Know Your Venue's Limits!!!

Mankind Tracer / Seth Regan performing at Club Graffiti

As a venue owner and manager I know how many people can be on the sim where my venues are located. However, many new and old venue owners do not understand this and as someone who does know and has worked in the Second Life land industry with Solace Beach Estates for over 3 years now, I feel the need to get the information out there.

There are several different types of land options in SL, including, Mainland, Private Full Prims Sims and Homesteads.

Each type of land has different limits.

Homesteads:

A homestead sim holds the smallest number of people at 20 and there are also less prims available to use. While this may be a great option for a home, it makes a poor option for a venue. Unless it will be just you and a handful of friends, you are going to want land with a higher limit.

Mainland:

Second Life mainland is the huge original continent that SL started with. Mainland is divided into regions that are all connected. Mainland can hold 40 avatars per region. This option can be acceptable for a small club or venue that plans on booking performers with a more limited draw. Keep in mind, mainland can be very laggy and often you cannot get the region restarted on demand. Also, there is no covenant that states what sort of build can be placed on mainland, so you could buy a parcel of land and the next day have a giant toilet rezzed next to your club.

Private Full Prim Sims:

Often a private full prim sim is the best option for a venue. These sims can hold up to 100 avatars but you would need to check with the person you rent from to see what number they have set. Also, if you rent from a "land baron" you can, often times, have sim restarts scheduled to help with any script lag issues. There is also sometimes a covenant that will keep people from putting up eyesores next to your club.

If you are not sure what the land is that you are looking at, check the region/estate menu and it will tell you what sort and what the avatar limit is (called "agent limit").

When shopping for land please keep in mind the avatar limit. If you want to book popular musicians that have a higher audience draw you need to consider a parcel on privately owned full prim sim. Musicians like Mankind/Seth, The Follow, Max Kleene and others normally will bring in more than 40 people. When you limit yourself to a mainland parcel you limit not only the audience size but also potential venue and musician tips as well. Ask yourself would you book Bon Jovi at the corner pub?

Something else to consider when renting land is parcel size. Even if you rent land on a sim that can hold 100 avatars, you need to think about stuffing all those avatars into a building for the concert. Make sure your land will be big enough to have a venue that will comfortably house 60-70 avatars and not feel like you are packed in a sardine can.