Business Track Organizer – Ron T Blechner Second Life Avatar: Hiro Pendragon
Chief Technology Officer/Software Dev. Team Leader, Involve, Inc.
www.involve3d.com
As software developer, coder, 3-D artist, blogger, business owner, tester, marketer, speaker and event host, Ron is a pioneer developer in the emerging Metaverse well-grounded in its many aspects. His passion is creating top-notch virtual world content and has been doing so as a full-time business since January 2006. Aside from his work at Involve, Ron also participates in forwarding the Second Life community and serves on a developer council advising Linden Lab on Second Life technology. He has been a speaker on business and technology panels for virtual worlds, and has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, Wired, and NY1 News.
Business Track Organizer – Jason Pace
Second Life Avatar: Hydra Shaftoe
Metaverse Specialist, Corporate Events Coordinator, Social Networker,
Cat Herder Extrordinaire
Hydra Shaftoe (Jason Pace in the real world) is a highly involved metaverse evangelist, developer, architect, machinimist, media personality, trainer, project manager, and events coordinator. Hydra has been active in virtual worlds since the dawn of 3D gaming environments such as Ultima Underworld through the evolution of more collaborative environments such as Everquest, progressing with technology on into more modern incarnations of virtual environments. Hydra became a social networking hub, becoming involved in such activities as metanomics, trade shows, conferences, and major event planning. He currently works as a contacts person, events facilitator, occassional project manager, referrals person for jobs, and as a media personality on several internet television shows. His best known public faces are as the co-host of The First Question, a 1950’s style science game show, and as the primary facilitator for Nokia Corporation’s events in Second Life, hosting Nokia’s Connecting Worlds events, as well as numerous other non-regular shows. Privately, Hydra also makes it his business to find clients interested in sim builds and other work, then work with them to refer them on to developers or individuals who can suit their needs – he makes it his business to know everyone, and usually knows or can find someone with any given skill to suit a client’s needs.
Education Track Organizer – Kevin Feenan, (Second Life Avatar: Phelan Corrimal)
President, Rockcliffe University Consortium
CEO, Knomaze Corporation
www.urockcliffe.com / www.urockcliffe.net
Phelan Corrimal (RL: Kevin Feenan) is President of Rockcliffe University Consortium - a non-profit organization devoted to service, education, and research in virtual environments. A 20 year IM/IT specialist with expertise in telecommunications, government, education, finance, and economics, Kevin received his MBA from the University of Toronto and is working on a Doctorate in Organizational Leadership via UOP Online. Most recently Kevin has served as the General Chair of the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference (March 09). Current projects include the development of new Library Science Services in Second Life, new applications of knowledge transferance based on 3d conceptual mapping, and new methods of enabling tacit-based learning within 3d environments. Rockcliffe is open to all educators and researchers looking for non-traditional opportunities to expand the boundaries of knowledge creation and its impacts.
