VWBPE draws record numbers with Rosedale, Ebbe keynotes

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This year’s Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conferences brought in a total of 4,500 people, who attended in-person in Second Life and OSgrid, and online through streaming channels.

There might be some overlap between these numbers, which were reported by organizers today, but overall the results are significantly higher than previous years.

Combined attendance numbers for the 2014 Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference.
Combined attendance numbers for the 2014 Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference.

Second Life attendance was at 3,400, a 54 percent increase over last year’s 2,200 and a close second to 2009’s peak of 3,600. In addition, 1,000 people attended this year over livestream, compared to just 300 last year, and none in 2009.

OSgrid attendance doubled from last year, from 50 to 100.

There were about 200 in-world attendees at Philip Rosedale's keynote, plus another 200 or so tuning in via a Web-based stream.
There were about 200 in-world attendees at Philip Rosedale’s keynote, plus another 200 or so tuning in via a Web-based stream.

The increase in attendance could be attributed to the strength and breadth of this year’s program, to a renewed interest in virtual worlds as a result of high-profile news events such as Facebook’s $2 billion acquisition of Oculus Rift, or the appearance of both Linden Lab founder Philip Rosedale and current Linden Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg as keynote speakers.

 

Maria Korolov
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