First for the fun: a new machinima and live mixed video by Drax that features the TechSoup Community team behind the scenes working on the Nonprofit Commons in Second Life! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwAZ1-BstjE

And for the how and why of what we're doing in this community:
The people of TechSoup have been deeply saddened by the recent devastation in Haiti. We have been so inspired and impressed with the many ways folks are using mobile and other technologies to help with disaster relief. Together we have blogged about some of these relief efforts from the great folks at Ushahidi and the Extraordinaries as well as those of our donor partners.

Britt Bravo is on a much-deserved vacation, so I'm stepping in for her to keep news and information about the social change web coming your way!

July 18 - 20th saw the convergence of many thousands of women (and men) in San Francisco for the annual BlogHer conference. BlogHer, as you probably know, provides "opportunities for women who blog to pursue exposure, education, community and economic empowerment."

My avatar, Biji Mornington, has been attending Nonprofits in SecondLife (NPSL) meetings at the Nonprofit Commons (NPC; http://nonprofitcommons.org/) on Friday mornings. So when Megan Keane (Penguin Asana in SL) asked me to live-blog this mixed-reality event, I said yes. A lot of the buzz at NPSL meetings of late has been about the launch of NPC's second island, Aloft, and plans for this morning's mixed reality launch event. Our panelists are physically here at the Netsquared Conference and virtually inworld at Aloft. Here in San Jose, CA we can see avatars gathering at Aloft, and at Aloft the avatars also see our panelists by video. Evonne Heyning (In Zenzo) introduced our panel:

Just a quick reminder that TOMORROW, Wednesday, May 28, I will be speaking at a mixed-reality panel discussion from the NetSquared conference (http://netsquared.org/) in San Jose California. I'll be giving a presentation (along with several other fine presenters) on how my group Global Kids (http://globalkids.org/) has benefited from virtual worlds and offer some suggestions for how others might as well. Starting at 10AM PST, you can watch the event and participate live from the brand-spanking new "Aloft Nonprofit Commons" sim (click here to teleport: http://slurl.com/secondlife/aloft%20nonprofit%20commons/100/68/25).

Read more: http://www.rikomatic.com/blog/2008/05/reminder-im-spe.html

I am excited to be at the NetSquared conference alongside several other non-profits actively using virtual worlds in their work. Global Kids ( http://olp.globalkids.org ) have a number of interesting virtual world and transmedia projects that I look forward to presenting to folks on Wednesday, along with my colleagues. And I can't want to hear about the other mash-up projects being proposed by others and meet other non-profit and tech industry folks interested in the social media space.

Now it's after midnight and I should get some rest before tomorrow's activities begin.

Last year Avatar Action Center (AAC) was a fairly new project based in Second Life and dedicated to raising awareness about global sustainability issues when we entered the Netsquared competition, and I'm very pleased to say that we are still at it! In fact, we even recently received fiscal sponsorship from the Tides Center and have become the first group to form in Second Life that has gained 501(c)3 status (at least nobody has disputed this claim in the few months I've been asking around)>

Today, in the Nonprofit Commons weekly meeting, a group of Nonprofit Commons members discussed their Mash-up Challenge project. I am voting for this project, and I am endorsing them.

TechSoup will be hosting a free, one-day online event, Using Virtual Worlds & Emerging Technologies for People with Disabilities, this Friday, February 29th.

This interactive event will take place in two online locations: Second Life, and TechSoup's Community Forums.

Check out the fantastic MSNBC article Pixelanthropy: Charities tap into Second Life about nonprofits in Second Life and the Nonprofit Commons.

If you like the story, please cast your vote so that it has a chance to be nominated for the “Top Rated Stories."

You can also Digg it.

Image from NPSL blog post, Kiva in SL's Grand Opening Party at the NPC a grand success.

I don't know about you, but I have a terrible time walking, communicating and getting dressed in Second Life. I often end up sitting on someone's lap at an event and I have to find an unpopulated place to change my clothes in case I end up standing around in my underwear while I figure out how to put things on.