FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SAINT PATRICK'S WEEK IN VIRTUAL REALITY

"Too Much Fun For Just One Day!"

Celebrate St. Pat's online in Dublin in Second Life. Four years and running, Saint Patrick's Week in Virtual Reality features the Traditional St. Pat's Day Parade in Not-So-Traditional Virtual Reality and All Day Street Parties at The Blarney Stone (Best Irish Bar in Virtual Reality) and Fibber Magees Night Club. New this year are Irish Writer's Riot, celebrating great Irish literature, and South by Southwest Music Festival, streaming 18 UK artists live from Austin, Texas.

You'll need a computer and internet access to visit Virtual Dublin, but Second Life accounts are free. Sign up at www.DublinInSl.com.

DATES: Sunday, 15th March through Saturday, 21st March
LOCATION: Dublin in SL www.DublinInSl.com
SAMPLE VIDEO FOOTAGE: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVZdyC5JZpA

The Virtual World of Second Life celebrates St. Patrick's Day each year with a week long festival in Dublin in SL. The highlight of the festival is a parade through the streets of Virtual Dublin with floats celebrating the many aspects of Ireland.

This is the fourth year that Dublin in SL, owned by native Dubliner John Mahon, allows people worldwide to celebrate St. Pat's online. Mahon, called Ham Rambler in Second Life, is pilot for London-Gatwick based Astraeus Airlines, a world-wide air operator and leasing business. Mahon's duties for Astraeus include his personal favorite, charter work involving tasks as varying as flying World Famous Rock Bands on Annual Tour, and Pilgrims to Mecca.

Mahon notes, "St. Patrick's Week in Dublin in SL is bigger than ever, sponsored this year by Dublin Tourism and featuring exclusive live music from the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas, courtesy of our friend Tony Moore and The Bedford."

Tony Moore is Director of Music at The Bedford, a London-based multi-entertainment venue, and owner of Tony Moore Music, a production and promotion company specializing in new artists and digital outreach worldwide.

South by Southwest (SXSW) is an internationally recognized annual Music and Media Conference and Festival held in Austin, Texas. Says Moore, "This will be for The Bedford and us and SXSW a groundbreaking event."

"We are taking everything that the Bedford does so well in London and exporting it to Austin in Texas for 3 nights. We are also webcasting to the world and simulcasting to the Blarney Stone in Second Life. This has never been done at SXSW before."

"We are thrilled to be able to add a new and dynamic aspect to St Patrick's week, and to work with the dedicated and brilliant team who make the virtual reality avatars and shows all work so smoothly and entertainingly."

Brent Gulke is Creative Director for SXSW. Gulke adds, "This year there are more people coming to SXSW than ever before, from more nations than ever before, and with more acts performing at the music festival than ever before. In the current economic climate this seems nothing short of miraculous."

"But since there are always countless people who would like to but can't be in Austin for SXSW, it's great to offer a taste of it to those people - and we're pleased to be able to do so via simulcasts into Second Life this year."

This year's Dublin in SL events are being sponsored through Sam Johnston, Leisure Tourism Manager for Dublin Tourism, the official tourist board for Dublin, with responsibility for the marketing and promotion of tourism in the Dublin region and representing more than 1300 businesses.

Johnston notes, "Dublin Tourism continually looks for new platforms to deliver its messages and Dublin in Second Life fits the bill perfectly. Dublin Tourism has always seen fit to push the bounds in adopting technology to communicate with its audiences, and this is a great opportunity to add to our list. When you look at the popularity of Dublin in Second Life and the positive feedback it receives, it makes perfect sense to partner."

"Dublin really has something for everyone. Whether you are enjoying the live music and ‘craic’ in our pubs, enjoying the atmosphere as you walk down Grafton Street or O’Connell Street, visiting attractions, or hoping to catch a glimpse of U2, you have to visit to fully appreciate Dublin. Dublin in Second Life gives you an authentic taste to whet your appetite to visit us for real!"

Dublin in Second Life has earned a foothold in the Tourism Industry through Mahon's vision and hard work. This is the third year running that Dublin in SL activities are being sponsored by the Tourism Industry. Mark Henry is Director of Central Marketing for Tourism Ireland who sponsored the Discover Ireland Festival in Dublin in SL in 2007 and Saint Patrick's Week in Dublin in SL in 2008.

Henry notes, "Sixty per cent of Second Life’s users come from Ireland’s four biggest tourist markets: Great Britain, US, Germany and France. Half of those users are aged over 30 – a key demographic for tourism to the island of Ireland." Mahon adds, "Dublin in SL has a large group of Regulars who hang out with or without a scheduled event. But Dublin in SL also attracts 2,000 newcomers a week to Second Life, who join our community directly at registration."

Some industry observers predict the economic situation will continue to suppress tourism related travel and lodging and business income for international locations. Others note, the current economic situation makes "online tourism" more attractive then ever, and when the economy cycles back, where else will people want to go than the places they first checked out in virtual form?

Second Life developers add, "The current economic climate creates an emphasis on cost saving, efficiency, creativity and innovation. In 2009, this translates into making increased use of online capabilities for meetings and events to reduce travel expenses while maintaining productivity. Many companies have found that online platforms supporting three dimensional interaction, in addition to image and sound, are much more effective than 2D flat interactions. This is a perfect fit for Second Life!"

MORE INFORMATION
Sitearm Madonna
sitearm@gmail.com
281-755-2201 (cell)
sitearm (skype)

DETAILS

DUBLIN IN SL is a virtual-reality based recreation of Dublin, Ireland specializing in Irish-themed entertainment and events timed to coincide with real-world campaigns and tours. Dublin in SL is owned and operated by John Mahon (http://www.dublininsl.com).

DUBLIN TOURISM is the official tourist board for Dublin, with responsibility for the marketing and promotion of tourism in the Dublin region. A state-appointed, not for profit (commercial) agency representing more than 1300 businesses, drawn from the region’s leading tourism related organisations. Dublin Tourism operates four walk-in Tourist Information and Reservations Centres open 364 days a year, and five Visitor Attractions in the region. (http://www.visitdublin.com).

The Dublin Tourism web site delivers over 350 Gigabytes of tourist information per month to web users all over the world and is a leader of city tourism websites in Europe. The agency's marketing strategy has resulted in Dublin becoming number 3 in Europe: tourism-related editorials on TV, radio and print media about Dublin generated more than €24 million worth of international publicity in 2007.

SXSW South by Southwest is a private company based in Austin, Texas, with a year-round staff of professionals dedicated to building and delivering conference and festival events for entertainment and related media industry professionals. Since 1987, SXSW has produced the internationally recognized Music and Media Conference and Festival (http://www.sxsw.com).

SECOND LIFE is a premier virtual worlds platform extant in more than 100 countries worldwide. Second Life has featured prominently in media since featured on the front page of Newsweek in 2006 ( http://www.secondlife.com).

Bing Gordon, Chief Creative Officer of Electronic Arts, has called Second Life "the lingua franca [common language] of virtual worlds." Steve Prentice, Vice President and Fellow of Gartner, has stated, "The growing availability of cost-effective, virtual-world technology to simulate interactions in the real world has re-emphasized their value. All enterprises should investigate applicable uses of this technology."

[END RELEASE]

MORE INFORMATION
Sitearm Madonna
sitearm@gmail.com
281-755-2201 (cell)
sitearm (skype)

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direct link to Dublin in Second Life: www.DublinInSl.com

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CELEBRATE ST PAT'S IN VIRTUAL REALITY. This is the fourth year that Dublin in SL, owned by Dubliner Ham Rambler, allows people worldwide to celebrate online. Featured are a Traditional St. Pat's Day Parade in Not-So-Traditional Virtual Reality (picture) and All Day Street Parties at the Blarney Stone Irish Bar and Fibber Magees Night Club. New this year are Irish Writer's Riot, celebrating great Irish literature (three days), and South by Southwest Music Festival, streaming 18 UK artists live from Austin, Texas (three days). Shown here are Blarney Stone Regulars Anthony Wetherby, Ashlene McMinnar, Bet Philter, Dwen Dooley, Ginger Marseille, Orange Planer, Shayla Juran, Simon Walsh, Sopheia McMahon, Takira Ninetails, and Tessa Juergens. COURTESY PHOTO

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DUBLIN IN SL is a virtual-reality based recreation of Dublin, Ireland specializing in Irish-themed entertainment and events and celebrating the Irish people, art, and culture. Dublin in SL has been in the Top Five Places To Be In Second Life three years and running.
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THE BLARNEY STONE IN SL is the Best Irish Bar in Virtual Reality. Originator of the Live Music Showcase, the Blarney has featured 150 artists and 100 different live music festivals and simulcasts since 2006 .
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ST. PAT'S PARADE IN VIRTUAL REALITY features some of Second Life's most respected and creative organizations for business, culture, education, and the arts.
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HIGHLAND MARCHING BAND consists of members from all over the world, featuring a variety of celtic music and instruments as well as traditional pipes, bass, and drums.
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Saint Patrick's Week Dublin in SL Event

Dublin in SL and The Blarney Stone celebrate Saint Patrick's Week March 15-21. The creativity of the denizens of Virtual Dublin and the worldwide connecting power of Second Life will be shown to the world in a tour-de-force schedule that includes 3 St. Patrick's Day Parades, 3 Irish Writer Riots (literature events), 5 SL Live Music Shows, and 18 Live Music Simulcasts from Austin South by Southwest Music Festival. All events are listed on the Second Life Community Calendar. The full schedule-at-a-glance can be found on the St Pat's Week Schedule Detail (http://tiny.cc/RdHw5).