Roland Writes

This is gonna be Big! Really Big.

Today at noon marked the official preview for the Relay For Life SL Clothing Fair 2009 and I hied my hiney to the islands to get my first official look at what might be the biggest event I’ve ever seen in SL. Nine islands. Eight dedicated to shopping! One that’s just for fun and set up so that the large scale events won’t keep the serious people from doing what they need to do. Shop!

I had to start by climbing to the top of the lighthouse just to see what I could see. I saw a ton!

Like Seven Deadly Sins!

Is it a coincidence that there are seven seas, and seven of SL’s top designers each contributing a unique gown to this terrific Seven Deadly Sins Silent Auction? I don’t think so. If I’m understanding this correctly, the gowns are unique and will be sold only at this auction. Just like that Scottish guy! There can be only one!

And that’s not all that’s happening over the course of the week!

There’s tons of shopping!

How about some fashion shows?

Check. How about four of them in various times to accommodate different time zones around the globe.

And, of course, there’s shopping.

How about a photo contest?

This is actually the second photo contest! You need to buy three things (at least) at the Fair and create a look around them. Keep good notes about where you got them in case you inspire somebody else to follow in your footprints. The details are on these signs and you can find them pretty much anywhere you teleport to. First prize is a PhotoLife Studio and there’s no entry fee so why not?

Then, did I mention the shopping?

Oh, yea. I probably did.

Then there are the people. Walking around I found designers frantically putting the final touches on their shops, tidying up to get ready for the big opening tomorrow at 10am SLT. People like Kit Maitland of CKS Designs.

Every shop is required to have at least one RFL vendor – the purple bordered ones. Take a look at the RFL vendors in that snap. And that’s not all of them that Kit had up in her shop. I asked if she had any message to pass to people and she said, “Just that everyone has done such marvelous job this year setting up the fair…and I hope people come out and enjoy all their hard work and really help us raise a lot of lindens for the ACS!!”

And around the corner I found this guy standing on a taxi.

That’s Dave Casanova, CEO of DCNY Clothing Co and he was arranging for his models over the coming week. He’d climbed up there to test the poses on the cab and then forgot to step down before being buried by an IM avalanche.

And walking around I saw several of the organizers including Nevar Lobo who stood still while I took his picture.

In spite of some last minute RL complications, he and the rest of the organizing committee was sweeping the area making sure that it would be ready for everybody to arrive on Monday.

And while this is going to be a lot of fun, let’s not forget that the cause is deadly serious.

All the shopping, pirates, contests, and effort have gone toward joining us all together to raise money for the American Cancer Society. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably already lost somebody you love to cancer. In my case, it was my father. The American Cancer Society is one of the key agencies that’s helping to finance the elusive cure.

As you’re having fun this week, and you see one of those purple vendors? Remember.

You’re not just buying a dress, or a swim suit, or a piece of jewelry. You’re helping to save a life.

Oh, ya. This is gonna be BIG!