Ginette Pinazzo sent me this bit of news.

***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***

SLACTIONS 2012: Research conference on virtual worlds will include Machinima Contest this year

SLACTIONS, the international research conference on virtual worlds, is including a Machinima Festival this year as part of its exploration of met averse creativity. The RL/SL conference will occur November 15 – 17 with the Machinima track on the first day, and virtual film directors are encouraged to submit their works for consideration in this global event.

Now in its fourth year, SLACTIONS is an annual international conference held simultaneously in several countries on the topic of metaverse platforms. Topics range from educational research to content production, from gender studies to media distribution, and from metaverse-based branding, advertising, and fundraising to emerging mash-ups and technology applications. SLACTIONS is unique in its format too, as a one-of-a kind event conducted both in a metaverse platform (Second Life) and on-site in multiple countries throughout the world. SLACTIONS contributes to the current redefinition of the way we think about hybrid online and on-site scholarly collaborations. The show concept is “Life, imagination, and work using metaverse platforms”

SLACTIONS has the format of a hybrid online and physical conference. All paper presentations and plenary sessions by guest speakers will be held on-line in the Second Life virtual world, and projected locally at local chapters, for participants attending physically. Physical participants can interact with the online participants via a “physical chapter avatar” and microphone.

Participants will also be able to follow the proceedings broadcast on the Web and interact via a text chat applet. Workshops and other events are conducted locally – or in mixed format accross several participating chapters – and local chapters may held local topical round tables.

This year, and the first time, SLACTIONS will also include a comprehensive Machinima Festival that emphasizes emerging and influential work from some of the best metaverse directors, and a program of past works that create a narrative of machinima history. The festival and accompanying awards ceremony will be November 15, 2012. Machinima directors are are encouraged to enter their works by submitting here: http://lea.aviewtv.com/slactions-film-submission.html
Submission deadline for the festival is October 11th at Midnight SLT

LINKS:

http://www.slactions.org/
Official Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/pages/SLACTIONS-Life-imagination-and-work-using-metaverse-platforms/242464792497177
Official Twitter
Tweets by SLACTIONS

CONTACTS:

Bevan Whitfield
Ginette Pinazzo
LaPiscean Liberty
Pooky Amsterdam
spyVspy Æon