Woodstock rocks on….You knew it would!

By Netera Landar, Encore Blogger

All the nights of putting together this wonderful event were worth it!!! Encore residents and a great number of open sim visitors enjoyed every moment of the Woodstock re-enactment. The event served as an open house to those who had never before visited the grid. It also introduced them to the hard-working individuals that give it life. You simply can’t go wrong with an iconic event such as this.

Below are just some of the many comments about its success:

Rocky Hillburton: It was a great experience that has been in the making for over 5 years and in the actual works about 4 months solid prior to grand open. It was very time consuming and (we) lost many hours of sleep, kind of like the actual event in RL lol…but in the end it was all worth it.

Emmalena Damour: I thought it was a really great event and I wish I could have been there for all of it. Real life work wouldn’t allow me to be. I enjoyed every bit of the time I was there and it did bring a lot of memories flashing back to a long gone era. I would go again, if they held it every few years.

SL and open grid singer Austin Moores attended Encore’s Woodstock spectacular event and loved it. Austin on the left and Netera on the right.

Netera Landar, Austin Moores and Talia Sunsong.

Potlatch Foggarty, center, enjoying the music.

 

Woodstock Re-enactment Brings The Virtual Groove To Encore Escape

Encore Escape’s scaffolding of the stage.

By Netera Landar

Virtual Blogger

The re-enactment of an event in a virtual world is possible through a team effort. This is exactly what Encore Escape grid’s owner had in mind for an impressive endeavor.

I recently meet with Potlach Foggarty (Co-treasurer & Founder), Rocky Hillburton and Shannon Dubratt (who are co-Presidents & Founders of TEE) in the grid’s welcome center to discuss Encore Escape’s 50th Anniversary recreation of the Woodstock Festival. The actual event occurred Aug. 15, 1969. Encore will feature its re-enactment at 5:07 p.m. EST, Aug. 15-18.

Asked what inspired them to take on the re-enactment, Foggarty replied that it was the dedication of the 800 people responsible for the actual Woodstock project which will present the experience to younger generations.

According to Foggarty, Encore’s celebration will be held on an area scaled to nearly 150 acres, which is the size of nine Second Life sims. The build is being carefully sculpted using U.S. Geological Society topographic maps from 1967 to reflect the Woodstock site’s terrain, including adjacent roads, surrounding hills, forests, fences, streams and Max “Yasgur’s Pond,” a favorite skinny-dipping spot for concert-goers. The same amount of detail was used to create the performers, stage, associated equipment, sound and light towers, as well as the performer’s bridge over West Shore road to the stage.

Encore’s project started months ago and has so far taken five solid weeks of virtual work, according to Foggarty. The team and contributors consists of Foggarty as the Event Coordinator, Hillburton as Build Team Leader, Shannon Dubratt, Jan Frenburg, Tweety Forever, Country Bob, Destiny Seranade from GCG, Merrick Robonaught, Dixie Dreamscape, Orb Emerald and Terry Ford from DigiWorldz, Foxie Winx, Bellaby Ballyhoo, Aristippus Larsson from SL, Canipanic Maslow from SL and TEE, Midnight Siren and Southern Destiny.

Left to right, Potlatch Foggarty Lea Netera Landar, Rocky Hillburton and Shannon Dubratt.

“We’re presenting a virtual world re-enactment of Woodstock 1969,” explained Foggarty. “We’ve scaled down the area that we wanted our region to be in and knew what we wanted in there. We went with a 3 x 3 Var and then created a huge topo map and placed it over the area so we could see the contours.”

The process of creating an accurate region continued when the team rezzed thousands of poles at different elevations throughout the nine regions. They terraformed the land to reach the top of the poles.

“It’s probably within three meters of the actual elevation from what we’ve been able to determine. When you look at the site, and you look at the hills in front and behind the stage, the contour is almost exactly the way it looks in the photographs,” said Foggarty.

The topographic map also showed the location of the roads, which was the first thing they built on the region. All the surrounding structures rely on the terrain.

Hillburton rezzed the topo map to demonstrate the elevation. He said that the actual Woodstock team chose the land because of the height of the hills, which created an amphitheater affect as the stage was 80′ lower.

The team begins the time-consuming effort of placing NPCs to look like the thousands that had attended the concert.

Foggarty added that the terrain created a natural amphitheater and Woodstock’s actual developers knew that. “Once we had the terrain, then our next critical decision was exactly where the stage should be placed. We downloaded hundreds of photographs of Woodstock. The aerial shots were the most useful. Once we located the stage, our construction background came into play. If you look at the actual photographs of the Woodstock stage, you’ll see it’s all supported by scaffolding. Because of our building background, we recognized right away how many feet wide the scaffolding was and how many feet tall. With that information, we were able to figure out the exact size and elevation of the stage, as well as the sound towers, that were also built out of scaffolding and the light towers.”

Foggarty said all their research “paid off in spades.” The Encore team measured the stage, which was originally covered out of plywood sheets. All of the figures were checked and double checked and it all seemed to come together as far as the size and the placing of the stage.

Vehicles representing those that would have lined the roads near the concert grounds.

“We knew exactly where the roads were and how they were lined with cars. I mean, everything you can possibly know about Woodstock, we’ve got it,” said Hillburton.

They explained that Woodstock was held north of Bethel, New York and that it’s believed that 400-600,000 people actually attended the event. The governor of New York closed the New York State Thruway and they also closed the Canadian border. The developer said after the event, thank goodness they did because over a million people were stuck in traffic and never got to the event. If they had showed up, it would have been a disaster.

Asked why Woodstock was so popular, Foggarty stated, “Because of the name of the bands who were singing there. Originally the tickets went on sale for $18. After they sold 180,000 tickets, they just opened the gates and said it was a free concert from this point on.”

Cars, trucks, motorcycles created a tapestry of transportation.

The experience will represent the legendary concert so that those in attendance will know what it was like.

“The one thing we feel that we have accomplished is that we are going to have around 300 NPCs in the audience,” added Foggarty. “There will be avatars that are dancing, moving, sitting, swinging their legs and they are going to be intermingled with the other 300 static avatars. What we are trying to accomplish is an audience filled with 600 NPC & prim avatars when everyone arrives.”

Hillburton said the extra avatars will not present an issue. Static avatars are just a prim.

“They’ll be laying on a cot or sitting down. We’re putting this region on its very own server. We’ve already run tests with the 300 NPCs,” Hillburton added.

Concert-goers pitched tents to remain close to the concert area. There might not have been enough hotel rooms for the great numbers that had gathered.

From The Encore Escape Woodstock 2019 Team:

Second Life residents who have not had the opportunity to explore the OpenSim Metaverse are invited to attend along with those experienced with the Hypergrid. Just email them at tee.woodstock.2019@gmail.com and they will reply with the credentials (avatar name & password) to your own “Hippy Avatar,” dressed for the occasion and ready to experience the festival as it happened. Other than a two-minute email to reserve your avatar, all you have to do is add TEE (The Encore Escape Grid) to your Firestorm OS compliant viewer. The website has a step by step tutorial (with screenshots) at https://theencoreescape.com/tutorial_join_tee.html that will easily guide you through the process in three minutes.

When your avatar arrives at the festival landing point, no one will search your backpacks. Reserve your avatar now for 300 live avatars will be allowed entrance.

For more information, log on to https://theencoreescape.com/  and click the “Events” tab and then “Woodstock 2019”.

 

New Mall’s Grand Opening Coming Up, New Regions & Winter Wonderland

The entrance gate to Encore Escape’s new mall. Note the detail and realistic appearance.

By Netera Landar

ALL YOU NEED TO DO is enter the welcome center to see a tiny dot on the map in the new mall. Ten to one, that would be CTM Underwood building the new mall. He’s a virtual firecracker when it comes to detail.

I touched base with CTM about recent Encore updates. He began by informing me about  new private regions.

“They’re users purchasing land. We’ve had two 6×6’s, a 5×5,  and we had a request for a regular standard region. Word is catching on that we have discounted pricing and other people are coming here because they like our entertainment. They like to interact with our folks, here,” he said.

Standing in mall 1 and near 2, CTM discussed advancements in the mall’s expansion. Mall 2 is nearly completed. The grand opening will soon be announced. In the meantime, check out the wonderful winter wonderland in mall 3.

“We’re working on getting the stores in place. I started building the bridge over to the welcome center. The stores by the welcome center will come down so you can walk right through,” he said awhile back and they are already in place.

The size of the larger builds will determine how many will be featured in the new merchant area. Content creators chosen for these larger stores must have a larger inventory.

Love the landscaping in the new mall. It creates a balance between merchants and nature.

A community center will also be established and decorated for the holidays. There’s talk of a skating rink before Christmas. There will be special events, like the grand opening of the new mall. Live music and DJs. Should there be high attendance, special events will continue to be scheduled.

“Our calendar is pretty full now and we have new people with their own regions. One of them has a jazz club he is going to be opening up so we will be adding that to our list, as well,” CTM said. “As you know, there is entertainment here seven days a week and it’s growing. When more people come onboard with their own region, I’m sure we’ll have events at the same time at their locations. That’s a good thing, because if you like country and I like rock ‘n roll, there’s two places to go.”

Mystery, a store in the new mall, has Christmas items available. Check out the frozen pond and snowy pine trees.

Realistic features dotting the mall area are grid identification flags along with holiday banners.

CTM said Encore’s owners and team is very open to who buys a region. They don’t care if they are furries, combat groups, kings and queens. Though, everyone needs to follow some basic rules: if you have an adult beach, post a sign and rating identifying it appropriately. There might be a group that enjoys medieval role play, but perhaps others aren’t interested in that.

“So you’ll have an opportunity to read what that sim is about and make your choice if you want to go there or not,” said CTM.

He added that the Encore’s staff is going to other grids, meeting with their personal contacts in regards to content designers, and inviting them to Encore. He said that he wants designers to know that they have their backs.

Encore has created a database of proven stolen items, CTM said. Other grid owners are starting to participate in the collection of information. There are a couple of designers that make clothing or avatars and it’s known they have been hacked. They are added to the database and automatically removed from everyone’s inventory. He said the database is growing and more grids are hoping on board.

“I can’t be land police and find everything that’s ever been hacked, but when it’s officially reported, then we can do something about it,” said CTM.

Other areas they are starting to develop:

–With next year being the 50th Anniversary of Woodstock, Encore hopes to hold a celebration. Having the original plans for the Woodstock event, they are building the set just as it looked back in the day. They have also bought the rights to be able to broadcast or stream the actual entertainment and are considering the decor. Some ideas have already been collected. Builders are also designing things.

There are a couple of other attractions they are working on:

—horseback riding – Rez a horse and ride to the mountains and down the paths.

—a lover’s paradise — is being worked on.

A number of suggestions have been made and are being considered. Encore doesn’t want to be like every other grid out there. Some are a little bit more unique. They prefer not building it from scratch, instead to find the creator, for him or her to come to Encore and place it after coming to an agreement.

 

The layout of the new mall has been well thought out and designed.

Ferraris Maddie gowns in various colors await you. This form-fitting gown will accentuate all your curves. Men’s suits are also sold here.

Ferraris Fashions Elegant gowns in various colors await you.

Glitz N Glamour makes a bold fashion statement for both classic and the newer avatars.

Open sim singers will find promotional tip boards in Tweety’s Creations in Mall 3. She has a selection of unisex hats and men’s and women’s clothing, as well.

Hummingbird’s gowns are perfect for Encore’s ballroom and available in numerous styles. Here, an Easter gown is on display and a polka dotted flexi dress.

The event park in Mall 2 ready for a singer and audience.

Check out the adorable winter park in mall 3. Make sure to set it to midnight. It’s really beautiful.

Polar bears, deer, seals, a moose or two, a killer whale, come together on their glacier.

Cinderella parked her coach and was seen walking through the winter wonderland.

Santa ready to put in his stream so he can play Christmas music in the park.

Welcome to Encore Escape – Prepare to be Entertained!

 

An aerial view of Encore’s welcome center.

Saturday morning and most people are sleeping late. But not CTM Underwood.

CTM, the recently elected President of Encore Escape, is levitated on the other side of the welcome center deep in thought. You can hear his mental gears determining the position of the buildings for the new mall. Above him, frozen in space, are modular builds, like puzzle pieces waiting to be lowered and properly aligned. This is just one of many projects Encore’s staff is working on.

The why is simple. The open sim concept has expanded to a vast landscape of hyper grid worlds where we are no longer restricted to one closed grid. With this reality comes the challenge of presenting a concept, theme, additional socialization aspects, and various virtual elements that draw in a global audience. No simple task considering the number of grids available to be explored.

Encore’s founders, Potlatch Foggarty, Bellaby Ballyhoo and Rocky and Shannon Hillburton  were looking for an alternative to the high cost of virtual life. They envisioned it and drew up the virtual blueprints.

Along with Pat Wunderland, the group held a deep appreciation for the Toys-For-Tots mission and established an eight-year fundraising effort in Second Life in its name.  Encore Escape’s founders also created and operated sos-streams-net, a music stream management business in Second Life in an effort to supply streams to popular entertainers and DJs there.

As for their background, Foggarty began his virtual singing in the Paltalk community, moved on to Second Life and then to the OS Metaverse. He is driven to write, record, mix and arrange music when not venturing in virtual worlds. In real life, he is a professional webmaster and a Florida State Certified Building Contractor.

Ballyhoo manages live streams and focuses on event coordination, as well as acting as Potlach’s manager. She enjoys creating virtual home furnishings for her Gridz Mall store in Encore Escape.

The Hillburtons built and managed a popular SL Country Music venue and they assumed the organizational and management responsibilities of the Toys-for-Tots fundraising campaign.

“All of us have come from a long background for being in Second Life, as well as other grids, throughout the years,” explained Underwood. “So, we felt as we became sim and region owners, we spent a lot of money with Second Life charging $300 for a sim. We looked into not leaving the grid, but starting our own. There were a lot of people who couldn’t afford $150, $200 or $300 every month. So we put the Encore Estate together after being involved in other grids, like DigiWorlds and InWorldz). The four of them actually started it. I wasn’t included then.”

Almost two years have passed and the learning experiences have been many. It took a great deal of research and time to settle on a good company to host Encore. The addition of dedicated staff that follows through on their duties keeps the structure stable and programming active. It is to be noted that while this is a virtual world it is a company with consistent operating fees. Virtual world operations aren’t free. There will be renting options available to help cover overhead expenses.

Equally important is the desire to nurture the social aspects of their grid.

“We want everyone to socialize, and to be involved in people’s lives,” he said. “As you know, some people live hundreds or thousands of miles away or around the world. They come into our little group and participate in our scheduled events. There are other people that come into a grid, like ours, that like role playing, so we welcome them. We have no problem with everyone coming here, but there are certain regulations. Such as if they want an adult sim it has to be listed as one and feature a brief description of its intentions. So if there’s a person not into that particular role play, they won’t go there.”

Underwood spoke of the progression of the tech aspects of Encore. Like the majority of grids, Encore has added servers but designed a system for high performance. That would be the separation of asset and region servers and various back-up servers.

For those experiencing grid closures, such as InWorldz, consider the standard size regions and options:

TEE Standard Size Region – $14.99/Month – This is a standard (256m x 256m) plot of land including 15,000 prims. This land includes full access to estate tools and can be named anything you like and located anywhere they allow regions in their grid. Additional prim capacity can be added at any time if desired.

TEE Homestead Region – $6.99/Month – Make your Escape with this great starter region! This is a standard (256m x 256m) plot of land including 5,000 prims. This land includes full access to estate tools and can be named anything you like and located anywhere regions are allowed in the grid. Additional prim capacity can be added at any time, if desired.

TEE 3,500 Low Prim Region – $3.99/Month – You must already own at least one TEE Standard Region (or larger) to purchase this region. This is a standard (256m x 256m) plot of land including 3,500 prims. This land includes full access to estate tools and can be named anything you like and located anywhere they allow regions in their grid.

TEE Low 1,000 Prim Region – $2.49/Month – You must already own at least one standard region to purchase this region. This is a standard (256m x 256m) plot of land including 1,000 prims. This land includes full access to estate tools and can be named anything you like and located anywhere they allow regions in their grid.

The Low Down on the Basics:

— At the welcome center: select your starting avatar, click on your welcome starter kit (for notecards on new resident info, viewers, avatar control panel, Encore Entertainment Estates, What is a VAR?, How to Import & Export Items, a Encore Escape TP Hud, info on Hyper Jumping, shopping on Kitely Marketplace).

—Mentor assistance: click on the photo of those online. Ask your questions about public residential land, purchase of regions, entertainment info, and various tier support.

—Social aspect: everyone is friendly and helpful. They love to have new residents and hyper grid visitors in the ballroom on Sunday nights.

—Intellectual property – They are determined to protect intellectual property through awareness and communication with other grid owners. What you create on Encore is yours. Numerous stores will be available as soon as CTM Underwood finishes the expansion of the mall.

— Request for regions: The goal is for the management team to set up a region within one to two hours. You purchase the land, the accounting package confirms that payment is made, the grid is brought up, terrain files are available or you can design and build custom files.

— Events you can count on: Karaoke on Mondays, Back Bay Poker Run on Thursdays, Country Bob as DJ at Tweety’s Peacemaker Saloon and dance the night away on Sundays in the formal ballroom. Meet new and familiar performers. Tips appreciated.

—Interested in becoming an Encore performer? IM Potlach or CTM to get a list of the many venue owners for an audition. Mentors assist performers in setting up their avatar in a tux or gown, with musical instruments and stream and a home if you perform three times a month.

—Content Creators: are invited to sell their high-quality content in the new mall. First come first serve so check it out asap. There will be a nominal rental fee, but residents are very eager to explore the virtual products available 24/7.

Encore’s spacious ballroom is perfect for Sunday entertaining or an elegant setting for a virtual wedding.

Tweety leading a group of line dancers in her Peace Maker Saloon

Harbor Club is one of several informal venues. The view is spectacular with the Ballroom off in the distance.

You’ll find a harbor in the residential area. This where DJ Bob hosts the weekly Poker Run.

Not only does the ballroom have a large entertaining area, but the the decor is elegant.

Mentors are available at various times of the day.