I have collected the ideas and statements about what I think needs to be done about it and what can be done to make the community grow or ideas for what can be done to create your own community in your world.
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Its a lonely life one have in Kitely, especially if you dont go to events and so.
I think that Kitely has a community problem, because of the way things work and the lack of mainland.
We do get a whole world, which is very nice when we want to build and build. But people will only find us on the webpage, or if we advertise in the forum, where not many people look or write either, or if we advertise in G+ or facebook, where so many others advertise too all the time.
I miss some inworld groups, for events and sales and socializing. I miss groupchat, no matter how annoying that also can be.
There is no forum for groups which could be nice to have just to see what groups there are to join.
I also miss a map where I can hop around to explore, instead of going to the webpage that gives a different overview of how Kitely look.
Ideas if I should create a community somewhere:
- I would make sure that people felt at home as the first thing when they land.
for example give them a free plot somewhere....a free sim totally isolated is too much when you want to get the feel in the grid before you move in.
- I would invent a Information Service, where I for example sent out a newsletter one time a week, and that could be after the sunday office meeting inhere.
- I would encourage people to establish management for their sims and events
- I would create a Grid Community for all residents, where it could be a group or a forum where people can meet and chat without having to meet visually.
- I would do something special for Creators/Merchants, so they felt special...lol
- I would arrange entertainment of some kind to attract people from outside and to make residents to get to know each other cross world-borders.
- I would emphasize on the Social aspect of a grid, by making sure that people always had someone to chat with by for example hiring "chataleurs", that always was available for a good chat for whoever that comes by on a certain spot. It could be volunteers too.
- I would emphasize on discount payment-plans for certain groups, for example seniors.
- I would participate in all the Hypergrid collaborations that I could, to make sure that no one was in doubt of that my Grid exists.
- I would love Feedback, on Trust-pilot, in blogs and on my forum and I would encourage people to review by giving them some kind of resident- privileges for doing it.
I read somewhere in some of the G+ groups that the community-meeting is mainly about technical issues. There should at least be some kind of written summary from those meetings somewhere, so it is possible to read what has been talked about in the past meetings.
I like Kitely, because its a good platform and I trust the founders, which is extremely important too.
Its a great place to build and have fun with that.
But I also think its a shame that it doesn't attract more people as wholehearted residents, because it would be the best grid ever with tons of people around and a good community with a lot of cultural diversity.
Graham Mills has more good ideas:
Kitely has groupchat as far as I know and the map works for island hopping after a fashion. Group search works as well. If you want to start a group to promote active chat, there is nothing to stop your advertising it here. I started a Kitely Educators Group a while back and, if there is interest, am happy to revive that given that I have a little more time these days. An index of group activity might be interesting and useful.
More generally, there is a community meeting every Sunday where issues like this can be discussed. A number of initiatives aimed at promoting cohesion in Kitely have been considered in the past. Dot has posted on the forum about her own efforts. My view is that support from Ilan and Oren is actually very good and one of the reasons I stay here. However, I do not expect 24x7 service -- they have lives as well. Their development of the Market may have broadened the scope of their responsibilities but I think most would see it as having been beneficial for both Kitely and the wider OpenSim community.
One possibility is a collective build, perhaps themed on Christmas as it is celebrated around the world, to bring folk together a little more maybe with some pre-Christmas events as well.
One of the interesting things about OSCC15 was seeing the number of Kitely folk I'd never met before. The community is much larger than is represented by the Forum, G+ or any other social media. People have only so much time to devote to reading online and may, quite reasonably, choose to ignore or lurk rather than engage.
I can only speak from the perspective of someone who came to Kitely to use it with classes. As someone who has adequate building and scripting skills, my primary need was for a platform that was stable, inexpensive and flexible. The availability of content (mostly Linda Kellie initially but latterly the Market as well), support for OARs and the ability to create new worlds for short-term use were all a major plus. The availability of a community with whom I could socialize was of secondary importance. I appreciate that's just me but I suspect the same is true of many of the Kitely folk at OSCC15 who never post on the forums or attend the Community Meeting. They just want the grid to work and for bugs to be fixed quickly. It's a plus for me that Kitely also contributes to the OpenSim core.
I don't think the forums are a substitute for inworld activity or quite frankly why bother building? Why bother going to the Community Meeting when you can read it all here and suck Kitely staff into long-winded discussions without resolution? The Community Meeting is frequently used by Ilan to garner ideas and opinions in an interactive manner that would be hard to replicate on the forums. Of course, you might equally say that inworld would not scale either but I guess it is the more motivated individuals that attend there.
Here is another (hopefully constructive) suggestion. Maybe what is needed is an achievements system as per the early days of SL. Here are some ideas based in part on my own past experiences.
Posted "Hello" on Forum
"Liked" post
Posted note about starting a new build on Forum
Posted update about world on Forum
Opened world to public and announced to Forum
Hosted visit by hypergrid tour
Opened shop inworld or otherwise made freebies available
Made purchase from Kitely Market
Opened shop on Kitely Market
Joined group
Asked/answered question in group chat
Created group
Hosted group meeting
Chatted to and friended new avatar
Offered assistance to new avatar
Attended Community Meeting
Attended cultural event (Seanchai, Roxy, Devokan)
Attended building-related event (WIP, Ozwell's, Ruby's, Serene's)
Attended work-related event (Kitely Educators Group)
Visited one or more public worlds and added them to profile as Picks
Posted snapshots or machinima relating to Kitely build
Participated in RP or puzzle-based event (Whitechapel)
Participated in hypergrid tour
Participated in treasure hunt
Visited Merchant's Fair
Blogged or otherwise shared information about activity on non-Kitely media
Feel free to add others -- it's unlikely that your list would ressemble the above (I've never organised a hypergrid tour, for example).
Dot Matrix gave her input too:
At yesterday's community meeting, this thread was discussed. Some wondered aloud whether Kitely is not so much a "grid" as a "grid of grids". Kitely is a hybrid: a hosting company and a "grid" and an online marketplace.
As a hosting company, Kitely supports a myriad of small and very diverse communities, both public and private. These communities use their Kitely worlds for different purposes and reasons. Each world might be seen as a mini-grid in its own right -- hence the "grid of grids".
Individual world-owners can build the type of community that is their world's focus. It is their responsibility, not the owners of Kitely.
Because of the diversity, there is little common ground shared by the different groups. One exception to this is the weekly Kitely Community Meeting.
Perhaps we need to stop thinking of communities on individual grids/mini-grids/worlds. The real community that needs building is that linked by the hypergrid.
For, with access to the hypergrid, Kitely users can travel to concerts, parties, conferences, workshops, exhibitions held on non-Kitely grids, and similarly non-Kitely users can attend events held on Kitely worlds.
This frees grid-owners to focus on their strengths, whether it is "building community" as outlined by the posts above, or providing and maintaining a stable platform with excellent performance for others to use as a foundation for building their own communities.
In fact, this is something like the little community on my Kitely world of Intersections.
The underlying thought is that most people have their main homes or building areas in other grids (or even in Kitely), but might want a ready-made base when they come visiting Kitely friends. So in Intersections there are free "homes-from-home" -- a bit like a holiday home -- in a variety of landscapes. They furnish the home as they wish -- even bring in their own building in one case!
Of those currently in Intersections, two have main avatars in other general grids and build/host extensively there, one has their own self-hosted grid, two have their own Kitely worlds but like to have a smaller base to meet with others, one has a main home in SL and in another game, and for four people Intersections is their only "home base" in OpenSim.
They belong to different groups, and do different things in Intersections (play games, build mesh items, chat, wander round the landscapes, ...). But it does show that it can work both ways.
In fact, this is something like the little community on my Kitely world of Intersections.
The underlying thought is that most people have their main homes or building areas in other grids (or even in Kitely), but might want a ready-made base when they come visiting Kitely friends. So in Intersections there are free "homes-from-home" -- a bit like a holiday home -- in a variety of landscapes. They furnish the home as they wish -- even bring in their own building in one case!
Of those currently in Intersections, two have main avatars in other general grids and build/host extensively there, one has their own self-hosted grid, two have their own Kitely worlds but like to have a smaller base to meet with others, one has a main home in SL and in another game, and for four people Intersections is their only "home base" in OpenSim.
They belong to different groups, and do different things in Intersections (play games, build mesh items, chat, wander round the landscapes, ...). But it does show that it can work both ways.
