Craig Wacker of the MacArthur Foundation introduces the Non-Profit track at SLCC 2007.
(Image credit: Holy Meatballs)

Track Sessions & Schedule

SATURDAY, AUGUST 14, 2010

Networking to a Foundation

Helen R. Starr (SL: Explorer Dastardly)
Saturday, 9:30 to 10:30am – St. James

Learn how a newbie networked to success the Linden Way. With poetry, writing, educational institutions, and building a build at Burning Life, all these explorations helped Helen create a lecture series on the Holocaust with her mother and survivor Fanny Starr (SL: FannyStarr Hilltop).

Helen R. Starr is a child of Holocaust Survivors who immigrated to America in 1951, and she was seasoned to carry on the Holocaust project her parents Zesa and Fanny Starr started in 1982. At age 40, Helen returned to Metropolitan State College and wrote a proposal about her “American Dream” to produce memorable lectures. In 2008 the first lecture took place with her mother, though Zesa sadly passed away before seeing the project’s outcome. Helen will graduate December 12, 2010 and is the first college graduate in her family. Helen’s goal is a Masters/Ph.D. in Virtual Education with an emphasis on the Holocaust. “We must never forget.”

Creating a Non-Profit: It’s a Process

Janyth Ussery (SL: Saxet Uralia), Charles Morris (SL: Charles Mountain)
Saturday, 4:00 to 5:00pm – St. James

Creating a non-profit organization can be a daunting process. Virtual Helping Hands became a 501c-3 non-profit in November. The Virtual Helping Hands team will talk about how they achieved their goal, how they worked though the process, and will provide information to help others that are considering navigating though the paperwork and issues.

Janyth Ussery is the Executive Director for Virtual Helping Hands and co-founder of SecondAbility Mentors and Max the Virtual Guidedog. Janyth is also the lead organizer of Helen Keller Day, an annual event held in June, which focuses on topics of accessibility. Charles Morris is a professional freelance software developer with over 20 years of experience. Charles Morris is also the lead developer for VHH and its various projects.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 15, 2010

Protecting Children and Their Empowerment in the Virtual Environment

Anjan Bose (SL: ECPAT Ihnen)
Sunday, 9:30 to 10:00am – St. James

It is important for adults to understand the dynamics of interaction of young people in online environments and the related risks for them. In this session, learn how to utilise the unique features offered by virtual platforms such as Second Life to bring education and learning to both young and adults in an engaging and immersive way that will help them to understand and better react to complex issues such as sexual exploitation in the online environments.

Anjan Bose has been working as the ICT program officer with ECPAT International, a leading international child rights organisation focusing on protecting children from commercial sexual exploitation globally. Mr.Bose leads the program on protecting children through the use of ICTs and has presented on this issue in key international forums and contributed to various papers and research.

Utilizing Virtual Worlds for Real Life Good

Joyce Bettencourt (SL: Rhiannon Chatnoir), Henry Allen (SL: Jaywick Forcella), Kathey Fateca (SL: Katydid Something), Katherine Mancuso (SL: Muse Carmona), Janyth Ussery (SL: Saxet Uralia)
Sunday, 2:30 to 3:30pm – St. James

Can a virtual world manifest real life good? Virtual worlds like Second Life can be vibrant hubs of social based community but they can also be utilized as a place to carry out social good projects. This presentation will be an overview and panel discussion of best practices and learned experiences of five people working formally and informally on social good, nonprofit and philanthropic projects within Second Life. Topics such as using virtual simulation for support and awareness, fundraising, community outreach, and event planning along with the opportunity to ask questions, and pick the collective brains of the panelists.

Joyce Bettencourt has helped organize many social good projects within Second Life including the grassroots fundraising and awareness campaign Virtual Haiti Relief, Transitions: A Place for Dreams. She is also co-founder of the virtual world and social web development company The Vesuvius Group, and works with Global Kids. Henry Allen’s global experiences as the son of a US diplomat had a profound impact on his life and work as an artist, educator and parent. Surviving cancer, overcoming obesity, and losing his 13 year old son to brain cancer have taught many lessons in courage, empowerment and integrity. Henry founded The Brain Candy Project (www.braincandyproject.org), a non-profit organization that serves parents who are living in the hospital with critically ill children. Kathey Fateca is a real world advertising executive with Needham Fatica Advertising Agency and works with many clients in the travel and tourism industry. As co-owner of Molaskey’s Pub, which has roughly six Live Music shows a week Katy has, herself, entered the world of the virtual entertainer, performing about once a week, drawing her influences from the folk/indie music of the ’60s and ’70s. Katherine Mancuso is a woman with a disability & a GimpGirl community liaison. In addition, she is an accessibility professional who has worked at Disney Imagineering & the Center for Assistive Technology & Environmental Access, and volunteers with the W3C and IETF to develop accessible virtual world standards. Janyth Ussery is the Executive Director for Virtual Helping Hands, cofounder of SecondAbility Mentors and Max the Virtual Guidedog. Janyth is the lead organizer of Helen Keller Day, an annual event held in June, which focuses on topics of accessibility.

About the Track

The Government & Non-Profit track provides an opportunity for those involved in the public sector to network and learn from each others’ experience. From government agencies using Second Life to do public education, outreach, and training, to non-profit organizations using the platform to build communities, organize events, and do donor outreach, this track brings together the best people from the public sector in Second Life.

Track Leader

Mark Dulcey (SL: Shirley Marquez) has been in Second Life since 2005.  Mark has been involved with many high profile projects and institutions in world, including the Academy of Second Learning, Simone’s Supermodels, Virtual CSI:NY, Brooklyn Is Watching, and a discussion leader for Bisexuals in Second Life. In real life, Mark is a computer geek of all trades. He has worked for numerous Boskone, Arisia, and Noreascon science fiction conventions, and his other interests include morris, contra, and English country dance, ham radio, and the Society for Creative Anachronism.