The Cure for Mannequin Syndrome

Not sure what Mannequin Syndrome is?  Ever been to a venue in SL, usually a club, where there are a quite a few people, but no one is moving, no one is dancing and no one is texting in open chat?  In short, it seems as if, in an effort to make the place look busy, someone hauled in a bunch of mannequins and set them up in the club.  And worse yet, they put most of them around the entrance.

Well the best cure is find a club where the people chat.  Usually this means DJs, a hostess and/or pole dancers.  But the content and quality of the conversation does vary.  Lately I've been hanging out at a place that was called Romantic T-Girls, but is now called Romantic Dancing.  The conversations here often quite engaging.  Addressing things like the emotional impact of SL, history, even touched on quantum physics briefly!  Though the tone is usually pretty light and amusing.  The music is normally a love song stream, that is well suited to slower dance animations and couples dancing.  And the decor is delightfully muted.  Most clubs are a bit of an assault on the visual senses.  This place makes me think of something like a Playboy club, or a dance club in a Casino.  There is erotic art on the walls, but it is in black and white, muting what could be rather garish into something that simply lends a pleasant undercurrent of erotic to the venue. 

Picture is me in front of the DJ stand at Romantic.  Dress & Hair from Grumble.  BTW, also been hitting the MM boards at [aDN] a lot lately.  Recommend both places for nice economical outfits and shoes.  B@R is of course the ultimate economy clothing place so don't forget there.

Plans are in the works at Romantic to get DJs, and recently hostesses and dancers have been recruited, so things seem to be on the upswing with this great place to hang out.  Non-human avatars are discouraged at Romantics, and guys should be dressed like guys, and gals (with or without something extra) should be dressed as gals.  A lot of folks dress up a bit to come here, lending it a lovely elegant air.

Another place with good people and good conversation is Kitty Kickers.  No dress code, all types of avatars welcome as far as I know.  Kitty the owner, and Mal the hostess are very welcoming people.  Mal is a hoot and often leaves me quite literally "LOLing."  And if you like sexy pole dancers, this place seems to always have a couple on hand.

I know this isn't likely to make much difference, but here are three guidelines that I tend to follow.  I think if more folks did, Mannequin Syndrome would be fast disappearing.

1) Make an entrance and say hello in local chat.  It's polite, "announces" you to everyone and let's people know you are up for a bit of chat.
2) Move out of the doorway!  In places with bad lag, the easiest way to do this is pick something to sit on well inside the club and sit on it.  This moves you through the crowd of statues without bumping anyone.
3) Sit on something.  I can't think of a club that didn't have a bar, conversation pits, dance balls, etc.  Occupying one of these things makes you look like a sentient being who is visiting the establishment instead of a fashion display device.

May we all enjoy both 1st and 2nd lives in 2012!