1. Jeanne Schimmer and I are engaged in an active campaign to re-landscape many of the parcels recently left vacant and emptied of landscaping. Everyone should understand that new buyers respond hugely to the attractive appearance of parcels they consider to buy. Beautification contributes very importantly to the value of our land.
2. I am exploring ways to lock down many of the beautification improvements that we are making. On most parcels, when a resident leaves, all the prims present on that parcel are removed, including the ones we've placed there for beautification. We are experimenting with ways to prevent that.
3. We are discussing launching a land advertising campaign on XStreet. We've never advertised our land sales before, other than on our website, so this will be a first. Any suggestions regarding such a campaign are welcome.
4. We are exploring paying residents commissions to bring in new residents. Again, your comments to me are welcome about such an idea.

Get ready for a full day of help for Haiti on Saturday, Feb. 6, as the Islands of New England embark on a marathon fund-raising effort.

Music begins at 5 a.m. with DJ Seraja Seriman spinning for your entertainment and winds down at 11 p.m. as the final chords of Eponymous Drake echo into the night.

Throughout the day, silent auctions will be held at many shops of the islands' merchants. Join us for this true community effort to aid those who are in desperate need.

A full schedule of the musical acts is available from the Events Calendar.

Be sure to wander the streets of the villages where the participating silent auction merchants include:

Fidos Fashion, Sea Maine, Dulce and Cabana, Wherefore Art Thou, Nantucket Mermain, Serapis Designs, Wilkommen Homes, Magic Flowers, Cozy Essentials, Wilma Websters Shoes and Boots, HMH Homes, Kiku Craft, Nautical Shop and Rendevous Animations.

Come, enjoy and open your hearts.

The good life in Second Life depends on prims. The more the better. This is a notice to remind you that if you live on a full sim in New England... *not* a homestead... we have more prims available for you if you'd like them. We can give you prims for free... no need to buy them. But you will have to pay tier on them; the tier is about L$1300/month for 100 prims. If you're interested, please IM me (Sudane Erato) with how many you'd like!

When you get more prims, you are actually getting more land in the same sim as your house. The prims that come with that land add to the prims that came with your first parcel, so that now you have more you can use in your house. The "prim land" is likely to be underwater someplace in the sim... you cannot use that land to put things on. But so long as you are careful to make sure that the same person owns both pieces of land, all the prims on both parcels are available for your home.

If you need more info, just ask!

Hey. Halloween. Here's a haunt for you..

Thursday from 6 to 7 p.m. there's a party in the barn on the Islands of New England.

Musical guest  Ravashai Bentham and Live Kona Raido.

There will be door prizes provided by the merchants.

Come and get your gourd on.

You may know that all signs are forbidden in the residential areas of New England. We're very concerned to preserve the quiet residential quality, and everyone knows what a downer the signs are all over the mainland. So, we've always said "No Signs".

But we're also concerned to help residents who need to sell their parcels get the word out in the most effective way, and help them get the best possible price. We maintain a very up-to-date listing service on this site, and we're beginning a campaign to tell the SL world that parcels *are* available here in New England. Of course, visitors can see your parcel for sale by looking at the yellow areas on the SL map.

Prim Perfect Magazine's September issue focuses on our own Islands of New England, featuring several articles about our community. The photographs are stunning! You can get the issue inworld at the kiosk in Mystic or read it in your Web browser.

To celebrate autumn, our lovely new landscaping from Heart Botanicals (and lots of coordination and hard work by Sommer Shepherd), and the beautiful Prim Perfect issue, we're throwing a party!

Thursday (Oct. 10/8), starting at 6pm SLT, we've got three straight hours of great music planned. There will be door prizes and dancing and lots of fun.

6pm  - Cylindrian Rutabaga, the virtual representation of Atlanta singer-songwriter Grace Buford, performs a unique blend of folk, pop, blues, and soul wrapped in the phrase of modern acoustic folk.

7pm  - FrankLee Anatra, a real world veteran performer for more than a decade, plays classic rock and originals, accompanied by his acoustic guitar for his SL audiences.

8pm - Harper Messmer blends pop, rock, and R&B into a musical arsenal of originals and covers from some of today's top artists for a show it's almost impossible not to enjoy.

Mark your calendars now and be sure to join us!

The gangway of the S.S. Galaxy hits the shores of the Islands of New England in October, bringing visitors to see our fall colors from the combination residential, commercial and entertainment cruise ship.

The Galaxy, which stretches over three sims and is Second Life's premier cruise ship, hits a number of ports of call throughout the year including San Diego, Dublin, Rotterdam and Rio. But of course the fall is reserved for New England.

Guests will disembark at the dock near the Lampson Schoolhouse in Mystic, conveniently located for tourists at the start of the area's walking tour and just next to the pedal boats.

What is one of everyone's favorite things to do in the summer? The fair! And it's coming to town!!!

Come enjoy the rides and the carnival atmosphere of the Islands of New England. Wander through the village, New England, Mystic, and Nantucket, and try out all the amusements, eat a hot dog or some cotton candy. Win a prize for your sweetie at one of the booths, check out the fabulous merchants on each sim. In short, celebrate the late summer with your friends in New England.

The event runs from Sept. 1-7, just just before the leaves turn and fall sweeps the islands. Make sure you bring your sweater to ward off the cool evening air, so you can stay and play with us all night long! As always, check the events calendar at slne.net, for the traditional live music concerts delivered daily.