There Cares

By SoftlyDreaming

Last night I finally understood. I got it. I now understand what makes There.com so different. Why it's Ceo and it's staff and it's members are so passionate about their virtual world. It came to the forefront with a question during the town hall meeting on November 19th. A member asked: Will you be making an adult version of There? Mike Wilson immediately said: no. He then elaborated. There.com is based on the concept of the real world. In the real world you can't walk around naked and say whatever you want to people. He explained how virtual worlds are being looked at and questioned about their behavior and how There.com is proud of it's PG 13 standards. I realized at that moment I love There and stayed in There because I felt safe. It was a virtual world with standards and safeguards and that's what I wanted and needed. Many avies agreed. Members talked about how they are proud to be There and how it makes them feel secure.

 

 

That was just a start. As I had the privilege of following Mike and Mackie from after listening party to party, I saw the variety of members and their passion. I saw Mackie's hard work and Mike's dedication. At Lyceum members were concerned about quest kits. They wanted answers. At Zona Guides were concerned about the off hours where there were no helpers on duty. Mr Wilson talked about the fact he came in off hours to see for himself. It really seemed to disturb him as he mentioned he couldn't understand how people could treat each other the way they do sometimes. Just as he spoke a griefer began to curse and There's safeguards were demonstrated as Mr. Wilson directed Mackie, and the situation was immediately resolved.

 

At other parties individual members questions were answered personally. Mr. Wilson showed his funny side. At MeadowAngels's party he asked if Francis7 was housebroken. In his fox suit Francis assured him he also had his shots. And Mike left the party with a reminder to put Francis outside. He also talked to the designers present and valued their input. When it was time to leave he would always pause and answer that one last question, the members came first. At the skating rink Mike teased FallenAngel about her cute Santa outfit, saying she didn't get more presents because of it. She loved it. And as in the past during the meeting he answered the false rumors about There's closing. Jokingly he said he should have given them a date and said to get your avie affairs in order. But then he reassured us of There's future. Earlier he commented on that in answer to my question about social networks by saying that There is enjoying success on facebook and Twitter and Bsquared has some very strong goals in that area.

  

 

He answered a young members question on avie's cooking, no cooking planned but some parents were asking for dish washing to give you some more practice. I loved his humor that night. But what really touched me was his compassion. The meeting and the parties were summed up with a plea. To support the charity There.com has chosen this year. USA for UNHCR. http://www.unrefugees.org/ A real practical help for refugees. Mr. Wilson was concerned about what they have been through and how we can help. There.com will match our modest donations of twelve dollars (which Mike admitted for some can be a lot and will be appreciated immensely) and we will get some really great in-world t-shirts thanking us for those donations. But what we really get is to share Mr. Wilson's passion for people and to show that There Cares.