Designer Showcase Network

I've been meaning to blog about this for the past week, but all the non-picture posts were stressing me out. I cannot WAIT to get my stupid new video card. But for this, I upped my settings a little and prayed not to crash while I took a picture. :) Hopefully a little Orton Effect and a little liquify will mask how badly I'm seeing the world these days. LOL

Do you like my skirt?




That skirt came to me last night from Sn@tch, via the newest and most awesome thing in SL, the Designer Showcase Network. Haven't heard of DSN yet? You are missing OUT!!

Created by the brilliant Rika Watanabe and my good friend [and equally brilliant] Peter Stindberg, the Designer Showcase Network takes us back to a time when designers who chose to give gifts did so generously, and not in desperation to drive traffic to their stores. After all, what good is traffic if no one is buying? I maintain that gifts are truly one of the best marketing tools in SL, if used correctly, not as an attempt to force people into wandering aimlessly around your store searching for a gift they may or may not even like in the end.

DSN is really really simple to use, especially if you're a subscriber. All you have to do is go to a place with a kiosk and sign up! Oh where can you find a kiosk? Well, you can head right on over to WTFug HQ and go inside. It's on the wall by the scale and looks like this:





[There are also lots of other places to sign up as well, and you can find SLurls to on the DSN website if you didn't want to visit HQ.]

Like any regular subscription kiosk, just click it. It'll ask you which channel you want to sign up for to receive gifts. There are 9 channels:

* Female fashion
* Male fashion
* Skins and hair
* Jewelry and Accessories
* Home and Garden
* Gadgets, Vehicles and Weapons
* Animations and Poses
* Business, Tools and Services
* Full avatars

Currently I'm signed up for every channel, but you can choose one, two, or all nine. Just whichever you're interested in! There isn't a "Subscribe To All" button that I'm aware of, so just click again when you want to sign up for another channel.

And then? You wait for gifts!

It's been SO AWESOME to get gifts, both from the designers I know and the ones that are new to me. It's been great to check out new stores, too! The pretty skirt I'm wearing in the first picture was a gift from Sn@tch, which I think gets overlooked all too often as being just a "punk" store. [Although it did come with pink skully top, which I'm not wearing even though it was cute.] My adorable friends Aisuru, Laleeta, and Lola are also all part of the DSN. You can find a full list of DSN designers on this page.

If you're a content creator and want to join, it's very easy! There is a one time fee for your starter kit, which you can buy at the Clever Things store or on Xstreet. There are some rules, but it's nothing that you probably wouldn't agree to anyway. :) If you're interested in having just a subscription kiosk on your land, you can pick that up for free.

I really hope you all subscribe, or join if you're a creator, because I think this is really just one of the most marvelous things in SL these days. Thank you, Peter and Rika, for putting it together. And huge huge huge thanks to the creators who have been so generous to put out samples of your work. Everytime I get a gift, I am amazed at the talent & creativity that is in Second Life, and I get excited to go see more of your work. You are the ones that keep this world wonderful!