Carrie: Zooby's initially started as a pet store. When I joined SL I purchased a pettable pet and grew somewhat attached to it. I carried the pet with me everywhere and people would often ask me where I got it. I then looked for better, more realistic pets and could not find them. I have a background in art/design and some experience with 3d modeling. So I decided to make my own pet. At the time I talked to a pretty well known sl resident about what I wanted to do. She made her rl income in SL. She told me I shouldn't make pets because they were already being made and what could I possibly offer. I said that I felt I could make them better. And I did. :)

Wurlitzer: What features does Zooby's have to offer?

Carrie: We sell pets and recently opened a Zooby Baby store (virtual human babies).

Wurlitzer: How did you conduct your research as to building different animal characteristics?

Carrie: JS Greenwood and I look at real life animals and use real life photos of fur and skin which is then modified in Photoshop. I model the pets in Maya and import sculpties.

Wurlitzer: Do you create your own animals for Zooby's or do you have somebody custom making them for you?

Carrie: JS Greenwood and I model and texture the animals and babies. We hire freelance programmers and animators. The programmers code the pets and the animator is currently helping with avatar animations.

Wurlitzer: How long has Zooby's been in Second Life for?

Carrie: I joined SL in November of 2006. Zooby's was opened in April of 2006.

Wurlitzer: How many have visited Zooby's?

Carrie: We generally maintain a traffic level somewhere between 7000-10000. We do not have campers and do not cheat the system to increase traffic.

Wurlitzer: What made you decide to market Zooby's?

Carrie: Zooby's developed over the course of 2 yrs like a real life business would. We started small. The first store existed on mainland and it was less than a quarter of a sim. As Zooby's grew we moved and purchased more land. We didn't buy an island until we could afford one. We also never rented. We didn't advertise much except in SL search. However, we had all of our items on Slexchange and were always available for customer service. If a pet was not delivered I would always personally redeliver it within 24 hrs. Although we are inundated with IMs we never ignored our customers claiming to be unavailable or too busy. We felt that the best way to sell our items was 1) To make them exceptionally well, 2) Make sure they were easy to purchase and 3) Always be available. We spent a tremendous amount of time designing a vendor that was easy to understand. We also offered a gift option on the vendor which most stores do not have.

Wurlitzer: What kind of unique items can you purchase at Zooby's?

Carrie: Zooby's sells pets. Cats, dogs, chimps, tigers, dragons, wolves, etc. We have pets that have artificial intelligence and pets that you simple attach and pet. We have pets that lay around and relax all day and pets you can ride.

Wurlitzer: Is Zooby's more for exploring or purchasing items?

Carrie: Purchasing

Wurlitzer: What are your future plans regarding Zooby's?

Carrie: We recently opened a new store called Zooby's Babies.

In 2010 we plan to convert all the Zooby's pet to avatars.

Wurlitzer: What are some of the issues your facing with Zooby's?

Carrie: We have had our cats, dogs, zbags, wolves, tigers and now babies copybotted, resold and redistributed. We have had other residents come into the store, claiming to work for us and then sell their own merchandise. We have had griefers spam chat, yell at customers and cause disarray. Fortunately LL has been a little helpful in dealing with this. If an item is copybotted and we file the proper DMCA the item is removed from SL relatively quickly.

Wurlitzer: Do you have any sponsors?

Carrie: no

Wurlitzer: Other than Zooby's, are there any other places that you have in SL?

Carrie: Zooby's Pet Store and Zooby's Babies

Wurlitzer: What's one of Zooby's main goals?

Carrie: To grow and expand our brand.

Wurlitzer: Where is Zooby's located?

Carrie:

ZOOBY'S PET STORE, Zoobyland (127, 130, 21)

ZOOBY'S BABIES - BEST SL BABIES, Skynx (191, 154, 24)

Wurlitzer: How do you keep transparency in making sure who you are in RL becomes the same in SL?

Carrie: Zooby's is a trademarked name in real life. We file real life taxes. We keep real life documents of everything we spend and earn. We have a real life attorney.

Wurlitzer: Carrie, are you the same person in RL as you are in SL?

Carrie: Pretty much. I do not have time to have a social life in SL so it's never been an issue.

Wurlitzer: What would you like your future in SL to be?

Carrie: I would like us to be able to continue doing what we are doing. Grow our brand, make our product better, eventually expand into other online worlds.

Wurlitzer: What do you like to do in your spare time in SL?

Carrie: I don't have time to have spare time. I work here either updating older items or creating newer ones.

Wurlitzer: What are some upcoming updates you plan having for Zooby's?

Carrie: We are working on updating all the domestic cats, two new baby rooms, and updating the Zooby Baby.

Wurlitzer: Is there anywhere that you can go to, to keep up to date on the progress of Zooby's?

Carrie: YES! Check out the Zooby's Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Zooby's/61294468679?ref=ts

OR:

join Zooby's Group, Zooby's Baby Group or Zooby's Mailing List (available to join at the entrance of the main store)

Wurlitzer: What kind of exclusive membership perks would you get for joining Zooby's?

Carrie: You get to know when a new pet is released or updated. This is valuable info because updates are free. Say you purchased a pet with limited functionality in 2007. Then this year the pet is updated with new scripts, model, and textures. Since you already purchased that pet you receive a new free update.

Wurlitzer: What makes Zooby's different than most any other virtual pet stores to you?

Carrie: Zooby's makes very realistic virtual pets. We are consistently improving our products and brand. Overall we are grateful to be able to do this and excited to be play a roll in the development of virtual products.

Wurlitzer: What are some of your favorite exhibits to visit in Zooby's?

Carrie: If you are looking for a realistic, sophisticated, intelligent pet check out the Ultimate Dogs and Cats. If you want something to carry around with you all over SL check out the Pettable Pets. If you are looking for a pet to hang out in your store but uses limited script resources on your sim then I recommend a Relaxing Dog.