New monthly meetup for Writers Workshop!

Guest post by Barbara Seaton, aka Helena Kiama--Thanks, Barbara!

 Please join us for this maiden voyage of a new feature at ISTE Virtual Environments Network.

  Tuesday, April 5th, at 5:00 p.m. SLT:

Mementos Cathedral in Chouchou

from zikiquesti.blogspot.com

Have you ever been immersed in music or visited a place that transported you to another reality or evoked feelings that made you see things in another light? In those moments you transcend the day-to-day busy thoughts, focusing on some small aspect of life in which you gain new insight.
Join us in the new ISTE SL VEN Writer’s group as we find and experience thought-provoking regions in Second Life that use visual and audio components to take us into another reality in our thoughts. From there will we write about our experiences, whether it be a poem, short story, essay, a short video, or just thoughts, to share with the group the following month.
For our first meeting, we will travel together to such a region, and spend some time there, exploring, taking pics, listening to the music, and letting ourselves become immersed in the moment. Some may wish to free write (write whatever comes to mind) during this time.

We will initially meet at the VEN headquarters at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/EduIsland%209/62/99/22 and travel together to our first region.

ABOUT THE LOCATION:
Mementos is a cathedral floating in the sky. It is a very old build in Second Life, but absolutely beautiful in detail.
HUD:
You can pick up their cinematic HUD at the entrance which moves your camera slowly. I highly recommend you walk into the cathedral and find a good spot for your avatar before putting it on. Otherwise, it can be a little difficult to walk. Once the HUD is on, use your arrow keys to set your camera “flying.” (What is happening is that your avatar is turning, but the camera is delayed, then floats smoothly to catch up and swings past you.) Combine this with scrolling in and out and just enjoy. Hitting ESC returns your camera to you.
BEFORE YOU GO:
Be sure to have your audio stream working to listen to the music. For photographers in the group, you may wish to set your graphics to advanced lighting.
BECOME IMMERSED:
Once we arrive and go in, we ask that you keep IMs and chat to a minimum to allow yourself and others to become immersed in the experience.