Philip Linden Gives VWBPE Keynote Speech, Takes Questions

 

Yesterday, Thursday March 19 at 12 Noon, The Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education held it's Keynote. The man giving it was someone familiar to every longtime Second Life resident: Philip Linden, aka Philip Rosedale, the founder of Linden Lab, the company behind this virtual world.

 

Today, we have the distinct honor of hearing from a man who actually made gatherings like this one possible. Our keynote speaker is a physicist turned coder turned visionary,  someone who looked at the early internet and saw not just a network, but a world waiting to be built.
 

 He founded Linden Lab and created Second Life, the virtual world that has been home to educators, artists, researchers, and dreamers for over two decades. He has since explored spatial audio, open-source VR platforms, digital currency, and even the frontiers of machine consciousness. And in October 2024, he returned to Second Life as CTO, bringing fresh energy and new ideas to a platform many of us call home.

Someone was saying close to a hundred people were in the area the event took place, an intersection of four sims, Philip on a small cliff overlooking the crowd, "I feel like a king standing on a high rooftop *laughs* I see people I recognize, it's the magical things about Second Life." He thanked the educators for their work in this virtual world. He would talk about AI and how it was impacting society, saying at one point a comparison could be made to the Industrial area when machines did the work of the muscle power of many men, "Now we have gone much father with replicating how our mind works. ... the progress was very quick lately ... we are living in strange times- there are tremendous risks, there are more bad than good impacts at the moment."

After the keynote, Philip took questions, and there was talk about not just AI, but other topics such as Second Life, "It's interesting to reflect on the fact that SL hasn't grown as rapidly as we thought or liked." One subject was about how people often rely on facial expressions, hand movements, and other cues in real life but that was absent in Second Life and other virtual worlds. It was also brought up that being hired to correct an AI could be a roundabout way to do the job of a programmer for a fraction of the cost. Someone also joked it AI had an alignment, it would be "Chaotic Neutral." It was also brought up that there hasn't been a real-life Second Life Community Convention since 2011. Philip Linden did wonder if the possibility of doing another deserved some thinking about. 

 

The conference was broadcast live, and may be available to see later on the VWBPE Youtube channel later.  

 

*Addition*: It's available now.  

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

 

VWBPE Conference Starts Today

 

 Today is the first official day of the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference for 2026. A few events actually started earlier, but the keynote is today at 12 Noon SL time, given by Philpi Rosedale / Philip Linden. 

 

 From today to Saturday March 21 will be a number of discussions. There are also some exhibits and a few activities. 

 

 For more information on the conference, go to https://www.vwbpe.org/  .

 

SURL to entrance:  https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20Grasslands%20Gateway/128/123/23

Schedule: https://www.vwbpe.org/conference/vwbpe26-program 

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

 

Press Release: VWBPE 2026 Conference INSIGHTS 19-21 March 2026 in Second Life®

 

 

The 19th annual Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference, beginning on Thursday, March 19th, 2026, will be an online distributed conference happening in multiple virtual spaces. This conference focuses on the use of immersive virtual environments for educational purposes, including virtual and augmented reality. 

This year we are returning to our Earth build. Each region represents a different terrestrial biome, including wetlands, desert, badlands, grasslands, and forests. Conference attendees will be able to explore 3D immersive virtual representations of these biomes.

The conference regions will be open to the public on Sunday, March 15th at 9:00 am SLT (Second Life Time / Pacific Daylight Time).

**VWBPE 2026 GATEWAY** 
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20Grasslands%20Gateway/128/123/23 

To the best ability possible, VWBPE provides educational and networking opportunities that are relevant to educational curriculum development utilizing virtual environments and “best practices”. These include

helping to build community through extension of learning best practices to practical application of those ideas and techniques;
providing networking opportunities for educators and the communities that help support education; and
providing access to current innovations, trends, ideas, case studies, and other best practices for educators and the communities that help support education

One of the key challenges faced by the educational community is how to make the best use of new immersive technologies in a way that is sustainable and accessible based on limited budgets available to both instructors and students. Platforms that are free or open source, or that can be shared across a broad audience, are showcased, including methods and research around best practices in their use and applicability.

Our theme for this year is Insights.

The 2026 theme, “Insights”, invites us to look deeper—beyond the tools and platforms—toward the lessons, challenges, and opportunities that are redefining education in an age of rapid technological transformation. For more about the theme, see the blog post here: https://www.vwbpe.org/vwbpe-news/welcome-to-vwbpe-2026-insights.

Join us as we all share experiences and successes in how virtual technologies used in the classroom have helped shape education for the better.

This year's keynote speakers are Philip Rosedale, Ryan Schultz, and Mark Childs. Invited speakers include representatives from Linden Lab, and many of the Thinkerer Award winners. 

The VWBPE conference keynote speakers and their respective presentations are featured on the conference website (http://vwbpe.org), along with a program of exciting presentations, social activities, and networking events that will set extraordinary discussions in motion.  

The VWBPE Immersive Experiences showcase unique and interesting work being conducted across the metaverse. We invite you to join us as we explore eleven interactive and engaging locations across five virtual environments. The Immersive Experiences are scheduled from March 14th through April 1st (exclusive of the conference dates). Details and access instructions for the experiences are found at https://www.vwbpe.org/conference/vwbpe26-program.   

Additionally, this open and free conference would not be possible without the generous contributions of our VWBPE sponsors. https://www.vwbpe.org/vwbpe-2026-sponsors.   

The Rockcliffe Registration Portal is open for people to register new Second Life® avatars and find out more about the VWBPE conference in-world. Go to https://www.enroll.onl/secondlife.php . The instructions are there to get you and your friends started at this educator-friendly newcomers’ region in Second Life®.

The full conference program is online here: https://www.vwbpe.org/conference/vwbpe26-program. 

You can also view presentations live on YouTube at http://vwbpe.org/watch. 

All of the conference events will be in Second Life® this year, and the locations are included in the listings. When you click on a conference event and click Add to Calendar, you can add the event to your own calendar (Google and more).

NOTE: Daylight Savings Time
In most of the United States and Canada (and in Second Life), Daylight Savings Time is in effect as of 8 March 2026. In Europe, Great Britain, and many other locations, DST is in effect as of 29 March, 2026, after the conference begins. Check this page to find out when (and if) a time change is in effect for you: https://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/2026.html.


**VWBPE 2026 GATEWAY**
SLurl: 
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20Grasslands%20Gateway/128/123/23 

**VWBPE 2026 SOCIAL VISITOR CENTER** http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20Wetlands%20Marsh/175/158/21 


**KEYNOTES**
https://www.vwbpe.org/conference/vwbpe-2026-keynotes  

KEYNOTE:
Philip Rosedale / SL: Philip Linden
CTO, Linden Lab
Thursday 19 March 2026
12:00 pm noon SLT @ VWBPE Auditorium

KEYNOTE: 
Ryan Schultz
Science & Agriculture Librarian, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg
Friday 20 March 2026
9:00 am SLT @ VWBPE Auditorium

KEYNOTE:
Mark Childs / SL: Gann McGann
Senior Learning Designer, University of Durham (Durham UK)
Saturday 21 March 2026
9:00 am SLT @ VWBPE Auditorium


**INVITED SPEAKERS**

ABOVE THE BOOK: Catching Up with the Lindens
Host: Kevin Feenan / Phelan Corrimal
Linden Lab Guests: TBA
Friday 20 March 2026
1:00pm SLT @ VWBPE Auditorium

ABOVE THE BOOK: Catching up with the Thinkerers
Lynne Berrett / Lissena (Wisdomseeker)
VWBPE 2021 Thinkerer
Saturday 21 March 2026
3:00 pm SLT @ VWBPE Auditorium


**WEB PAGES**

Conference Information: http://vwbpe.org 
Program: https://www.vwbpe.org/conference/vwbpe26-program   
Registration: http://vwb.pe/register  
Sponsors: https://www.vwbpe.org/vwbpe-2026-sponsors 
Rockcliffe Gateway to Second Life®: https://www.enroll.onl/secondlife.php 
Watch VWBPE Livestream: https://www.vwbpe.org/watch 

**MAJOR SPONSORS**

Linden Lab
https://www.lindenlab.com/

Rockcliffe University Consortium
https://urockcliffe.com/ 

Knomaze Corporation
https://knomaze.com/ 

Virtual Ability
https://virtualability.org/ 

Agile Dimensions
https://www.agiledimensions.com/blog/ 

Whole Brain Health
https://www.agelessmindproject.org/  


**CONTACT**
Bevan Whitfield
VWBPE Communications Chair
marketing@vwbpe.com 

VWBPE Starts Today

 

 

One of the more noteworthy yearly educational events, the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference, starts today. From today until Saturday, there will be numerous discussions and other events. The Opening Ceremonies start at 8 AM SL time (11 AM EST) and are scheduled to take place at VWBPE Grasslands Gateway (128/123/23). The Keynote will take place at 9AM at VWBPE Canopy Point (27/243/21).

To check the program schedule, go to https://www.vwbpe.org/conference/vwbpe23-program .

Bixyl Shuftan

At the VWBPE

 

It's the first day of the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference, or VWBPE. Despite real-life nipping at my heels, the lag, and the crashing, I was able to catch a little of the Keynote and talk with Patch Linden. There's many other discussions, so come on over and see things for yourself.

To check the schedule, Click Here - https://www.vwbpe.org/conference/vwbpe22-program

Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2FdFXompIUI4zmZ_wP5p0Q

March 31 – April 2, 2022

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20Gateway%20Pyxis/100/128/24
 
Bixyl Shuftan
 

Patch Linden Says Sim Owners in Financial Trouble Can Ask For Help, Ebbe Linden Says Linden Lab "Very Healthy"

Yesterday was the start of the Virtual  Worlds Best Practices in Education conference. And at 2 PM, Mal Burns interviewed Ebbe Linden and Patch Linden. Among the topics discussed was the sale of Sansar and the cutting back of the tier in educational and nonprofit sims. In the latter part, some questions were asked by the audience.

Near the end of the discussion (at 1:11 in the video), my question was brought up. With the Second Norway estate announcing it may be closing, due to the economic effects of the Coronavirus, might the Lab help out some sim owners whose real-life income was coming to a halt due to the crisis? Patch Linden answered, "Region owners are encouraged to approach my support team if you find yourself in a situation of difficulty because of what's going on. And specifically for Second Norway, we are working with Ey (Ren) on that situation and actually I think we're going to see a really good outcome there."

Patch didn't say whether email or contact inworld would be fastest, or whether to contact him or someone else on his team.

A little earlier in the discussion (1:04 in the video), Ebbe Linden talked about Linden Lab's economic health, "We're devoted to the long-term health and success of Second Life. You can expect us to be around for a long time ... company is in a very healthy position. We're profitable, we're very very lucky in this very very crazy time because we have an organization that is extremely nimble to work with remote people working. So the transition for us to work from our homes. ... we can continue ticking away as usual except some people have to take care of kids at the same time ...  we're working on products that are intended for remote use and people to come together socially and do things without having to get together in physical space so we're seeing very great traction right now with a big uptick in users and concurrency and registrations. All numbers are up ...  we're in a very healthy place, we're very excited about the future."



So it seems the eastern part of the Blake Sea may be saved, and sim owners in trouble due to the economic shutdown might get a break from the Lab. And Linden Lab is healthy enough to weather the storm ahead, at least that's what the CEO is telling us.

More on the VWBPE later.

Bixyl Shuftan

VWBPE Begins

The Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference officially started yesterday, the Kickoff event at 8 AM SL time. The Keynote was at 9:30, given by Tom Boellstorff.

There would be several events that day. Among them was one in which Patch and Grumpity Linden were talking about recent developments in Second Life, and near the end answered a few questions.

The VWBPE goes on until late Saturday April 6, with a schedule of events here (link).

It was a long day yesterday, and yours truly needs to rest before writing more.

Bixyl Shuftan

VWBPE Opens, Ebbe Linden Speaks

The Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education (VWBPE) Conference opened yesterday. The opening keynote address was delivered by none other then Linden Lab's CEO Ebbe Linden.

Yours truly didn't get there until late due to real-life matters, though Daniel Voyager was there. The address began at 1PM SL time and went on for a little more than an hour, followed by a Question and Answer session that would go on until about 3:05PM SL time. Gentle Heron narrated his voice into text.

Of education in Second Life, Ebbe stated there were over three hundred educational and nonprofit organizations, and he had heard "great stories of success from educators." The discount for those organizations for sims would continue, and Ebbe hoped more could be done to make them less costly.

Of upcoming changes in Second Life, Ebbe stated he wanted to work on improving the new user experience. He also acknowledged there was competition, and staying in the lead would take some effort. When asked about lowering tier and sim set-up fees, he responded no, "We charge for land, but almost nothing for transactions," suggestion any lowering of the tier would have to be made up by adding fees to transactions. He also stated there were no plans to bring back official mentor programs, citing "we had issues in the past."

Of Linden Lab's upcoming virtual world, Ebbe Linden commented, "We call it (the) Next Generation Platform, not SL 2.0." He stated there were over thirty engineers working on it, and wanted it to be able to support mobile devices and able "to so events for 10s of thousands." In the summer, it will be available to a limited number of alpha testers, "after summer we will invite more people as it gets easier to use." He suggested it would evenrually be opened to third parties, "whatever we don't supply 3rd parties can extend to provide additional solutions." He stated the age one can access Next Gen would be lower than Second Life, "we realized there is no legal difference between 13 and 16."

Of Second Life and Next-Gen being virtual worlds, "I don't say 'world' about the next gen platform. I find SL less a world. The map doesn't do much for me. But more like a collection of interconnected experiences. More like the web." Of it's areas, "Land by default will be much larger, thousands of meters."

About the time I arrived, I did hear some questions about if nonhuman avatars would be allowed in the new Grid. Ebbe suggested the more unusual varieties might be able to be made better, "non human form avies, skeletal systems will be flexible and maybe customizable. ... we will use completely new avies, nothing borrowed from SL." He also stated physics for vehicles would be "more sophisticated" than in Second Life, "we are working with a 3rd party who will supply a physics engine."

As of the writing of this article, no transcript of the talk is available.  Besides Daniel Voyager, Ciaran Laval was also there.

To get to the VWBPE, head to VWBPE Gateway (128/128/35) . For more information, check out http://vwbpe.org/.  The event calendar is on : http://vwbpe.org/conference/vwbpe-2015-calendar .


Bixyl Shuftan

Ebbe Linden to Deliver Opening Keynote at VWBPE Conference

Next month, the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education (VWBPE) conference takes place. In a recent press release, deadlines for submissions were announced, as well as the date of the event, March 18-21, and the opening keynote speaker, Ebbe Linden himself.

 *  *  *  *  *

VWBPE15 March 18-21 Updates & Reminders http://vwbpe.org/updates

*Registration http://vwbpe15.eventbrite.com
*Machinima Showcase submissions, Feb 15
*Exhibitor space & displays, Feb 15
*Post-conference Virtual World Tours, Feb 27
*Thinkerer Award nominations for outstanding candidates, March 1
*Volunteers, Save the Date!
*Advancing Innovation through Sponsorship
*Linden Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg Opening Keynote

More info in attached notecard & see you at the Crossroads March 18-21, 2015! http://vwbpe.org

Philip Rosedale at the SVVR

Earlier this week, the Silicon Valley Virtual Reality (SVVR) Conference and Expo took place. Philip Rosedale had the honor of being the keynote speaker. Second Life Newser was able to get to one of the places in Secone Life where the event was broadcast. But, technical difficulties got in the way.

Fortunately, we were able to find it on youtube later. So here it is.



(Click here if the video fails to load)

 Daniel Voyager had a few words about what he had to say, including, "we're going to be arguing over the price of virtual real estate  on Pandora soon."