Social & Communities Track

The Social & Communities track will explore all the ways in which OpenSimulator offers communities for nearly every interest, from role playing groups to science fiction communities, to virtual towns and interest groups, historical explorations, religious and spiritual communities, book clubs, and so much more. This track will feature sessions that focus on sharing about and improving the social experience and overall community of OpenSimulator users.

Call for Presentations

In this track, we seek proposals that explore aspects of the social experience in OpenSimulator, and what it takes to create, build, and sustain communities.  Proposals might include presentations that discuss how to market and attract users, issues and barriers to sustaining communities, and what the OpenSimulator platform may need in the future to become a broadly adopted platform for community building in the metaverse.

Topics of Interest

  • Marketing strategies
  • Community Management
  • Building themed communities, including roleplay, non-profits, simulations, education, commercial, etc.
  • Technical tools to help attract and sustain communities
  • Gamification
  • Tutorial Tools & Workshops
  • Cross-Media Integration
  • Avatar Behavior & Culture
  • Event Planning & Management

Submission Deadline

All proposals must be submitted no later than midnight PDT on July 1, 2013.

Acceptance Notice

If your proposal is accepted, you will receive an email by August 1, 2013.  Accepted speakers must register for the conference by August 7, 2013 in order to be included in the conference schedule and program.  You may wish to register for the conference even before receiving notification of your proposal status to ensure that your registration has been processed by the August 7th date.

Presentation Formats

When you submit your proposal, you will need to select an appropriate presentation format that will best fit your content and style.

Single Presenter Presentation

This presentation format is for a solo presenter who has at least 40 minutes of content to share. Generally the speaker should reserve 10 to 15 minutes of the presentation for Q&A if the presentation is largely lecture style, though we also encourage more interactive sessions that engage the audience.

Multiple Presenters Presentation

This format is most appropriate for a team presentation approach that has more than one speaker, though there is a separate format specifically for panels.  Multiple presenters still need to reserve 10 to 15 minutes for Q&A, and so will need to coordinate in advance how to break up the 40 minutes of content.

Panel Presentation

The panel presentation style works well with 3 or more speakers, usually who have different perspectives or expertise on a particular topic.  Panel presentations also have 40 minutes for content and 10 to 15 minutes for Q&A.

Workshop or Training Class

Workshops or training classes specifically focus on teaching attendees new skills, usually with hands on activities that encourage the audience to practice the skills being taught.   Ideally, presenters who select a Workshop or Training Class format should have previous experience delivering training online.

Live Performance

This can be a live music performance, a short theatrical sketch, a live poetry reading, an interpretive dance or any other performance art.  This presentation format is generally popular in the Artistic & Creative Expression track, but depending upon your performance, it may also be appropriate in other tracks.  Please indicate in your submission if your performance should be slotted into a 30 minute or 1 hour time slot, and be very specific about your technical requirements or venue needs.

Proposal Submission

Contributions to the Research track are handled separately. Please see Call for Contributions for that track.

Presenter Contact Information

Please double check your email address, since this will be our primary way of contacting you regarding your proposal status!
Please provide a phone number where we will be able to reach you in the event of an emergency. Ideally this will the phone number where you can be reached during the conference. PLEASE INCLUDE COUNTRY CODE AND AREA CODE.
If you have a professional or work related website we should review, enter that URL here.
If you have a personal website we should review, please enter the URL here.
Do you have a Twitter account? If so, what is your Twitter URL. (URLs please, NOT just your username.)
Conference planners often use Skype, and we may use Skype as a backup method for audio streaming during the conference. If you have a Skype account, please enter your Skype username here.

Presenter Photos

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This is the image we will use for the conference program, website, and other media and marketing about the conference. Whether your photo is a real life or avatar picture, it should be a well-lit headshot primarily of your face, not a graphic, design, or full body shot, and as high resolution as you can provide in .JPG or .PNG format. All photos must be professionally appropriate!

Proposal Information

What is the title of your presentation? This is the text that will be printed in the program schedule and on the conference website. Please double-check for spelling and typo errors!
Please provide a brief description of your presentation in no more than 2-3 sentences. This is the description that will be used in the conference program and on the conference website. Please double-check for spelling and typo errors!
Please enter a brief, professional biography in no more than 2-3 sentences. This information will be used in the conference program and website, so please proofread for spelling and typo errors!

Proposal Details

The following information will only be seen by proposal reviewers and conference organizers.
Please describe in detail what your presentation or proposal will cover. If you are proposing a presentation, panel, or workshop, clearly state the problem, issue, or topic that your presentation will address. If you are proposing a live performance, describe in detail the kind of performance you plan to give. Please don't use bullet points, or other formatting, just simple paragraph descriptions.
Please describe your target audience - who do you think will be most interested in attending your presentation or performance? Who are you trying to reach? Also include expected outcomes from your presentation - after a participant leaves your presentation, what will they have learned? If your proposal is a live performance, you may enter "N/A" in the outcomes section if it does not apply.
Briefly describe what will take place at your session in the order the events will happen. Your response should give us a good understanding of what will take place in your session. For example: In this panel session, the lead presenter will give an overview of the topic for about 5 minutes, then the three panelists will introduce themselves and present briefly for 5 minutes. The last 25 minutes of the panel will be Q&A from the audience.
What equipment do you need for your presentation? Do you have any special needs or setup requirements? Please note that conference organizers will do their best to meet all requests, however, we cannot guarantee that special equipment, space, or setup options will be available. Musical performers are expected to stream their own audio, and should be as detailed as possible in listing any special requirements.
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Maximum upload size: 516MB
Multiple files should be uploaded as a single .zip or other common archive file.