I can hardly believe this since I've only been participating a short while but in a conversation recently, some merchants in a Linden group I belong to were chatting about traffic concerns, getting enough marketing exposure, etc. One of my friends, Summer Windlow (fantastic, positive, upbeat person!) suggested a Market Day where one day per week, merchants could rez their things for a short span and do something like a Wednesday Market Day the French have, or a grocery market on Fridays like many other countries do. A huge commerce area only for a day.
Of course, there were nay-sayers in the lot, bashing LL and describing the myriad ways it could not work, but Summer kept offering refutation :) What struck me, though, and an idea I've been tossing around since I became a merchant is that there is no organized solidarity among us. There is plenty of feedback and help to be had just chatting within my own group--well, when a few aren't complaining how that's spam--and I've given as well as received which is why I think Summer tossed me right in the fire skipping the frying pan altogether.
As we discussed, I offered my ideas (still under development), and as people listened, more volunteered. We have a very key player who is willing to give us space to test out this idea, and if it's successful, we have investors! No names or concrete ideas just yet. All is still in the works, so more to follow.
At any rate, it seemed I was the one with the flow of ideas going and Summer nominated me to start the group. I did, but I have an agenda a mile long for this mercantile association, one goal being to provide support, leadership, and training to those who join. A secondary goal is to be independently competitive of LL if they're more interested in feeding off merchants as opposed to viewing us as fellow content developers and creators. So, I saw this coming from a distance.
In the coming weeks it will be interesting to see what this group morphs into as several have suggested it stay closed for now. I deferred since they know their fellow merchants better than I, but apparently, since they volunteered me to run this thing, they must believe as I do....
Stay tuned on this!
