We have moved the official SLCC Website to a new address www.slconvention.org. Please update your bookmarks!

This blog will currently remain active for archival purposes.

After last year’s conference there was one point that many people suggested; more topic specific tracks.  There were several times we were approached with the idea of very specific and interesting tracks.  Yes, many of the track ideas that have been suggested are wonderful and great ideas and as Randal mentioned last year, we are giving you, the Second Life community the option to suggest, develop, and run that idea.

One comment that I have heard throughout this process is “Hey, is there [insert blank] track? Why not?”  The answer is, because we haven’t seen a request for that particular idea.  If you have a track idea, and it is not in our current offerings, please review the RFP (located here) and contact me as soon as possible at nexeus.fatale@gmail.com . We have been more than willing to help people understand, organize, and walk through the process of the RFP.

So if you don’t see a track topic listed and would like to see one, please do contact me, submit an RFP, and we will take the process from that point forward.

- Nexeus Fatale

No, we did not fall asleep at the wheel!  There has been a lot of excitement behind the scenes for the SLCC.  For the past month, we’ve been working hard on sponsorships, reviewing the RFP’s and getting things together for the upcoming SLCC.  Some of the hard work will become very noticeable very, very soon, and some I’m going to announce today. 

SLCC Tracks

I’ve been asked by many people what will be the tracks at the SLCC; we’ve finished reviewing, and discussing the current confirmed SLCC track offerings and here is a list of what they are and their track leaders if you want to contact them:

Main Tracks
Business – Track Leader: Crucial Armitage (crucial.armitage @ gmail . com)
Education – Track Leader: Jonathon Richter (jrichter @ uoregon . edu)

Mini-Tracks
Fashion – Track Leader MadamG Zagato (info @ never30 . com)
Financial Sector – Track Leader:  Lindsay Druart (lindsay.druart @ gmail . com)
Healthcare – Track Leader:  TBA
Non-Profit – Track Leaders:  Susan Tenby (susan @ techsoup . org ) and Rik Panganiban (Rik @ globalkids . org)
Open-Source – Track Leader: Jason Giglio (gigs @ gigstaggart . com)
TV & Film – Track leader: Starr Sonic (starr @ slcn . tv)

There are several tracks that we are reviewing at the moment.  If you have any questions, concerns, or want to know anything concerning the Mini-Tracks, contact me through nexeus.fatale @ gmail . com

 RSS Feed Update

We are currently in the process of moving a huge chunk of this blog/website to a more centralized location.  This also means that the RSS feed will be changing.  In order to make this move (and any potential future moves easier) we are changing the feed to: http://feeds.feedburner.com/slcc

Stay tuned!  There are plenty of updates heading your way!

- Nexeus Fatale

The SLCC planning team is excited to announce this year’s sponsorship package. We have come up with a new package this year creating 3 categories of sponsor. This will give a little bit more to each sponsor and be able to reach just about anyone who would like to sponsor the convention.

• Over all convention sponsors- this will include one lead/presenting sponsor, one lead and one second sponsor for each full 2 day track and general sponsors.
• Mini track sponsors- mini tracks are new this year and sponsors for mini tracks will be the responsibility of the mini track leader under the advisement of the SLCC planning team.
• Program sponsors- are advertisements, announcements or just about any thing else someone might want to put in the program.

Read on for more details.

(Please see the Attached chart for details for each level or category of sponsor here http://slcc2007.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/sponsorship-level-chart.doc )

The main focus of the changes this year is in the program. We have increased the size of the program form a 5×7 pamphlet to a full 8×10 Program with a full color inside and out front and back cover. All sponsorship levels will get more then double the amount of space in the program form last year. We will also be accepting sponsor advertisements for the program only. This will include the full color inside front and back cover 1 page, 1/2 page, 1/4 page and 1/8 page ads. All advertising space in the program will be placed in the program at the sole discretion of the SLCC planning team.

All ads will be in black and white except the inside front and back cover which will be in color and be of the full page ad size.

Full page ad size: 8.5” x 11”, 2550 x 3300

Half page ad size: 8.5” x 5.5”, 2250 x 1650

Quarter page ad size: 5.5” x 4.25”, 1650 x 1275

Eighth Page booster ad: Text only and limited to 140 characters and can say anything you would like to say with in reason vulgar or offensive language will not be accepted. We will use largest font that will fit the ad space unless other wise noted by you that a smaller font is preferred

The above is not a guarantee of availability many levels of sponsorship are limited to one sponsor for the particular level and are available on a first come first serve basis. We will take reservations for sponsor ship levels or ad space but to guarantee you get the space or level of sponsorship you require payment must be maid with in 2 weeks of your sponsor ship request.

If you would like to reserve a sponsorship level or ad space in the program or just have a question about sponsorship please email Crucial.armitage@gmail.com

The proposals and the sponsorship requests are starting to come in and we are so excited at what we are seeing. We hope that if you have been thinking about sending in an idea for a Mini-Track that you will fill out the Request For Proposal form and give us an idea of what you would like to do. We have had some very cool sponsors approach us and we are very excited with how things are beginning to shape up. Moreover I will be traveling down to Tampa on a personal trip and will be posting some pictures of the space to help you all realize how great of a facility we have secured.

We have updated the travel information on the tabs above so you can begin planning your trip. We are going to try and set up a “ride share” and possibly a “room share” space to help folks that are interested in sharing. The hotel room block is not open yet and we are still getting the exact cost of registration set so please be patient. I can tell you that the conference charge is going to be in the $210 - $230 range, and that the hotel is $149.00 for single and double rooms and $169 for triples and $189 for quads.

Please stay tuned as we release more information as we get it.

In response to requests concerning the deadline for the track proposal process, we have decided to extend the deadline for submissions to January 29^th, 2008.  We understand there are many people who are finally coming off a holiday hangover and requested for more time to fine tune their submissions.   We have received some really great proposals and now there is even more time to put together the topic or items that you wish to see and put together at SLCC 2008!

Feel free to ask any questions that you may have and for a copy of the panel submission form, click here.

I have heard a number of requests for the 2007 Audio. Here is a link to Archive.org where the recordings are being hosted. Having heard the recordings from some of the tracks they are absolutely crummy, courtesy of the minimally functioning Hilton audio rental equipment and unreliable internet connection. Believe me that I want nothing more than to turn these recordings into the wild for all to listen to and enjoy. Phreak Media continues to be diligent in doing the best they can to scrub clean the sound and post it. They have been nothing but cooperative and hard working through all of this and when the recordings come out it will be because of their sheer brute effort to make it happen. We absolutely welcome more comments about what you loved about SLCC 2007, because we know by now what you did not like - and have worked hard to fix it! Be in touch and we will see you in September!

Here is the SLCC 2008 Mini-tack panel submission form. I hope that we see a lot of great ideas come in so we can get a wide variety of content from the residents, for the residents. Thanks so much in advance for your participation and we look forward to answering any questions you may have.

Proposal for an SLCC Track

One  prominent point from your surveys was the need for more specialized content. We heard your request and are turning over 3/5ths of the content selection to you, the attendees. Our plan is to allow anyone to fill out and submit a Request For Proposal form and submit it. The TFU board will review them and if you are selected we are going to have you be a mini-track leader at SLCC 2008! Mini tracks will be 3:30 minute 1/2 day sessions, and we have 12 mini tracks to fill to compliment our 2 full tracks of Education and Business. We are looking for a wide variety of content that we feel will appeal to convention body, and thanks to numerous conversations with 2007 participants and the survey results we have heard what you are interested in.

The submission form will be posted here shortly. It has a lot of information including the time line for submission, review, and selection.  Part of the review process is considering the completeness of the application. We are looking for your ideas on a track, the people who you would have present, potential sponsors, and your commitment and genuine approach to the process. Yes you did see sponsorship in there, and we do have a sponsorship needs that each track leader is requested to fill. It is important that we keep our ticket prices down and still have the funds to cover our costs. We hope the community embraces this chance to really make SLCC their own.

We look forward to seeing your submissions,

All of the TFU Board

I am very pleased to announce that we will be taking SLCC to the Tampa Marriott Waterside the weekend of September 4th, 2008. We did have a very full discussion about the other options residents sent in and after considering overall costs, the location of the previous events, and facilities the choice was Tampa or Raleigh. We heard concerns of students saying it would be at the beginning of their school year but there weren’t any dates open earlier at either location.

We are in a pickle since we are to small for a convention center, and too large for a lot of hotels. Our main goal was to keep the event affordable and put ourselves in a position to offer the best experience possible. Your surveys have helped out a lot in telling us what you want and think needs improvement.

Big on our list this year is diversity in programming and we are working on a very cool plan to get you the residents more involved. please stay tuned and we will be releasing those details in the next few weeks. Expect the event tickets to cost about the same as last year - in the $185 - $200 range which will include both breakfast and lunch on Saturday and Sunday.  The hotel rooms will be about $30 less per night than Chicago.

Please do not ask us yet about tickets, sponsorships, or hotel room. We are working out those details out right now. Check back here weekly, as we get things solidified and contracted, we’ll post announcements.