Five Bits About the OSCC

1. Eleven years The Opensimulator Community Conference  returns this weekend for another opportunity for everyone who enjoys virtual worlds to discover new friends, interests, projects, and tech tips. It is the annual gathering from across the hyperverse on a dedicated grid cc.opensimulator.org:8002 and this is the 11th edition of the event, which is a very long time in virtual worlds! The opening festivities are on Friday 08 December, and then on Saturday and Sunday, December 9 and 10, there will be talks and presentations from 7am until 6.30pm Pacific Time (SLT) - with breaks for meals, and all kinds of opportunities for socializing throughout the weekend. You can find the full schedule here.

The main seating area at the OSCC

2. Registration Around and about on Social Media, you may have seen notices about registering to attend the OSCC - and, oh boy, I can see from here your Opensim hackles rising as your big-brother allergy kicks in... the truth is, REGISTRATION IS NOT MANDATORY for attendance. It's more of an attempt by the organizers to anticipate how many people will attend and maybe send you some promo info if you'd like it. You definitely DO NOT have to give out sensitive info like your real name or your email in order to attend the event. So if that has been putting you off all these years, forget it, just jump over with your hypergriddable avie and enjoy the talks and parties.

3. All about business? Speaking of your business, or business in general, a lot of people assume the OSCC is just for people with money-making schemes in opensim, whether selling items or using it to operate commercial projects linked to training and schools in the real world. While quite a few of the speakers do have this emphasis, it's far from being only about the cash. You'll find speakers explaining about their scripting breakthroughs, their art, or possible new Viewers, or other subjects that are of fundamental interest everyone.

Meshy decor at the Keynote region

4. Beyond Lectures.  You probably don't come inworld to hear people droning on, and who can blame you. In fact, the OSCC is not just a series of talking heads lecturing you about their own ego trip. Most of the presentations last just 20 minutes and vary widely in subject matter, and often include visual aids ( this year, look out for the bit about EEPs, the bit with the flying things, and the bit with the snow!) and talks that can put into context aspects of opensim that you've been wondering about for years. 

5. More than just the Keynote.  Probably when you arrive on the OSCC grid you will make a bee line for the Keynote area,  because that's where the crowds are - listening to the presentations on stage. However, the grid contains quite a lot of other sims open to the public, including a series of Expo regions where you can drill down deeper into the subjects mentioned during the presentations. There's also a shopping area, and a rather lovely Planetarium sim. Oh, and don't forget to visit Expo Zone 2 where you'll find a build all about Hypergridding, with ideas, tips, freebies, and a whole host of interesting Landmarks to inspire your trips around the Hyperverse. See you there!

HG Address: cc.opensimulator.org:8002