I am bit confused how to introduce myself. In the virtual world I am Heleno Nishi, the first employee in the first virtual Boots store, which is an amazing No 7 salon and studio.
In real life, I am Helen Tarver, a Boots employee, and I work on brand development for our cosmetics and fragrance brands, so now in the real world and in the virtual world.
We opened the No 7 store on Avalon, an incredible space owned and developed by Rivers Run Red, about four weeks ago, and after a few teething problems (mainly to do with not being able to get my hair on straight) we are settled in and enjoying it. The store is selling one No 7 skin, with a host of goodies. All the proceeds will go to Breast Cancer Care, who No 7 have worked with in RL for over ten years.
But being on Second Life is not about selling for us, it’s about meeting people, chatting, enjoying the interaction. I’ve been able to do things with the salon that would never happen in our stores, like the cauldron of witches brew we had going over Halloween, the fireworks for Bonfire Night and Diwali, and the Thanksgiving Dinner we are going to sit down to next week.
I hope that we have learnt from the mistakes of others, and I hope that we can be a worthwhile addition to the landscape. Someone dropped by the store last night and said it was good to have somewhere she trusted in Second Life, which I thought was both intriguing as well as a very nice thing to say. Needless to say, she was a big fan of No 7 in real life too.
I’ve equally had conversations with people who have no idea what No 7 does, and they have been just as interesting and insightful. I just really enjoy being there and seeing what goes on. Of course the naked man who wandered through on opening day wasn’t a sight you’d necessarily see every day in a Boots store, but we’re on a PG build, so its not been repeated.
So, what are we doing here? We’re seeing what happens, talking to people and usually hanging around having a cup of coffee. But we’re here to take part and see where it goes. These are my adventures.
Tags: Boots, No 7, Second Life, Virtual Worlds
