All good things come to an end...

Spain won the World Cup! Yayy - so congratz to our spanish friends :-) Also things come back to normal a bit. The dancefloor from the Go4Goal Closing Party found its way back in the inventory and the Go4Goal Signs disappeared since the hunt is officially over.
So - the last thing to do is closing the blog also. And herewith we officially close this blog here with all the rantings, all the showcases of the huntgifts, all discussions about trademark issues and all the fun stuff we published here :-)
And we want to take the opportunity to answer some maybe open questions.
First of all: Yes - there will be another hunt. There are no dates for the hunt yet and nothing is fixed. There is not even a name or an application phase for the hunt - but lets put it that way: We have some ideas.
Yes - we will keep the Sports Hunt Group up and running since we definitely will do a sport related hunt in the future again.
Yes - all vendors of the Go4Goal-Hunt will be the first to know when we start a new project. Honestly - this one ran quite smooth and that is also because of you guys. We received very flattering compliments on the hunt from all around the world and even from Linden Labs themselves. But this seems a bit unfair to us cause you guys did a terrific job and reacted so quick on troublespots and problems - so this is definitely to salute everyone involved in the hunt. You guys rock!
And while we are at it: It is time to shout thanxx to many people. Without them this one would not have been possible to do: First of all the vendors in the "second row" who missed the application deadline or had some problems with their internetconnection who gratefully jumped in some open places that popped up after the hunt started. You guys have been so quick - without you we still would have some troublespots.
A big hug goes out to every blogger out there who accompanied the hunt with their marvellous entries. That helped so much to spread the word about the hunt.
And last but not least all the hunters who did the hunt. I mean - what is a hunt without hunters, right? :-) Also the "inofficial" hintlists we received and the love and some ideas about what to do better and stuff. This is very much appreciated since we try to grow on that :-)
Ok - thats about it. The hunt is over and the blog is closed. The Go4Goal-Team Marcuz Palen, Dagmar Haiku, Manuel Ormidale and Paco Pooley is sending out kisses and hugs to everyone. And be sure that we all will see each other again with further projects... :-)

Oh - this one we nearly forgot: Yes - we are taking a little break to recover before we jump in the planning phase of another crazy thing ;-) But please feel free to drop us notes or IM's ^^

What are you waiting for? :-)

The party just has started. Brillant music, fantastic crowd and lots of nice stuff, freebies and dollarbies provided by the vendors of the Go4Goal Hunt. Come over NOW and dance to the tunes of:

Miranda Milestone 10 a.m. - 12 a.m.
M4TT Humphreys 12 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
AOD 2:30 p.m. - 5 p.m.

Don't be shy - just grab your cab here
More fun than a box full of monkeys ;-)

Can`t wait till tomorrow

When hearing that there will be a end of the hunt party i got very excited and wanted to watch everything. I sat on the roof and used some glases to watch Paco and Manuel decorate their backyard. But i got very bored but on the other way i wanted to see how all the store owners put their items in their boothes. So i grabbed a football and started to play with it. Sometimes i kicked it by mistake in a booth heared an angry grunting and the ball got kicked back to me. But of course i managed to catch it again. Manuel stood behind the party sign and yelled at me to stop.
But of course i didn t. I even went on and tried to make him play football with me.
The party will take part tomorrow at the 10th of July from 10 am SLT till 5 pm SLT. A lot of vendors have a booth there and show some of their items. So if you rushed through the hunt you have a chance to see now what other things the shops build who took part in the hunt. For example the dress on the picture's is a dollarbie from Hasi's and sold at the party yard and the poses are from Juice.

Dress: Hasi`s Babydoll Dress orange (1 Linden at the go4goal party (its allready available)
Poses: Juice - 6 Football Poses (200 Linden)

The Party's coming closer

Yeah, it's coming closer. The big event wich close the Go4Goal Hunt. All vendors say thank you to the hunters who made this hunt so great. So YOU are invited the Go4Goal Closing Party. Keep an eye on the blog for informations about the DJ Line-Up and direct teleport coming soon.

Go4Goal Closing Party

Yeah ... the world cup final is coming closer. And wonderful teams played for the finals. Time for us, to celebrate the great Go4Goal Hunt.

So mark the date, and join the party.

All fixed!

The last three days have been surprising and meant a lot of work for everyone connected to the hunt. But I am very happy to say - all is fixed again! Yayy!
And even more - you already did the hunt? Maybe you should do it once again, cause many shopowners did a brand new gift for you soccerfanatics out there! So here is the new sneek-peek on some of the provided gifts. Fasten your seatbelts, strikers ^^


You loved the last cute shoulderbear from Chehalis? Good news, cause here is another one ;-) Cute, cuddly and with a faible for soccer (of course)

Also our friends from Joseph made another soccer sweater which is available by today at their place. Good idea to check back at their place - face it! You just can not have too much sweaters in your virtual closet.

Be greedy ladies. You liked the outfit provided from K! Fashion - wahey - here is yet another sexy one for you. And if you want to have that african vibe also then better check out the leopard print boots.

And again something new for you to wear. IC DESIGN have been very generous and designed these neat soccer shirts for you.


The USC Texture Tomb sends you on a safari with new textures for building, decoration and working with. Bring something african to your virtual home :-)

And not enough - these are just SOME of the new gifts to get at the Go4Goal Hunt. But we are right now in the process of working on another surprise for you guys! So better be posted on this blog - cause more is yet to come.

Organisers Notes regarding Trademark Violations

Dear vendors, hunters and whom it may concern,

the last days brought some unsecurities to the hunt and this note is to sort them all out. First of all – and maybe the most important news to everyone: The hunt is still on and it will run til its end 11th July 2010. :-)

Nevertheless we have to look into these trademark and copyright issues. Therefore I will take the opportunity of this blog to make several things clearer (hopefully)

As you probably know we have been contacted by Linden Labs regarding possible trademark violations. That does not mean that the guys from Linden are the bad guys who want to spoil the fun for everyone. See it as hint that there maybe could be some copyright issues with your huntgift or also maybe with some sales items you are providing. There are no good guys or bad guys in this game. Copyright protection is a really complicated topic. And also I will tell you all out there that Linden Labs are huge fans of the hunt and are quite supportive.

What am I allowed to use and what not?
In this special case FIFA protected nearly everything that stands in relation to the World Cup in South Africa. That means: every symbol, every logo, every mascot, the cup itself but even combination of words containing "World Cup" are registered trademarks and must not be used for any kind of item. This also goes for logos of sportswear manufacturers like adidas, puma, nike, ...etc. And it also concernes the new soccerball the teams are using in the match.
BUT: This does not count for flags like i.e. the South African Flag, the German Flag...etc. as long as you use it not in an insulting way (burning flags, ripped flags...etc.). This also does not count for the old soccerball we use as huntitem (the one with the octagons on it).
So if you have used any of the above mentioned symbols or words better remove them. And here comes the challenge: We are in SECOND LIFE and everything is possible here. You can make up your mind about a "fictional" sports manufacturer on your own. Do not use three stripes but two or four. Do not use the Nike-Hook but a wave. Do not use the puma but a kittycat or a coyote. You see - the range is wide open and all of us in SL are quite creative in making things up - a small logo should not be the point of just giving up ;-)

Picture- and Personal rights:
This is also a very tricky one. It can cause problems if you use photographs of soccerplayers, trainers and even arenas for your gift. Many people are not aware of that also pictures of avatars in SL count under personal rights! So if you use i.e. Pictures of hunters in your store for your huntblog this can be a violation of personal rights of SL-residents. Of course you can always ask them if you are allowed to use the picture and if they agree you are absolutely on the safe side.
So if you have used pictures of celebrities for one of your items (either for the hunt or in general on sales items) better replace them with i.e. a leopard or zebra pattern. Nearly anything goes as long as you made it on your own and not just took it out of google picture search and pasted it on your item.

What is this all about? I mean - i give away the item for free...
That is right - we all do not make money - either virtual or real life currency - out of this.
BUT: The FIFA and also the sport manufacturers payed really big money to protect their brands. That includes also the possibility to sell their brands to i.e. broadcaster who are allowed to use them during the games. On the bottom line FIFA could come to the idea to sell their logos and brands to one vendor in SL exclusivly and make money out of it. And that is where the problems start: If the vendor pays the FIFA for using their brands on his clothing, furniture or whatever, the vendor needs to be sure about that he/she is the ONLY one using the brands. The very same goes for picture copyrights and personal copyrights.

OMG - they gonna get your ass in jail for that...
Nope, they are not. We are the organisers of this hunt and we did not violated any of the above mentioned trademarks. But as organisers we do want to stress this issue to all people out there. By the way - this is exactly the same thing Linden Labs did with us. And again - it is not that Linden Labs wants to cancel the hunt or all the fun. It is - like we do now - to make people aware of possible issues.

OMG - they gonna get MY ass in jail for that...
Nope, they are not. Even if you used a symbol or did a trademark violation by just not knowing about the rights. But therefore it is essential that you all check with your huntgifts AND your salesitems in the store if there is such a thing like the above mentioned problems. And if there is - alter that a.s.a.p. Use "Soccerfun South Africa" instead of "Wold Cup 2010" or even "The Beautiful Game" (which is very british by the way ;-) ). Remove the issued logos and brands from your huntgifts AND from your gift-promotionshots! Like said above - use your imagination. If your store is on a sim called "Posemuckelhausen" make up your mind about the gears of the "Posemuckelhausen Soccer Team" (even if they did not made it in the finals of the cup ;-) ).

Final thoughts about trademark violations and copyright protection:
Without bragging the Go4Goalhunt is right now one of the most awared hunts at this time of the year which is quite natural since the World Cup is up and running. The above written stuff is specific for the vendors of the G4GH. But that also goes with every item that can be seen offworld - may it be a movieposter, a motorcicle, a comicbook character or whatever. It has been a grey area in SL for a long time - but since this issues hit us like a bolt of lightning the last two days this is the possibility to check and doublecheck and also to discuss this topic. In fact a discussion would be quite helpful - so let us know your thoughts about that - either via e-mail or IM's or notecards. We will publish them here in this blog (if you allow us) with making your name/avatar name invisible. The blog is a wonderful tool to share and so is also the Sports Hunt Group.

We provide here again the link to the trademark guidlines provided by FIFA:

Trademark Guidlines

In any case: If you have any questions or still feel insecure about that topic - you can always call Manuel and myself inworld. :-)

Hugz and Love