Linden Lab Official:Community Partnership Program

Guidelines for Community Partnership Program Requirements

Application and Eligibility

There are many existing Second Life® communities that feel that they could benefit from a partnership with Linden Lab™. Recently, we have taken steps in this direction, and have begun to outline how this joint partnership would work. The Blake Sea project acts an example of such a partnership, with Linden Lab providing the Regions and the United Sailing Sims(USS)providing the content, community, and events. We also understand that the needs of each community are as diverse as the communities themselves, so a part of the application process will set expectation levels for both parties involved. Unfortunately, we are unable to accommodate everybody. Specifically, Linden Lab is interested in partnering with well-established, active, sizable, and growing Community groups that have a clear theme or purpose. Regular and inclusive events, Regions that are always accessible to the public, and free content are all things we look for.

In order to be considered for a partnership with Linden Lab, please see the requirements below.

1. The Community or Group should have clearly defined purpose or theme
2. It should be a stable community with clear leadership to represent it
3. As a Community or Group, it should have been active within Second Life for at least a year
4. The Group and its Owners/leaders must be in good standing with Linden Lab
5. Must be accepting and open to new users and not exclusive or closed
6. The Group must own at least one full Region of Group Land that is open and accessible to the majority of Residents
7. It will help if you have active social network outside of Second Life; a web page, Group MySpace, Twitter, YouTube account are a few examples

In addition, we will be looking for groups that have a good roadmap for how they intend to develop and grow their community.

To propose a joint project or partnership with Linden Lab, the Community leaders should submit a proposal.

#1 - Submitting your Proposal: Submit a proposal using a Support Ticket. When putting together your proposal you should consider the following..

• Describe your Community in detail:
  • What are your aims?
  • Do you have a theme?
  • How are you organized?
  • Provide a list of key members, especially land owners, and their roles in the Group
  • Has the Group voted on your proposal, and is everyone in agreement?
  • Where are you based inworld; provide SLurl™ links so that we can come visit your community to learn more
• Explain precisely what you are proposing:
  • What do you need from Linden Lab to support your proposal?
  • What benefits will this bring to the Mainland, or to the wider Second Life community?
  • Is this an ongoing project, or for a specific time period after which it would end?
• Participating Groups will be evaluated in part based on their ability to:
  • Build and support a strong inworld community
  • Be transparent with the wider community on how it is run and how Residents can get involved
  • Allow the majority of Residents to join or be involved in Group activities
  • Allow other closely related Groups to also be involved
• Show how you provide a compelling inworld experience for all Residents, not just the members of the Group itself. Proposals should also outline plans for how the Group intends to manage the following:
  • Events
  • Prim needs and land management
  • Membership, Group roles and abilities

We will review the proposals we receive and give constructive feedback where needed. If we don't feel the idea is one we can move forward on, we will let you know why we have come to that decision.

#2 - Inworld Presentation

If we feel that the proposed project or partnership has potential, we will ask you to present your ideas to a group of Lindens inworld. It won't be too formal, so do use this time to be as creative as possible and to highlight the wider benefits. Try to focus on how this will benefit existing Residents, Mainlanders, and brand new Residents.

#3 - Terms Agreement Meeting

Not all applications will be successful. If you are unsuccessful, we will provide clear guidance on why and on what would need to change for you to apply again. However, if we think there is good potential, both parties will come together on a scheduled date and time to discuss the terms of an agreement to move forward. Linden Lab will set expectations and clearly define which roles each party is responsible for.

Community Partnership Areas

In some cases the proposal will include land, provided by Linden Lab as a new Mainland area to support the project. The Blake Sea Regions are a good example of this. These are known as Community Partnership Areas (CPAs). There are more details on how CPAs work below.

Community Partnership Program Governance Document

1. Second Life's Terms of Service (TOS) and Community Standards (CS) are the primary general governance documents for Second Life. That said, Community Partnership Areas require an additional and unique set of guidelines to help all Residents know not only what to expect, but what's expected of them.
2. All members of Second Life are expected to follow the rules and regulations cited in the CS, and when in a partnership area, the "rules of the road" when managed events in the area are under way. Resident community leaders are no exception, and must be held equally accountable to maintain the integrity of the partnership program.
3. A community specific Code of Conduct may be negotiated between the Partnership Group and Linden Lab if we deem it necessary. Linden Lab has the right to amend the terms of this governance document and the Code of Conduct at its discretion, but will always consult and work with the Community Group ahead of any changes. This Code of Conduct will simply set forth expectations for Residents on how to behave while in the Partnership Areas. An example of this can be found in the Blake Sea Code of Conduct.
4. Ban capabilities will not be granted to Residents on Mainland or in Community Partnership Areas.
5. Only in extreme circumstances, and after all other avenues of communications have been attempted, may a non-Linden event manager be permitted to make use of provided Group moderation capabilities (such as freezing and/or ejecting), and then only in the areas in which the events take place.
6. Freeze and eject moderation capabilities are only to be used to eject griefers who interrupt events held on municipal land, or to return objects that interfere with events in the community areas.
7. Each time a non-Linden community partner uses freeze and/or eject moderation capabilities, an Abuse Report (AR) must be submitted with a detailed explanation of the circumstances and mitigation efforts taken. Also, the community partner using these permissions will be required to provide details to Linden Lab for use in the AR appeal process as necessary. Failure to do so may result in revocation of these capabilities. More information about Abuse Reports is in our Knowledge Base.
8. If a Resident suspects these Group role permissions have been misused, Residents are encouraged to file an AR with the relevant details, so Linden Lab can investigate. The process of appealing an AR must be supplied by the community partner when initially using the Group permissions.
9. Abuse of the Abuse Reporting system to grief fellow Residents or to advance existing disputes may be deemed by Linden Lab to be a violation of the TOS and CS by either party involved in the dispute.
10. Resident Groups managing a community public area are encouraged to publicly post upcoming events to allow Residents the opportunity to prepare to observe rights-of-way in these areas. The only form of advertising that is acceptable in the Community Partnership Areas are promotions for an event itself. Such promotions are only allowed if the event is open and inclusive for all Mainlanders to either watch or take part. Any and all promotions are subject to prior Linden approval.
11. If Linden Lab determines a non-Linden Community Partner has abused the event management capabilities provided them, sanctions may be imposed, up to and including removal of the Resident from the Community Partner Group; suspension from holding Community Partner moderation roles; suspension and even permanent ejection from Second Life.
12. Disagreements or conflicts between members of the Leadership Group that escalate to a level where the Leadership Group cannot come to an agreement will be adjudicated by a Linden Lab employee.

Examples of Group Roles are as follows:

• Role Name: Everyone - This will be the most basic role, open to every member of the group.
  • Role Title: Resident
  • Role Abilities:
    • Receive Notices and view past Notices
    • Join Group Chat
    • Join Group Voice Chat

• Role Name: Events - This will be the role for those members of the community who actively participate in the planning and execution of events.
  • Role Title: Events Host
  • Role Abilities:
    • Eject and freeze Residents on parcels
    • Change music & media settings
    • Return non group objects

• Role Name: Officer - This is the role for those who are in direct communication with the Linden liaison, those who have proven to cultivate the community and care for its best interest in a drama-free manner.
  • Role Title: Captain / Officer
  • Role Abilities:
    • Invite People to this Group
    • Eject Members from this Group
    • Return non-group objects
    • Return objects owned by group
    • Return objects set to group

Linden Department of Public Works (LDPW) requests for Community Partnership area maintenance

• Resident Groups can request LDPW maintenance. Follow the steps below to create a PJIRA.

• Resident Groups are not guaranteed selection/approval of PJIRAs based on priority of other projects and time restraints.

• To create the PJIRA, follow the following steps:
  1. Go to the public JIRA.
  2. Log in with your Second Life account name and password.
  3. Select Create new issue.
  4. From the Project dropdown, select Second Life Misc Issues - MISC.
  5. From the Issue Type dropdown, select BUG.
  6. Click Next.
  7. Enter a one-line Summary of the problem.
  8. Set the Priority to Normal.
  9. Select Linden Build as the Component.
  10. In the Description field, describe your request in detail.
  11. Assign the request to Adam Blondin.
  12. Click Submit.

For additional information, go to Community Partnership Program FAQ and Blake Sea Code of Conduct