This is the 12th in a series of largely demographic interviews that are conducted with established residents, to find out more about them and their involvement with Second Life, and to contrast the differences between their views and experiences and those of the newer residents. The questions may be tailored slightly for each interview; responses may be edited for purposes of clarity.

I met Indira Bekkers out in Our Virtual Holland 3, one of the sims in which she has an eponymous fashion store. Appropriately, she is a fashion designer, specialising in elegant rather than outre clothing; she also like to dabble in building and scripting. She especially adores Second Life because she "learned so much in so little time and got to know people I would never have met in RL."

Second Life Name? Indira Bekkers

Second Life Age? 147 days

Label your subculture in Second Life. (Can be all the cultures you're involved in, or some part thereof.)
I'm a fashion designer and have 2 fashion stores at this time. I also like to build things (buildings and smaller things, like furniture) but I don't sell those, then I do some scripting when I need it for building. I belong to the community of Our Virtual Holland, where many small businesses get a chance to make a start in SL, we share our knowledge and experiences.

Because I have different skills, I find myself helping other people very often. I started here as one of the first 'pioneers', I like to see all the creative things people do here and we come together weekly for a community meeting as well. It started as a small Dutch community, but is growing and now we have people here from other parts of the world as well.

I was invited to send a business proposal to start a small business here, which was granted with a piece of land to give it a try ... So I joined the starting group to be able to build here. Later more people joined to start a business or art gallery here as well and as we got to know each other, we grew closer. I was making clothes for myself for some time and wanted to see if I could sell them, even when there was so much competition.

Do you have a favorite Second Life celebrity and why? (This could be a Linden you like, or perhaps someone well known in your community, etc)(Content creators are covered in the next question.)
One of them is Gal Canning, he is great with scripts and taught me almost everything I know now about scripting, he is into puzzles and games, not for gambling but just for the fun. Then there is Irwo Merlin, he has a very special style in building in SL, and has taught me some tricks which would have taken me ages to find out myself, also a very funny guy to spend time with by the way.

Do you have a favorite Second Life content creator (scripter, builder, artist, machinima, music, etc), and why? (Anyone whose work you personally like.)
I really like the works of Amethyst Jetaime, she is a professional builder and really does magic with prims and textures. She turns a complete sim into a little paradise or anything she wants.

What do you prefer to do in Second Life as regards content creation (scripting, building, artistic, machinima, music, OR NONE, etc), and why?
My passion is designing clothes, but I also like to build very much, I like to combine every aspect of SL. [I like to create] business outfits and exclusive/stylish fashion, not the sexy stuff I see a lot in SL; I do a lot of custom orders as well. [As far as building goes,] it's just what gets in my head ;)

What sort of events (if any) do you prefer to attend?
I don't attend events very often, but when I go, it's about fashion most of the time.

What would prevent you from attending an event? (Technical, ethical, mood considerations, other people, etc)
Lack of time :) And when I can help someone, I prefer to do that instead of attending an event.