SLA in Virtual Worlds

Second Life Community Convention 2011

-== Second Life Community Convention 2011 ==-

When:  August 12 - 14, 2011
Where:  Oakland, CA | Oakland Marriott City Center

REGISTER NOW!  http://www.slconvention.org/registration/

WEBSITE:  http://slconvention.org

The Second Life Community Convention is three days of exciting activities, events, musical performances, machinima screenings, panels, workshops, and much more that showcases the abundant creativity of Second Life Residents.

SLCC is organized BY Resident FOR Residents, and we invite you to join the fun!

SUBMIT A PROPOSAL

The Call for Proposals is up, and with five new track themes and fun presentation formats, you have the opportunity to share your hard work and creativity with the community that will most appreciate your efforts.  Don’t want to give a full presentation?  Consider doing a Speed Sparks session of 20 slides in 5 minutes to share the gist of your idea in a fast-paced presentation style that was a huge hit last year!

This year’s convention tracks will include:

Artistic & Creative Expression
Commerce & Marketing
Developers & Open Source
Public Sector & Education
Social Experience & Communities

You may submit your proposal at:  http://www.slconvention.org/program/call-for-proposals/

VOLUNTEER IN OAKLAND

SLCC Volunteers are convention attendees who are very committed to making the Second Life Community Convention a true community experience while helping to ensure our convention runs smoothly. Volunteers help with many important aspects of the convention including registration assistance, helping direct convention flow and attendees, assisting in track and content management, along with many of the “on the ground” logistical items necessary for the convention.

Be a volunteer!  Sign up at: http://www.slconvention.org/staff/oakland-volunteer-application/

VOLUNTEER IN SECOND LIFE

Volunteers in Second Life help with running all of the virtual activities related to SLCC, including helping build, script, and design the virtual conference facilities, moderating panels and helping synch video streams with the team in Oakland, greeting and helping audience members who attend in Second Life, and much more!

Volunteer in Second Life!   Sign up at: http://www.slconvention.org/staff/in-world-volunteer-application/

SPONSOR SLCC FOR AS LOW AS $50 USD!

Sponsorship opportunities are available for the 7th annual Second Life Community Convention. Sponsors have the opportunity to reach a highly coveted target demographic of tech-savvy early adopters, virtual world developers and thought leaders, online community organizers, and the most innovative and dedicated Second Life residents.

Get your name or business out to the Second Life community!  Sponsorship packages begin at $50 USD and go up to $10,000 USD, with benefits including free convention passes, logos included on the Tshirt and bags, logos on convention signage, display tables, logos on the website and in-world kiosk, and much more!

Sponsor SLCC today!  See http://www.slconvention.org/sponsors/call-for-sponsors/ for more information!

HELP US SPREAD THE WORD

Even if you can't attend SLCC this year, we hope you'll help us spread the word by posting, blogging, and forwarding this announcement to your various groups, communities, and listservs.  SLCC is run FOR residents BY residents and that means we don't have big fancy advertising budgets!   


Thanks so much for your interest and help with the Second Life Community Convention 2011.   We are very excited about this year's convention, and we hope to see you in Oakland!

Sincerely,

Joyce Bettencourt (SL: Rhiannon Chatnoir)
Chris Collins (SL:  Fleep Tuque)
Donna Meyer (SL: Misty Rhodes)
Kathey Fatica (SL: Katydid Something)

Virtual Conference Kudos

Blog by Connie Clem

Were any other DGI members "in" the virtual conference this year?

I was there, and it was durn cool, with our group of virtual attendees getting to know each other pretty well via chat. People said they preferred the VirtualU experience over SecondLife - not so daunting to get comfortable. Plus, both a 2D and a 3D experience were available. So, we could experience events in webinar style (speaker camera, slides, and the tweet stream or a notes panel [notes sent to user automatically at close of session]) or with avatars/"space."

At the end, we all danced avatar-style with about 10 dance move choices. It must have looked hilarious on the big screen. Overall recommendation - if you can't make it to the physical conference next year (in Chicago, July 15-18), consider attending virtually.

Virtual content was limited to the keynotes and "spotlight sessions" identified here - (bottom of page) -

http://sla2011.tornado1.com/general-information/virtual-component/

Virtual participants can access these recorded sessions, and people who attended in person can buy access for $150.

Jane Macoustra reported extensively on the virtual experience -

Day 1

  http://slablogger.typepad.com/sla_blog/2011/06/sla-2011-conference-in-philadelphia-the-virtual-conference.html

Day 2

  http://slablogger.typepad.com/sla_blog/2011/06/the-sla-2011-conference-in-philadelphia-the-virtual-conference-day-2.html

Day 3

 http://slablogger.typepad.com/sla_blog/2011/06/the-sla-2011-conference-in-philadelphia-the-virtual-conference-day-3.html

Conference highlights are noted on Twitter at #sla2011. Another filter is the @slavw (sla virtual worlds) account. If DGI had a hashtag, please remind me!

Thanks to the DGI team for hosting many of the virtual/Spotlight sessions.

And thanks to the many DGI tweeters. Good stuff!

/Connie

The DGI Blog 

 

http://rockymountain.sla.org/sla-annual-conference/conference-value-lives-on

 

 

 

The SLA 2011 Conference in Philadelphia - The Virtual Conference Day 3

by Jane Macoustra, 2011 Virtually Present Candidate for Director

Hello. I'm back for the final time. During conference, we have had some amazing Virtual conversations - on topics related to the sessions we have been watching - and we have been able to chat away because nobody can hear us in the real world. We have chatted about the cartoons used by the session speakers and if they are copyrighted to use them; we discussed when we all passed our driving tests; asked about electronic feedback forms and electronic brochures (a la Hyram Smith's session) who the writers and authors are in our group; and what we all do/did as a second or even third career (Bruce Rosenstein). 

Today, we started the Virtual conference as we meant to end it: Virtual Dancing. If you saw the Closing General Session, you'll know what I mean. We - of the Virtual group - had a little surprise lined up! It seemed to be a good way to demonstrate how the Virtual Group has come together to enjoy our version of the conference. 

We have been tweeting and watching the tweets that have emenated from the conference-goers during and after the various sessions. There's a lot of (good/positive) intelligence out there on the ground about what people think of SLA 2011. 

I picked up on some points that flowed through the sessions that I saw (Wergeles/Drucker) that we need to be able to understand new analytical tools and transform data into intelligence. We also need to spend a lot more time thinking about our roles; turning thinking into a core competency and thinking about how we can continue to stay ahead in a world that is evolving so rapidly that we barely have time to take a deep breath as we try to keep up with so much new technology. 

Today we were treated to a session with Hyram Smith on the Power of Perceptions: Dealing With Change. Smith described the concept of the Belief Window and how it works. He used numerous examples of types of Beliefs to make his point to the delegates, describing good, better or harmful beliefs. Smith said that our prejudices are pre-judgements sitting on our Belief Windows. His message was that in order for change to happen we need to change some of our beliefs in the Belief Window. This session included some audience-participation exercises in groups, which the Virtual Group could not participate in. However, it was very good to be able to see the delegates when they got up to speak. I saw some of his message appear on Twitter, when he was describing 9/11: "Bad things happen to good people; pain is inevitable - misery is optional". It was a powerful message. 

The next speaker was Bruce Rosenstein who spoke on Creating Your Future the Peter Drucker Way, and he was talking about the framework that surrounds Drucker's work on the future. He said that we need to think about life and work and focus on the future and not the past; we should remain relevant, have parallel careers and acknowledge the value of continuing education. He pointed out that Drucker said that in his book on Asia that we all change over time and therefore we have a need to reinvent ourselves. Rosenstein showed an interview he did with Peter Drucker in 2005. 

The final message from this session that grabbed my attention, are Drucker's comments from the 2005 interview......."If you are single-minded and focussed on making money then you will make money.........happy and contented people live in more than one world............ If you live singularly for money you are more likely to be alienated from your children............if your goal is to make money, I pity you." These are more very powerful messages from the Master himself. 

The closing general session:  The speakers were extraordinary. The Board addressed the state of SLA from a perspective of their roles - looking at the last few years but also looking towards the future. Janice LaChance is an inspirational speaker and she covered the uncertainties in the workplace happening now and also in the future. When all the 2011 candidates for the 2012 Board positions were announced I could not stand up, because I was only Virtually there.  

When the Keynote speaker James Kane came on we - of the Virtual Group - were in bits. Fast as lightening, but a very smart delivery from a speaker, just floors me every time. As James Newman said to us, "Blink and you'll miss it". Kane is a behavioural scientist and he noted that exclusion is as powerful a tool as inclusion, and therefore our identity and the importance of connecting with those that you work with is part of our identity.

Finally, and I apologise if I am labouring the point here - but Virtual presence brought together a community. If you could view our chat you would would be able to see what came out of this community. We grew close through using the chat facility and looking at our personal profiles so that by the end of the conference, we felt that we knew each other and we felt in tune with each other. We hope you enjoyed the Virtual dancing as much as the real dancers, and as much as I enjoyed the Virtual conference. My thanks go to everyone involved in making it all happen. 

Check Out the @slavw Twitter Stream about the SLA 2011 Virtual Conference

Attendees of the SLA Annual Conference via VirtualU are tweeting about the speakers, ideas, and experiences with the virtual conference. Check out the Twitter stream here!

Here is a sample:

SLA 2011 Conference in Philadelphia - The Virtual Conference

by Jane Macoustra, The 2011 Virtual Candidate for Director

Today I joined my very first Virtual conference in Philly, as I was unable to attend this event in person. I found the software easy to upload, and attended my very first session, which was Stephen Abrams talk. This was interrupted by some technical problems at my end, but this isn't an issue as I will be able to go back and watch all the sessions later on, if I have missed anything.

I caught the Larry Prusak session, which was extremely good. He was speaking about the importance of cognitive diversity, knowledge management and the Wisdom of Crowds. He provided examples such as when Lehmans collapsed how many VPs knew it was about to go over the cliff edge. He spoke of Toyota's corporate model, and of Japan, China and India's changing global status. It was an incredibly interesting talk and I really enjoyed it. The questions that people posed afterwards were extremely good, covering knowledge within an organisation, the motivational factors in decision-making and taking deliberative time to consider questions, organisational behaviour and whether there is a corporate equivalent to transparency.

The quality of the Virtual Conference is excellent, and we have our techie guys to assist us. James Newman (hiding behind the screen at the front of the stage - we know you are there!) and James Sek in avatar mode in the theatre, have guided the Virtual delegates through using the software and they have been great! We have a choice of 2D or 3D access. The 3D version lets us use the virtual world with our own avatars, and we can move around the auditorium and the conference rooms. We can even sit down! In between the sessions, we are entertained with either earlier session replays or some music. Virtual conference allows us to talk with each other and brings us closer to the conference itself. The distance suddenly seems irrelevant because we are interacting with each other within conference and discussing what we are watching live. We are attending virtually from across the globe, but it actually feels like we are all together.

During lunch (my early evening) I joined all the candidates in the Exhibition Hall to meet and speak to the delegates. I was on Skype, and there was a computer erected in the candidate area, so I didn't feel remote and I could hear the conference buzz and talk to people. The connection was very good and I spoke to quite a lot of people. However, others were very shy about approaching me to say Hello, so I waved at them. Natasha Kenner set up the connection for me to interact live with people, and it was a very successful experiment! I've had a really good conference day, and it isn't over yet.

The SLA 2011 Conference in Philadelphia - The Virtual Conference Day 2

by Jane Macoustra 2011 Virtually Present Candidate for Director

Hello again,

Day two of the conference has started with another great panel of speakers. Please excuse my spelling; I'm from the UK, and can't attempt to "Americanize" my blogging. I'm going to highlight a couple of sessions today. This morning we had a session hosted by Ulla deStricker on Capitalising on Content to Grow Competencies. Ulla spoke briefly about how we should now be negotiating with business leaders instead of service providers.

There were three speakers, and a detailed Q&A session followed afterwards. Fred Wergeles spoke about using KM management tools to gain competitive insight and how to set an intelligence action plan, taking us through relation analysis and recommendation to management. He asked us to think about how we conducted research before the creation of the Internet. He demonstrated a case study using specialist in-house written software to analyse the relationships between connections, frequency of communication, the people in an organisation and also identifying all non-obvious connections to a particular project.  

Deborah Keller took us through how the Homeland Security agency used KM for library content, demonstrating their use of tagging to develop a network of people and identify connections in a large agency. She said they keep a repository of questions and resources that they can refer back to for analysis of future developments. The current project is to develop standard models agency-wide, using multi-functional portals. Finally, Deborah advocated the use of plain language instead of jargon, and using RSS to push content. 

Constance Ard spoke about one of her projects "Build me a Wiki" which she developed for a particular client. The practicalities she used to develop the Wiki included a clean up, and then defining the purpose of the Wiki. Other considerations that Constance addressed were costing issues and the risks attached to e-discovery. 

Questions followed, and these were answered by the entire panel:

What skills would you have liked when you started out? 

• Keeping up with new technologies; diplomacy and tact; learning to listen and communicate; top level management communication skills. 

What tools did you use in order to build those skills? 

• SLA, mentors, people in the organisation; clients; being treated like your opinion is valuable; read and study the same stuff as business leaders; continuing education; using social media to tap information from people you don't know. 

What skills are you looking for next and what advice do you have for people new to the profession?

• Understanding new analytical tools; turning data into actionable intelligence; manipulation of data; being a subject expert or a good generalist - which? Being the best you can be; budgeting and statistical analysis. Advice: continue to build your skills; use mind map visualisation; never stop learning; you can learn every single day.

Looking at SLA Core Competencies growth - what ideas do you have? 

• It is an evolving document; add thinking as part of the core competency; as work changes it (core) needs to evolve at a broader level; it should be flexible; look at competencies 15 years ago; what might they be in 20 years and what are the right here-right now competencies?

What makes us special? 

• We can do lots of different things and learn a lot of skills; that is what makes us different/special; we need to continue to be relevant, doing things within an adapting landscape. 

Later on in the day, we were offered the session by Mary Ellen Bates: Creating Groupies - Info Pro Geurilla Marketing. I've seen her live a number of times, and she was very lively virtually!  Actually she addressed us (the Virtual crowd) on a number of occasions. We were in the room with her. MEB asked what do you offer your organisation that is unique and do they need it? She picked up on negative stereotypes and the ways in which Info Pros can change perceptions of our industry. MEB addressed ways we can market ourselves effectively to demonstrate and express the value of offerings to an organisation. She said that volunteering to work for SLA helps to develop skills and give the Info Pro a higher profile. She provided the audience with good, solid advice, which I thought was particularly relevant to those who are new to the profession. Finally, she asked us (the Virtual crowd) if we were all in Bunnie Slippers! Check out the responses on Twitter. 

Today, we are again all interacting and talking with each other in the Virtual conference area and we have made professional network connections with each other. We have been tweeting so the delegates-in-person can see our input into the conference. This conference has brought together a new set of professionals who would not have met if it weren't for the Virtual conference side of Philly 2011. It is great to be a part of this particular group. 

Jane Macoustra Writes about the Viritual Conference

Jane Macoustra writes about her  Virtual Conference Experience for the SLA Blog.  She attended sessions and even spoke in the Exhibit Hall as a Virtual Candidate.  Read her blog posting to learn more about her experiences.  http://slablogger.typepad.com/sla_blog/2011/06/sla-2011-conference-in-philadelphia-the-virtual-conference.html#tp

One Avatar's Reactions to the Opening Session of the SLA Virtual Conference

Hi All,

I hope many of you are attending  SLA 2011 in Philadelphia, going on right now!  I am unable to attend live this year due to budget restrictions, but I am nevertheless on board as an avatar virtually attending the keynote and spotlight sessions!

Broadcasting the opening session live through VirtualU was technically flawless. The evening began with well deserved awards:  I was so happy that our 2010 Chapter President  Ashley Conaway won the SLA Rising Star Award for her outstanding achievements in the first five years of  her  career as information professional! Plus Judy Tapiero, who works so diligently as our Student Liaison to MLIS programs at both the College Park iSchool and Catholic University, won the very prestigious Rose L. Vormelker award for being such a wonderful mentor to  both students and working professionals through student group chats and her career development workshops. There was a tie for the Vormelker award this year, and I am very happy that Mary Talley, fellow Maryland chapter member as well as a dynamic  leader and mentor in the DC Chapter, also won a Vormelker award.  Let's congratulate Ashley, Judy, and Mary for their distinguished achievements to our profession!

Keynote speaker and Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas Friedman convincingly addressed what I was told was a packed house via tweets. Speaking on the merger of globalization and information technology, Friedman  continued using his "flat earth" metaphor  from his recent books like The World is Flat 3.0,  to describe how we  need to be creative in a world where everything is on a level playing field, and Beijing and Bangelore are our next door neighbors.

Friedman's  overweening "Average is Over"  motto in his keynote talk challenges us all in terms of job-seeking, career development, or education.  He stresses creativity in a world where employers  want people who can invent/reinvent a job, rather than just fill it.  He touts a liberal arts education to foster creativity, collaboration and synthesizing concepts, which drew a huge applause from the crowd! Although Friedman praises science and math, he says:  "If we throw out liberal arts, we may be helping the bottom reach the average, but the average will never reach the top."

Whew, what a heady opening night at SLA 2011, and I was only an online participant! This is my first time attending online, and I have to say that the 3-D VirtualU platform is a lot more conducive to online conferences and  much easier for virtual world beginners to use than Second Life. Unlike Second Life, there is also a 2-D "webinar" version of VirtualU that works well for virtual attendees in low bandwidth/slow Internet environments.

While sitting in on the keynote session and chatting with other 2-D and 3-D virtual attendees, I also monitored and participated in #sla2011 tweets. I feel like I got the full force of the keynote address, plus could take a peek at the notes everybody else was taking via Twitter, even if I wasn't there to enjoy the session in the flesh!

Once the conference is over, I'll report on the conference from my virtual perspective  for The Cutting Edge.

My best,

Seán

 

Seán Henry PhD, MLS

2011 SLA Maryland Chapter Past-President