The Mystery Of The Secret Interview With Xiola Linden

I was exploring the glorious streets of Meauxle Bureaux, home of The Linden Department of Public Works. I was strolling along, minding my own business, when a horse drawn carriage pulled up alongside me, the door opened and a voice ordered “Get in, your presence has been requested“. Cautiously, I entered the carriage, only to find myself immediately blindfolded.

After a journey of not inconsiderable time, I was bundled from the carriage, taken through a door and sat in a chair, “Gray of The Lab from San Francisco sends his regards“, a voice whispered in my ear and then the blindfold was removed. The room was in darkness but slowly illuminated with light. I heard footsteps, a woman’s footsteps by the sound of it. My hunch was correct as shortly a woman stood before me.

“Xiola Linden, Second Life Lead Community manager, pleased to meet you. The word on the street is that you want to ask questions,” she said.

Somewhat taken aback, I wondered where I was. Had I been taken to the top secret location that the Lindens deny exists, Area 51 style, was I in LindenWorld? I asked the woman claiming to be Xiola if she had ever been to the top secret LindenWorld HQ that us mere mortals can’t visit?

“If I told you, I’d have to ban you. 🙂” she replied.

This told me two things, one was that I was not in LindenWorld and two that this really was Xiola Linden, only a lead community manager would talk of the ban hammer in such a fashion. The further fact that I’d met Xiola before confirmed the truth, I had been smuggled into a secret location, to conduct a secret interview with Xiola Linden, which I am now at liberty to be able to share with you all.

Xiola Linden has been at the forefront of Linden Lab’s renewed vigour for good community relations, she can be found on Twitter, Flickr, the official Second Life blog, at inworld events and more. Whereas it would be grossly unfair to give Xiola all the credit for these renewed good community relations, she is certainly a star attraction. However what of the team itself, I asked Xiola how many people are in the community team?

“We have a small dedicated community team whose job is to focus 100% on our communities, but there are many people outside of our team whose jobs of course include caring about about the community, interacting with users, and keeping their eyes peeled for community-related issues. It’s good to know too that many Lindens spend time inworld on alts (I know I do!) so you may be interacting with a Linden and not even know it.”

Xiola joined Linden Lab in 2011, I wondered whether she had experienced Second Life prior to that?

“I’ve been active in Second Life since 2006. In that time I’ve been a shopper, DJ, designer, and still do those things when I am not on official Linden Lab business. My oldest Second Life friend is responsible for getting me in to Second Life. We met on LiveJournal, and now we’re both still active in Second Life.”

I then asked an all important question, in words that don’t include the word “passionate”, how would Xiola describe the Second Life community?

“Inventive. Creative. Problem-solvers. Visionaries. Vocal. Sometimes misunderstood. I can almost always expect that each day this community will do something fascinating! Much like Second Life itself, I think the community is resilient and inventive.”

Then I moved on to job satisfaction, what does Xiola enjoy about her job?

“It’s hard to believe it’s part of my job, but I really love just meeting with and talking to people inworld when I can. Not just about Second Life, but about the whole of their lives. Sure, there are a lot of people who have ideas about how they think Second Life can be improved, and I love hearing those ideas as well, but it’s the stories of the people who login that really stand out. I love hearing about people’s Second Life origin stories because it usually has a prologue of interesting events that lead them to Second Life and continues to bring them back.”

Xiola of course occupies a role that probably doesn’t gain the respect it deserves. I’ve banged on before about how important community management is for Second Life, it’s important in many other places too, I asked Xiola if community managers get the respect they deserve?

“That’s an interesting question and a difficult one to answer to some degree. If you look at a handful of job descriptions you’ll see that each has its own nuances, but at the end of the day we are a little bit of whatever comes at us. Customer support, marketing, advocate, you name it we do it! We’re out there, which puts us under fire sometimes. Usually it’s a lesson for us on how to improve our processes and communications, but sometimes we’re just a target for people who get a kick out of poking us with a stick! All that said – respect is awesome. I respect this community so immensely, so getting some respect in return is a very high honor.”

However many a Second Life resident has never encountered a Linden, although they are very much around, I pondered where would the average Second Life resident expect to encounter Xiola Linden?

“You never know when or where you’ll run into Xiola, but here’s a secret – I love to shop! Events are a wonderful go-to for tried and true brands and quality content, but I also like discovering lesser known shops and brands. I am always exploring new places in general for good inworld meet-up locations, great places to take pictures, places that may not be in our Destination Guide but should be, all kinds of reasons. If I hear about something that sounds interesting, I will try to get there. Keep blogging about cool places, and letting me know where the hidden gems are!”

I then moved on to the future, what would Xiola like to see in the future for Second Life?

“I can’t wait to see what creators do with some of the new stuff we’ve been adding – like Experience Keys. I think that is going to really change how people create and interact with story-telling games and hunts in Second Life. We’ve seen what people have done to try to push the envelope with things like the Tag! Gacha and the Pulse Games. Madpea, of course has always found inventive ways to make an immersive experience.  I am pretty sure the creator community will figure out ways to use that technology that we never even dreamed up.”

As a follow up I asked , will Xiola be leading the community team into the brave new world of Linden Lab’s nextgen virtual world?

“Things are still being firmed up with the new platform across several areas but I have been involved early on with community related items. And of course, I have been here all along through the initial announcement of our working on something new. I’ve had the same questions, concerns, curiosities and thoughts as the rest of the Second Life community, and I think that will be a great advantage and wealth of information as we move into building that community.”

What of working for Linden Lab, though, is good place to work? I noted that Linden Lab appear to have a very diverse workforce, would Xiola recommend Linden Lab as a good place for minorities and women to work at?

“It’s a great place for anyone to work at! We’re definitely a melting pot of all walks of life. These are some of the smartest people I’ve ever worked with, too. That might not always seem like the case when things break, but it takes some mad skills to keep Second Life running as smoothly as it does after a dozen years.”

However one point that sometimes those of us in Virtual World environments overlook is that behind every avatar is a real person. I assumed the same held true for Xiola, who is based in San Francisco. Now San Francisco has come a long way since the days Karl Malden and Michael Douglas patrolled the streets, so I asked whether San Francisco is as cool as it looks?

“Yes! The weather is pretty amazing, the food is phenomenal, and it’s close to the water. We’re close to the Piers and walking around there is like walking around the Arcade in Second Life – with the StrawberrySinghLightUpMySLife windlight setting.”

I followed this up with a further test of whether there’s a real person behind Xiola, I asked Xiola what does she enjoy outside of Second Life?

“I love to write, and read. I am also a bit retro-obsessed. I get excited about things like Formica and Pyrex. I listen to a lot of music – pretty much if I am awake and not in a conversation with someone I am listening to music. I love cooking and am currently testing out healthier variations of some of my favorite recipes (though I can’t quit cheese!). I like walking. My neighborhood has some nice hills that I like to tackle with the right music as my motivator. I play video games, hang out with friends, and actually enjoy domestic activities like cleaning and organizing.”

I then moved on to more serious matters. This whole interview had been made possible due to connections with Gray Of The Lab from San Francisco (AKA Peter Gray), I asked Xiola whether Gray of The Lab from San Francisco is a good person to work alongside or is he in the clutches of Mortiarty’s influence?

“I’d say he’s more Sherlock than Moriarty – always a step ahead and sharp as a tack. And I am not just saying that because he’s my boss. Honestly, the team I work closest with (which he’s a part of) is pretty spectacular. I’m just so glad I get to be the resident (or should I say Resident?) Second Life community go-to-gal in the group.”

I then moved on to possibly the most important issue of all, my fee. I pointed out that when I interviewed MadPea Games they promised me a Tuna Fish sandwich, would Xiola make the same offer?

“I put celery in my tuna fish salad – so provided you’re ok with celery, if ever an opportunity to do so came up, sure! I already owe Draxtor some cheese. Or he owes me some. I forget which. How about a tuna fish forgetwhich?”

I shall have to ponder this! With that the lights went out again and I was left in the dark. How do I get out of here, I pondered.

“Teleport, as you normally would“, came a voice, displaying an uncanny knack of reading my mind. I teleported out and reached inside my pocket to find a photograph, this proved without doubt that I hadn’t imagined this interview.

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