IBM virtual environment regulars go beyond blogging with virtual conference
by Tateru Nino 
Mar 20th 2009 at 10:00AM
Filed under: Culture, News items, Second Life, Virtual worlds
Recently, multinational technology and consulting giant IBM ran some very successful Second Life events, purely for their own benefit. The Academy of Technology conference met the targets, and saved IBM a significant fraction of a fortune in costs. Nevertheless, the conference was quite a high-level affair, and a number of IBM staff feel that there are significant gains that can be had with a more down-to-earth virtual conference focusing more on those who are using virtual environments as an ordinary part of their day.
Jo Grant (aka Jaymin Carthage) has announced the Beyond Blogging conference, which is about exploring the use of virtual environments by IBM and IBMers alike in their social and working lives. Virtual environments are used for the expression of ideas, new concepts, collaboration, communication and community building. The organizers are are looking for papers, posters or presentation sessions along the lines of the conference theme: how virtual environments have affected IBM and IBMers.
Non-IBMers are welcome to participate also (with the sponsorship of an IBM staffer) and being that it will be held in a public place (the Lotusphere parcel in the IBM 9 region on 7-8 April), non-IBMers are also welcome to attend, though effective capacity may be somewhat limited.
Grant's blog has more information on the conference. This is not an official IBM event, it should be noted. Grant and his colleagues are putting the conference together to help both themselves and others get more out of the use of virtual environments, to exchange ideas and viewpoints. This is about coming together to create more value for regular folks using virtual environments in their day-to-day, and that's a surprising number of us lately.
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