Welcome to the OpenSimulator Community Conference 2018!

/2 Comments/in , /by

Welcome to the OpenSimulator Community Conference 2018!

Join us for the sixth annual OpenSimulator Community Conference 2018 kicking off today, Saturday December 8th, at 7AM PST (-8 UTC) on the OSCC Grid!

Follow @opensimcc on Twitter and use the hashtags #OSCC18 or #oscc, and post your pictures and snapshots of the day on our Flickr group. or on our new MeWe group at https://mewe.com/join/oscc where you can also chat with other attendees during and after the event.

Conference Schedule

This year we have two exciting days of programming lined up, with over 55 speakers sharing innovative content, dynamic short presentations, and panels that all take place Saturday, December 8th and Sunday, December 9th within our OSCC Keynote regions.

The schedule also includes community and social events, and plenty of Expo regions to explore over the weekend! Don’t miss the special HyperGrid Expo in OSCC Expo 2 region with many how to’s, resources, and scavenger hunt landmarks to interesting destinations where you can learn to HyperGrid visit throughout the OpenSimulator metaverse. There is also the chance to attend live music during our Saturday evening #OSCC18 Music Showcase and on Sunday at the virtual venue of Maritime Club Belfast, and many after parties and simulation tours.

Conference Streams

We will be live streaming the conference on YouTube live!  See the online schedule and watch the live conference video stream live on our OSCC conference site.

Connecting to the Conference Grid

If you requested a new local account be created for the OSCC Conference Grid, you should have received an email with the login details. See the Login Info page for instructions on how to download an OpenSimulator viewer and more information about how to connect to the grid. If you have a Local Account from a previous OSCC event and have forgotten your password, use the Forgot Your Password link to reset it.

For those accessing the OSCC Grid via HyperGrid, the Login URI and HyperGrid link is http://cc.opensimulator.org:8002/. Make sure your avatar has fully loaded on your home grid before making the hypergrid jump! If you do not, you may appear as a persistent cloud when you jump to the conference grid.

Optimize Your Viewer

For the best experience, make sure to enable Streaming Media & Music, and turn on AUTOPLAY for Parcel and Prim media. Also, turn off media filtering. 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. We also have some additional tips for those who might have trouble viewing some video and streaming media in world.

OSCC Zone Groups Access

When you login, you will land on your designated Landing Zone region 1, 2, 3, 4, or the HyperGrid (HG) Landing Zone. There will be a teleport portal in the Landing Zone that when you walk through will take you to the corresponding Keynote region that you should use for keynote presentations. You should only access the Keynote region that matches your Landing Zone unless you are a presenter or volunteer. Exclusive Access Crowdfunders, as well as Presenters and Staff will also have access to the Staff Zone 1 where special Q&A will take place. See the Online Map for an overhead view of the entire conference grid.

Attending Sessions

When you arrive at an OSCC Keynote 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. You can view all #OSCC18 sessions on the schedule at https://oscc18.sched.com/.

“OSCC 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 OSCC 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 OSCC Expo Zones are open to public HyperGrid visitors!

HyperGrid Tour & Learning Resources

Visit OSCC Expo Zone 2 for the HyperGrid Tour & Resources section of the conference. There you will find step by step help on how to HyperGrid if you aren’t familiar with jumping from one OpenSImulator grid to another grid world, as well as helpful website links, and a curated collection of HyperGrid landmarks for those more experienced to explore the interconnected OpenSimulator metaverse.

OSCC Poster Session Expo

You can find accompanying poster materials, resources, gifts, and links from this year’s OpenSimulator Community Conference presenters in a special OSCC Poster Session Expo area located in OSCC Expo Zone 3.

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!

Our Thanks

A tremendous thank you to the OpenSimulator developers, and all of our speakers, sponsors, crowdfunders, 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!

Please reach out to us with any questions during the event at opensim@avacon.org

Sincerely,

The OpenSimulator Community Conference 2018 Team

Conference Organizing Committee

  • Joyce Bettencourt | Rhiannon Chatnoir, Conference Chair
  • Cynthia Calongne | Lyr Lobo, Conference Program & Speaker Wrangler
  • Barbara Truman | Delightful Doowangle, Conference Organizer
  • Buffy Bye | Buffy Beale, Volunteer Greeters Organizer
  • Jeroen Frans | Frans Charming, Website & Scripting Tech Guru
  • Michael Bailey | Marcus Llewellyn, Grid Tech & Streaming Coordinator
  • Mal Burns, Streaming & Production Logistics
  • James Lloyd | James Atlloud, Video & Streaming Tech
  • David Fliesen | Sun Tzu, Content & Community

Our Amazing Sponsors

And thanks to the many #OSCC18 Presenters, Crowdfunders, and Volunteers that made this possible!

Note About Watching Video Inworld

/7 Comments/in , , /by

Dear Attendees/Speakers,

OpenSim Viewer technology and Web standards are constantly changing, sometimes they are not in lockstep with each other. Doing a dry run we noticed that showing video from the web in world, like youtube, is not working ‘out of the box’ for many people any more. That is very unfortunate as some presenters might want to show a video.

Fortunately there is a way to get video working in world more reliable, but it means you will have to install an extra flash plugin. Even if you already have the main flash plugin installed.

The following comes from the Firestorm Wiki:

  • Windows users:
    • In order to play Flash format videos (e.g., YouTube videos), you must have the Opera & Chromium version of the Adobe Flash plugin installed. Unless you already have this specific version of Flash installed already, you will need to get the Opera & Chromium Flash plugin from Adobe.
  • Linux users
    • You need to have the pepperflash plugin installed, which can be satisfied by installing pepperflashplugin-nonfree for Chromium
  • Mac users
    • Mac users currently need the Safari & Firefox version of Adobe Flash plugin installed. Download it from Adobe.

Make sure you select the right version when downloading.

It is understandable if this might make you uncomfortable. If you prefer not to install this plugin, we will make sure to share links to web video and webpages in chat during presentations. This way you can just click the links to load them in your web browser.

Maria Korolov speaking

OSCC18 – Call for Proposals

/1 Comment/in , /by

Call for Proposals

The OpenSimulator Community Conference 2018 Call for Proposals is now open! The OpenSimulator Community Conference 2018 will share what is exciting about our favorite social 3D platform. We are looking for those individuals or groups on the forefront who are shaping the Metaverse, hosting exciting activities, and changing the game. This year’s conference will feature a concentrated series of talks on December 8th-9th on the main stage featuring Creative, Education, Technical, Experiential, and other topics.

The speaker sessions offer 20-minute presentations to engage the mind while the community-sponsored tours, and on the Expo regions, content give-aways and Hypergrid explorations take attendees to faraway places. We are particularly interested in speakers who dramatically tell the story of their work and employ great 3D examples as props and graphics.

The organizers encourage presentations that span current innovations and activities, performance artistry, educational simulations, innovative business cases or have a publication or track record of real world use.

Important Dates & Deadlines

  • October 1, 2018 – Announcement of the Call for Proposals!
  • October 29, 2018 – Proposals are due by 11:59 PM PST (Pacific Standard Time).
  • October 31, 2018 – Proposal acceptance emails and with conference information.
  • November 7, 2018 – Accepted speakers must register for the conference to create an entry in the conference schedule and the program.
  • November 10, 2018 – Speaker Orientation & Training sessions and Presenter Booth Setup to prepare speakers for the conference.
  • November 17, 2018 – Deadline for stage props and audio-visuals (beyond textures) for the conference program.
  • December 8-9, 2018 – OSCC18 Conference dates!

Submit a Proposal
To submit a proposal, enter your information in the Proposal Submission Form. If you have questions or need more information, please contact the conference organizers.  Thank you!

We look forward to reviewing your submissions!

Which identity should we use to publicize your session?

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 personal website we should review, please enter the URL here.
If you have a professional or work related website we should review, enter that URL here.
If you have any other 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.)
We use Skype for audio streaming during the conference. If you don't have a Skype account, please sign up for one (it's free) and enter your Skype username here.

Presenter Photos


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 don't use bullet points, or other formatting, just simple plain text descriptions in one or two paragraphs. Maximum word count is 200.
Please enter a brief, professional biography in NO MORE THAN 2-3 SENTENCES. Please keep it brief! This information will be used in the conference program and website, so please proofread for spelling and typo errors! Please don't use bullet points, or other formatting, just simple plain text. Maximum word count is 200.

Proposal Details

The following information will only be seen by proposal reviewers and conference organizers.
Please describe in greater detail what your presentation will cover. 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 plain text descriptions in one or two paragraphs. Maximum word count is 500.
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. Please don't use bullet points, or other formatting, just simple plain text descriptions in one or two paragraphs. Maximum word count is 500.
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. The primary format for this year's OSCC is a series of short (20 minutes presentation + 5 minutes for Q/A), dynamic presentations by a single, or duo of presenters, on a topic that will highlight the best projects, use cases and work being done with OpenSimulator. Please DO NOT use bullet points, or other formatting, just simple plain text descriptions in one or two paragraphs. Maximum word count is 200.
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. Please don't use bullet points, or other formatting, just simple plain text descriptions in one or two paragraphs. Maximum word count is 200.

Multiple files should be uploaded as a single .zip or other common archive file.