Date: 22 November, 2008 Contact: Lora Constantine FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Shakespeare, Second Life: Though hinted at on more than one occasion, Ina Centaur yesterday officially announced the SL Shakespeare Company’s SOS “Save Our Sims” Fundraising Campaign—its purpose, according to Centaur, is to meet “a modest though desperately needed sum to pay land tier fees to Linden Lab.” Through funding from microeconomics a la a grid-wide network of donation kiosks, the “SOS” campaign goal is to meet L$1.5 million by January 21, 2009, which at the current LindeX rate for selling would translate to about USD$5300, meeting six month’s tier for three of the island sims that host the SL Globe Theatre venue and similarly daring literary and artistic projects. Centaur plans to fund the fourth sim through her own endeavors, to keep the SL Globe Theatre four sims in size, as well as to continue existing endeavors on the sims in trying to make the enterprise self-sufficient. At high noon on November 21st, Ina Centaur, Artistic Director of the SL Shakespeare Company, greeted a small crowd of fans and supporters at the SL Globe Theatre before launching a speech that revealed the funding state of the Company, as well as some unexpected humanitarian results of their endeavors. The Company’s performances have reached both those in rural areas and also low-income urban districts, introducing many to the culture of theatre and Shakespearean performances. Centaur summarized with the words, “Perhaps the greatest thing that has evolved from our endeavors is that it has become a truly humanitarian cause that we are fighting for—to bring theatre to the farthest reaches of the world, to give Shakespeare to those who would not have had the chance to experience his words in the live and intimate form they were written for, to use this nascent medium to bring the most quintessential culture to the metaverse and beyond.” Various donation kiosks are available for those who wish to help the SL Shakespeare Company in their campaign. Supporters may drop by the SL Globe Theatre or the Campaign headquarters, directly to obtain copies of kiosks. The Campaign website contains up-to-the-second stats and other information, as well as links to the inworld Campaign headquarter to obtain kiosks http://campaign.SLshakespeare.com Centaur explained that a 4-sim venue is a necessity for their shows, “To make sure all can attend, and to minimize the lag.” In addition, the sims listed on the main SOS banners—sLiterary, Shakespeare, and Primtings—also support several other notable literary and artistic projects. Centaur stated the best way to find out about each is to spend some time exploring the sims, or to visit their campaign website above for brief summaries. Although many may consider Centaur’s activites to be merely great art, after mentioning a few examples of lives their endeavors have touched, she summarized their goal as of a greater significance, “Our goal is to create good within Second Life for the world to thrive from—because it is possible. We have been doing it, and we want to continue doing it, but we won’t be able to if we become homeless—we would have neither the energy or the base to go from.” Centaur concluded the session with the haunting words, “You are our last hope. If you can’t help us, then I’m afraid to say we are truly lost.”