Poaching - What does it mean & what can we do about it?
One issue that is always alluded to in OS is poaching. In order to get enough people on a grid or at an event, some people think you have to "steal" them from elsewhere. Poaching is the act of unethically convincing others to leave a grid to join another. I say unethically because none of us are indentured servants or obligators of the grid we choose to be on. Many of us are paying to be there, so that concept is utterly ridiculous.
That being said, there is territoriality across the hypergrid, and one way that some people have to perceive themselves as "better" or "best" is to harm another grid. No one likes to talk about it, but there it is. And as a consequence, the rules against poaching are often unspoken and obscured. It's a tough balance. How do I be open and supportive of other grids, without losing people from my own? How do I manage people who come to my grid and actively recruit others to leave?
In my last post, I stated that there is more than one type of griefing. Poaching can be a way of griefing, particularly if it is done with the intent of causing destruction to the grid community and ultimately the business. Our illustrious Jimmy Olson captured this with a new 3D image: People never truly leave OpenSim, they just make new alts...
If you are experiencing an issue with people openly poaching at your own events, request some coaching on how to handle this appropriately. Many had efforts on other grids or in Second Life and may be a great resource. You are important, your region is important, your events are important. If people are showing up and seem to be perpetually exasperating in their active recruiting efforts, it may not be your imagination. Whatever you do, consider carefully before you let a few incidents shut you down. That may actually be the intention of the effort.
And most of all, remember this: Time is on your side. As we all know, virtual world time moves differently from the "real world." Time moves much more quickly. Here, a month is 3 months. 3 months is a year. And so on. I recently heard someone referring to an issue that occurred in November as "a long time ago," like it was years ago. Typically, you can outlast the standard attention span of those causing issues. However, that doesn't mean you should ignore the situation. If you see consistently odd or frustrating behavior, your instincts are likely not wrong.
If you see something, say something.
As a grid owner I have witnessed poaching in just about every shape and form and it never amazes me the levels people will go to to make a grid look bad, when they own a lesser sized one or sometimes even a larger one that fears you more than they do and will soon surpass theirs in the popularity polls. I even had someone post on one of my events that we were an unfriendly grid, that she was there for a length of time then left because no one even bothered to say hello. Anyone who has ever come to one of my events knows i greet each person as they arrive. Sure enough this woman was not even on our console info as ever having entered that region or even our grid. It was an outright lie. The next thing I looked as was where she came from, why do this. It turned out she owned as small grid sand was having events at the same time we were. That is just so devious so petty and so messed up. Looks for her grid on the has been pages. People do catch on when you do things like that, at least one can hope so!
ReplyDeleteI am constantly saddened by that type of behavior. I am always left with "why?"
DeleteRecently I was accused of poaching from a former grid that I was on for many years. I had to sit back and laugh at that as this person was so off the beaten path it wasn't even funny . . . AMV has it's own honest to goodness reputation of being one of the most fastest growing grids around because of their one on one relationships with the residents. They have the Seed where we all meet at every Sunday and discuss issues that we have . . . not only grid related, but sometimes personalities clash . . . so we air our frustrations out amongst each other . . . we talk about up & coming events, etc that are soon happening, we talk about everything under the sun that needs to be talked about. This is the place that you want to be if you want quality relationships . . . we are a big healthy & very happy family here. We even get involved in each others personal lives (if that is what one wants) . . . we help each other along with our day to day real life struggles too. We lift each other up especially when we see one of us hurting. There is a saying . . . When one part of the body is hurting so is the rest of the body. If you have a headache it brings your whole aura down . . . sometimes your tum starts to feel bad because your head is feeling so bad that the pain has no where else to go so it starts affecting the other parts of the body. That's where our family here at AMV comes in. They come to each others rescue to help each other to get well again. Yesh, I did go off on a tangen here . . . just to show you what we do for each other here that I do not see in many other grids . . . but . . . as I stated before . . . AMV has a reputation of her own! ;) What a great reputation that is! She doesn't need to send out "poachers" . . . people see how we are growing with their own eyes. They hear from others how good & supportive of one another we are with there own ears. And they also feel the love & harmony we have amongst each other & with them when they come here to visit us, too! ;) We are like a magnet, just drawing people in with good vibes & positive energy! ;) People can just come & enjoy all the positive & upbeat happenings that AMV has to offer & socialize with us while enjoying the magnitude of our open & friendly family here at AMV, which, by the way, would not be this way if it were not for Cat & Cliff, the grid owners! Cat & Cliff make this grid so very special. They go out of there way to make this grid what it is today. It will never stop growing. There will always be new events, sims, & awesome people working together to make this grid keep on keepin' on! Thank you Cat & Cliff for making this grid here on AMV what it is today! Love you both ta pieces! Huggiez! ;)
DeleteWhat a lovely post, Passion! ty!
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