Yxes Muses

As a big fan of Paisley Beebe’s “Tonight Show Live” on SLCN I try to make it to the live tapings of each show which is done before a live audience every Sunday night at 6PM SLT on Second life.
Each week I notice several people who seems to be running things behind the scenes while the show is taped and broadcast just a few minutes later in world and on the web. After being involved in live music events (without video) myself.. I often wondered what it takes to pull this off.. But more importantly what kind of person it takes to be successful in such an environment.
The person I always see sitting behind the main camera near the stage is “Yxes Delacroix” I was fortunate to meet with her this morning and was surprised to find out.. There is a lot more to Yxes than what meets the eye every Sunday night when I see her sitting there behind the camera.. Yxes is truly a “renaissance woman” of the SL video and audio world.
After saying hellos thank you for doing this, and taking a few pictures we had the following conversation ..
Delinda Dyrssen: Yxes, your behind the scenes with SLCN’s Tonight Show live, and after doing a little research Ive discovered your pod casting with “Podmafia“ and now a shopping channel? lets start with your more recent venture …since its near the Holidays and everyone loves shopping in Second Life .. tell me what it is your doing on this shopping channel?
Yxes Delacroix: ShoppingSL is a 5 minute infomercial interview, on location. It is an opportunity for a person, or business to showcase their product or service in the form of a video advertisement, but not really looking like an “ad”. The infomercials are 4-5 minutes in length and are an interview directly with you, the business owner, talking about your business, or service. The idea is to make an informal and honest presentation that is entertaining for viewers and informative at the same time.
DD: An infomercial… so you charge a fee to the business for this to be aired?
YD: Yes, the cost is $10,000 Lindens. This covers 1 month exposure and the infomercial production.
The exposure is considerable as the infomercials are in rotation constantly. The number of times it is viewed will vary according to how many infomercials are in rotation during that month. If you want to keep the advertisement running it will cost L$2000 per month.
DD: Was this infomercial your idea and to what extend are you involved?
YD: Wiz Nordberg came up with this idea, and presented to me, to see if I was interested in taking on the project
DD: So it started with his idea.. and what happened next?
YD: I told him I really loved the idea, and that i would run with it. I started contacting people I knew that would love to be the first to use this. Starr Sonic (Exec. Producer at SLCN) and I worked out the general format, and figured out what highpoints we wanted to be sure to cover with each infomercial.
DD: Great… so how many infomercials have you done to this point?
YD: I think we just finished the tenth one yesterday, Monday. 10 or 11 …
DD: I have to say .. you truly are pioneers on SL… I don’t think anyone has done infomercials before.
YD: Nope. this is a first and only. I’m very excited to be on the front line of this aspect of media in Second Life. SLCN has had custom televisions made up to view these infomercials on, too.
DD: You seem to have a love of media in SL… does this stem from any RL work
YD: Actually, my involvement in media in real life is more on a ‘back burners’ type of capacity. I am a bookkeeper in RL, and I’ve worked with many media type clients. I am also active with Facebook, Twitter, and other “new media” venues on the internet.
DD: So your at least familiar with dealing in the media world… Now tell me about your behind the scenes work SLCN’s Tonight Show live.
YD: I work with Paisley Beebe and Rene Mayne to produce the Tonight Live with Paisley Beebe.
DD: Are you the person filming the show?
YD: No, I don’t film the show… there are camera people at SLCN that do the actual filming.
DD: What exactly is it that you do for Tonight Live?
YD: I co-ordinate the actual audio, with group Skype conference. I also maintain a group IM chat so we can be in touch with each other “off camera” and I make sure that everyone is where they are supposed to be, when they are supposed to be. I help the guests feel comfortable with being “on stage” with Paisley, and not have to worry about what they need to do.
DD: I see .. Like a production assistant then?
YD: Well, I am the Producer, Rena is the Associate Producer….and we work with Starr Sonic, the Executive Producer. I feel my job is to make sure everyone looks good, the timing is right, and we all have fun.
DD: Well I’ve been to some shows and it really looks like your all have fun doing it.. that’s great!
YD: Oh, we do have our challenges, to be sure. Sometimes just pulling this off in SL presents unique situations. As everyone knows, SL can be very touchy and people crash, disappear and such, and that is always a concern for me, as I have a lot going on that I cannot crash in the middle of. That’s why I sit at the camera, just off stage, and I don’t move anything until the show is done. We fill the sim up every show, so I have to get inventive, sometimes, to combat the lag, so I make sure the guests don’t go shooting off stage, or crash out while they are being interviewed. The camera work that Wiz and his crew do is quite inventive around those mishaps, but the live audience does see when we have funny things happen.
DD: What happens if a guest crashes and the sim fills.. and he cant get back in.. what do you do then?
YD: So far, we have not had a guest disappear while being interviewed, and not be able to get back to the sim. Wiz might bump up the “sim limit” for that few moments, in order to get the guest back in the sim. I, on the other hand, still will have the guest in Skype, and should they not be able to come back in, I’m sure the interview would continue if possible, and Wiz would do some creative camera work.
DD: Ahh I see… that’s similar to what happens in Live music events.

In my last article about Second Life audio and video “Renaissance Woman – Yxes Delacroix” we left off talking about her involvement with producing Tonight Live With Paisley Beebe on SLCN. We continue here talking about more of her media projects.
Delinda Dyrssen: I understand that SLCN shows are avail on pod cast now that’s great news, however you have your own pod cast project you do… “Podmafia.” Tell me a little about that…
Yxes Delacroix: laughs. The Podmafia podcast is an audio only podcast I am a co-host on, with Stuart Warf, and Gomem Desoto. The guys are in England, and I live in Phoenix, AZ, and we record over Skype our weekly rantings and chattering about Second Life. It is available on iTunes, and at Podmafia.com.
DD: So your interfacing with the British sense of humor.. sounds interesting
YD: Oh, yes! I tease them about taking Brit 101, so I can understand their humor and their accents. smile*
DD: This show is all about Second Life?
YD: We chat about the news in SL, great shopping places and we highlight SL musicians, to help promote the amazing talent one can find in SL. Sometimes we talk about RL topics that might impact SL, but mostly it is an SL topic driven podcast. We are going to do a Live show at the end of the month, via TalkShoe, in the format of a live call-in talk show.
DD: So people will be able to call in via RL phones or skype?
YD: I think so. There will be a link, too, on Podmafia.com. I am not entirely sure, though, exactly how it is set up. People can email or IM me for details on that and I’ll find out exactly how TalkShoe works that out. That live show is scheduled for the 23rd (Sunday) at 10am SL Time (PST)
DD: Great! Ill watch for it myself . Sounds like your breaking ground in Sl media again. I love this concept of taking SL with you weather its reading about it on a web based newspaper or on am iPod type service Actually one day I traveled a couple hours from my home by car and listen to all music I discovered in SL… I really enjoyed this.. and would love to try that with your podcasts sometime.
YD: You can go to iTunes, look for podmafia and subscribe. Now you can get the SLCN shows, and the ShoppingSL video podcasts on iTunes as well. Just do a search for SLCN TV.
DD: I know many people are so busy while in SL they don’t find time to catch these broadcasts (although I have sat with friends and watched in world) so I can see taking an iPod or Zune with you with you in RL and catching up on some shows while on a train or plane somewhere.. would be fun!
YD: I actually do listen to podcasts while driving. it is more fun than regular radio, that’s for sure.
DD: Well before we end this .. I have a few short questions I would like to ask everyone on SL.
First.. what brought you to Second Life?
YD: You will laugh at this.. but I came to SL to learn about podcasting, and to meet podcasters and to learn how to do a podcast.
DD: Well looks like you found what you were looking for!
YD: yes, I did. Within about a month of being in SL, I met Banana Stein, and he and I created the first podcast I ever did, and that ran on for nearly a year.
DD: Excellent! What was your most embarrassing moment in SL?
YD: Hmmmmm…. well… I would have to my most embarrassing moment was a “noobie moment” of trying to put a tattoo on, and suddenly being topless in a crowd of my friends. A friend put a box around me so i could put a blouse back on, to try to save my embarrassment.
DD: Ha! Thank God for quick thinking friends. I’m sure a lot of avs can relate. You really do feel naked in RL too . Our avs are such an extension of ourselves. Have you ever Googled your SL name?
YD: I have Googled Yxes Delacroix…after someone told me that is how they found out about me. There are many references there. It is a lil embarrassing, as I had no idea that I would be so “visible” in this virutal world.
DD: Yes its amazing … I noticed there is a lot about you out there. In the real world press.. mostly in the form of articles and blogs on the internet.. there is a lot of negative press about Second Life.. to the point sometimes its embarrassing to tell people in the real world your even a resident of this world of “flying penises” and all. What would you like to say to them about positives in Second Life?
YD: laughs out loud “Oh my goodness! there is sooo much to say about SL that is positive!” This is a world of adventure, discovery, enlightenment and fun! You can experience just about anything here that you would never or could ever experience in real life. There are no bounds to the imaginative creativity that anyone can express…whether musically, artistically or technically. Just like any other area of our lives, there is always going to be a balance of darkness to the light. I live and work in Second Life for the fun and adventure. That is what SL is to me.
DD: last but not least… How does one pronounce your first name?
YD: smiles. I will give you my “standard answer” to that one…as it is the most asked question I hear…. My name is pronounced X S, the Y is silent… it is just sexY backwards.
Delinda Dyrssen: Thank you.
Yxes Delacroix: smiles .. You’re very welcome.