Aimee Weber

Alyssa LaRoche (born 1979, Manchester, New Hampshire) is the owner of Aimee Weber Studio Inc., and the person in control of the Second Life Resident Aimee Weber, for which her company is named for. Aimee Weber is well known as a content creator. She started in January 2004 and has been featured in numerous in-world and out-of-world articles. Her trademark wings were actually made by Nephilaine Protagonist, and given to her by someone who looked like a fairy when she was new, on the Morris sandbox.

Aside from her activities in Second Life, LaRoche's 3D design experience includes Bryce 3D and Maya.

• Under the name Aimee Weber, LaRoche has guest hosted, and been interviewed on the Second Life-centric podcast SecondCast.
• LaRoche also owns and manages the Second Life island 'Midnight City'.
• Prior to forming her company, LaRoche created and ran an in-world fashion brand *PREEN*.
• LaRoche produced what was referred to as the first use of Machinima for educational use when she produced a virtual tour of the solar system.
• LaRoche was the lead author on "Creating Your World: The Official Guide to Advanced Content Creation for Second Life"
• In November 2007, LaRoche was granted a trademark to "Aimee Weber"

*PREEN*

“	*PREEN* the name is actually intended to denote an emoticon. Somebody would say "You look very nice today, Aimee" and i would say "*PREEN*", so it was a logical name for my store	”
—Interview with SignpostMarv Martin

Prior to forming her company, LaRoche created the in-world fashion brand *PREEN*, described as a "punk ballerina" style. *PREEN* consists of 5 virtual locations with no physical stores currently, although LaRoche has stated that she would love to sell Aimee Weber branded clothing "as a novelty".

*PREEN*'s advertising has a focus on humor, featuring posters around the themes of "*PREEN* Girls Steal" and "*PREEN* Girls Poop"- the latter featuring LaRoche's avatar "Aimee Weber" seated on a toilet.

Stores

• Hawthorn
• City}} Midnight City
• Aqua
• Dublin

Aimee Weber Studio Inc.

Incorporated in September 2006, Aimee Weber Studio Inc. is formed by a team of 5 permanent staff members:

1. Aimee Weber - President
2. Alpha Fluffball - Business Services
3. Catherine Omega - Technical Services
4. Toxius Stephanopolis - Avatar Specialist
5. Kiari LaFay - Animation Specialist

Clients

Aimee Weber Studio Inc. has provided services for several real-world business, including National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United Nations, American Cancer Society, American Apparel, Warner Bros., NBC and Save the Children

Major Accomplishments

American Cancer Society

• Second Life Relay For Life Project - As Project Manager, Aimee managed a 35 person team to create the largest centrally planned project (consisting of 12 regions) in the history of Second Life for the American Cancer Society's virtual Relay For Life event in July 2006, construction of which started in April 2006. See Snapzilla pics.

American Apparel

• American Apparel's Virtual Store is a union between real and virtual worlds that sent shockwaves throughout the industry. It's the first time a real-world retailer has opened a shop in Second Life. Snapzilla pics of American Apparel's virtual store

Warner Bros.

• Regina Spektor's Audio Kiosk is the in-world setting for the launch of her new album by Warner Brothers. Modeled after a New York City loft, the kiosk environment changes to reflect the mood of each song. Snapzilla pics of Aimee's build

• Exploratorium Eclipse Project Simulcast of the March 29th 2006 solar eclipse in Side, Turkey. The build included an educational eclipse museum and a replica of the Roman theater in Side, Turkey. Also see: Snapzilla pics of Aimee's Builds

• Stylehive Headquarters The in-world headquarters for the new fashion upstart www.stylehive.com. Hosted a fashion show starring Splendora CEO, Gina Pell. Watch the video here!

• *PREEN* a well-known clothing line with a raver/club-kid theme. Preen has been featured in Women's Wear Daily and FORTUNE.

• Midnight City, a well-known urban build and shopping center featured in Newsweek, Popular Science, and The New York Times.

• Aimee's Tour of the Solar System an educational movie made entirely on the Second Life platform.

• Chase's Manhattan in Hawthorne (one of the oldest and most stable builds in SL)

Press

• The Wall Street Journal - Now, Virtual Fashion: Second Life Designers Make Real Money Creating Clothes For Simulation Game's Players
• Popular Science - Your Second Life is Ready (Features Midnight City)
• CBS Evening News - Is Virtual Life Better Than Reality? (Regina Spektor Audio Kiosk, uncredited)
• MTV News - Why Walk? Virtual Walkathon Helps Raise Money For Cancer Research
• ZDNet - Become the First Virtual Millionaire (American Apparel, Aimee described as "a contractor in Second Life, a team of people who are great content creators")
• trendwatching.com - YOUNIVERSAL BRANDING - Branding in virtual worlds, metaverses, and online communities
• PR Week - New Media Predictions - Trends that will have a major impact in the latter half of 2006
• Advertising Age - Virtual Worlds: The Latest Fashion
• Geek Entertainment TV - Virtually Embedded with James aka Hamlet Au (Aimee gets a mention!)
• Fortune Innovation Forum: Business Innovation Insider - Virtual stores that make real money
• The Boston Phoenix - Does your life suck? In the MySpace-meets-Matrix online world of Second Life, everyone is sexy, real money flows, and pixels are the only limitation
• The Guardian Unlimited - Capitalism encroaches on virtual utopia: When a real-world store starts selling virtual goods in an online game, where does that leave intellectual property rights?
• BusinessWeek - American Apparel's Virtual Clothes
• The Boston Globe's boston.com - Trendy clothier gets Second Life
• MIT Advertising Lab - American Apparel Opens Store in Second Life
• CNET News.com Apparel brand gets 'Second Life'
• IPG Emerging Media Lab - American Apparel Opens Virtual Store
• Clickable Culture - 'American Apparel' Establishes 'Second Life' Island
• Webwereld 'Virtuele Rockefeller' verdient 150.000 dollar per jaar. (Claims Aimee makes as much money as Anshe HA!)
• Kotaku Aimee is #7 The Power Elite of Second Life
• Joi Ito - Recursive Video in Second Life
• Splendora - Stylehive fashion show coverage
• MSNBC - Mention of Aimee's Exploratorium build in SL (Aimee described here as "a web developer")
• CBC The Current - Radio Interview with Aimee Weber
• MTV's Overdrive The G-Hole [Episode 3] - Aimee Weber in a Fashion Show
• DE:BUG Massive Multiplayer Mode - Interview with Aimee Weber (In PDF form)
• trndblog Virtuelle Mode - German blog
• GamerGod.com - Interview With Aimee Weber.
• New York Times - Image of Midnight City at top of page.
• Newsweek - Image of Aimee Weber and Midnight City.
• Wired Magazine - Reference and Link to Aimee Weber's Political Party Article.
• The Times Of India - Net@scape.
• Kakiseni.com - Meet Me in the Metaverse.
• Women's Wear Daily - Virtual Designers Make Real Bucks.
• The Escapist - Touching Aimee's Panties.
• ABC News - A brief mention.
• Techstuff.ca - Fashioning a Second Life.
• ID Fuel - Design in Virtuality.
• San Francisco Chronicle - Image of Aimee Weber.
• Virtual World Business Brands - Paper by Betsy Book featuring an analysis of Aimee's business strategy.

SL Press

• ThoughtPlasma Aimee Weber Machinima Goddess
• Pixel Pinup The Stylehive Fashion Show
• Second Opinion - Top 5 Baked Build Enhancements + View a Total Solar Eclipse...in Second Life!
• New World Notes - The Professor and the Butterfly
• S.L.A. Today Aimee Lands on Moon - Cute Parody
• Fired 2.15 (Feb, 2006, 11:23) Aimee interviewed by investigative journalist Belaya Statosky on IRC.
• New World Notes - Her Worlds, Her Imagination (Article by Aimee Weber)
• New World Notes - The Worlds Inside The Worlds Inside
• New World Notes - All Tomorrow's Political Parties
• New World Notes - Burning Life '05: Quick Takes
• New World Notes - Building a Better Dive Bar.
• New World Notes - The Feted Inner Core, Revealed!.
• New World Notes - Aimee's Big Kitchen
• New World Notes - The Sassily Street Smart Fashions of Aimee Weber.
• The Metaverse Messenger (11/29/2005) "Resident Of The Week"

Related Links

• Aimee Weber - Aimee's web site.
• SLOG - Let's Have a Party.
• Second Life Insider - Aimee blogs.
• SL Herald - Virtually In Love.
• SLOG - Multiple contributions.
• Second Life Relay for Life website

See Also

Catherine Omega - Aimee Weber's current partner