I had a great time attending and speaking at the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education 2017 Conference last month in Second Life. It was a very special 10th year anniversary conference, and the presentations were all a wonderful mix of the past and future of virtual worlds and their role in immersive education.

I was honored to give a keynote presentation on “Beyond Escapism: Virtual Worlds, Vulnerable Populations and Social Good.”  Here are my slides, and below is a full video.

A big part of the specialness of virtual worlds is the malleability of one’s identity.  It adds a creative and fun element to any event.  Which is why I dressed up as a penguin that could rez flocks of other penguins and throw fish.

But mind you, the points I made in my keynote are very very serious.  I strongly believe that the ability to leverage virtual worlds and VR technologies to improve quality of life and increase social good has never been greater.  The “killer apps” have everything to do with enabling the disabled, supporting the unsupported, and giving us all the ability to reach across the world and share life-giving creativity with a global population.

And we can do it all while never losing our sense of wonder and play. 😉

Thank you everyone who attended, and thank you everyone who helped organize this very special event.

Take care,
-John “Pathfinder” Lester