Sweden's Got A New Stamp

Sweden got a new postage stamp on May 4th, 2016, when a stamp was issued with the Pride flag. The stamp is - according to the press release from PostNord Sweden - designed by the artist Lisa Rydell.

"By issuing a postage stamp with Pride flag, we want to stress the equal value and strength of people's unique characteristics and differences. The Pride flag has to our knowledge never been reproduced on a stamp before, and it feels great that it is now possible to send physical love greetings using the Pride flag over the world", says Per Ljungberg, Communications PostNord Sweden.

PostNord Stamp annually receives hundreds of suggestions for stamp designs. The idea for the Pride stamp was sent to the council that chooses new stamps by Lisa Rydell, who was also commissioned to design the stamp.

Lisa Rydell is an artist and has worked extensively with the design of, among other books and exhibition posters. She got the idea of ​​the Pride flag stamp during a long stroll in the summer of 2014.

"Swedes very much like to both receive and send stamped letters and postcards. The selection of the stamp is for many an extension of the greeting, which will be extra strong with the new Pride stamp. A subject that is also in line with PostNord's internal work concerning diversity", says Per Ljungberg.

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I love the idea, but am a bit puzzled about the credit given to Ms. Rydell for designing something that was already designed.

"Strange, very strange!", I say to myself with a phony Clouseau-ish French pronunciation. I wonder how much she earned for that brilliant, inspired and truly original bit of copying?

Picture of the Day - 434

"11.05.16 - The Dragon's Daughter" by Rainbow Mubble

If you wish to see more of Rainbow's photography, please visit her Flickr photostream by clicking her name under the picture.

Picture of the Day - 433

"The Yorkshire Dales" by Marcela Andel

If you wish to see more of Marcela's photography, please visit her Flickr photostream by clicking her name under the picture.

Gay Archipelago SummerFest 2016

27th April 2016

To: All LGBTQIA + S and friendly people, vendors, and groups on the grid

From: Weylin Vale, GA Lead

Re: GA Summerfest 2016 Sponsorship & Store Holder Invite

Good day all,

One of the missions of the Gay Archipelago is to coordinate grid-wide activities. That nine year tradition will continue on our watch.  Planning is underway for GA Summerfest 2016 which is scheduled for June 3rd to June 12th 2016 and I personally want you to be a part of this one.

This is your invitation to become a sponsor and a part of a great community event. The Festival comes after months of preparation and planning from a highly dedicated team.  Our last event, Winterfest attracted over 55,000 residents - so we are expecting to entertain very large numbers of people again from all over SL.

The GA has received this private Full Region Island Sim kindly donated by Lucretia Brandenburg which will be dedicated to such things as the Village Stores (vendors, merchant and organizations gathered together to promote their goods and services to the visiting public); the Entertainment Stage (for live performances, cabaret shows and dances); and various activities for everyone to enjoy.  We are dedicated to providing the widest variety of activities to suit every taste - all in a welcoming, all-inclusive environment!  As a sponsor, your SIM, business or organization will get great exposure to an always appreciative crowd.

Radio coverage will be from Universe Radio.

We've significantly cut the prices for GA Summerfest Sponsorship as we strive to promote and provide our community with an event that everyone can participate in and enjoy.    The sponsorship packages follow.

SUMMERFEST 2016 "THE SUMMER OF LOVE" PACKAGES:
(The primary difference is the shop size, location and the personal event)

* BRONZE SPONSORSHIP * L$ 2,500
- Small sized sponsor store - with 50 prims available for you to display products/services/information
- Opening party dedicated to the Festival Sponsors on the "The Summer Of Love" festival sim on June 3rd 2016
- Special mentions by the DJ
- Advertisement of your logo on the Sponsor wall during the Festival.
- Advertisement of your logo on the Sponsor board at the opening party, special mentions by the DJ
- A two hour event scheduled at available times where your estate or shop is the sole sponsor
- Notices and announcements to all GA groups during your event
- Advertisement of your logo on the board at the closing party, special mentions by the DJ

* SILVER SPONSORSHIP * L$ 5,000
- Medium sized sponsor store - with 100 prims available for you to display products/services/information
- Opening party dedicated to the Festival Sponsors on the "The Summer Of Love" festival sim on June 3rd 2016
- Special mentions by the DJ
- Advertisement of your logo on the Sponsor wall during the Festival.
- Advertisement of your logo on the Sponsor board at the opening party, special mentions by the DJ
- A two hour event scheduled at available times where your estate or shop is the sole sponsor
- Notices and announcements to all GA groups during your event
- Advertisement of your logo on the board at the closing party, special mentions by the DJ
- 30 second spot on Festival radio (Universe Radio) during non DJ times.

* GOLD SPONSORSHIP * L$ 10,000
- Large sized sponsor store - with 150 prims available for you to display products/services/information
- Advertisement of your logo on the Festival posters and promotional banners.
- Opening party dedicated to the Festival Sponsors on the "The Summer of Love" festival sim on June 3rd 2016
- Special mentions by the DJ
- Advertisement of your logo on the Sponsor wall during the Festival.
- Advertisement of your logo on the board at the opening party, special mentions by the DJ
- A two hour event scheduled at peak times where your estate or shop is the sole sponsor
- Notices and announcements to all GA groups during your event
 - Advertisement of your logo on the board at the closing party, special mentions by the DJ
- 30 second spot on Festival radio (Universe Radio) during non DJ times.

* PLATINIUM SPONSORSHIP * L$ 15,000
- Extra large sized sponsor booth -200 prims available for you to display products/services/information  
- Advertisement of your logo on the Festival posters and promotional banners.
- Opening party dedicated to the Festival Sponsors on the "Summer of Love" festival sim on June 3rd 2016
- Special mentions by the DJ
- Advertisement of your logo on the Sponsor wall during the Festival.
- Advertisement of your logo on the board at the opening party, special mentions by the DJ
- 2 two hour events scheduled at peak times where your estate or shop is the sole sponsor
- Notices and announcements to all GA groups during your event
- Advertisement of your logo on the board at the closing party, special mentions by the DJ
- 30 second spot on Festival radio (Universe Radio) during non DJ times.
(Naturally Platinum is on the main landing point, dance arena, and theater. This gives you an idea of how the layout will be)

Visitors love a freebie, so we do ask where possible that every store holder put out a gift, great way to get folks shopping in your store or visiting your estate.

GA ESTATE MEMBER BENEFITS
A rebate voucher of L$1,000 will be given to all estates on payment of sponsorship.
Members can hold estate events during the week additional to their weekend party(s)

We shall also be opening up the calendar for round one of the event bookings next week. To book the events however you must have a DJ and Host locked in at the time of booking, if you need a DJ or Host please let us know as we have many on reserve.

BOOKING YOUR STORE... Easy this year, we have a model of the village above the festival sim, each store has a payment terminal outside. Just click and pay and your done.

Go here to book your store at the mock-up of the SummerFest (SLurl)􀀀

Q. SO I PAID WHATS NEXT???????
A. Fill in the attached form and return to WeylinVale
􀀂
For further information contact one of the festival event team today
Weylinvale - Festival Lead
Chade Dagger- - Festival Build
Situazian - Festival PR
Crito Galtier - Entertainment Manager
______________________________________________________________
After having booked your store by paying at the mock-up, copy the following into a note card and send it to Weylin Vale.

Welcome Sponsor and GA Member Estates!

Thank you for your continued support to the Gay Archipelago. Please provide us with the following information and return it to WeylinVale (GA Lead).

It would be greatly appreciated if you use low script / low lag vendors during the event. (We recommend Casper)

Our thanks!

Weylin
GA Lead

________________________________________________________________________

Name of sponsor:

Name of owner(s):

Type of sponsor (Vendor / Non for Profit / Estate / GA Estate):

Please place your logo here, must be full perm and non transparent (512x512 is preferred):

Please tell us about you:

Do you have a website or blog?:

URL of website or Blog:

Landmark or SURL of your store/estate:

Silver, Gold and Platinum sponsors please send your 30 second MP3 advertisement for Festival Radio to; weylin.vale@gmail.com

Which sponsor package have you paid for :
Bronze:     2500L
Silver:       5000L
Gold:      15,000L
Platinum: 20,000L

Would any of your members like to assist us with Summerfest 2016 planning and execution?

Please contact Weylinvale or Crito Galtier to make your party bookings.

Help Bri Graduate College

My friend RickJ has started this great initiative with the assistance of the Starlight Ballroom, Garrett and Kahvy Smith, to help a young woman fulfill her dreams to become a teacher.

I am very happy to share it with you.

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CALL FOR CONTENT CREATORS

"Hi! Thank you for taking the time to read this! We are going to do a benefit to help Bri become a teacher and we need YOU!

A dear friend of ours and a well known and loved member of the SL community, Tomais Ashdene, has recently bumped into some bad luck due to corporate downsizing. His amazing daughter is studying to become a high school history teacher. Unfortunately that is a costly education, so she started a GoFundMe campaign to pay for school on top of her part time job.

We at Starlight Ballroom are passionate about education and want to help her become another great teacher! The world needs more people like her in our schools!

Read the information on Bri's GoFundMe Page: https://www.gofundme.com/2wbq2uvd
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What do we need?

• What we are looking for is people who would be willing to donate one or more of their creations for sale during the event.
• Sales will start as early as may 7 and will run the entire month of may. When participating we'd love to have your item by may 14 at the latest, if possible.
• Since prims and space are very limited low land impact items and/or boxed up items and/or items that can be viewed in one's own store or showroom are preferred. We sadly don't have the prims open for big displayed items. 
• We have a full perm free vendor for you to use, just put your price and percentage you want to donate in the script

Market stalls go first come first pick. You do not need a group for rezzing.

• There are no rules to what you donate and how much of the sale revenue you want to donate (though we hope for 100%)
• You can donate anything you like, but things to do with teaching or history will be extra cool!
• The item does not have to be new or exclusive, nor are there any rules on selling it during or after the event, but promoting the event is of course appreciated!
• There's no rules on permissions other than No Full perms with licenses attached to avoid any DMCA issues.

The benefit will have a big party with DJ's and live artists on Sunday May 22 during which we will promote your store/brand as part of the sponsors! We will also have a strong presence on Social Media!

If you wish to be a part of making a teaching dream come true, let us know and we'll hook you up as soon as we can.We would LOVE to have you be a part of making this dream become reality!!! Please talk to Rickj Ewing or Kahvy Smith for more info or to sign up for this amazing benefit today!!!!
Much Love

The Starlight Team

Starlight Ballroom is the oldest LGBT Ballroom on the grid. Our gorgeous materials enabled mesh build forms the perfect decor for Second Life's BEST Live performers! It's classy elegant atmosphere and tongue-in-cheek team guarantee an amazing night out!

We are listed in the SecondLife Destination Guide and have our own Facebook page. You can also visit us inworld http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Dynamo/78/100/2501

This Is Not Aeon

Nope, it's not at all Aeon or any part of him!

Visions of Hope 2016

Randy Firebrand and Ricco Saenz are inviting us to "Visions of Hope", the 2nd annual art exhibition and silent auction raises awareness for cancer survivors, caregivers support groups and "Hope Haven Heroes", the RFL team representing them.

The opening party, hosted by Cᴜᴘʀɪᴄ Rᴏᴜᴛᴇʀ, is April 30 at 4 p.m. (SLT) and the exhibition runs through May 30. All proceeds to the American Cancer Society.

Take me to the exhibition Visions of Hope.