Final Statistics

Well, we made it! (Whew!) It has been an exciting three weeks, and we truly appreciate everyone who was involved in helping to make the hunt successful.

We had 203 merchants who his 2,130 roses at their locations.

There were 12,317 hunters involved ... and (collectively) they found 305,753 roses!

That's (on average) 14,600 roses being found per day ... roughly 1 rose being found every 6 seconds of every hour of every day--for 3 weeks.

I apologize again for the problem encountered earlier in the year, with the first attempt at the hunt. As you can see from these numbers, this was a BIG event ... we could not have predicted that there would be this much volume involved.

I appreciate everyone's participation and patience. The event has been a huge success, and that is because each of you were involved. Thank you.

We are sorry for the side bar error. We will fix it shortly

Setting Up Roses!

The merchant registration has ended, and we are moving ahead!!!

Those who purchased Roses earlier in the year (our first attempt at the event) have been sent replacements. Vendors are set up for those who need to purchase Roses in-world ... those can be found at SLURL to the RFL Vendors.

Please remember: ALL ROSES MUST BE SET UP AND REGISTERED WITH THE DATABASE BY SEPTEMBER 25. No Roses can be registered after that date.

Merchants will also receive an "RFL Hope Hunt Message Board." This is a 1-prim sign that can be placed at your location, advertising the event and announcing your participation in it. The board is also interactive:
1) it gives a notecard with information about the event;
2) it gives hunters a free HUD which can be used during the Hunt;
3) it contains a link to this blog site; and
4) it contains a link to the leaderboard on the web (which won't be active until the hunt begins, of course).

Remember, register Roses by September 25 ... the Hunt begins September 27 at 10:00 am SLT.

Quick Facts for Merchants

1) Notecards are being sent to all registered merchants. IF THIS INFORMATION IS CORRECT, PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND. If there is a correction, or if you have any questions, please let us know.

2) You can check for more information at http://thehopehunt.blogspot.com, or let us know what questions you may have.

3) Signs advertising the Hunt will be available soon, for you to place at your location(s). We will also have a sign that provides links to the blog and leaderboard (both on the web), as well as providing hunters with a HUD that will track the number of Roses they have found.

4) Those who purchased Roses in the spring will be given replacements on September 5.

5) On or shortly after September 5, Roses will be available for sale—for those who did not purchase Roses in the spring, or for those who would like more Roses. All proceeds go directly to the American Cancer Society.

6) The Roses we will be using can have give-away items (swag) added if you’d like. This is not required, since all of the Roses are valuable for the Race. The Roses will allow you to edit them and add your items directly into the “Contents” tab of the edit window. Hunters will not get duplicate items if they click a Rose more than once.

7) All Roses must be registered by Friday, September 25.

8) When Roses are registered, they will turn transparent until the Hunt begins (at 10:00 am SLT on Sunday, September 27). The Roses will also rename themselves to make it harder for people to attempt to use radar devices during the Hunt.

9) The Roses will automatically delete themselves on October 18, when the Hunt has ended—there is no “clean up” involved!

10) During the Hunt, a website will be provided that will enable you to get “traffic reports” for your location(s).

Starting Over

The All-Stars present The Hope Hunt + Race For a Cure!

This is a “treasure hunt” in Second Life. Participating merchants will hide pink Hope Roses at their locations. The rose represents hope for a cure—and we chose pink for this event because October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Like most hunts, many of the merchants will be putting give-away items (“swag”) in the Roses. Unlike many hunts, merchants can place as many Roses as they choose at their location—there is no limit.

This is also a “race.” Cash prizes have been donated and will be awarded to the winners at the conclusion of the event:
First prize: L$45,000
Second prize: L$25,000
Third prize: L$10,000
This prize money has been donated anonymously, in honor of a loved one who lost the battle to cancer.

All proceeds from this event go directly to Relay for Life.

Earlier this year, we began the Hope Hunt + Race, but technical issues forced the Hunt to end. We are back, we have resolved the issues, and we are looking forward to a successful event!

There is no entry fee related to the Hope Hunt + Race. However, the merchants will purchase the Roses they place at their location(s)—and all proceeds from the sale of Roses go directly to Relay for life. (Note: Merchants who purchased Roses for the event earlier this year will receive that number of Roses for this event—and additional Roses will be available for purchase.)

We will not have a leaderboard in-world, but we will have a website that will display the leaderboard (automatically updated every three hours). We will also have a website that provides merchants with “traffic reports,” showing the number of avatars who have found Roses at each of your locations. Finally, hunters will be able to get a HUD which they can wear, which will track the number of Roses they have found; the HUD will be free.

OUR TIMELINE
==========
Saturday, August 15, through Friday, September 4

We will be registering merchants for the Hunt. Those interested can send an email to hopehuntrfl@yahoo.com (alternatively, contact Arete Diplomat in-world with this information). Please include the following information:
Your avatar name (the person who will be placing the Roses);
Your business name (this does NOT have to be the parcel name); and
The landing point at that location—including the sim name and the X/Y/Z coordinates of the landing spot (for example, Drumm/215/183/41).

You may register multiple locations, but each location needs to have a unique business name by which it is identified.

NO LATE REGISTRATIONS WILL BE ALLOWED
==========
Saturday, September 5, through Friday, September 25

Roses will be available and should be placed, prepared, and registered with the database. Merchants will receive, on Saturday, September 5, the number of Roses they purchased for the original event; additional Roses will be available for those who would like more, and for those merchants who have joined the Hunt.

ROSES MUST BE REGISTERED WITH THE DATABASE BY SEPTEMBER 25
==========
Sunday, September 27, through Saturday, October 17

The Hope Hunt + Race will be conducted over a three-week period. The Hunt will begin at 10:00 SLT on Sunday, September 27, and will continue through Saturday, October 17.

==========

INFORMATION FOR MERCHANTS

There are a few things to pass along to our participating merchants.

1) Remember that the Hope Roses are scripted so that they turn transparent when they are registered with the database—they will reappear when the Hunt begins—and they will automatically delete themselves when the Hunt ends. This means (a) you don’t have to wait and hide all of your Roses just before the Hunt is scheduled to start—go ahead and hide them—and (b) you don’t have to worry about clean-up after the event ends.

2) For this event, the Roses will actually rename themselves once they are registered with the database. This will make it harder for people to hunt using radar devices.

3) When a hunter clicks on a Rose, the database will be checked to see whether the hunter has clicked on that Rose before. Duplicate prizes will not be given.

4) We are making the Roses easier to load, for your give-away items. The Roses will be modifiable, so you simply edit the Rose and add your swag to the “Contents.”

5) Please consider placing quality items in the Roses as swag. We are not asking you to give away expensive items … but please attempt to offer items that will honor the cause. And remember that not every Rose has to have swag—every Rose is valuable, because of the “race” portion of this event.

6) If you have more than one Rose to hide, remember that the event should be both fun and challenging. Place approximately 1/3 of your Roses where they are easy to find; another 1/3 should be fairly easy; the final third should be harder to find. You might also want to make one of your Roses a “challenge.”

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. We are excited as we prepare for this wonderful event, and we look forward to working with all of you!

Thank you all!

The Hope Hunt + Race Coordinators

Its time to Register and/or Re-register for the Hope Hunt

Saturday, August 15 through Friday, September 4

We will be re-registering all of the participating merchants. We will not use the parcel names (YAY!!!), but we do need to verify business names and landing points for each location. If your business has moved, you will be able to update your information at that time. Also, if you know of other merchants who would like to participate, have them contact submit an application to Hopehuntrfl@yahoo.com Please take the time to register for the Hope Hunt at the following email - Hopehuntrfl@yahoo.com - this enables us to work on the Hope Hunt when we are not in world.

Please do not send notecards or im's inworld to register or re-register. This will insure that all information for the vendors will not be lost in transit because of Second Life difficulties.

No late registrations will be accepted. If an email has not been received by September 4, we will assume that you choose not to participate.

We ask that all Hope Hunt Merchants email the following information to Hopehuntrfl@yahoo.com
For each of your locations that will participate in the Hope Hunt, we need the following:
1) The business name, and
2) The landing point (Sim Name, along with the X/Y/Z values).

Looking Ahead ... Our Timeline

Greetings, everyone! We wanted to send out an update to let everyone know where we stand with the Hope Hunt + Race.

We are finalizing our testing on the new database design, which has been revamped to more efficiently handle the volume of traffic the the Hope Hunt + Race generated. Below is the "schedule" of what you should expect in the coming weeks.

==========

Friday, August 7 through Monday, August 10

We will conduct a "live" test of the new system--final testing before the Hope Hunt + Race resumes. If you would like to be a part of this test, please let Sidda Jubilee or Arete Diplomat know; we welcome your participation as we put the final "tweaks" in place.

==========

Saturday, August 15 through Friday, September 4

We will be re-registering all of the participating merchants. We will not use the parcel names (YAY!!!), but we do need to verify business names and landing points for each location. If your business has moved, you will be able to update your information at that time. Also, if you know of other merchants who would like to participate, have them contact Sidda Jubilee or Arete Diplomat.

You should receive, on August 15, a notecard containing the information that we have on file. We need that notecard returned. If the information is correct, return it unchanged; if anything needs to be corrected, return it with the correct information.

Note: No late registrations will be accepted. If the notecard is not returned by September 4, we will assume that you choose not to participate.

==========

Saturday, September 5 through Friday, September 25

On Saturday, September 5, you will receive your new Roses. You will have three weeks to place those Roses and register them in the database. The registration process will be different (and easier!), and instructions will be included.

Note: All Roses must be registered with the database by Friday, September 25. No late registrations will be allowed.

==========

Sunday, September 27 through Saturday, October 17

The Hope Hunt + Race will be conducted. This will be a 3-week Hunt.

==========

We do have some nice additions for the Hope Hunt + Race ... including a website (which will be updated daily) to provide merchants with information on the number of avatars who have found a Rose at your location (a "traffic report"). We hope that this will be beneficial to you, and will help to offset the inconvenience of having to postponse the Hunt while the database and communication issues were addressed.

Thank you, and please don't hesitate to ask Sidda or Arete if you have a question.

Status Update--We're Getting Ready

We apologize again for the "malfunctions" that caused the Hope Hunt + Race to be temporarily suspended. In the spirit of forthrightness, we want to keep everyone abreast of what happened and, more importantly, the steps that we are currently taking.

As we have stated before, the problem was directly related to the success of the Hunt; literally, the system was overwhelmed by the participation. This primarily affected four things.

1) We had rented space on a shared server to host the database. The volume of traffic that was generated over-utilized our rented "allotment" of system resources, and the web hosting service we were utilizing raised some serious concerns. We have securing a dedicated server that the Hope Hunt + Race will utilize when we restart, so that problem has been addressed.

2) The database itself was of a good design. However, analytics show that there were some optimization issues; the database was "bogging down" a bit--again, because of the success of the Hunt. We have restructured the database so that it will function more efficiently, and we are in the testing stage now. That problem is being resolved.

3) There were communication breakdowns between the database and SL. Once again, this was due to the success of the Hunt. In the redesign of the database, this communication issue has been addressed, on both the database side and the SL side. That problem is being resolved.

4) Finally, some of you experienced Roses that were malfunctioning. This was a symptom--the Roses were "locking up" because of the issues mentioned in #2 and #3 (above). As the database is being restructured, the script(s) in the Roses themselves are also being optimized, to ensure that they will continue working correctly. That problem is being resolved.

The point: we have identified the issues that led to the problems that were experienced. Each of those issues was related to the resources and the success of the Hunt. And each of those issues have been addressed. We are looking forward to a smooth and successful event as we get started again.

So what can you expect? Within the next couple of weeks, we will be setting up the merchants in the database. There is good news here--we will NOT be using those parcel names which caused problems for many of you. You will receive a notecard verifying the "location" information where you will be placing Roses--we will make certain that we have correct information on every participating merchant as we go through this process.

Following that, we will issue new Roses. Again, you will be given (at no additional cost) the same number of Roses you originally purchased. We will let everyone know if vendors are available for the purchase of additional Roses. Again, there is good news here--we are going to make sure that it is easier to load your give-away items into the Roses when they are placed.

Please know that we are working diligently, and we are making progress. We will resume the Hope Hunt + Race as soon as possible. At the same time, because of the wonderful participation, we are taking every precaution to make sure that everything runs smoothly and we have a successful event, regardless of how many avatars join the Hunt.

Thank you for your patience.

Hope Hunt + Race Update

As we promised in-world earlier today, a decision has been made regarding the Hope Hunt + Race. With great sadness, we have determined that the event should be halted and rescheduled for later this year. This is the best way to preserve the integrity of the Hope Hunt + Race, and the Relay for Life which is the reason behind it all.

The problems we experienced were not due to a lack of preparation. We were well prepared. We have an excellent database system, and the scripts were all thoroughly tested during May and early June. The scripts and database worked as expected during the event.

The problem, without being too technical, is that each click of a Rose created an HTTP request/response between SL and the database ... and the servers simply could not handle the volume. Our problem, as has been said before, was that this event has been such a HUGE success. We were too successful for the servers to handle.

That is what caused the problems you experienced--Roses giving messages with bad or missing information, and Roses "locking up" (due to lag in the HTTP communications). The script/database system was good--but it did not have the server resources needed to process the volume of information generated.

These issues will be resolved, and the Hope Hunt + Race will be successful. This is not something that can be fixed easily or quickly, though. Any solution that would enable us to finish the event on schedule would be a quick-fix, degrading the experience for everyone involved. Therefore, we will reschedule the event when the server issues have been ironed out.

For the participating merchants, the Roses which are currently out will automatically delete themselves, as planned, on July 5; you can delete them before that time if you would like to do so. When the Hope Hunt + Race is rescheduled, you will be given the same number of Roses for the event.

For the hunters, the event will restart when it is rescheduled. This is the fairest and most equitable solution for everyone.

We appreciate your patience and understanding. This has been exciting and fun ... and a bit frustrating, perhaps. Know that we look forward to continuing to work with you as we make this event a success, and we will keep you posted as those plans unfold.

Thank you for your support, encouragement, and participation. Please let us know if you have any questions.

As we near the 24th Hour

Yes there are still issues, Yes we are working on them :) Yes you are frustrated, Yes we are too.

Picture this...SLwith a pipline to the database...information is going out....to the datebase the database is giving information back to sl.....but there is a clog in the pipe. This is basically what is happening to sum it up.

Here are the current stats:

[5:35] Arete Diplomat: when i got in, just a bit ago -- 260 merchants and 2,918 Roses -- 1,338 hunters with 20,475 finds - the increase in the roses set out are because of sims that were down and are finally up.

Who knew that you hunters would be so ruthless :D, We are humbled by your diligence :)

Please be patient, and be kind, and remember this is a hunt for cancer awareness. If we could find a medicine that is as determined as you are in this hunt to wipe out cancer, I believe we would be a cancer free world Take Care

Well the first day is under our belt, but not without issues lol. Despite sl borkness, wierd script messages, the stats are as follows:


240,679L has been made for the Relay for Life
2880 Roses registered on the grid
260 Merchants participating
Ten hours into the hunt - 995 Hunters, 14608 roses found

The database is working and keeping track, once Arete can unclog the sl pipeline, so data can get back in, all figures will be up to date. We tested every scenario before we launched the Hope Hunt Script, however there was no way we could have anticipated the SL emergency maintenance nor the new SL viewer. We apologise for any frustration you are feeling, but please know we are just as frustrated to. Please be patient. This hunt is for Relay for Life and cancer awareness. Please keep that in mind.

Despite adversities....we fight on
SL has given us adversities in the start of this hunt,
but we fight on just as in life cancer gives us adversities,
but we fight on for a cure by Trena Chenille

See you all tomorrow and despite it all I will keep smiling :)

SL and the Hope Hunt

We tested for every scenario before presenting this script to the Hope Hunt. We however, did not, and cannot predict Second Life emergency maintenance. Please be patient. I know its frustrating to all especially to us. This hunt was designed to spread cancer awareness and to make money for relay for life, that part has been a huge success. Thank you all for that.

The database is keeping track. Stats as of now:

16:32] Arete Diplomat: 7.5 hours into the hunt ........... 260 merchants, 2880 roses .......... 824 hunters with 12,309 finds

Hopefully, SL engineers will work out their issues and we can carry on. Good Luck to all and again thank you for participating in the Hope Hunt + Race

Who's In First?

Would you like to keep up with who is leading in the "race" portion of the event? Leader boards are located at several locations in-world ... but we also have a Leader Board website! Just click here if you'd like to see those who have found the most Hope Hunt Roses!!!

Let the countdown begin :)

First I would like to say a big THANK YOU! to each and everyone of you:) I am so excited I can hardly stand it. Here are the latest stats as of June 19, 2009
$201,135 Lindens have been raised
2671 Roses have been purchased
1629 Roses have been registered
1042 have not been registered...(note to self, Bad Sidda, put your roses out)
27 Merchants have yet to purchase
252 Merchants/parcels have been registered to the database

If any of you would like a kiosk to gather donations from the hunters, please let me know, I will gladly provide you with one. Stay tuned, more information to come!

Kick OFF Party for the Hope Hunt!

The organizers of the Hope Hunt are so grateful for all your excitement, support, and involvement in our upcoming hunt, and we would like to express our gratitude by throwing our merchants a PARTY!~!~~
The day before the Hope Hunt begins, we are holding a special celebration for YOU!~!~ Two of SL's incredibly talented musicians will perform back-to-back private concerts at Sentiments by Sidda, Saturday June 20, 2 PM SLTGrace McDunnough and Saturday June 20, 3 PM SLTL0riz Whitfield the slurl for the Kick off party is http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sentiments%20by%20Sidda/39/53/22 and below you can read about our generous musicians, who are offering their time and talents to MAKE A DIFFERENCE in the fight against cancer. so .. GO RELAY for LIFE!~!~ Thanks for all your hard work, patience, and support for our first Hope Hunt :)
Grace McDunnough ... Grace McDunnough is a poet, artist, live musician and virtual world experience developer. Creator of Musimmersion, founder of the Mill Pond Folk Festival and regularly performing live musician, Grace is dedicated embracing the Second Life platform to combine the emotional response of audio and visual immersion to deliver unique experiences around the grid.
Grace McDunnough is an indie singer/songwriter from Atlanta, GA. Grace draws her inspiration from an eclectic mix of folk, soul, alternative rock and blues, and from singer-songwriters such as Damien Rice, k. d. lang, Joan Armatrading and KT Tunstall, but her music defies categorization. A modern bard with sass and soul to spare, Grace throws down a variety of acoustic sets with an old guitar, rich lyrics and powerfully raw vocals that will leave your heart pounding.http://myspace.com/gracemcdunnough
L0riz Whitfield ... L0riZ began his career in SL as a DJ then "switched" to singing live in SL in October 2007. He has been a DJ in RL for almost 20 years, and began singing live in 1994.
L0riZ's genre/style is impossible to define. His "repertoire" counts over 600 songs (3/4 of them already recorded, plus 126 on YouTube), from C&W to Jazz, and from Rock to Blues. He sings In Italian, English and French and even has one Portuguese song in his comprehensive available playlist. L0riZ was honoured to be amongst the artists participating in Best of SL Live 2008.http://www.youtube.com/marlboro2k7

Thanks for writing this Bourque Rau:)

3 Days till we go live and updated Stats :)

All i can say is WOW! You guys rock

$182,636 L has been raised for Relay for Life so far
2363 roses have been purchased
1307 roses have been rezzed (approximate)
1056 roses have not been rezzed
230 Merchants are participating
21 Merchants still need to make their purchases - Roses go off sale on June 21, 2009 7:00 AM SLT

Lets make the top 3 avatars work for those lindens and kick cancer's butt as well!

The Blog has been updated

For the members of the Hope Hunt who have chose to follow the blog for information, please confirm that your store name and slurl is correct. Please IM me with corrections if needed. Please be patient with us we are trying to make everything perfect before the Hope Hunt goes Live on Sunday, June 21, 9:00 AM SLT

If you submitted an application and I have not......

responded, it is because SL hates me :(. I have went over every transaction from my transaction log and I have made every effort to contact anyone who has given me inventory. However, because is SL is well...SL, I want to make sure I have gotten your applications and have responded to you. If you have submitted an application and have received no response or you do not see your store on this blog, please hunt me down :D or just do the following:

Please drop me a notecard with the following information: Your Name, Store Name, slurl and the parcel name (please open the about land tab, and copy and paste that in the notecard)

Thank you so much.

Applications have been extended :)

Due to the passing of my brother in law Tom, who had burketts, a very rare form of cancer, we are extending date of the applications until June 17th. Rest in peace Tom, you are one of the very reasons I Relay for Life!

The Roses have been set out for sale :)

After all the hard work my friend Arete Diplomat put in (he's a genius btw) the roses have been set up in vendors and set out for sale. The price for Roses are as follows:

1 Rose is 175L, 2 Roses are 350L, 5 Roses are 750L, 10 Roses are 1000L, 15 Roses are 1350L, 20 Roses are 1600L, 25 Roses are 1800L and 100 Roses are 4000L.

Here is the slurl where you can purchase the roses: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sentiments%20by%20Sidda/168/129/22

Please make sure you are registered with the Hope Hunt + Race and your land parcel name is in the database before you try to register the roses. You will get an error if your parcel has not been entered into the data base, but no worries, IM me, Sidda Jubilee or Arete Dipolmat with the land parcel name and we will get you fixed right up!

Special Thanks to Trena Chenille, who has been helping me with the blog and entering the names of stores participating and the slurls, to Summer Tantalus, Bourque Rau, and Alexandra Solderberg who have painstakingly sought merchants who might be interested in this hunt and help send invitations, Snacki Sinatra who runs to land parcels for names for me, Tim Mirat, who has helped me with PR, not to mention make me laugh from his silly comments and most of all Arete who without his genius knowledge this hunt would not have not been possible. And I cant forget you, those who are participating, because of you and your participation, we are one step closer to banning cancer from our lives.

The meaning of a yellow rose stands for joy and happiness, but most of all yellow roses mean friendship. The meaning of yellow roses are very special because it's associated with true friendship. A true friend is so important to people of all ages; it's like a gift from God. And now the yellow Rose means Hope for the Hope Hunt + Race. And I consider all of YOU, a gift from God. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart ~ Sidda Jubilee