat routine for me.
I’m confident that Charlanna is going to do a bang-up job as the new event picker. She clearly has her heart in the right place — focusing on worthwhile happenings that deserve greater attention and attendance. I’m looking forward to checking out the events that she profiles every week!
It’s always inspiring to see someone pass the torch with such grace and thoughtfulness, Rik. Your commitment to quality even while juggling so many passions really shows—definitely a lesson in knowing when to make space for fresh energy. Wishing Charlanna all the best as she brings her own vision to the events picks!
Great post, Rik — it’s inspiring to see how you’ve curated such meaningful events in Second Life while balancing so many creative projects. I’m sure Charlanna will bring a fresh and thoughtful perspective to the role, especially with your focus on quality and community in mind. Best of luck with your next adventures — and if you ever explore visual storytelling tools like an AI Image to Video Generator, I bet your event highlights would look amazing in motion too!
Thanks for passing the torch so gracefully, Rik — your Event Picks were always a highlight for me, especially how you spotlighted niche subcultures in SL. Best of luck to Charlanna; I’m sure she’ll bring fresh energy, much like how a thoughtful cat names generator can spark new creative ideas for pet owners.