Meet the ZI Staff Part Two

Hello ZI residents and future ZI residents! I thought I’d post about four more awesome ZoHa Island staff, plucked in random order from a virtual hat. Today, I introduce to you Elite Carter, Ahwi Ash, Arsin Resident, and KiraLynnn Resident.

Elite Carter: Estate Manager

My Elite resizedOne of the great things about ZI staff, is that they have been in SL for many years, and Elite is no exception. He has been in SL since April of 2007. He came into SL because a friend told him about it, and he had to come see for himself.

Elite has been with ZI for two years. He started as a sales agent and is now an Estate Manager.

When asked what he likes to do in SL when he’s not doing EM duties, Elite says, “I love the interaction with  people all over the world, its challenging. I love  to go to live events to hear  music and dance  with my partner.”

In RL, Elite has been married for 28 years. He and his wife have two daughters. He is a proud Grandfather, as well.  He loves to ride his Honda Goldwing  motorcycle, and dining out in nice restaurants.

–•~~❤~~•–

Ahwi Ash: Sales Agent

Ahwi resizedAnother SL veteran, Ahwi has been in Second Life for nine years. When asked what brought her into Second Life, Ahwi says that in RL she is an avid rolepayer. She had heard that Second Life has 3-D graphics and also has places for Gorean rp, so she had to come and check it out. Ahwi says, “I had been used to text based roleplay in Gorean places, and someone recommended Second life. I thought to give it a try, and have yet to leave. I keep finding new things to explore and find the creativity of others just fantastic.”

Ahwi has been a sales agent with ZI for almost two years. Prior to that, she worked as a host in an SL bar. What she loved about that job was being able to be personable with the customers, making people laugh and smile, and helping them forget about their troubles for awhile.

When not working in SL, Ahwi likes rp, as well as build medieval, Gorean and biker themed items in her SL store, Legacy Creations. She also breeds fish. Her favorite places include her shop, of course, and she recently found a great urban roleplay sim called Verge.

In RL, Ahwi has very interesting and varied interests and activities. She does medieval reenactments, and enjoys heavy list fighting. “Strapping on armor and beating others with sticks… no really, ‘I want to kill you, not hurt you’ is a common phrase,” she laughs. Ahwi has no children, but loves her niece and nephews greatly, and enjoys spending time with them. She is also a volunteer firefighter and EMT.  She works as a reiki master, and volunteers her time in the local hospital treating children with terminal illnesses. She brews mead, makes cordials, does weaving, hiking, gardening, going for long rides with friends.  Ahwi is also learning to ride a motorcycle and she can’t wait for spring to be able to ride.

–•~~❤~~•–

Arsin Resident: Estate Manager

Arsin working resizedArsin has been a resident of Second Life for a little over five years. He states that he came into SL because of his wife, and he enjoyed it so much he stayed.

Arsin has been with ZoHa Islands for four months and works as an Estate Manager.

While in-world, he is a builder. When asked what his favorite places are in SL, he states, “My sim when I am not working.”

In RL, Arsin is married. He and his wife have four kids. His hobbies are being in SL, and working on and building computers.

–•~~❤~~•–

 KiraLynnn Resident (Kira): Sales Associate (and unofficial EM)

KiraLynnn Resident resizedKira has been in SL originally for six years. When asked what drew her to SL, Kira says that she had a friend who was into Second Life. Kira says, “She told me about it and so thought I’d check it out. Originally I didn’t like SL but a few months later I went back and got hooked.”

Kira has been with ZI about three years. Her main job with ZI is as a sales associate, and she does occasional unofficial EM duties, as well. In the past, has worked as a manager for an escort club called The Bishes Club. She developed her people management skills there, which serves her well in her customer service position in sales. She added land management expertise when she worked for RGF, another land company in SL, before she came to ZI.

In her free time in-world, Kira is fortunate in that she really enjoys her job selling land and helping customers. Kira states, “I also like to hang out with my SL sister, who is also an estate manager for Zoha Islands. I met her way before we became co-workers for the same staff team.” As far as her favorite places in SL, Kira says that would be anywhere her friends are.

In RL, Kira is single and does not have children. “I work online, Kira says, “and so here I am.” In addition to working online in SL, Kira also has her fingers in other things, such as running a hair accessory business, all online.

Stay tuned; more ZI staff introductions are coming! Next time, I will profile Deelish Wishbringer, Farrah Farquart, and Issabella40 Resident.

~ Suzanne Piers, ZI Social Media Manager

Meet Your Zoha Islands Staff!

One of the many things that ZoHa Islands has to offer that makes ZI different from other land companies in Second Life, is it’s amazing customer service. ZI offers SL residents 24 hour estate manager (EM) and sales coverage, so no matter your time zone, no matter your need, a friendly, helpful staff person is only a message away. Simply open group chat and ask for a manager and someone will IM you immediately.

Or if you’re new to ZoHa Islands and are looking for land, a friendly, knowledgeable sales person is at your fingertips to assist you in finding the land of your dreams. Simply browse through our available properties (you can find them listed in the tab to your left) and teleport to one of our available properties, and you will be greeted by one of our awesome sales staff. They can help you find exactly the land you’re looking for within your budget. If you prefer to browse on your own, feel free to do so.

Because of the recent changes at ZI and the influx of some new staff from the Bonaire Estates buyout, we wanted to introduce the amazing ZoHa Islands staff, so you can get to know them. I will present them in random order, and will introduce three staff members per blog post, in order to keep the length of the posts down. For the first three, I’d like to introduce Deuce, Jules, and Crazed!

Deuce Marjeta: Operations Manager

Deuce resizedDeuce is a Second Life veteran, as he has been in-world since 2004. He has been with ZoHa Islands for six years in his role as Operations Manager. Prior to that, he worked for Surreal Estates for four years, and owned and operated his own estate company, Massine Estates, for three years.

When asked what brought him to Second Life, Deuce said that he was drawn to SL by the idea of marketing the concept of a 3-D world, interacting with a solid customer base, and of course making money! He got into SL as a tool for his own marketing platform. “I found it interesting enough to keep at it and have made a lot of money doing it,” states Deuce. “I still think there is a niche for everyone in SL that wants to work hard to achieve a profit margin…I like SL because I find it challenging even in a bad market.”

Deuce doesn’t do much in SL anymore except work. Like many long-time SLers, the bloom is off  the rose and disillusionment has set in. Instead, Deuce threw himself into his work. His idea was to grow ZI with the goal of making it one of the top 20 estates. He is proud to say that six years later, ZI is not only one of the top 20, but is one of the top three! Deuce states: “I have a great team helping me make this happen. If it weren’t for working for ZoHa Islands I doubt I would be in SL anymore. I am in that ‘been there done that’ mode. But ZI keeps it interesting with the work I do for them.”

In RL, Deuce is not married but 8 years is practically married right?. He has grown kids and 18 grandchildren! Deuce is a graduate of MIT and owns a business called Tweak N Peek Electronics and Communications. He is also owner of WTF? BBQ, which specializes in Low country BBQ. He is a musician as well, and collects guitars and writes music. In typical Deuce style, he states, “Look I’m an old dog and set in my ways but sometimes I like to run like a pup and still can hike my leg in the tall grass.”

–•~~❤~~•–

KittyKat Jules: Estate Manager

KittyKat-Jules resized,jpgThe lovely KittyKat Jules (just call her Jules) has been in Second Life since 2008, so she is also a long-time SLer. When asked why she came to SL, Jules states sheepishly that she was playing a My Space app, and a friend of hers in game told her about Second Life. Like many noobs, she rezzed in, poked around for a couple of hours and thought that it was dumb. She tried it again a week later, found some friendly residents to show her the ropes, and she’s been here ever since.

Jules started with ZoHa Islands in May of 2011. She started as a Sales Agent, then an Estate Manager then eventually Assistant Manager to Duece Marjeta.  Jules stated, “Unfortunately, while I absolutely loved that job and role, some RL things took hold of me (all very good ones) and I decided it was better to relinquish the role and step down to Estate Manager, because I really enjoy working for ZoHa Islands, and it just doesn’t feel like SL unless I’m there.” Prior to ZI, she worked for another estate as an Estate Manager for about a year, which provided her the EM experience she needed.

Jules is not married in RL, but very happily taken. She has two beautiful little girls, and a goofy Australian Cattle Dog dog named Sasha.  She lives in northern Illinois in the US and freely admits to being 31 years old! Jules is a warm weather gal, as her hobbies include camping, bonfires & hanging out with some amazing friends and family in the summertime. The northern Illinois winters cause her to hunker down and wait for the snow to melt! She says, “I also like to draw, attend different ‘cons’, read, spend time with my gorgeous little spawns, go shooting, & cooking in my awesome kitchen!

–•~~❤~~•–

Crazed Soderstrom: Estate Manager

Crazed corp pic resizedCrazed has been in Second Life for six and a half years. He found SL when he was doing a 3-D modeling class in school, and the instructor recommended trying SL to bring their creations to life, and he simply stayed.

Crazed is a recent ZI hire, as he came to us from Bonaire Estates. Crazed was with Bonaire for two and a half years as Lead Estate Manager. Crazed’s skills are many and varied, including some amazing building skillz. Crazed said, self-depracatingly, “I was a jack of all trades, ace of none so to speak.” [author’s note: don’t let him fool you; he’s very talented at all things EM and building related.]

Crazed’s first job in SL was as a security guard for an escort club. Since then, he has owned several clubs, and also a boxing gym for about 2 years called Bad Azz Gym.

When asked what he liked to do in SL on his time off, he states, “The likes are slowing shrinking, as a lot of the stuff I used to do is now gone. My new favorite place is a club, which I am not going to name because they do not need any more publicity.”

In RL, Crazed is 36 years old and is married. He and his wife have three daughters. His hobbies are hunting and fishing “because I live in a state that allows sooo much of it.”

–•~~❤~~•–

Stay tuned; more ZI staff introductions next post!

~ Suzanne Piers-Fromund, ZI Social Media Manager

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ZoHa Islands Expansion – 151 New Regions!

Change is in the air and boy have we seen a lot of that this 2 weeks! We are happy to announce that we have added many more people to our ZoHa Community, both residents and staff. Pup Witherspoon and Milano Ferrentino, who owned and operated Bonaire Estates since 2008, have sold the estate to Zoha Islands effective February 5, 2014. In addition to this we also added a new gay-friendly, 5 sim community to our estate the week before. It features some beautiful shops & shop space availability as well as a friendly neighborhood atmosphere, and also some awesome roads connecting the regions. Both estates offer sailing waterways and gorgeous landscaping. So not only did we acquire 146 new sims but we are proud to be adding 5 new staff members to the ZoHa Islands team from both buy-outs.

Pup and Milano started Bonaire estates back in 2008 with 1 full sim and 2 homesteads. In the past 6 years they have build up Bonaire to the beautiful estate you see today. Sadly though some of the best things have to come to an end. As a number of Bonaire residents know, Pup has been struggling with a chronic and debilitating disease for many years and it has become increasingly difficult for her to handle the 12 to 15 hours she has been working each day in running the estate. Of the several generous offers received for her gorgeous estate – she decided to go with ZoHa Islands – making Bonaire’s beautiful sims a part of the ZI Family. Several large estates were at the negotiation tables bidding on the Bonaire estates. They out bid us but we offered something they wouldn’t. We offered to keep the estate intact and honor the tiers of the current residents. So even though we offered Pup and Milano less money we won the bidding in the end. You may notice a few slight changes here and there in the sailing land but we assure you we are keeping the pristine waterways open and accessible to everyone. We have added a few more islands to the waterways leaving plenty of room to keep the watercraft traffic flowing just as it always has. Sailing isn’t for you? No problem, there are plenty of beautiful parks and even horse riding trails on a few of the sims that you might enjoy. We have kept the parks and trails just as Pup had left them, stunning scenic views was something she seemed to have excelled in. Pup, Milano and the rest of the Bonaire staff have worked hard to provide a beautiful paradise for their residents and we feel honored to be able to carry on that tradition.

If you’re a current ZoHa Islands resident and you’d like to relocate to the new sailing sims – stop in and contact a ZoHa Islands Representative today and we can help to accommodate your requests :).

We added another community to our islands the week before the Bonaire deal. A set of 5 sims we bought from Starra Resident. She owned the gay friendly community over on the Pinewood / Folsom sims. She started in the land business about 9 months ago when she went into business with a friend of hers named Damian Tar, who own 3 sims and she added to it. She ended up with 6 sims that have beautiful landscaping, charming shops and a sailing area. Out of those 6 sims she sold one off privately and 5 were sold to ZoHa Islands. Starra did this to free up some time for other commitments both RL and SL. Now similar to what happened with the bidding on Bonaire, Starra had several other higher offers but went with ZoHa because he agreed to keep the sims the same for her residents which was really important to her. Since she sold her sims she has been very busy with other projects here in SL. She still sells land from time to time through ZoHa Islands as a sales agent but she is passionate about her ABC horse breeding and racing. I am really glad I got to take a few moments to talk to her about this and I am happy to work with her here at ZI .

New land isn’t the only new thing around here. We have some amazing new agents and managers that we have added to the team in the last few weeks. JasonX Baxton came over from Bonaire estates and is now one of the night Estate managers. He has worked for Bonaire for a bit over a year doing various things such as sales, decorating, and customer support. He started in the land business back in 2008 and been loving it every since. He loves meeting a lot of interesting people and getting a whole new prospective on things from working here. We also have 3 other new sales agents coming over from Bonaire as well, MidnightReign Leistone, Wade Resident & Crazed1247420 Soderstrom. I am proud to be able to work with all the new people that have been added to the team in the last few weeks. They have helped make the transition move along smoothly and the work day more enjoyable. They are a valuable asset to the company and to our residents with their knowledge and commitment to our growing community.

So is this it? Have we stopped growing and expanding? I sure hope not. I love working with all the wonderful people on our team and helping all the amazing residents we are proud to call our own. Who wouldn’t want more of that? So from all of us here I would like to thank you for your continued commitment to a place I am proud to call my home….. ZoHa Islands.

Sailing_001 Sailing_002 Sailing_003

 

 

Fitted Mesh Is Here!

Today, we’re happy to announce that Fitted Mesh is available in the main Second Life Viewer! Fitted Mesh gives Second Life content creators the power to craft mesh garments that make avatars look their absolute best. We’d like to thank the vibrant community of creators for their thoughtful feedback and help testing this feature.

For more information, check out the video below, then update your Viewer to the latest release and get creative with Fitted Mesh!

Ebbe Altberg Joins Linden Lab as CEO

SAN FRANCISCO — February 5, 2014 — Linden Lab®, the makers of Second Life®, BlocksworldTM, DesuraTM, and more, today announced that Ebbe Altberg will lead the company as its new Chief Executive Officer.

Most recently prior to joining Linden Lab, Altberg was COO of BranchOut. Prior to that, he was part of the executive team at Yahoo!, most recently as SVP of Media Products. His more than 25 years of experience managing teams that create world-class products and services also includes leadership roles at Ingenio (acquired by at&t Interactive) and Microsoft.

“We remain committed to world-changing innovation from Linden Lab,” said Jed Smith of the company’s Board of Directors. “We’re keenly focused on providing incredible experiences for all of our customers, and Ebbe is the perfect person to help lead our team as we continue to serve and grow our global audience of active users.”

“Linden Lab has long been at the forefront of building experiences that entertain people while empowering them to express themselves and profit from their creations,” said Altberg. “Our customers’ creativity is unparalleled, and I’m proud to join the talented team that serves them. Second Life is now in its eleventh year, and every day, users continue to create more and more amazing experiences to enjoy. Though much younger, Blocksworld has already seen hundreds of thousands of unique user-created worlds shared for everyone to play with. I’m absolutely committed to supporting our customers and helping them become even more successful. There are significant opportunities ahead, and I look forward to leading us into the next phase of growth.”

New Year, New Office & New Water Recreation Amenities for our ZI Community!

Have you stopped by the Zoha Islands sim lately?  If you not you probably should!

It’s been completely reworked, with a gorgeous new Marina for all to enjoy.  There are many new things available for all of our residents to enjoy including fishing, jet ski rezzers, swimming, tubing, and many hidden places for you to explore and find.

Please visit our sales office for information on our new lots available with ocean access for sailing along the ZI Sim.

ZI Office - New_001 ZI Office - New_002 ZI Office - New_003 ZI Office - New_004