An Offline Weekend Spent With Online Friends

Have you ever met anyone from inside your computer? Did it go as you expected? Sitting here thinking about my recent experiences, the one that stands out the most for me is a weekend spent in New York City with one of my closest friends, Danielle Ditto, also one of my MMS co-workers.

Danielle and I met about 3 years ago in the virtual world of Second Life. Last year she surprised me in real life and drove up from Kentucky for my birthday, with two other friends from Second Life. Our initial meeting was exactly what I expected, much to my relief. Since then she has visited several more times, and this specific trip we were meeting up to take a train into NYC to see some of our other friends/co-workers from inside the computer.

First stop was a lunch date with another friend from Second Life, Trace. The only hitch in that encounter was that we went for Sushi and ended up with Thai. Not the worst thing that could have happened. Although we didn’t know each other well in-game, Trace was also exactly as I expected; in fact, I spotted him from a block down the street!

Later that evening we met up for drinks with one of my favorite coworkers, Chase Straight. I admit that I was nervous, because this was the first coworker I was meeting in person. I had all the standard questions flying through my head. Would it be awkward? Would the conversation flow? Would we have fun? Within the first five minutes of meeting Chase, all of these worries were put to rest. It was as if we had known each other for years, probably because we have. We ended up having a great night with lots of laughs, and I can’t wait to do it again.

I have been lucky that everyone I’ve met from the computer has been exactly as the person they seemed to be online. In fact, they only solidified the fact that they are amazing people worth taking the time to get to know.

Do you feel confident that your online persona portrays the real-life you?

-Tera Tilden