Do you love the idea of conference-going, but hate schmoozing, bad food, high ticket prices and sterile atmospheres? For many conference-going types, there is something left to be desired by the overall exchange that happens at these annual face-to-face festivals of education (and sometimes self-congratulation). Also faced with high-admittance-rates, people who might have otherwise just stayed home and uninvolved are hitting up Second Life mirror versions of the real-life events.

In the blogging arena, many folks are discussing the upcoming Netroots Nation and its place in the virtual arena Second Life. Here, “Miss Unsocial” discusses “taking charge of Social Events” at the virtual event. She says that there’ll be streaming video, the creation of virtual buildings, ballrooms, exhibition booths, and all sorts of other conference staples.

I am a total type-A, socializing socio-path with a penchant for collective back-patting, so I admittedly don’t get into the whole pixelized version of real-life thing. I like face-to-face discussions and don’t hate bad food. I am typically allowed to get in as a member of the media, so I don’t have a lot to complain about with regard to real-life conference hopping. However, for those who can’t afford the tickets or cant get into the atmosphere, a solution to simply not-going may be attending in the world’s favorite virtual alternative universe.

[Check out this post at Participant Media about conferences, Second-Life, and the paradoxical meta-ness of it all]

The Netroots Nation in Second Life wiki explains how attending the Austin-based gathering online is free and worth checking out. This is a great alternative because it obviously brings the ideas to people who would otherwise go without seeing/hearing them and gives users an arena in which they can discuss the ideas being circulated.

This blog discusses the speakers who will be available at the virtual events. And also, speaking of Second Life conferences, if this is your bag, do check out the Second Life Education Community Conference, available to both real and virtual attendees (as per usual, real lifers have to pay), which is scheduled to take place September 5th through the 7th.

-Filed in News