Retrology Is For Lovers (of Fashion & More) Photo Contest!

Hurry, The Deadline For Entries is February 11th, 2009 @ Midnight!

It's Almost Valentine's Day, And Retrology is For Lovers! Lovers & Friends, Lovers of Fashion, and Lovers of Fun!



We Are Having A Photo Contest, Show Us How You Photograph Love on Retrology and You Could WIN!

Entries Must be submitted via the Retrology Flickr Group. And will be accepted between 12AM Wednesday, January 28th and Wednesday, February 11th at Midnight SLT. A Maximum of 10 entries will be accepted per Person (Avatar/Flickr Account). Photos must fit into any or all of the following 3 judging categories; People, Places and Fashion. Please Tag Photos With One Of The Following For Category Consideration: People, Places, Fashion. The first 2 categories are fairly self explanatory... the Fashion Category must feature clothing/hair/accessories etc. available on the Sim. (Outfits may include non-Retrology items, but Items found on the sim will be the focus of the judges - all entries in this category must list the items they are wearing in the Flickr image description.)

We will be selecting the best entries and displaying them in a gallery in 'Retrology Square' Starting February, 12th/2009. Winning Photos will be announced on Valentine's Day, Saturday, February 14th/2009 @ 12pm during the SIM Wide Valentine's Day Celebration. There will be a total of 10 prizes awarded. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in each of the Categories (receiving amounts of $ 2500 L, $ 1500 L, and $ 1000 L respectively) and an overall Grand Prize Photo that will receive $ 5000 L!

IMPORTANT DATES
*January 28th - February 11th, Entries submitted to Retrology Photo Contest Flickr Group. http://www.flickr.com/groups/retrology/ THIS DATE WILL NOT BE EXTENDED~!
*February 12-14 - A Display Of Finalists' Photos In Retrology Square!
*February 14th @ 12PM SLT - Winners Announced.

Note:
**If You Use More Then One Flickr Account to Submit Your Photographs, You Will Be Disqualified, it is 10 Per Person.
**Photos MUST Be Taken on the Retrology SIM
**Please Contact Jhuzen Ketsugo for Assistance with Moving Vote Boxes, Building/Rezzing Poses Etc. If Needed.
**No Nudity or Sexually Explicit Photos, No Weapons or Violence. This is a PG Contest.

FLICKR INFO

It's easy to submit your images! You can find the Retrology Photo Contest Flickr Group here:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/retrology/
Not a Flickr Member? Join up here and get started: http://www.flickr.com/

CONTEST RULES
All entries must adhere to these simple rules:
1) You must be creator of the image to have the right to submit it to this competition.
2) Maximum of 10 photos per person. You may remove and replace images up to and until the deadline.
3) All submitted photos must have the tag 'contest' to be included in the judging.
4) All photos must be taken on Retrology. If you require assistance or special rezzing permissions please contact Jhuzen Ketsugo with your request.
5) The Judges decisions are final. Judges are Retrology Owners & Managers.
6) Finalists & Winning photos will be displayed in an exhibit on the Sim.
7) Upon the agreement to accept the prize(s) offered all rights for the publication of the winning picture as promotion or marketing will be granted to Jhuzen Ketsugo. This will include use on the blog, and contest announcements, but may also include ads and billboards.

MOST OF ALL, HAVE FUN & GET SNAPPING!

For More Details About Retrology, The Shops & Attractions, Please See the Retrology Blog!

(Follow-Up) Things That Make You Go Hmm...

I wanted to post a follow-up to my original post about the use of the names of Several well known Shoe Designers (i.e. Stiletto Moody, Shiny Things, Maitreya, Storm Schmooz, Tesla, DeLa) in an add for Juicy shoes, where I made the assumption that "Juicy Littlething", the avatar that placed the Classified was in-fact Gorgeous Yongho aka. GOGOLITA.COM.

After reading a comment on the post from Tenshi, who pointed out that this indeed might be someone out to ruin the name of Gorgeous, I felt it was necessary to cover my bases and do a little more research.
Here is what I found:

I went to Juicy Shoes Mainstore, and looked at the Land Listing, found it was group owned, and looked at the Group Owners. As you can see in the following picture, "Juicy Littlething" is indeed a group owner for the Land Holder.


In addition, the Sign on the wall of the shop clearly states that all customer service issues be taken to "Juicy Littlething", who I can only assume is either an employee of, co-owner of the shop, or Gorgeous Yongho's Alt account.


I also received a comment about a post that GOGOLITA.COM made regarding the use of sub-contracting to make a product, in particular where she referred to Stiletto Moody's Collaborators as "Sweatshop Workers". I decided to inspect one of the shoes, and found that the creator of the shoe was not Gorgeous Yongho, but rather an avatar named Elven Dreamscape. As Gorgeous had claimed to be friends with one of Stiletto Moody's former employees, I wonder who really is responsible for making these shoes.


Here are two shots of Elven's Profile.



Another comment also stated that the Classified had been edited sometime between yesterdays post and this morning. As you can see, the Names of the other Shoe Brands have been removed, although curiously, the word "moody" still appears in the listing. Call me ignorant, but I have never run a search for "moody" when looking for shoes. Perhaps this is an act of mere defiance, as the word "moody" is not copyrighted.



So, as far as covering my bases, I think I have done all that I can to be sure that my original suppositions are correct about the origins of the Classified Ad in question, and the lack of ethics displayed in using competitors names in your listings. Of all the comments I have received, the most interesting to me was one that suggested that using a competitors name to sell your goods is not only unethical, but also against the Terms of Service agreement, I wonder if anyone else has more information on this point.

Things That Make You Go Hmmm....

Stiletto Moody, the creator of some of the best sculptie heels on the GRID is having a GALA Awards Night Today to Celebrate Her Recent Customer Photo Contest, and a display of the finalist's photos. I have a deranged Inventory, over 31,000 Items.. so Landmarks get lost and deleted a lot. I ran a Search for Stiletto Moody in "All(Old)" so I knew where I was headed for the event, and came upon a most surprising Classified Ad. It came up in search as the first hit that was not a Group, and above the actual shop listing. I pretty much clicked on the classified ad by accident, thinking it was a Stiletto Moody classified.

Had I been paying closer attention, I might have read the name of the Classified first. "Juicy Main Store - SEXY SHOES & STILETTOS!!!!" obviously not what I was looking for. But I was kind of surprised that the listing came up on the search term Stiletto Moody, so I scrolled through the listing to find out why.

Here Are Screenshots of the Listing, and Profile of the Avatar who pays for this Classified.




Now I may not be an ethicist, nor am I trying to stir up controversy (plenty of other people do that with more panache then I can claim), but I have read at least 2 posts on the GOGOLITA.COM blog, including one titled Stiletto Moody or.. Sasawe Capalini? where Gorgeous Yongho (aka GoGo) has made it clear that she is no fan of Stiletto Moody, her shoes, or her methods of creative collaboration. She actually tagged the post "fugly shoes". I say fine, knock yourself out, your opinion, you are more then entitled, etc. It is very clear that the Alt used to list this Classified "Juicy Littlething" is one and the same with Gorgeous Yongho, as the photos in the listing for the Juicy Shoes can be seen on GOGLITA.COM quite readily. Take a Look Here. My point here, is that if you have such a strong dislike for a designer, and are very public with this opinion, why would you include the name of that Designer/Brand in your own classifieds, unless you are trying to achieve more hits in search? Lots of people do it, including certain Key Words in your ad will definitely result in more hits (i.e. Sex, Escort, BDSM, hooker), but not only is the Stiletto Moody name copyrighted, but it seems highly unethical to me that you would use the name of a competitor to sell your own shoes, particularly when you have been so vociferously opposed to said designer.

The complete list of Key Words used in the listing appear below:
shoes, heels, pumps, stiletto, sculpted shoes, sexy heels, colors, rainbow, pink, model, couture, high heels, fashion, sculptie, sculpt, sandals, pumps, platforms, fetish, slingback, woman, ladies, couture, runway, hot, foot fetish, bdsm, hooker, sex, escort, stiletto moody, maitreya, quality, texture, storm schmooz, dela, shiny things, tesla

As you can see, several other top shoe designers in-world are also mentioned in the Classified. I am really curious to know what your thoughts are on this issue. Please feel free to comment, all comments will be posted unedited.

Model Certification?

In RL, there are dozens of companies out there that prey on the young and inexperienced. This is particularly rampant in the Modeling Industry, where so called 'Schools' charge exorbitant prices to take portfolio shots, train girls and guys how to walk, and teach them so-called "Tricks of the Trade". Many a young girl with the dream of becoming a model has found out the hard way, through the wallet, that you cannot by a dream, you have to work for it. The fashion industry may need models, but there are so many other roles that people can play if they don't have the "look".

Apparently, there are individuals in our virtual world that similarly wish to prey upon the young and inexperienced members. And what girl who loves her avatar has not wanted to be a model? Just a warning... this was passed on to me this morning, and I personally think it is a total crock. I have not spoken to the individual involved, but I would warn anyone that someone who asks for $350LaLas and a further $100LaLas a month for the privilege of being a so-called 'Certified SL Model' is out for cash, pure and simple. This individual has no ties to the fashion industry that I am aware of, nor do they promise work. Here is the contents of the note card in question, and a photo of the proprietor of this 'Group'. Use your heads, beware! The $350LaLa Price may seem like small potatoes for a potential career, but if just 200 people join, this individual stands to benefit to the tune of $70,000LaLas!


Fia Bonetto
From Her Profile:
Hi! The girl you´re looking at is Fia! I´m a 25 years old girl in RL and in Second Life i run a business called Certified Model SL. The idea of that business is to secure quality and high standards in the modeloccupation in SL. If your´e interested in becoming a certified model IM me for further information! Check the ad in my classified for teleport and some other details!

Direct Cut & Paste From the No-Edit Notecard:

INFORMATION ABOUT Certified Models SL
Welcome to an information about being
acknowledged as a

Certified Model SL

My name is Fia Bonetto. I´m the owner of the group Certified Models SL.
As You problaby know the fashionbusiness in Second Life has developed under the recent years with increasing quality and quantity. However there is also a fact that the qualityissues is more and more in focus because of higher demands from the business. In Second Life there are lots of modelagencys with different way of hiring models. The standards of the models are very different and with this initative we give the business a new way to assure good quality. The agencys can make less effort in checking up applicances and the employers can get a quick confirmation by the certifying that the models have certain standards making them more suitable for the job.

Becoming a Certified Model SL demands the following basic level. The group can also help out those who hasn´t reached the basiclevel with support in customizing etc.

1. A welldeveloped avatar, female or male, with exclusive quality in shape, skin, hair and so on.

2. Basic knowledge about the modellingbusiness, how to act on stage and under photosessions etc.

3. A nice and sophisticated way of being and good english languageknowledge. Additional competence in language is most positive!

If You pass the qualificationprocedure You will get a membership in our group and the cost for the procedure and ackreditation is 350 linden.
The reason for charging is also the goal to keep this certifying exclusive to a low number (200 members max and then a waitinglist) of really highquality models. As long as youre a member in the group you should provide a weekly tip of minimum 100 linden. This way we can for example arrange our own beautycontests with greater chances of winning greater amounts of pricemoney. And we know these contests isn´t rigged....:)

If You find this information interesting Your most welcome to IM Fia Bonetto for the next step of becoming a Certified Model SL.

Kind Regards

Fia

From Her Classified Ad:
We are dedicated to secure the quality of the modeloccupation in Second Life.
The fashionindustry in Second Life has experienced an explosion in both quantity and quality. As this business has developed there has also been an increase in demands for a higher quality in the modellingbusiness. The most ambitious actors in fashion demands the highest quality among their models. We provide an exclusive certifying by interviews and visual control.
IM Fia Bonetto for more information!
Keywords: model,topmodel,exclusive,quality,certified,best,
fashion,clothing,beautiful

Spelling and grammatical errors in the note card aside, the only fashion groups this member belongs to are the FREE TO JOIN, OPEN ENROLLMENT: Business Women of Second Life, Fashion Consolidated, Fashion Consolidated Cafe, Models Inc., and SL Models. She also belongs to Instyle Fashion Agency (While a Respected Agency, this is a Free To Join Public Open Enrollment Group).


Ladies and Gentlemen, Please, Please... If you want to find out how to be a model in our Virtual Megaverse, speak to those that work for the most well known and respected agencies, be they models or owners. They can give you tips and insights that will actually lead to your success. Just like in RL, if you have to pay to get in the door with no promise of returns of any kind... BEWARE!