Announcing the 5th Annual OpenSimulator Community Conference 2017

AvaCon is pleased to announce the fifth annual OpenSimulator Community Conference 2017, to take place virtually on the OpenSimulator Conference Center grid on December 9-10, 2017. The OpenSimulator Community Conference is an annual conference that focuses on the developer and user community surrounding the OpenSimulator software.

“OpenSimulator is an open source multi-platform, multi-user 3D application server. It can be used to create a virtual environment (or world) which can be accessed through a variety of clients, on multiple protocols.” as explained on OpenSimulator.org. Users can also visit other OpenSimulator virtual worlds, across the web by using the Hypergrid protocols. “In this way, it is the basis of a nascent distributed Metaverse.”

Organized as a joint production by Core Developers of OpenSimulator and AvaCon, this year’s conference will focus on the latest software release, visions for the future, and technologies or content today that are shaping the future of the platform. 

The OpenSimulator Community Conference 2017 features a series of dynamic short presentations, panels, performances, and workshops that spotlight the best of the OpenSimulator platform and community.

“Last year’s conference was a terrific success with two days of presentations, panels, exciting expo and Hypergrid experiences, hundreds of attendees within the 3D virtual world conference space, and thousands more watching on via live video stream.” said conference organizer Joyce Bettencourt. “We will be building on that success by offering more opportunities for the community to be involved and furthering outreach to attract new users. With the continued interest surrounding virtual reality technologies, we want the VR community to know that OpenSimulator is a great platform for building the open metaverse.”

Those wishing to financially support the conference have several options, including the opportunity to participate in a Crowdfunding Campaign when registering to raise small dollar amounts that will be used to help cover grid, web hosting, and streaming services for the conference.  Participants in the Crowdfunding Campaign will receive a variety of thank you gifts depending upon their level of participation, and event sponsors will have options for promotional activities and participation in creating content for the conference grid.

We hope to be able to accommodate over 400 users in total, a figure which includes speakers, sponsors, and staff. Since seats are limited, registration will be 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.

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.

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We will have more information and details about the conference schedule and registration, and we look forward to seeing the wide range of projects, presentations, and other activities of the OpenSimulator community. We invite you to submit a proposal, sign up to volunteer, or sponsor this year’s event. Thanks for your interest and support, with more to come!

The OpenSimulator Community Conference 2017 Planning Team
Conference Chair
Joyce Bettencourt | Rhiannon Chatnoir
Conference Steering Committee
Joyce Bettencourt | Rhiannon Chatnoir
Crista Lopes | Diva Canto
Michael Cerquoni | Nebadon Izumi
Melanie Thielker | Melanie Milland
Conference Organizing Committee
Cynthia Calongne | Lyr Lobo
Joyce Bettencourt | Rhiannon Chatnoir
Maria Korolov | Maria Korolov
Barbara Truman | Delightful Doowangle
Grid Administrator | Michael Cerquoni | Nebadon Izumi
Sponsorship Coordinator | Joyce Bettencourt | Rhiannon Chatnoir
Streaming Producer | Mal Burns
Tech Guru | Jeroen Frans | Frans Charming
Streaming | James Lloyd | James Atlloud
Streaming Coordinator | Michael Bailey | Marcus Llewellyn
Thirza Ember | Special Events