Second Pride - Call for Board Candidates (Updated)

The minutes of the Second Pride annual meeting on July 30, 2017, have been published on the Second Pride website. You will find the minutes in the right hand column.

Left to right, Tootsie Nootan, Viktor Sandman, Jak Calcutt & LLedge Eames
(Marge Beaumont wasn't able to attend) 

A quick summary of the reports from the board members would be that this years Second Pride festival was a huge success, with lots of visitors, wonderful venues and builds, few security issues and loads of donations.

The board thanked everyone and the board members were in turn all lauded by those in attendance for their good work for the community and the organization.

After setting aside funds for tier for the Second Pride sim for the coming year and some petty cash, there will be roughly US$1,000 for the board to donate to charity. The board is considering donations to either The Rainbow Railroad or The Human Rights Campaign Fund.

The biggest surprise was the news that the whole board is stepping down, every single one of them. All the positions will be open for the election of new candidates.

The election timetable is as follows (all dates are of course SLT).

1. August 1 - September 3, 2017 - The Second Pride Festival group is closed for new members until the end of the election.
2. August 7-20, 2017 Call for candidates.
3. August 20-26, 2017 Question & answers period 
4. August 27 - September 2, 2017 Elections

The election committee will be headed by LLedge Eames as the outgoing chair.

---

Those considering submitting their candidacies will find a Board Candidate Submission Form (here).

Please take the time to consider how you - or perhaps a friend - could serve the LGBT+ community in SecondLife and send in your Candidacy.

---
UPDATE 8/13/2017
Lee MacKay, the current webmaster for the Second Pride website, in a comment on Google+, informs me: "It's also very important to note that anyone wishing to participate in the Q&A portion of the election process MUST create an account on the website to do so. The Q&A will take the form of comments beneath each candidate's statement, and a working, verified login is required to post or reply. This applies to the candidates as well, of course. - SP Webmaster"

Thank You, Board & Volunteers of Second Pride 2017

The fountain and the globe

I have just finished reading LLedge Eames closing statement for the 2017 Second Pride Festival. It begins like this (For the complete statement please go to The Second Pride website (url)):

"Thank you for an amazing 2017 Second Pride Festival!

As the sun sets on yet another wildly successful and my last Second Pride Festival season. I’d like to take a moment to say some thank yous. I am so grateful for this years outpouring of participation not to mention I had the pleasure of working with some of the most amazing talents from across the grid.

Our 2016 – 2017 Second Pride Board. Jak Calcutt with his outstanding builds and designs, creating a feast for our eyes, Marge Beaumont for her behind the scenes accounting, Tootsie Nootan and her security team (Levi & Kit) keeping us all safe, and Viktor Sandman for all his patience scheduling and wrangling our performers. To our volunteers. Kahvy & Garrett Smith for undertaking and creating some fantastic social media buzz along with all those bloggers. Lee McKay and his webmaster skills that put us back online."

The shopping mall

After thanking the sponsors, vendors, performers and others that contributed to making this one of the best festivals ever, he goes on to thank the attendants and then finishes

"On more than one occasion I was greeted by complete strangers and then thanked for providing them with such a true and wonderful pride experience. It was comments like that and many more that told me we had hit our mark. I can’t begin to thank this team enough. You ALL really outdid yourself and should be proud of all you accomplished.

As I mentioned earlier this is my last year as Chairman. It has been such an honor to be involved in this organization. As much as I am ready to step down, I will miss it and all the nuances. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to bring my hope and joy to you all through this wonderful outlet."

The Japanese Garden, a permanent exhibition

Well, I would in turn like to thank the board of Second Pride for - yet another - amazing and enjoyable festival. This Second Pride festival is up there among my top three all-time favorites since I first started going to Pride in SecondLife in 2008.

I can hardly imagine all the hard work and dedication our board and the volunteers put in to this venture - and all the work they did the rest of the year - for the LGBT+ community in Second Life. 

It is even harder for me to understand why the boards dedicated work throughout the year has sometimes been met by criticism by fringes of the community, especially those who do not lift a finger or support the efforts in any way whatsoever. 

The memorial chapel

Second Pride must exist first and foremost for the LGBT+ residents in SecondLife, to be an inworld presence, to offer support to other smaller LGBT+ organizations, and to represent our community to the surrounding community and to Linden Lab. All else must, in my not so humble opinion, be secondary to that.

I am saddened that the present board say they doesn't wish to continue, although I do understand their position. Hopefully some of them can be persuaded to continue, or at to return after some rest and relaxation from these responsibilities. 

My deepest gratitude, again, goes to the board of 2016-2017 for a job well done!

The main stage

All the pictures in this post show the wonderful work that Build Director Jak Calcutt did for this years festival-venue. I have them in a folder named "The sim that Jak built".

Call for Second Pride DJ's, Hosts & Vocalists!

From a group notice in the Second Pride Festival Group today.

"Greetings DJ's, Hosts, and Vocalists!

Thank you for your interest in performing at the Second Pride Festival! We look forward to a week long of amazing events, and are pleased that you will be a part of it!

The Festival dates are Friday, June 23, 2017 through Sunday, July 2, 2017

DJ's: Please include your Host's Display and Legacy names if you have one, or let me know if you need one for your event. Also, please include multiple dates and times of availability in case your first choice is not available to schedule you,.

Hosts: Please make sure to let me know if you are available to work with multiple DJ's during the Festival if needed.

Vocalists: Please include a promo image to be used for in world ads. If you have a Host, please include their name, and pass a copy of this blank notecard for them to fill out.

Please fill in the information and get this notecard back to me, Viktor Sandman (ViktorSandman Resident) as soon as possible. Also, please rename this document with your performer name in place of the word 'Blank'. We will contact you for scheduling on a first come, first served basis. Thank you for your participation and support of the Second Pride Festival!

Display Name:
DJ Name:
Legacy Name:
Email address:
Stream URL:
Image to use for promoting you on our in-world ads:
Type of Music:
Availability (Days & Hours):
Hosts/Hostesses:

Have a great day and I'm looking forward to your performance!

Viktor Sandman, Second Pride Secretary & Entertainment Director"

Dates Decided for Second Pride 2017

The Board of Directors of Second Pride had a General Assembly Meeting in the Second Pride Headquarters Conference Hall on Sunday, April 30, 2017, at 01:30PM SLT.

At the meeting the dates for this years festival were decided. Below are the festival dates as well as release dates for sponsor, vendor, and DJ information.

Festival dates Friday June 23 - Sunday July 2, 2017!

Sponsor Packages available from Monday May 8*
Vendor Packages available from Monday May 15*
Performer Applications from Friday May 26 - June 18th

*) Please note, there is likely to be a shortage of available space at this years festival as it is going to be held on only one sim. You had better be on your toes and leaning forward to grab a place!

Please contact LLedge Eames or Viktor Sandman if you need any further information or have any questions.

It Works Now, But... (Updated)

The Second Pride website crashed spectacularly a while back.

Work has since been going on to revive it again. There seems to be some progress as this is what I got when I just tried.

However, even if it will be in order soon - according to the original timeframe decided upon - the candidate statements should have been posted there on August 31, 2016, and there was to be a questions and comments period going on right now until the evening today. 

The actual voting should start tomorrow and go on until wednesday, if the board doesn't decide anything else considering the unforeseeable server-crash. 

I strongly encourage the board to first see to it that the website is up and in working order, then decide on a new timeframe for the elections. After all the eligible voters have not been able to know who the candidates are or to pose questions to them.

Update (after a fast response from the board of directors)

I have been informed that work is feverishly going on on the new website (they have to work from scratch).
LLedge Eames, the chair of SP, and Karl Kalchek, the chair of the election committee, after a discussion yesterday, agreed that the goal is to post candidate statements during this weekend. The timeline for the election will be adjusted, once they have access to the  website.
The candidates that have stepped forward have been informed of the above.
Viktor Sandamn, the secretary of Second Pride, will post a notice concerning this to the Second Pride Festival Group today.