I disagree regarding the presence of public agencies in Second Life because I believe government has an obligation to be where the people are. To use an imperfect analogy, your argument would be that government (or public sector agencies...Canada Post is the latter) should not be on the internet, should not have branch offices, should not have call centres, should not sponsor community events (winter clothing for children comes to mind)...in short, should not do all of the things governments do to connect with their citizens, or to enable their stakeholders to connect with them.

Some of the many dynamic communities in Second Life are public sector...NOAA, public libraries, universities, CDC, NASA. As to the price of a SL presence, the cost of doing business in Second Life is a fraction of say, putting one directory on line. SL does not equate "big government" or "wasteful government" in itself.

So I see the public sector presence in SL as going to where its citizens are going, ie, to virtual worlds.

I'd agree with you with regards to the educational aspects of a government agency's presence in SL, but I'm sure that sponsoring musicians or events found elsewhere in SL really benefits their funding sources (ie the taxpaying public).

NASA, NOAA, public libraries, CDC are all putting their funding into the builds with education and informing/enlightening the public in mind. I've learned something from the ones I've gone to, come away with something.

But as much as I like Max Kleene, to the point where I've invited him to play in the clocktower, I fail to see how his performance forwards the community in such a regard.

An example of my rather draconian view on such issues locally: METRO is sponsoring the appearance of the Lucy fossil in Houston. Never mind that METRO has a limited scope - move people from point A to point B and back again - they thought it would be within their scope to move a fossil to Houston for display while cutting service.

How much in taxpayer dollars were spent on that? Never mind what benefit that is to the community, mind you - it's outside the scope of that agency to do such a thing.

Is it the place of a postal service to be paying for musicians?

And, yes, I hold the US Postal Service in the same regard when I rankle at seeing a Tour de France team under their banner. What the heck does THAT have to do with getting mail around the country?

Music and dance are often a backdrop to attracting and building community in SL, so I don't have a problem with it.

Perhaps part of your issue comes from the different way we view arts and support of the arts. In Canada, public support of the arts is expected, whether right or left. So deserving (and some would argue not so deserving) artists and musicians do receive public funding to enable or assist them to develop their craft. I'd consider Maximillian to be completely deserving.

Additionally, there is also a public perception that public corporations such as Canada Post should be visible and doing more than just frittering public money away behind the scenes. Thus public agency support of sport and the arts is one thing that the majority of Canadians support, regardless of political spectrum.

So it is within the scope of every public agency to "build community" through any means available?

Sounds like budgetary and bureaucratic chaos to me.

If we take this to its logical absurdity, what's to stop the Department of Sewers from sponsoring chamber music down in their waste treatment plants or the Airport Authority from having Christo and Jeanne-Claude drape the runways with massive pink scrims?

Oh. Wait. C&JC raised the funds all on their own and didn't ask NTC for a single dime. Never mind.

Hrm.

I wil ladmit that it's possible to achieve visibility, inform the public, build up a community around your service or public good, and make the society better without going outside your agency/organization's scope.

With regards to Canada Post, I'd be less antagonistic with regards to their sponsoring events if, say, the events had something to do with Canada Post's mission... reason for existence. Maybe some kind of in-world presence demonstrating and educating the public with regards to stampmaking, stamp collection, what it takes to deliver mail and packages, explaining the routing codes, ways that they're going "Green" for the environment, etc.

This could be led by expert stamp collectors, stamp producers, etc. Maybe even invite people to display their own collections in SL, or "pimp out the mail van" vehicle builder contests, or something uniquely SL similar to the MOU/Crayon Coke project.

And if the musicians somehow had an interest in stamp collecting, MAYBE that would make sense in their promoting interactive exhibits, but only as a sheer attractor.

I suppose I ought to make a snide comment at this point:

"Why is it that Canada has such a rich tradition of subsidizing the arts, but all the top-name performers come down to America in the end?"

No. Really. Take Martin Short back. PLEASE!