Welcome to the OpenSimulator Community Conference 2014!

Welcome to the OpenSimulator Community Conference 2014! 

Join us for the second annual OpenSimulator Community Conference 2014today at 7AM PST (-8 UTC) on the OSCC Grid!

Follow @opensimcc on Twitter and use the hashtags #oscc or #oscc14, and post your pictures and snapshots of the day on our Flickr group.

Conference Schedule

We have an exciting program lined up, with great keynote presentations, breakout sessions, social events, and plenty of Expo regions to explore over the next two days! Don’t miss the Keynote sessions, including the OpenSimulator Developer Panel on Saturday morning, Philip Rosedale from High Fidelity on Saturday afternoon, and Steve LaValle from Oculus VR on Sunday morning!

Conference Streams

We will be live streaming the conference through Ustream, this year with no ads thanks to our Crowdfunder contributors!  See the online schedule to grab the streaming link from the top of any session description.

Connecting to the Conference Grid

The OSCC Grid Login URI is: http://cc.opensimulator.org:8002

See the Login Info page for instructions and more information about how to connect to the grid. If you have a Local Account and have forgotten your password, use the Forgot Your Password link to reset it.

Optimize Your Viewer

For the best experience, make sure to enable Streaming Media & Music, and turn on AUTOPLAY for Parcel and Prim media. We also recommend turning your Draw Distance settings down to a reasonable level. The lower your Draw Distance, the better your viewer performance will be. See the FAQs for more information.

OSCC Zone Groups Access

When you log in, you will land on your designated Landing Zone region 1, 2, 3, 4, or the HyperGrid (HG) Landing Zone. Check the rotating banner in your Landing Zone to see the corresponding Keynote region that you should use for keynote presentations. You will only be able to access the Keynote region that matches your Landing Zone unless you are a presenter. See the Online Map for an overhead view of the conference grid.

Attending Sessions

When you arrive at a Keynote region or Track region please sit in a chair ASAP during the sessions! The conference grid will perform best if everyone takes a seat in the presentation areas. All of the conference presentations will take place via parcel streaming media, so we recommend that you set your viewer to AUTOPLAY parcel and prim media. In-world voice will be disabled in those areas, so please use text chat for socializing, networking, and asking questions of the speakers.

Expo Zones

The conference would not have been possible without the financial support of our Sponsors and Crowdfunders, so please be sure to visit their exhibits and booths in the Expo Zones to thank them! Explore five regions of terrific booths and fun activities provided by our sponsors and Crowdfunders – and invite your friends who didn’t get a conference ticket! The Expo Zones are open to public HyperGrid visitors!

OpenMetaQuest Game

Play the OpenMetaQuest to test your knowledge about the open Metaverse – and have fun! Your mission, should you be brave enough to accept it, is to find 12 hexagon-shaped game tokens across 7 sims while matching your MetaKnowledge for prizes. Look for the Adventure Hippo to begin your journey and win terrific prizes!

Technical Difficulties

Although we hope everything goes smoothly, it is always possible for there to be technical difficulties during the conference program. If this happens, we appreciate your patience and understanding while we work to resolve the issue.

If you are disconnected from the grid, please wait a moment or two, check the conference Twitter stream @opensimcc for updated information, and then try to log back in. We will do our best to resolve issues quickly and stick to the conference schedule. No matter what happens, we’re sure the day will hold plenty of surprises!

 

A tremendous thank you to all of our speakers, sponsors, crowdfundrs, volunteer staff, streaming team, and attendees! We hope you enjoy the conference program and we’ll look forward to seeing you in-world or on the web today!

Sincerely,

The OpenSimulator Community Conference 2014 Team

Conference Chair
Chris Collins | Fleep Tuque

Steering Committee

Chris M. Collins | Avatar: Fleep Tuque
Crista Lopes | Avatar: Diva Canto
Joyce Bettencourt | Avatar: Rhiannon Chatnoir
Michael Cerquoni | Avatar: Nebadon Izumi
Melanie Thielker | Avatar: Melanie Milland
Organizing Committee

Chris M. Collins | Avatar: Fleep Tuque
Committee Chair

Michael Cerquoni | Avatar: Nebadon Izumi
Grid Administrator 

Justin Clark-Casey | Avatar: Justin Clark-Casey
Developers & Open Source Track Leader 

Maria Korolov | Avatar: Maria Korolov
Business & Enterprise Track Leader 

Jeff Mefford | Avatar: Dan Banner
Content & Community Track Leader 

Stephen Gasior | Avatar: Stephen Xootfly
Research & Education Track Leader 

Cynthia Calongne | Avatar: Lyr Lobo
Learning Lab Manager 

Joyce Bettencourt | Avatar: Rhiannon Chatnoir
Sponsorship Coordinator 

Ken Grunke | Avatar: Key Gruin
Building Manager 

Jane Haniefy | Sine Whatever
Volunteer Coordinator

David Oberholtzer | Avatar: Kai Arkright
Streaming Team Coordinator

OpenSimulator Community Conference 2014 Starts Tomorrow! Are You Ready?

The OpenSimulator Community Conference 2014 starts tomorrow! Are you ready?

Here are three things you can do to make sure you are ready for a great conference this weekend!

1. Log in to the OSCC Grid to make sure your account works! Do NOT use the OSCC Viewer from last year! We recommend the 32-bit Singularity viewer, but if you wish to use any other viewer, make sure it can support varregions, Media-On-A-Prim, mesh objects, and streaming media. See the Login Info page for more information.  Having trouble logging in? Check the FAQ page!

2. Customize your schedule with the online conference program! Click the “Add to my Sched” button at the top of any session to create your own personal schedule for the conference. Also be sure to check your timezones! With recent daylight savings time changes, it’s easy to get confused. The conference schedule times are all Pacific Standard Time (PST) (-8 UTC).

3. Fill out your profile in-world and get dressed! Adding information to your profile will make it easier for people to network with you, and you can customize your avatar at the Shopping Center region or by HyperGrid teleporting to other grids.

Conference Schedule

We have an exciting program lined up, with great keynote presentations, breakout sessions, social events, and plenty of Expo regions to explore over the next two days! Don’t miss the Keynote sessions, including the OpenSimulator Developer Panel on Saturday morning, Philip Rosedale from High Fidelity on Saturday afternoon, and Steve LaValle from Oculus VR on Sunday morning!

Conference Streams

We will be live streaming the conference through Ustream, this year with no ads thanks to our Crowdfunder contributors! See the online schedule to grab the streaming link from the top of any session description.

Connecting to the Conference Grid

The OSCC Grid Login URI is: http://cc.opensimulator.org:8002

See the Login Info page for instructions and more information about how to connect to the grid. If you have a Local Account and have forgotten your password, use the Forgot Your Password link to reset it.

Optimize Your Viewer

For the best experience, make sure to enable Streaming Media & Music, and turn on AUTOPLAY for Parcel and Prim media. We also recommend turning your Draw Distance settings down to a reasonable level. The lower your Draw Distance, the better your viewer performance will be. See the FAQs for more information.

OSCC Zone Groups Access

When you log in, you will land on your designated Landing Zone region 1, 2, 3, 4, or the HyperGrid (HG) Landing Zone. Check the rotating banner in your Landing Zone to see the corresponding Keynote region that you should use for keynote presentations. You will only be able to access the Keynote region that matches your Landing Zone unless you are a presenter. See the Online Map for an overhead view of the conference grid.

Attending Sessions

When you arrive at a Keynote region or Track region please sit in a chair ASAP during the sessions! The conference grid will perform best if everyone takes a seat in the presentation areas. All of the conference presentations will take place via parcel streaming media, so we recommend that you set your viewer to AUTOPLAY parcel and prim media. In-world voice will be disabled in those areas, so please use text chat for socializing, networking, and asking questions of the speakers.

Expo Zones

The conference would not have been possible without the financial support of our Sponsors and Crowdfunders, so please be sure to visit their exhibits and booths in the Expo Zones to thank them! Explore five regions of terrific booths and fun activities provided by our sponsors and Crowdfunders – and invite your friends who didn’t get a conference ticket! The Expo Zones are open to public HyperGrid visitors!

OpenMetaQuest Game

Play the OpenMetaQuest to test your knowledge about the open Metaverse – and have fun! Your mission, should you be brave enough to accept it, is to find 12 hexagon-shaped game tokens across 7 sims while matching your MetaKnowledge for prizes. Look for the Adventure Hippo to begin your journey and win terrific prizes!

Technical Difficulties

Although we hope everything goes smoothly, it is always possible for there to be technical difficulties during the conference program. If this happens, we appreciate your patience and understanding while we work to resolve the issue.

If you are disconnected from the grid, please wait a moment or two, check the conference Twitter stream @opensimcc for updated information, and then try to log back in. We will do our best to resolve issues quickly and stick to the conference schedule. No matter what happens, we’re sure the day will hold plenty of surprises!

A tremendous thank you to all of our speakers, sponsors, crowdfundrs, volunteer staff, streaming team, and attendees! We hope you enjoy the conference program and we’ll look forward to seeing you in-world this weekend!

Sincerely,

The OpenSimulator Community Conference 2014 Team

Conference Chair
Chris Collins | Fleep Tuque

Steering Committee

Chris M. Collins | Avatar: Fleep Tuque
Crista Lopes | Avatar: Diva Canto
Joyce Bettencourt | Avatar: Rhiannon Chatnoir
Michael Cerquoni | Avatar: Nebadon Izumi
Melanie Thielker | Avatar: Melanie Milland

Organizing Committee

Chris M. Collins | Avatar: Fleep Tuque
Committee Chair

Michael Cerquoni | Avatar: Nebadon Izumi
Grid Administrator

Justin Clark-Casey | Avatar: Justin Clark-Casey
Developers & Open Source Track Leader

Maria Korolov | Avatar: Maria Korolov
Business & Enterprise Track Leader

Jeff Mefford | Avatar: Dan Banner
Content & Community Track Leader

Stephen Gasior | Avatar: Stephen Xootfly
Research & Education Track Leader

Cynthia Calongne | Avatar: Lyr Lobo
Learning Lab Manager

Joyce Bettencourt | Avatar: Rhiannon Chatnoir
Sponsorship Coordinator

Ken Grunke | Avatar: Key Gruin
Building & Scavenger Hunt Manager

Jane Haniefy | Sine Whatever
Volunteer Coordinator

David Oberholtzer | Avatar: Kai Arkright
Streaming Team Coordinator

Sponsorship Coordinator

Ken Grunke | Avatar: Key Gruin
Building & Scavenger Hunt Manager

Jane Haniefy | Sine Whatever
Volunteer Coordinator

David Oberholtzer | Avatar: Kai Arkright
Streaming Team Coordinator

Last Load Test Before the Conference – TODAY at NOON PST!

Today is the last load test for the OpenSimulator Community Conference 2014! 

You are invited to a Special Load Test at 12:00 PM PST today to help test capacity for the conference grid. The load tests help developers view simulator performance in real time to resolve issues and bugs prior to the conference.

For conference attendees, this is also a good time to check your account to make sure you can log in, explore the grid to get your bearings, and think about which terrific sessions you want to attend at the conference.

We will have staff available at the load test to answer questions or provide support if needed. Please see the Grid Info page for more information about how to log in and participate in the Special Load Test, and we hope to see you this afternoon!

Special Load Test at 12:00 PM PDT this Saturday, November 1st

We’re almost ready for the OpenSimulator Community Conference 2014!

You are invited to a Special Load Test at 12:00 PM PDT this Saturday, November 1st to help test capacity for the conference grid. The load tests help developers view simulator performance in real time to resolve issues and bugs prior to the conference.

For conference attendees, this is also a good time to check your account to make sure you can log in, explore the grid to get your bearings, and think about which terrific sessions you want to attend at the conference. We will have staff available at the load test to answer questions or provide support if needed.

Please see the Grid Info page for more information about how to log in and participate in the Special Load Test, and we hope to see you this weekend!

Speaker Training & Special Load Test Tomorrow 10/25!

Speaker Training on 10/25 & 10/26

Speakers for the OpenSimulator Community Conference 2014 are invited to special Speaker Training sessions on Saturday, October 25th, and Sunday, October 26th to practice their presentation on the conference grid.

  • Saturday, 10/25 – 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM PDT

  • Sunday, 10/26 – 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM PDT

Speakers should review the Speaker Presentation Prep page prior to the training session to learn everything needed to prepare for their presentation.  In addition, speakers should have already received their username and password to log into the conference grid.  The emails for new accounts were sent with the subject “[OpenSimulator Community Conference 2014] Your account”, and speakers may need to check their spam folders in case the message was filtered out.  Users who had accounts last year, or who cannot find their email notice, can also reset their password with the Forgot Password link.

Special Load Test on Saturday, 10/25

All conference speakers, volunteers, and attendees, as well as OpenSimulator users with hypergrid accounts, are also invited to a Special Load Test at 10:30AM PDT on Saturday, October 25th to help test capacity for the conference grid.  The load tests help developers view simulator performance in real time to resolve issues and bugs prior to the conference.

Please see the Grid Info page for more information about how to log in and participate, and we hope to see you this weekend!

 

OpenSimulator Community Conference 2014 Expected to Sell Out, Tickets Still Available

Conference organizers expect the OpenSimulator Community Conference 2014 to be a sell out event this year. The conference will be held on November 8-9, 2014 on an OpenSimulator grid designed specifically for the event, and focuses on the developer and user community creating the OpenSimulator software.

“Registration has been brisk this year,” said conference organizer Chris Collins. “We have fewer than 100 general admission tickets remaining and they seem to be going quickly.”

High Profile Keynote Speakers

The conference features several high profile keynote speakers this year, including Philip Rosedale, CEO of High Fidelity, who will speak about the future of the Metaverse, and Steve LaValle from Oculus Rift, who will discuss the Oculus team’s race to deliver consumer grade virtual reality for mainstream adoption.

In addition, a keynote panel of core OpenSimulator developers will discuss the future of the platform, including the Hypergrid, content licensing and permissions, scalability, and project maturity. Keynote panelists include Justin Clark-Case, Crista Lopes, Mic Bowman, Oren Hurvitz, Michael Cerquoni, and Melanie Milland.

Volunteers, Content Donations Still Needed

Conference organizers have also asked members of the OpenSimulator community to consider volunteering for the conference or making donations of content to help showcase the features and possibilities of the OpenSimulator platform.

“We still need volunteers to help with audience assistance and greeting, so we encourage experienced OpenSimulator users to sign up to be a volunteer,” said Collins. “We also hope to give people more avatar choices this year, so we appreciate donations of avatar components or other content that can be shared with conference attendees.”

New Learning Lab Track Gives Hands-On Experience

The Learning Lab track is a new addition to the conference schedule this year, featuring hands-on learning sessions to help content developers, teachers, and others learn how to design and create engaging content in the OpenSimulator platform.
Topics in the Learning Lab include developing interactive fiction and gamification components for community building, importing and exporting content from other platforms, and using OpenSimulator for K-12 education.

“The conference is a great introduction to OpenSimulator for those who aren’t familiar with it,” said Collins, “and we hope experienced OpenSimulator users will come away with new tools and practical knowledge to continue to grow the platform.”

Registration for the virtual OpenSimulator Community Conference is free and open to the public. The conference will also be livestreamed through UStream.

Register Today!

Since seats are limited, registration is open on a first-come-first-served basis until the maximum number of virtual conference center tickets is reached.  At that point, community members will still be able to register for the live streamed version of the conference that will be available via UStream. This will also be free.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TODAY!

OpenSimulator Community Conference Announces High Fidelity CEO Philip Rosedale as Keynote Speaker

The OpenSimulator Community Conference is pleased to announce Philip Rosedale, Founder and CEO of High Fidelity, Inc. will be a keynote speaker at the second annual OpenSimulator Community Conference, scheduled to take place virtually on November 8-9, 2014 in a virtual conference center designed for the event.

Mr. Rosedale’s keynote presentation will address the question, “What is the Metaverse?” and discuss the opportunity to develop an open platform for virtual reality over the internet, including new hardware devices that catalyze entirely new kinds of interactions between avatars.

In 1995, Philip Rosedale created an innovative Internet video conferencing product (called “FreeVue”), which was later acquired by RealNetworks where in 1996 he went on to become Vice President and CTO. In 1999, Rosedale left RealNetworks, founded Linden Lab and built a virtual civilization called Second Life, fulfilling his lifelong dream of creating an open-ended, Internet-connected virtual world.

Since leaving Second Life in 2010, Rosedale has worked on several experiments in distributed work and computing, including Coffee & Power and Worklist.net. In 2013, he co-founded High Fidelity Inc. to explore the future of a next-generation virtual reality system.

“Philip Rosedale is one of the foremost thinkers about virtual reality and the Metaverse today,” said conference chair Chris Collins. “We look forward to hearing his thoughts on the next generation of open Metaverse platforms, including OpenSimulator.”

Registration for the virtual OpenSimulator Community Conference is free and opens on September 15, 2014.  Sign up to be notified when registration opens!

Maria Korolov speaking

OSCC14 Conference Update – Proposal Deadline Tomorrow 7/15!

A quick update on the OpenSimulator Community Conference 2014 planning!

Deadline Extension Reminder – Proposals Due 7/15!

We extended the deadline for conference proposals to 7/15, which is tomorrow, so a quick reminder to make sure you get your proposals in before the deadline! A couple of people have let us know they intend to submit a proposal but are worried they won’t be able to make the deadline, so just let us know if you have a proposal in progress and we’ll work with you.

To submit your proposal, see:
https://conference.opensimulator.org/2014/call-for-proposals/

Volunteer Orientation & Building Team Meeting

Saturday, 7/19 at 8AM PDT / 3PM UTC/GMT

We’ll be holding the first Volunteer Orientation meeting this coming Saturday, July 19th at 8AM PDT/3PM GMT on the conference grid. Following the orientation session, the Building Team will have a separate meeting to sort out access and permissions and go over the building plan.

We need volunteers of all kinds, but especially greeters, moderators, and Streaming Team volunteers.  If you haven’t yet signed up, please do so before this Saturday so we can get you in the group!

To sign up to be a volunteer, visit:
https://conference.opensimulator.org/2014/staff/call-for-volunteers/

Crowdfunder Campaign Update – 20 supporters have raised $1,295!

We are tremendously thankful to those who have contributed to the OSCC14 Crowdfunder Campaign, and invite you to check out the various perk packages that are available for donations starting at $10 USD. Funds raised go to support the costs to run and produce the conference and we’re hoping to raise enough this year to add some nice “extras” like ad free streaming on the video channels. In addition, donations are tax deductible for US residents!

To contribute to the Crowdfunder Campaign, visit: https://conference.opensimulator.org/2014/sponsors/crowdfunder-campaign/

Sponsorship Opportunities

In addition to the Crowdfunder Campaign, there are also sponsorship opportunities for individuals and organizations who wish to have a higher visibility presence at the conference. Starting at $500 USD, see the Sponsorship page for more details and information about the available levels of sponsorship. Changes from last year include sponsorship booths on the conference Landing regions and Breakout regions for greater visibility and more foot traffic!

To find more information about being a sponsor, see:
https://conference.opensimulator.org/2014/sponsors/call-for-sponsors/

 

Many thanks to all who have already volunteered, submitted a proposal, sponsored, or donated to the conference, and we look forward to seeing your proposals and meeting the volunteer team this weekend!

Maria Korolov speaking

Call for Proposals

Call for Proposals

The OpenSimulator Community Conference 2014 Call for Proposals is now closed.  If you have questions or need more information, please contact the conference organizers.  Thank you!