Avatars representing survivors, caregivers, their families and the millions of passionate supporters engaged in fighting cancer worldwide will take center stage virtually, July 19-20, when the American Cancer Society conducts its fourth annual Relay For Life® event in the Second Life virtual world. The 2008 Relay in Second Life will celebrate the “heroes” who epitomize the Society’s global mission and who represent this summer’s virtual world event theme.

Thank you kbaird for the photo!

Join in the Celebration of the Launch of the Second Nonprofit Commons Sim! Nonprofits and their supporters will be hosting a mixed reality grand opening celebration in San Jose as part of the NetSquared conference and in the metaverse on Wednesday, May 28, 2008, starting at 10:00 A.M. PST/SLT (Second Life Time), in the new second Nonprofit Commons location.

Highlights:

Three ways to be a hero.

One event to launch them.

The Second Life Event April 26th will celebrate the launch of:

Windows Server 2008

Visual Studio 2008

SQL Server 2008

At the February 15th NPSL (Nonprofits in Second LIfe) weekly meeting, NetSquared Team member, "Handyland Fairymeadow", will be speaking about the NetSquared Mashup Challenge, and be available to answer your questions.

The meeting runs from 8:30 AM-10 AM PST/SL. Handyland Fairymeadow will speak at about 8:55 AM.

To attend, teleport to the Ampitheater in the Nonprofit Commons.

Image Credit: Best Practices for Nonprofits in Second Life uploaded to Flickr by mekrighthere.

Friday, February 8, from 8:30-9:30AM PST, there will be a presentation and discussion on, "Best Practices for Nonprofits in Second Life," in the Plush Nonprofit Commons Amphitheater in Second Life (teleport SLURL).

The event is based on the report "Best Practices for Non-profits in Second Life" by Rik Panganiban of Global Kids. The report was made possible with support from the Digital Media and Learning Initiative of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Not sure if you should attend? According to the post on the Nonprofits in Second Life Blog:

"This forum is particularly relevant for non-profit managers, activists, funders, and community organizers trying to decide if Second Life can help their organizations. And we encourage groups to share your own experiences (good and bad) with working in SL during the open discussion period. We'll close the event with ideas for next steps in building up civil society spaces in Second Life, and beyond."

For more information, contact Rik Panganiban at rik@globalkids.org. In Second Life, IM Rik Riel.

Image: Paix Writer (me) at the Nonprofit Commons.

CentsCity, an online virtual city that strengthens young people's ability to become financially savvy adults, was recently funded by Echoing Green, an angel investor in early-stage social entreneurship:

If you missed the launch of the Nonprofit Commons in Second Life last week, a video of the event is up on the NetSquared blip.tv channel.

You can hear speakers from within Second Life and from San Francisco at the live event:

Last night over 100 avatars in Second Life and 60 people in San Francisco gathered to celebrate the opening of the Nonprofit Commons in Second Life.

Speakers included Anshe Chung/Ailin Graef (the world's first virtual millionaire who donated the space for the NPC), Glitteractica Cookie/Susan Tenby of TechSoup (the NPC Team Leader), Jeska Linden/Jeska Dzwigalski (Community Manager of Linden Lab), In Kenzo/Evonne Heyning (Creative Director at Amoration.org), and Coughran Mayo/Dick Dillon (the NPC Main Tenant Contact).

You can see tons of photos from the virtual event (including swing dancing!) here on Flickr and a few photos from the real life event here.

Let us know about other photos, blog posts, audio, and video recordings from the event in the comments. Thanks!

Update: Check out Lotusmedia 2.0's liveblog of the event here. 

Photo: Glitteractica Cookie/Susan Tenby and Jeska Linden/Jeska Dzwigalski speak in two worlds.