The scenario presented to the demonstration group for the Co-Creation of Leadership session centered around a hypothetical village where a book had been published talking about what a wonderful place the village was. Everyone was buying the book and talking about it, until a newspaper article came out alleging that the author was a child molester. The town turned ugly, burning the books and wanting to lynch the author. The members of the group were supposed to explore how leadership emerged in the ad hoc group as they attempted to address this.

Of course, it was all hypothetical. No community would change so rapidly and drastically to lynch someone, would they? No community would act upon an untested allegation in the media, would they? No community would devalue the work of someone simply because they found out the person had done something inappropriate elsewhere, would they?

Upon returning home, the question became a little more immediate. Since it started, I’ve been writing positive articles about Central Grid. There efforts to create an alternative grid focused on the community and financial aspects of virtual worlds is laudable to me and I hope they are successful.

However, as I alluded to in my Second Life Notes the following morning, there allegations have been emerging about “notorious scam artists” being back in Second Life as well as involved with alternative grids.

In response, I received an email from a person named Frank Corsi. Frank wanted to know if I was calling him a notorious scam artist. Frank is better known in Second Life circles as Jasper Tizzy. In his email, he said it was no secret that he is the person behind Central Grid and asked me not to hurt Central Grid with bad news about this. He then went on to present his side of the story on various issues from the past.

In a discussion today, one person who has been involved with banking in Second Life as well as the emergence of the financial sector in Central Grid, asked why people would hide information about the backers of a venture, if the backers are innocent. I pointed out that even though someone might be innocent, if the crowd thinks they are guilty, the crowd will lynch them anyway. The person went on to speak about the group they are working with, asserting that it has always operated away from scandal and dishonesty. I noted that the organization was associated with banking, and by many people is probably guilty by association.

So, what will happen with Central Grid now that Jasper Tizzy’s involvement is more widely known? Will the crowds tear it down because of the reports they’ve heard of Jasper? Will they stick around even if they think of Jasper as a scam artist, because they think the idea is good in spite of Jasper? Will they give Jasper the benefit of the doubt and consider the possibility that he isn’t a scammer?

On one level, this is much more complicated than the scenario I was confronted with at the AGPA conference. There is the issue of whether or not you can trust the company hosting the grid. People have expressed concerns about how trustworthy Linden Lab is and now, people are bound to question how trustworthy Central Grid is.

In the demonstration group, I tried to get people to step back from their desire to lynch the author of the book and to hold onto what was good. Yes, they should let justice follow its path, but they should not rush to vengeance instead of justice. It feels like I need to do something similar with Jasper and Central Grid. Will I be any more successful than I was in the demonstration group? Time alone will tell.