VWBPE 2015 Keynotes and Featured Speakers announcement

The VWBPE 2015 organisers have announced this year’s keynote speakers and featured speakers via the VWBPE website. It’s a interesting list of speakers I think and for me I’ll be looking forward to Ebbe Altberg keynotes speech the most.

This year marks the 8th annual VWBPE event in Second Life and it’s going to be a fascinating conference from the start to the end. VWBPE 2015 kicks off on 18th March until 21st March 2015 and the theme is Crossroads. See last year’s VWBPE numbers!

Here are the announced speakers for VWBPE 2015! 

• Ebbe Altberg will be opening the conference at 1pm SLT on Wednesday 18th March 2015. Ebbe will be speaking about the relationship between Linden Lab and educators.
• Pamela Broviak will be speaking at 7am SLT about virtual spaces and civil engineering on Thursday 19th March 2015.
• Gord Holden will be speaking at 1pm SLT about K-12 education, virtual worlds and experiential learning on Thursday 19th March 2015.
• Jeroen Frans will be speaking at 7am SLT about impressive projects that engage learners on Friday 20th March 2015.
• Sensuous Maximus will be speaking at 1pm SLT about her views on virtual teaching and skill sets on Friday 20th March 2015.
• Susan Toth-Cohen will be speaking at 7am SLT about her life changing work of applying virtual worlds in her graduate program for occupational therapy on Saturday 21st March 2015.
• John Fillwalk will be speaking at 1pm SLT about simulation and virtualization on Saturday 21st March 2015.
•  Jay Jay Jegathesan will be speaking at 4pm SLT at the closing about the large span of influence over the arts, research, machinima, teaching, and architecture on Saturday 21st March 2015

For a more in-depth read of the speakers above, see here.

Reminder Update

• The VWBPE 2015 Calendar is available here
• Exhibitor space & displays submissions open until 27th February 2015
• Feature your virtual world at the “Post-Conference Virtual World Tour”: submissions until 27th February 2015
• Thinkerer Award: Please nominate your outstanding candidates by 1st March 2015
• Register Here for tickets

—————————————————————-

Are you excited about VWBPE 2015 ?

Please post your views in comments! :)

—————————————————————-

Share your educational success stories with Linden Lab

On Tuesday 24th February Linden Lab posted a new blog post asking for Second Life educators to share their educational success stories.

Check out the new Education Forum Thread here.

The full blog post reads this…

Are you an educator seeing positive results from using Second Life? We’d love to hear from you! Please join us in this Education Forum thread to share your answers to the following questions:

1. What educational organization do you represent?
2. How do you use SL in your educational endeavors?
3. Most importantly, what positive results have you seen from using SL?

From direct conversations, press coverage, and the like, we’ve heard of a number of organizations seeing positive results using Second Life for education, but we’re always eager to hear more and we hope you’ll add your voice to the thread.

Thanks!

Firestorm hosts 2nd snowball fight

For those that couldn’t make it to the first snowball fight a few weeks ago there is another chance to throw snowballs at the Lindens. The 2nd snowball fight will be held at 1pm SLT today over at the Winter Wonderland regions in Second Life. SLURL

Spread the word and have fun! :)

Useful links for Relay for Life of Second Life 2015

For the latest news and events for Relay for Life of Second Life 2015, check out these useful links and stay updated. Don’t forget the kick-off celebrations start 7th-8th March 2015 for RFL of SL 2015 and this year marks the 11th season in Second Life. Woooot!

Official Website: http://www.relayforlifeofsecondlife.org

Official Wiki: http://www.relayforlifeofsecondlife.org/wiki

Official Plurk Page: https://www.plurk.com/relayforlifeofsecondlife

Official Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/RelayForLife_SL

Official Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/rflofsl

Official Flickr Page: http://www.flickr.com/groups/slrelayforlife/

Official Google Plus Page: https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/114793851785833186058/114793851785833186058

Official Tumblr Page: http://relayforlife-sl.tumblr.com/

Official Pinterest Page: http://www.pinterest.com/jwarrhol/2015-relay-for-life-of-second-life/

Official Avatar Social Network Page: https://www.avatarsocialnetwork.com/ASNpage/relayforlifeofsecondlife

Paint SL Purple 2015 Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

• PAINT SL PURPLE
• DATES:  FEBRUARY 21 TO MARCH 7
• WEBSITE:  www.relayforlifeofsecondlife.org
• LOCATION: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/American%20Cancer%20Society/219/138/26

It is time to paint the grid purple!! Paint SL Purple, the official lead in to the 2015 Relay For Life of Second Life season, will take place between February 21 and March 7, 2015.  Throughout this time, Second Life avatars are invited to paint their homes, businesses, clubs, and land purple, wear purple clothes, purple hair, and even purple skin!

Second Life avatars  can pick up the official Paint SL Purple kit at the American Cancer Society Island. This special kit contains purple freebies to help you celebrate the week. Avatars can  contact Nuala Maracas or Leala Spire in world to obtain a copy of the free kit or they visit the following slurl: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/American%20Cancer%20Society/219/138/26

The official Paint SL Kickoff party will be held on Saturday, February 21, 2015  on American Cancer Society Island from 4pm – 9pm. DJ Dee Wolfe will kick off the party at 4 pm slt, followed by Special Guest’s Satin & Erin. DJ Dianne Wycliffe will close the part out from 7pm to 9 pm slt. All parties will take place at the following location:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/American%20Cancer%20Society/42/211/609

Search for Paint Second Life Purple (PSLP) in the Second Life event listings to find other parties that are taking place all over the grid throughout this special week.

About Relay For Life of Second Life

Relay For Life is the signature event of the American Cancer Society and has been active, and continually growing in Second Life for 10 years. In 2005, the first Relay For Life of Second Life (RFL of SL) was attended by a few hundred avatars and raised almost $5,000 US dollars for the American Cancer Society. As of July 2014 RFL of SL ranks number 17th out of 5000 teams worldwide in donations received. We have brought in over 2 million US dollars to help with the fight against cancer. This year our Relay weekend will be held on July 17th and 18th.

About the American Cancer Society

For 100 years, the American Cancer Society has been working to create a world with less cancer and more birthdays. Together with our millions of supporters, the American Cancer Society (ACS) saves lives by helping people stay well and get well, by finding cures, and by fighting back. The American Cancer Society is a nationwide, community-based, voluntary health, and international organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and service.

For More Information:

• www.relayforlifeofsecondlife.org
• www.cancer.org/involved/participate/relayforlife/second-life

2015 SL Sci-Fi Convention: the final countdown

SL Sci Fi Convention 2015 Map

Today marks Media Day for the 2015 SL Sci-Fi Convention and the sims will open to bloggers/news media at 12pm SLT through to 8pm SLT. There will be tours and opportunities to take snapshots of the wonderful sci-fi builds.

The sims open to the public at 12:01am SLT on Friday 20th February 2015 and will close on 1st March 2015. The opening ceremony begins at 12pm SLT. This is the 8th annual SL Sci-Fi Convention event and it’s in support of Relay For Life of Second Life, an official charity of the American Cancer Society. The theme is The Future is Now! :)

There are over 100 exhibitors from across the galaxy, many days of activity adventures, live music events, theatre presentations, parties and much more. Join in with the scavenger hunt, have fun in the amusement park, check out the orbital Space Experience and see the shops.

Spread the word and attend the 2015 SL Sci-Fi Convention. I will be exploring the regions and sharing snapshots/blogging in the days ahead. Stay tuned for that. :)

VWBPE 2015 updates and reminders

VWBPE 2015 coming soon

The 8th annual VWBPE conference starts 18th-21st March and the event will be happening on the VWBPE regions in Second Life. The theme is Crossroads this year and here are the deadline targets set by the VWBPE 2015 organizers, see below.

Latest VWBPE 2015 Updates

• The VWBPE 2015 calendar is now live – see here for times, dates and info
• Exhibit submissions extended until 27th February 2015
• Post-conference VWBPE Virtual World Explorations submissions have to be received by 27th February 2015.
• The Thinkerer Award – deadline for nominations is 1st March 2015
• Registration is still open – attendance is free this year for SL/OpenSim platforms

I’m looking forward to attending VWBPE 2015 and I’m interested to hear more during the conference. In previous years it’s been a really good experience and the attendance numbers are pretty much high every time. I’m looking forward to hearing from Ebbe Linden and many more during the 2015 conference.

Just under a month to go until the event gets underway. Yay! :)