Please also note my name, I’m a Dutch descendant. My Dutch Father married my American Mother. I was born in NYC. So I really do know the cultural conflicts, the challenges etc.

Amsterdam shares sensibility with New York City? Is this based on it once being called New Amsterdam? If so, this is laughable. The reality is that a lot of companies chose Amsterdam based on Schipol being the closest airport back to America for Mainland Europe. Before the European Union, it was the safest bet for American companies after London.

Since that time. Unless you deal in Diamonds or certain traded bonds, Amsterdam is just a relevant as Paris, Bonn, Cologne, Frankfurt, London etc.
There are more American companies in London than here in Amsterdam. fact. The center of Europe is Brussels. fact.

Closer links to NYC? You’re actually talking about London, as both are the financial capitals. Both have more flight connections. Share a common language. More joint ownership of media, culture and businesses. So not quite sure, where your logical comes from?

As for American’s being more welcome in Amsterdam? You’ve got to be kidding?! Amsterdam is attempting to clean up it’s image of being the Cannabis Capital and the place to see ‘girls’ in windows. As an American, I’m embarrassed by the droves of frat boys and college kids who come here. Solely to get high, drunk and treat the place like a tailgate.

Language? Your arrogance is amazing. They do get shirty. They just have to put up with us American’s having an education system that doesn’t encourage learning languages. The Dutch speak Dutch, a lot of them also speak German. Also English, please note that word “English”. They don’t speak American, they speak English.

Our world standing is not good. Our greatest world export at the moment is “Unified ill feeling and resentment”. This ripples through all my dealings with business people and friends in Holland. Which is a very open and liberal country, with little time for right-wing sentiment. They are concerned, they even did that patronizing “Oh you must be so happy Obama is here to rescue America?” This is common in France, German and we even experienced it on family holiday to Scotland this Summer.

Europeans are naive and arrogant? Your post speaks volumes about your understanding of “The Old World”. Also love how you have to cite why your ancestors left Europe. lol.

I’m not looking for a job. Although, the people at the meet up were all clambering to get one. I enjoy what I do, SL is a fun hobby.

From Google searches, you seem to divide and inflame a lot of people. Prokofy, the world of SL is changing. Are you equipped and ready for the New World?

Marco – Virtual Holland

I’m always able to confer anew, too, why I didn’t remain an American with expats abroad, too : )

The snarkiness, haughtiness, class warfare, and incitement of hatred fairly drips from this post. Shame on you.

What’s in it for you?! Hoping to get a consulting contract for “localization”?

Gotta love Linden Lab, shitting on their customers especially on the Mainland for six years, then suddenly acting surprised that they complain, and even launch lawsuits.

Then opening a fresh page with naive Europeans who haven’t had to deal with Linden reality yet, and blaming Americans for “negativity”.

Outrageous.

One reason Americans tend to chose the Netherlands is because there is some shared history and sensibility with New York City and other settlements, and the Dutch just are nicer and friendlier to Americans, and don’t get all shirty about not speaking their language or being “crass” or “commercial”.

like most Americans, LL have come to Europe thinking they’re in a foreign land. They go all crazy for the romance of Paris, the sleaze of Amsterdam and teutonic over Berlin. They come to London and they see America in reverse.

It’s a bit like the old days when film stars used to make embarrassing TV commercials in Japan, knowing it would never be seen in the USofA.

Well M, the Internet is here. Words and images travel.

From the report, I also understand the LL are going to be really pushing Europe as the future of SL. With 67% of the SL community out side the USofA. America is descending, Europe/ROW is ascending. Fact. Those figures confirm it.

Also, ROW/Europe does seem to be just getting on with it, just look at how much activity happens in Japan. Amazing content and a real community. They don’t troll as much and don’t relish the opportunity to spike LL with opportunistic legal action.

Is it just me, or do us American residents seem to be disgruntled and on the constant LL attack? No wonder LL are more open in Europe, they get treated with respect and not confronted with the old SLCC mantra “If I ran LL I would do it this way…” or worse, they think they run (fantasize they have Philip on speed dial) SL because they have been in SL since 2004. The weight of expectation in Europe seems to be less, they just enjoy it for what it is.

Mainland Europe has one of the lowest rates of credit card ownership. So you’re going to really have to rethink that payment system. I work for a bank in Amsterdam, you would be shocked, they just don’t do credit like us Americans!

Also Europe is very split, with UK, France, Germany, Netherlands being leaders, the rest of Europe tends to lag behind. The other countries are slower to adopt. Instead, they take their lead from the other leading Eurozone countries. Language and culture is a barrier, SL in Europe is an urban environment.

Should be an interesting journey, I question why they would choose Amsterdam. Don’t be fooled LL, Amsterdam is not like Brighton, it’s not the liberal Burning Man experience. If you’re really serious, take the plunge in Berlin, London or Paris.

To many times we are hearing the catch words community/partners with regard Linden Lab, and am yet to see signs that said communities and partner’s are in constructive dialogue to better this thing we call virtual world.

Much as I applaud the work being done with regard enterprise,and all the new ways to give us tools, without marketing of the platform for use by the general public which so far has been done by users of the platform, traction will not be gained in the wishes of Linden Lab to maintain its place at the moment as the leading platform provider.

As the pendulum swings into the next decade, and content producers look for new spaces to market their wares Linden Lab should take the lead and market itself as this space, or face the possibility that dedicated spaces will rise from this lack of marketing/leadership.

I shall reiterate my belief that the virtual space we shall all live with in the future will involve the greater open community as proven by the success of social websites, which already are beginning to take up some of space which rightfully belong in virtual worlds as we perceive it to be in the future.

We watch for moves on the marketing front, as so many of us have staked our businesses on the future of secondlife.

Julius Sowu Virtually-Linked London