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The EDUCAUSE Virtual Worlds Constituent Group meets at the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference each year. Starting in 2009 we will be trying to meet at the EDUCAUSE Regional Conferences as well. Below is a list of the upcoming Regional Conferences followed by suggestions and ideas to make the best of the on-site event.

2011 In-World - AJ Kelton (SL: AJ Brooks) || In-World - || In-World - || In-World - || In-World - || In-World - ||
 * MARC || Baltimore || Jan 12 -14 || On-Site - Lloyd Onyett (SL: Komputer Merlin)
 * ELI || Washington DC || Feb 14 - 16 || On-Site - AJ Kelton (SL: AJ Brooks)
 * WSWRC || Austin || Feb 22 - 24 || On-Site - Jim Snell
 * MWRC || Chicago || Mar 14 - 16 || On-Site - David Stack (?)
 * NERCOMP || Providence, RI || Mar 28 - 30 || On-SIte - Rick Anderson (?)
 * SERC || Charlotte || Jun 1 - 3 || On-Site -

Input from past meeting coordinators

__**From Tanya Joosten, EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional Conference**__ tjoosten@uwm.edu, Juice Gyoza in SL

1.) EDUCAUSE provided a portable speaker system that Justin (JJ) connected to my laptop headphone jack so everyone in the audience at the conference could hear you and the others in-world. JJ was very helpful in getting the technical side of things set-up in Chicago. 2.) EDUCAUSE provided a wireless microphone connected to the audio in the room. I was *unable* to connect wireless receiver to the microphone jack of my laptop. There was no other microphone for the room audio. 3.) This resulted in a challenge in having audio fed into Second Life. I used the integrated mic in my laptop. We had hoped that the speakers in the room were load enough to be received by the laptop; however, this was not always the case. 4.) The audience members that came up to the podium and spoke into the laptop worked best. However, some members were hesitant to come up to the front in which case I tried to transcribe summaries of what they were saying. 5.) I had a computer projector connected to my laptop so the audience at the conference could see all of you in-world. 6.) A handful of members of the audience at the conference were also in-world with their own laptops and helped facilitate the meeting. 7.) The majority of the real world attendees were newbies to Second Life.

Tip: Bring an extra mic (boom mic work best), then you can to hook it up directly into the computer and run a line to the audience OR bring another wireless mic (however, having a 2nd wireless mic receiver in the room could cause frequency problems).

__**From Ellen Marie Murphy (Elani Matova in SL)**__ //This is a report on our VWCG meeting at the NERCOMP 2009 conference held in Providence, RI.//

We had a few challenges in regards to getting the word out on this meeting: at least to the RL participants at the conference in RI. The decision to hold the meeting was made after the program guide had been printed, and in addition to that, the meeting was scheduled for the last day of the conference, in the afternoon, during the poster sessions. Nevertheless, we had a good turn out (both in-world and out), and there were members in our RL audience that expressed renewed interest in VWs as a result of the session.

In order to get the word out to as many participants as possible, I created postcards with information about the meeting and left them on the tables during meal times. I saw this as advantageous in two ways: the postcards would let participants know about the session, and perhaps even trigger some discussions around the tables. I do not know if the postcards triggered any discussions, but I do know that participants came to the meeting as a result of seeing the postcards at their tables.

All in all we had about 10 people in attendance. AJ Kelton (AJ Brooks in SL) monitored the in-world session. I had a usb mic stationed at the front of the room, and my computer was projected on to a very large screen. Participants came up to the mic to ask questions of our in-world group. This seemed to work better than trying to pick their voices up from a distance. A wireless mic would've been better. I was pleased with the turnout and hope we can do this again next year, only better :-)



__**From Joe DeCristoforo**__ Overview of VWCG mtg held at the EDUCAUSE SW Regional Conference in San Antonio, TX: February 24, 2009 Approximately a dozen of so SW Regional conference attendees participated in the VWCG meeting held in San Antonio, TX, on February 24, 2009 at 9:45am SLT. The meeting lasted exactly an hour, as there were some follow-up meeting scheduled in the same room and the EDUCAUSE staff wanted to make sure we knew that we needed to vacate the premises at the official ending time. Several attendees exercised their option of asking a question to the inworld group, moderated by AJ Kelton (SL: AJ Brooks). It was mentioned at the start of the session that question preferences would be given to the attendees appearing in RL, and I believe that everyone who indicated an interest in asking a question was able to do so. In just brief discussions that I had with some of the attendees afterwards, it seems that just about everyone I talked with enjoyed the session and felt that if did have value and interest.

__**From Lloyd Onyett**__
 * 1) I had a portable speaker system that I connected to my laptop headphone jack so everyone in the audience at the conference could hear you and the others in-world as you answered questions and made comments. The portable speaker system is one that I frequently take to conferences. It is a powered speaker that has much more output than a set of computer speakers. There are many speakers out there that will do the job.... just make sure it is powerful enough for the size of the room.
 * 2) I had a wireless microphone and receiver. I connected the wireless receiver to the microphone jack of my laptop. I then used the wireless microphone for myself when talking to you and the others in-world, but also carried the wireless microphone around to the audience at the conference when they had questions or comments for everyone to hear, both in-world and in the conference room.
 * 3) I had a regular microphone and speakers that the conference provided that I used so the audience in the conference room could hear me. This was separate from the system connected to my laptop.
 * 4) I had a computer projector connected to my laptop so the audience at the conference could see all of you in-world.
 * 5) My avatar was at the SL space you provided for the round-table discussion in-world, but I stayed back a bit from the others so we could see, from my avatar view, the others in-world. I did this rather than sitting at the round-table area where my avatar view would have been more restricted.
 * 6) Several members of the audience at the conference were also in-world with their own laptops, so that also provided more links with the overall discussion.
 * 7) I asked several people from my university to join us in-world so they could also participate in the discussions.
 * 8) I had another person in the conference room who sometimes carried the wireless microphone around to the audience, thus freeing me up to do text chat and work with my avatar, as well as coordinate the discussion on the conference end.
 * 9) I considered having 2 projectors and 2 laptops, with 2 avatars in-world to give different avatar views, but decided that would just complicate the whole setup too much, and would not add that much to the overall process.

2010
 * MidAtlantic || Baltimore || January 13, 2010 11:45a - 12:45p ET || Lloyd Onyett (SL: Komputer Merlin) ||
 * ELI Annual || Austin || January 19, 2010 11a - 12p CT || Tanya Joosten (SL: Juice Gyoza) and Shannon Ritter (SL: ?) ||
 * Southwest || Austin || February 17, 2010 11:45a - 12:45p CT || Jim Snell (SL: JimS Seid)? ||
 * NERCOMP || Providence || March 10, 2010 1:15p - 2p ET || Ellen Marie Murphy (SL: Elani Matova) ||
 * Midwest || Chicago || March 15, 2010 11:45a - 12:45a CT || Tanya Joosten (SL: Juice Gyoza) ||
 * Austrailasia || || TBA || Scott Diener (SL: Professor N....) ? ||
 * Southeast Regional || Atlanta || June 2, 2010 11:45a - 12:45a ET || ||

2009 Jim Snell (SL: JimS Seid ||
 * MidAtlantic || Philadelphia || 1/7/09 || Lloyd Onyett (SL: Komputer Merlin) ||
 * Southwest || San Antonio || 2/24/09 || Joe DeCristoforo (SL: JoeUTSA Palianta) and
 * NERCOMP || Providence || 3/11/09 || Ellen Marie Murphy (SL: Elani Matova) ||
 * Midwest || Chicago || 3/23/09 || Tanya Joosten (SL: Juice Gyoza) ||
 * Austrailasia || || 5/4/09 || ||
 * Southwest Regional || Atlanta, GA || 6/1/09 || Paula Christopher (SL: Lizzy Saintlouis ||