Virtual World SIG

About the SIG

This is the local Silicon Valley special interest group (SIG) by SDForum

We meet bi-monthly and the group formed in mid-2006.

Streaming media during the meeting: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/virtual-world-sig

Real world location:
Pillsbury Winthrop
2475 Hanover St.
Palo Alto,, CA
6:30 PM – 9:00 PM

The format is
6:30 PM Registration and Networking
7:00 PM -8:40 PM Presentations
8:40 PM -9:00 PM Discussion/questions/wrapup

Chairs:

Bob Ketner is a consultant to VC firms on topics ranging from Virtual Worlds to ecommerce and teen trends. His company, Studio SFO has been designing multimedia experiences since the early 1990’s. He guided the development of a major ecommerce retail site from just a few orders a day to a multi-million dollar phenomenon. During this time he designed a customer loyalty program which acquired 5 million members within 1 year. He has consulted with startups in the fields of ecommerce, clothing, publishing, beverages, media, and retail. Bob is founder and co-chair of the Virtual World SIG, the only virtual world group on the west coast with regular meetings.

Eilif Trondsen is the Research and Program Director of the Virtual Worlds @ Work (VWW) consortium at SRI Consulting Business Intelligence (SRIC-BI) in Menlo Park, California. The focus area of his research and consulting at SRIC-BI—a spin-out of SRI International (formerly Stanford Research Institute)—is the use of technology for innovation, learning and performance improvement. He has 29 years’ experience at SRIC-BI and at SRI International, leading or contributing to a variety of projects for U.S. and foreign clients in the private and public sectors. At SRI and SRIC-BI, Eilif has held the position of Research Director of the Business Intelligence Program (now the Scan program), the director of the Learning on Demand program (exploring the role of technology in learning and training), and is now leading VWW. In his tenure at SRI and SRIC-BI, Eilif has given numerous presentations on various eCommerce, eLearning and virtual worlds topics at conferences and to SRI clients around the world. Eilif has also the author and co-author of numerous publications on eCommerce, eLearning and virtual worlds issues.

Maribeth Back is a senior research scientist at FX Palo Alto Laboratory, where she directs the Mixed and Immersive Realities research group. Her work focuses on the intersection of virtual environments and real-world collaboration, with a bit of ubiquitous computing mixed in. Previously, Maribeth’s research focus has included smart environments, multi-modal interfaces, new forms of reading and writing, and interactive audio systems design and engineering. Maribeth holds a doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Corey Bridges Co-founder, Executive Producer and Marketing Director, Multiverse At Multiverse, Corey oversees business development and developer relations with thousands game development teams, ranging from garage developers to Fortune 100 companies to Hollywood legends. Under his guidance, Multiverse has won multiple awards, including the “Red Herring 100″ award for playing a leading role in innovating the technology business. Corey brings marketing experience from some of the most influential companies in the high-tech and entertainment industries, including Netflix, Netscape, Zone Labs, Borland and The Discovery Channel. He specializes in market creation and growth for new categories of products. Over the years, he has also built and launched a number of world-class technology platforms. Corey created the original launch plan for the popular security program ZoneAlarm, whose Internet-only distribution strategy captured 35 million users worldwide. In 2003, he was invited to contribute to a U.S. Homeland Security task force on Cyber Security. As a member of the original launch team for Netflix, Corey pioneered a new methodology of Internet-based marketing that identified, secured and grew the initial market of customers critical to the survival and success of the now-public company. A pre-IPO employee at Netscape, Corey worked as product manager for the company’s flagship Internet browser. Corey also has written and directed a number of short films, and produced commercials and TV specials. An award-winning writer, he has also collaborated with well-known technology expert John Dvorak on multiple books. He has spoken internationally about the future of virtual worlds. He is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley.

Virtual world location:
Locations are announced for individual presentations on the home/front page of this website.

About the SIG:

Virtual worlds have emerged amidst the mix of gaming, social networking, and 3D modeling technologies. Now they are the focus of considerable attention as a platform for media, virtual economies, and collaborative work. Many virtual worlds are created for and rely on developer-generated content as an integral part of their collaborative plan. This SIG will facilitate the collaborations and business partnerships required to build these virtual and emulated spaces.

SDForum’s Virtual Worlds SIG brings together the developers, programmers, and visionaries required to build virtual world platforms and their interconnected applications.

We have a couple of ways to stay connected:

Join the Facebook group for this sig at:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=

Inside Second Life join the group called Virtual World SIG. Or message Orange Montagne for an invite.

Subscribe to the feed.

Co-Chaired by:

Bob Ketner, Studio SFO

Corey Bridges, Multiverse

Maribeth Back, FXPAL

Eilif Trondsen, SRI Consulting Business Intelligence

SDForum’s page for Virtual World SIG

Some press coverage of Virtual World SIG:

Virtual Worlds News: http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/08/avatar-reality.html