Enlightenment?

Maggie Mahoney sent me this link http://www.runwaysl.com/blog/?p=1150 after I posted about the Runway mess and accusations that had been thrown around.
In that post I did not give opinions merely stated the public view and 'press releases' that had been sent out.
After reading Maggies lengthy post about time lines and such I still find it amazing, even given Maggie's personal circumstances and her and Oceans wish to leave SL and Runway - perfectly understandable - the fact that they would announce it to the world without talking it over with their staff and not even informing their staff until over 3 hours later is much harder to understand.
If you are done with a thing then you are done with it right?
Leaving the staff in the dark almost completely and then getting upset because said staff turned to someone with experience and then accusing Frolic of doing so for his own gain is ludicrous! From all that has been said and written I can see no fault with Frolic he was ASKED to step in and did so in a speedy manner since there was much already in the preparatory stages that needed dealing with quickly, as with all publications it takes a lot more than people realise to get a magazine out on time and deadlines, models, photography all has to be organised, with the staff completely in the dark and seeing a lot of unfulfilled obligations, both Frolic and the staff at the time did their best.
I along with many others wish Maggie and Ocean all the best in their first life.
As for Frolic he tried to help in a confused situation and stepped back, as any gentleman would, when asked to do so - your reputation is untainted as far as I am concerned.

Dana Vanmoer

Runway CEOs retire leading to accusations

Ok so first I got a press release stating that Maggie Mahoney and Ocean Bates were retiring to first life:

Maggie Mahoney and Ocean Bates have left Second Life for personal reasons and we wish them the best of luck. She has left the magazine in the capable hands of their staff.

I read with interest as I had recently been asked to do an interview for Runway so I opened the online magazine and read the full post with interest - You can read it here.

In the press release (but not in the blog post) it also said:
It is the wish of RUNWAY staff members to incorporate ouselves with the BOSL & CO group and continue to offer the very best of the modeling and fashion industry.
"I have always supported Runway Magazine and I will continue to support it for as long as I stay in SL" said Frolic Mills, new Publisher of Runway Magazine.
Expect the same concept but exiting new improvements as we quickly reorganize the quarters of Runway Magazine!
RUNWAY WILL CONTINUE ITS PUBLICATION AS ALWAYS !

Well to be honest this kind of made sense so I shrugged and thought no more of it until today when I recieved another press release this time sent by Frolic Mills:
Maggie Mahoney just made a press release accusing BOSL to have taken advatage of the RUNWAY Staff by quickly 'moving' to get the magazine.

So I went back to Runway to see exactly what Maggie had said:

RUNWAY will not merge with BOSL&CO.The Magazine will close.Originally the magazine had been left to the staff; however, after learning that Mr. Mills coerced the RUNWAY staff into believing that RUNWAY was indebted to him, that he had been given full control of the RUNWAY server network, RUNWAY Subscribers kiosk, etc., immediately brought them in under the BOSL corporate umbrella, had them to form new groups under his control, etc., I have decided to retain the branding rights and trademark and let the magazine officially close.

My sincere and heartfelt thanks to the staff who did step up to the plate to try to continue on and my apologies that you were taken advantage of.

Any action of BOSL&CO acting on behalf of RUNWAY should be considered fraudulent and without the express consent of myself, Ocean Bates, RUNWAY, RUNWAY SL, RUNWAY Magazine or RUNWAY Productions.

Full post HERE

When asked Frolic said:
"I find this quite interesting since it was the staff who invited me to their meeting and it was their decission to let BOSL run it. I offered to help out specially because of all the outstading contracts she left unfulfilled and for which she gave no refunds at all.
RUNWAY MAGAZINE is in financial liability and will no longer have any working servers inworld. My only intention with acquiring this magazine was to rescue the good name and reputation of the publishing world, and to help the RUNWAY staff keep their jobs. There is no other advantage.
But, since she has made it clear that she does not want BOSL to be involved with RUNWAY MAGAZINE, I will now gladly return it to all the staff members.
Maggie Mahoney resigned from RUNWAY and left it to her staff with full permissions to do as they pleased. Therefore, Maggie Mahoney has no longer any rights to RUNWAY MAGAZINE nor logos and should not be heard in any future decission making.
I wish all the Runway staff the best of luck."

So yet another drama unfolds in SL.
Dana Vanmoer

RUNWAY Magazine Hits Milestone

Since launching their first issue in March 2008, RUNWAY Magazine has made its mark on the fashion industry in Second Life, distributing over 40,000 copies of their August 2008 issue alone.

Find out more in the DESIGN section

Venture Magazine launches Tomorrow!

Inspired by being able to help some of his store owners and hearing of how other successful business people have mentored young businesses, Giacobini set out to bring that help to the masses.
"I saw how some of my closest friends were lending their knowledge to some people and that made me realize that we could bring all of this knowledge to everyone that wanted it. Maybe we can even help establish accepted business models in a world where they don't exist, yet," says Giacobini.

Launching on August 1, 2008, Venture Magazine is entering an arena that filled with many other great magazines. However, Venture Magazine does not have any direct competition. As of this press release, there are no other montly magazines that feature business leaders and offer advice on how to grow small businesses into big businesses. This new tool for business owners will surely positively impact how business is done in SL, forever.
For further information regarding advertising, kiosks or magazine copies, please contact Carter Giacobini. To join the group for the magazine, simply do a search for "Venture Magazine"

VENTURE MAGAZINE WILL LAUNCH ON AUGUST 1, 2008 WITH THE MOST IMPORTANT COLLECTION OF COVER SUBJECTS IN SL HISTORY

Venture Magazine (SL's newest magazine) will be the most important publication for any business owner in the virtual world. Welcoming to its first cover will be Frolic Mills (owner of The Best of SL Magazine, Miss SL Universe, The Best of SL BLVD, etc), Charlotte Bartlett (owner of Scarlet Creative), Intlibber Brautigan (Owner of BNT, ACE stock exchange and founder of SLEC) and Alliez Mysterio (owner of over 100 sims). This landmark cover is just an introduction to a magazine that will surely become one of the most useful tools for business owners across the grid.
Using the slogan, "The Reality of Virtual Business", Venture Magazine will have sections each month for each of the major industries in SL - finance, sim development, fashion, media and public relations, prefabs and home furnishings. Also, there will be a section devoted to covering all of the changes that Linden Labs has made over the past month that effect how business is done in this virtual world. There will also be monthly forums with the cover subject taking questions from the readers that were not answered in the magazine. With an expected readership in the first month of over 3000 residents, it is anticipated that Venture Magazine will have one of the most successful magazine launches in SL history.
Carter Giacobini created this magazine after being in the business of sim development for over a year. He saw how so many new businesses that rented store space at his mall on Fire Island struggled with questions regarding business in the virtual world and, sometimes, were taken advantage of by other unscrupulous mall owners.
"It was so unnerving for me to see some of the nicest and best intentioned people getting so frustrated that they give up or get scammed by someone that some just wanted to throw in the towel even before they got started," explains Giacobini. "That's why I started this magazine. I want entrepeneurs to be able to educate themselves about how things work in here."
Inspired by being able to help some of his store owners and hearing of how other successful business people have mentored young businesses, Giacobini set out to bring that help to the masses.
"I saw how some of my closest friends were lending their knowledge to some people and that made me realize that we could bring all of this knowledge to everyone that wanted it. Maybe we can even help establish accepted business models in a world where they don't exist, yet," says Giacobini.
Launching on August 1, 2008, Venture Magazine is entering an arena that filled with many other great magazines. However, Venture Magazine does not have any direct competition. As of this press release, there are no other montly magazines that feature business leaders and offer advice on how to grow small businesses into big businesses. This new tool for business owners will surely positively impact how business is done in SL, forever.
For further information regarding advertising, kiosks or magazine copies, please contact Carter Giacobini. To join the group for the magazine, simply do a search for "Venture Magazine".