Farewell to IMVU’s Top OG, Varsha
Chicka, known as Notorious on IMVU, volunteers as an IMVU Greeter and has been an active member of the community for almost 11 years. Verve X Magazine had the opportunity to interview her to find out a little more about her involvement, and the popular farewell party she organized for her dear friend Varsha, who departed from IMVU just over a month ago.
Chicka explained that as a Greeter, she visits new users in the three dedicated rooms to give them a warm welcome, to help them enjoy IMVU and to answer any questions they may have. IMVU Greeters can be identified by the purple icon on the avatar card. She advised us, “The program is going to be changing soon, but it will have the same idea in mind. The program is going through reconstruction, and soon there will be things you have to complete in order to become a greeter.”
Although she is not a staff member, she has been highly involved in testing some of IMVU’s features, and has been a Greeter in both the current program, and the earlier program. During the last decade, she has formed a close bond with some of the IMVU staff members, including former Community Manager Varsha, who is also known to us as the face of IMVU.
How long have you known Varsha?
I have known Varsha since her first days at IMVU.
How do you feel about her departure?
It broke my heart to be honest. She did MUCH for our community. I ran a lot of interference for her. When people would start blaming her for things I knew she had nothing to do with - or if they called her bad names - I would correct them. A lot of times, this was done off-site or in chat rooms. A lot of Creators didn't appreciate what she did here for them UNTIL she was gone.
Who will take Varsha's role now?
They are interviewing - HOWEVER I don't think they will be able to hire one person to do what she did. They are currently relying on a group of people to support us.
When was your farewell party for Varsha?
It was mid-August. It lasted for three days. I figured a lot of people would want to come and I try to accommodate time differences.
Why did you decide to throw her the party?
There was no thought to it - besides I knew it was the right thing to do. She was such an important part of our community and she deserved more than a 3-day party. Varsha did more than most employees, and she was our friend
Who was invited to the party?
Everyone was. I posted it on Pulse, PhotoStream, the Forums, and on Facebook. We had about 200 visitors over the three days.
How was the overall vibe of the party?
I think people had fun. We encouraged everyone to wear purple, and we gifted memorial products. My friend oOChrissyOo@IMVU was a BIG help and she helped when I needed to be away.
What will you miss most about her?
She really cared and still cares about us. I will miss the way she took immediate action even at 2am her time. And, I will miss her even temperament; she never got visibly upset. she was cool as a cucumber and so professional.
It will surely be hard to meet the expectations she left, don’t you agree?
I really do not hold hope.
Pre-2010 - Before IMVU:
Varsha worked at a personal genetics company called 23andMe. She had always been very passionate about science, and although she trained to be a Molecular Biologist, she built a lot of experience with Operations and Customer Relations.
2010 - 2016 - During IMVU:
Varsha was hired as the Community Manager by then CEO Cary Jay. That is the position she always held. She was involved in every aspect of customer relations for User Base and Creators; she was a liaison for the community to the employees of IMVU, she managed the volunteers of the Greeter program, she managed the forum moderators, and she managed several test groups for projects that IMVU was testing before release. She bowed out from her duties on 19th August 2016.
2016 - After IMVU:
Varsha accepted the exciting opportunity to head the Operations and Client Services function of a local biotech company, or in Chicka’s words, “She has set off to save the planet.” This company is currently working on developing a DNA sequencing based test for over 5000 pathogens for Infectious Diseases patients. This job combines both, her passion for science and her experiences, seeming to be right up her alley! Go Varsha!
Varsha's Departure...
The entire community was given a bit of a shock this past month when IMVU’s former Community Manager, Varsha, announced she was parting ways with IMVU. The community had varied responses to her departure, and some even suggested her leaving IMVU is a sign of its downfall.
This would not be the first time Varsha has been seen as the culprit or who we at least should blame for issues on IMVU. For example, in 2013 IMVU announced they would no longer allow non-IMVU links to be posted on pulse, which caused an outraged response from majority of the IMVU Community. Many sadly chose to take their anger out on Varsha bombarding her public room, sending countless messages, bashing her on pulse, while some opted not to use the feature anymore.
Prior to this change, IMVU users used Pulse for various reasons from advertising to gossip. Creators found it a great and easy way to advertise their new items in their catalogs; or even ask the community what they thought of their inspiration ideas, while Graphic Artists had the ability to quickly and easily advertise their shops and their latest pieces of work. Pulse was also used as a quick way to advertise and invite others to your event, whether it be a themed party for the weekend, holiday event, fundraiser or even a wedding.
Although Pulse had these wonderful uses to reach more of the Community, it was sadly used as a means for gossip and even harassment; users linking screenshots and chat logs with each post, as well as a quick way for hackers to gain access to users accounts when they would click on a link via their post. The harassment as well as hacking issues that had arose from pulse were ultimately the main reason for the decision; and as time grew on users found a way to adapt, or chose to stop use of the feature altogether.
Yes, in the time Varsha has been the Community Manager there have been several reasons the IMVU community had decided to see her as the one to blame for the decisions that had come in front of us. However, each time she handled the community's response with a professional and courteous mindset, doing her best to calm and explain to us all the best she could.
Given all the time she had been our Community Manager, Varsha has become a much talked about staff member of IMVU. Now that she parts with IMVU to chase her new career, we only have one final thing to say,
