Pollywog, thank you for your apology.

Please remove me from this video or use the image in context….sticking me there next to Newt was very disturbing, especially since I was never given that opportunity in the real world.  You can gladly use images of my avatar at the end of the video after Newt left, at the time when I was allowed to go to the stage and become part of the conversation…and especially you can use my image holding up the signs that I held for that hour.  Without the protest signs seen there is a lack of context and balance.

We walk a delicate line with machinima and these virtual characters, and when we take more liberties with those images as artists we can sometimes do things to people that they would not like done.  Your video has sparked good conversations with journalists, lawyers and producers on how to avoid these problems in the future.

I will gladly hold up a protest sign and give you a different shot to use….the grey goo kept the signs out of the picture and your video painted a very different image than the one we experienced from the back of the room.  I have no personal attack on you or Newt, but I have felt very used and misrepresented, seeing my avatar prominently featured in photographs as if I were a happy invited guest!

I have one sign that says “Yes to Freedom of Speech, Avatars and People”—it seems appropriate here.  Newt was trying to use the metaverse as a great “uniting” platform but tech challenges meant that many of us in the back were left out in the cold, puppet protesters in a political game with little true relevance.  We couldn’t hear or be heard unless we shouted loud, and the dialogue that everyone else enjoyed was often not open to me.

Of course….it could be the real world where protesters are often tazered, targeted or jailed…..at least in the virtual world I know that nothing done to my avatar will really hurt me. 

In that one hour I crashed, got booted up to the sky, lost my hearing/audio and received lots of personal messages from diligent organizers who were trying their best to stream a good event.  It’s a challenge to organize people across boundaries, in real or virtual worlds, and I hope that the next time you shoot a news piece the whole story comes through in your video.  I also produce events and teach machinima, helping avatars to work together to produce short, balanced and comprehensive videos that share these events with respect and integrity for the avatars featured.

At the time you were standing in the area where the audience had been seated, toward the rear and on the left. It was taken after the session was over, but it was not my intention to place you out of context. However, I believe that you did say it was a shame that you could get in only as a protester. 

My apologies.

Pollywog Gardenvale

This video is a gross misrepresentation.  My green fairy avatar is featured prominently as if I was standing next to Newt….but I was back behind the big protest sign, not allowed within 50 feet of the stage during the event!  You cannot see most of the protest signs due to poor machinima capture and grey goo (non-rez) issues, but we were holding large signs that spoke directly to the issues of control and power that Newt was addressing on stage.

Please do not promote any future videos by this “newssource” without factchecking….my avatar was misused and featured out of context without permission, painting a very different picture than the one that was experienced by those of us who had to “protest” in order to get anywhere near a seat at the dialogue.  Newt was very well coached to speak about the importance of “public dialogue” but the protesters couldn’t hear half of what he was saying because we were kept in a separate area at such a distance that we couldn’t get close enough to participate in the conversation or get our questions answered. 

A sham of a dialogue, and a ridiculously poor piece of video.  I was there and I make video….this is not a good portrayal of the scene.