{"id":47,"date":"2013-05-03T17:06:02","date_gmt":"2013-05-03T17:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/conference.opensimulator.org\/2013\/?p=47"},"modified":"2013-05-26T00:27:24","modified_gmt":"2013-05-26T00:27:24","slug":"announcement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/conference.opensimulator.org\/2013\/announcement\/","title":{"rendered":"Announcing the 1st Annual OpenSimulator Community Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Overte Foundation<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0AvaCon<\/a>\u00a0are pleased to announce the first annual OpenSimulator Community Conference 2013, to take place on the OpenSimulator Conference Center grid on September 7 – 8, 2013. \u00a0The OpenSimulator Community Conference will be a celebration of the platform and of the large and varied community using and creating it.\u00a0 It will feature two days of keynote speakers, presentations and panels on different topics, and an expo area to showcase community activities and projects.<\/p>\n

What is OpenSimulator?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

OpenSimulator <\/a>is an open-source platform that supports the creation of collaborative, immersive, distributed and social 3D virtual environments over the Internet. Started in 2007 and developed by individuals and organizations large and small, it has become a versatile system with which anyone can experiment.\u00a0 OpenSimulator software is now the basis for many hundreds of \u201cgrids\u201d and worlds of varying sizes and purposes.<\/p>\n

Who should attend the conference?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Anyone who is interested in the OpenSimulator software and the future of the metaverse is welcome to attend. \u00a0We especially hope to see OpenSimulator developers, grid administrators, and members of the community who participate on OpenSimulator grids.<\/p>\n

How much will it cost to attend the conference?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The conference is free to attendees! \u00a0While we encourage community members to become a sponsor<\/a> to help cover the costs of the conference, registration for the event will be free to attendees on a first-come-first-served basis.<\/p>\n

Where will the conference be held?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The conference will be held entirely within the OpenSimulator environment.\u00a0 The official program will be held in a grid specifically set up for the conference.\u00a0 We expect 150-200 attendees of the conference to be able to attend virtually on the conference grid, as well as an even broader audience through live streaming of the conference sessions on UStream. \u00a0In addition, the conference will offer social hours following each day’s program to accommodate satellite events that will take place in the many grids operated by members of the community.\u00a0 There will also be an exposition area on the conference grid for sponsors.<\/p>\n

Will the conference be HyperGrid enabled?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Yes! \u00a0Conference participants will have the option at registration to request a local account on the conference grid, or to attend via a HyperGrid account. \u00a0In addition, during the social hours, attendees will be able to move between the different grids using either the Hypergrid or by creating accounts in each of the participating grids.<\/p>\n

When will registration open?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Due to the \u201calpha\u201d nature of the OpenSimulator software, this conference is an experiment in capacity testing for OpenSimulator in addition to being a community event. \u00a0Therefore, tickets to the conference will be free but limited in number. \u00a0We hope to be able to accommodate over 200 users in total, a figure which includes speakers, sponsors and staff . \u00a0Since seats are limited, registration will open on a first-come-first-served basis on June 17, 2013 until the maximum number of virtual conference center tickets is reached. \u00a0At that point, community members will still be able to register for the live streamed version of the conference that will be available via UStream.\u00a0 This will also be free.<\/p>\n

The expo area will not be ticketed and so can be accessed by any avatar, subject to constraints on the number of avatars that the exhibition regions can hold at any particular time.<\/p>\n

I’m interested in being a speaker, where do I sign up?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The conference will have five “tracks” to cluster break-out sessions into common areas of interest, including:<\/p>\n