Educational Gaming Commons

Top 5 Speakers to Watch at Virtual Worlds 2008

by Heather Johnson

Virtual Worlds 2008, hosted in New York City, will begin on April 3. This two-day conference is attracting representatives from leading virtual worlds and gaming companies, as well as some very interesting startups. There will be plenty of time to schmooze with various vendors. However, many of us will be attending to hear some of the most trailblazing professionals in the industry give their keynote speeches.

With over 60 speakers to choose from over a two-day period, those of you who are attending may be a bit overwhelmed. However, I've narrowed the list down to those who are most influential in the world of educational gaming and virtual worlds.

1. Christopher V. Sherman, Founder of Virtual Worlds Management – With over 17 years experience, Sherman is considered to be one the leading experts in gaming and virtual worlds. He currently heads Virtual Worlds Management, which produces this very conference.
2. Sibley Verbeck, CEO of The Electric Sheep Company – Verbeck is a notable researcher in "advanced computational linguistic and statistical techniques for analyzing audio, video, and text." Still a young professional, he has already won tremendous acclaim for his work within the industry.
3. Steve Mortinger, VP for IBM's Systems and Technology Group – Mortinger is directly responsible for IBM's official virtual worlds policies. He also handles policies regarding Linux and other open source software.
4. Joey Seiler, Virtual Worlds Weekly – Seiler is in charge of the news and editorial for Virtual Worlds Weekly, making him one of the most knowledgeable and well-rounded speakers at the conference. He had also covered the video game industry and related culture for various newspapers.
5. Erin Hoffman, GoPets – Hoffman is a celebrated game designer who has dabbled in MMOs, RPGs and children's games. Hoffman should have some interesting points to make on topics related to educational gaming for all ages.

While not all of the above speakers are directly involved with education gaming and virtual worlds, they will certainly have insight that helps to project the future of the industry. Many of them have influenced virtual education in one way or another, making them the five most interesting speakers to watch at the upcoming conference. 

 

By-line:

Heather Johnson is a freelance writer, as well as a monthly contributor for OEDb, a site to help students select among accredited online schools. Heather invites your comments and freelancing job inquiries at her email address heatherjohnson2323@gmail.com .