Metaverse U Conference in 2 weeks

One for your diaries... I'm just passing this on:

On Saturday, February 16th and Sunday, February 17th, 2008, Stanford University, in conjunction with the Stanford Humanities Lab, will host the Metaverse U conference. Technology leaders, artists and academics will come together and exchange ideas in a public forum, about the hot topics of virtual worlds and Second Life. Conference highlights will include virtual art galleries and a Saturday afternoon panel discussion with three of the leading thinkers on virtual communities: Howard Rheingold, Cory Ondrejka and Raph Koster. Metaverse U aims to challenge traditional conference models with collaborative and inclusive opportunities for participants, both virtual and corporeal.

"Virtual worlds have garnered tremendous interest since their recent proliferation, both in the media and in academia. Given Stanford University's prime location in the heart of Silicon Valley, we think the time has come to explore the cultural, technological, legal, and economic issues surrounding virtual worlds." Henry Lowood, Metaverse U conference organizer and curator for history of science & technology collections and film & media collections in the Stanford University Libraries

Discounted advance admission rates, (corporate $400, academic $200, student $100), are available through February 11. Registrants will have access to all conference activities, including networking events, and lunch on both days. Tickets will be sold at the door for $500 (cash only) and no student or academic discounts will apply.

To ensure that its impact extends well beyond the actual conference, video from Metaverse U will be streamed live to the web, free of charge. After the conference, these videos will be archived and made available on a Stanford University website, to become part of a global conversation on virtual worlds.

Metaverse U falls between two other major events in the Bay Area: the next Metaverse Roadmap workshop, hosted at Stanford University on Friday, February 15th, as well as the 2008 Game Developers Conference that starts on Monday, February 18th. Accordingly, seasoned academics, journalists, and industry leaders in both virtual worlds and games will be flooding the Bay Area.