Welcome Center: A place to linger?

[Dot Macchi]

One possible element of the Welcome Center is to have a place where volunteers are on hand to greet visitors and help answer their questions. In the Mentors Meeting of 7 August, the face-to-face welcome was mentioned by several as being key -- how people stay if they meet others.

For this to work with volunteers (in my opinion) the welcome center would need to be a place that people enjoy, and where they like to linger.

This thread isn't meant to define what should actually go in the welcome center. It's more to try to get a sense of what people actually enjoy in worlds they like to visit time after time, and where they like to spend time in.

So what makes a place comfortable and welcoming for individuals? Is it the surroundings (if so, what and why)? Or might it be the people that already meet there?

[Isis Starlight]

One possible element of the Welcome Center is to have a place where volunteers are on hand to greet visitors and help answer their questions. In the Mentors Meeting of 7 August, the face-to-face welcome was mentioned by several as being key -- how people stay if they meet others.

For this to work with volunteers (in my opinion) the welcome center would need to be a place that people enjoy, and where they like to linger.

This thread isn't meant to define what should actually go in the welcome center. It's more to try to get a sense of what people actually enjoy in worlds they like to visit time after time, and where they like to spend time in.

So what makes a place comfortable and welcoming for individuals? Is it the surroundings (if so, what and why)? Or might it be the people that already meet there?

Main welcome region split one side to north a modern glass welcome center with all baked shadows including plant and tree shadows
The glass texture's would have would have sparkle & shine while the welcome center floor would have a complete reflection like a ballroom
to do that you need an interior doubled then placed upside down with a great smoked glass texture between structures
the bottom must be shadowed with shadows running 1/6 way up on the upside down structure this will ensure a sleek modern welcome center,

As for comfortable place a nice English pub or Arabian coffee house with a steampunk interior maybe, unofficial hangout but everyone hangs out at campfire nearby roasting marshmellows in a park like setting maybe, region could always have official hangout then a unofficial hangout like at a pier

I'm Isis & I approve this mssg

[Sarge Misfit]

When I was more active in InWorldz, I used to go to their Welcome Centre for my morning coffee. They had a little coffee bar area near to where newcomers would land. There was always somebody there, usually a Mentor, but also others like me. And, if there was no Mentor available at that moment, I was always happy to lend a hand and show a newcomer where things were. And there was always pleasant conversation, which is something that many people find to be both welcoming and communal.

[Danko Whitfield]

Both Isis and Sarge named things I wish to second the motion on - pub, coffee shop, campfire.

These are places we hangout and relax at in RL and so we are comfortable doing the same in VL.


(I have accounts in 26 virtual worlds and have visited several more, I notice most welcome centers have a bar of some sort.)

[Constance Peregrine]

Both Isis and Sarge named things I wish to second the motion on - pub, coffee shop, campfire.

These are places we hangout and relax at in RL and so we are comfortable doing the same in VL.


(I have accounts in 26 virtual worlds and have visited several more, I notice most welcome centers have a bar of some sort.)

well, if you want a place where we hang out in rl, for me, anyways, that would be my couch with monitors in front of me-)) dunno how u folx do otherwise"XD...

The coffee bar idea should def be included, someplace there...some grids/or individuals so inclined who volunteer to manage one, get folx to volunteer to "man" the bar behind it, with "wiping counter" poses and such, and with all sorts of odds and ends around in an eclectic way.

The bar tender could be a greeter type person for noobs-))

[Dundridge Dreadlow]

I'd tend to hang out in the plaza near the fountains outside the coffee shop. Lots of lovely concrete.

[Dot Macchi]

The format of the center seems to be crystallising around the idea of a zen garden with modern museum architecture:

In any case, my vision ... would be for something which is a zen garden i.e. mostly outdoors and has status/points of interest that convey some idea that may be relevant to some people and just pretty to others. ... this would have a few buildings that use modern museum architecture (big and spacious - possibly no roof) with most of the area being outdoors in winding paths meticulously organized around the landscape (with art / genre elements as status strategically placed on the path to convey some vibe to the traveler). A place you could take an afternoon and stroll in ...

A thought: gardens can have many spots where people might linger, in small groups of say two to ten (max). These spots might be formal seating, or informal groups around/on a water feature, or ... (you get the idea).

I suggest that the main lingering building be done as a coffee bar, to allow for different countries' sensitivities when it comes to alcohol and minors. I'm not sure that the huge cavern of a coffee bar in the plaza would be appropriate -- it tends to suggest emptiness rather than community. Something sized more in line with the coffee shop in Virtual Detroit or Cafe Flore in Stuart might be more inviting (these examples are for size, not necessary for style).

Of course, there's nothing to stop us having more than one small coffee shop or ice-cream parlour or whatever sited strategically around the center's gardens, maybe even in one of the museum-style buildings.