The Claus M. Halle Institute for Global Learning, the Goizueta Business School, Emory University and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta invite you to

Virtual Worlds and New Realities in Commerce, Politics, and Society

Sunday, February 10, 2008
2:00 - 8:30 pm

Monday, February 11, 2008
8:30 am- 4:30 pm
Emory University, Atlanta, GA

Thank you for your interest in this event.
Registration for this event is now closed.
Walk-ins are welcome as space permits.

PARKING INFORMATION
On Sunday, parking is available in the Fishburne Parking Deck. Click here for more information.

Parking is available at Briarcliff Campus on Monday. A shuttle will transport participants from Briarcliff to the Business School. Please click here for more information.

EVENT WEBSITE
For more information, including area hotels, transportation and a complete schedule, please visit the event website at:
http://www.halleinstitute.emory.edu/sub-virtual.htm

Virtual Worlds and New Realities in Commerce, Politics, and Society

Virtual worlds are now a reality. Virtual worlds allow everyone to create a digital character representing themselves and to interact with other computer-generated individuals, landscapes, virtually-run global businesses, and in-world institutions in real-time. Virtual worlds provide a sense of body as well as a flexible sense of identity to participants. Fascinatingly, both endogenously produced economies and social orders are emerging in these virtual worlds. Political candidates are campaigning in virtual worlds, while some sales of virtual assets are producing demand in the real world for equivalent items.

On Sunday, February 10, an invitation-only, VIP event will be held in the afternoon prior to the public conference. This private event will consider the possibility goals and benefits of large, inter-disciplinary research efforts in virtual worlds, spanning multiple institutions. Of specific interest will be two panels:

(1) Demos of Virtual World Technologies Relevant to Research
(2) Employing Virtual Worlds to Study Economic and Political Phenomena

A special dinner will be held afterwards.

On Monday, February 11, Emory University will host a public forum discussing both research and long-term implications of virtual and real-world interactions with regard to commerce, politics, and society. Four panels will be held:

(1) Evolution of Virtual Worlds
(2) Emerging Virtual Institutions both in Business and Politics
(3) Mirrored Influence of Virtual and Real-World Elements
(4) Possible Futures of Virtual Worlds and Society

Interested members of the public, practitioners, and academics from multiple fields (to include political science, business, information systems, public health, psychology, sociology, anthropology, library sciences, and more) are all invited to participate in the forum. As part of Emory University’s strategic plan, “Where Courageous Inquiry Leads,” this conference seeks to engage scholars in a strong and vital community to confront the human condition and experience and explore twenty-first century frontiers in science and technology, specifically involving virtual world phenomena.

Schedule of Events
February 10, 2008
*Goizueta Business School Suite E208

11:00 am - 12:00 pm: Informal Meet and Greet*

12:00 - 1:00 pm: Informal Lunch*

1:00 - 1:30 pm: Registration and Welcome of Invited Guests*

1:30 - 3:00 pm: Research Questions that Matter*
Chair/Moderator: Benn Konsynski, Emory University
Open Discussion and Questions

3:00 - 3:30 pm: Break*

3:30 - 5:00 pm: Research Methods and Programs*
Chair/Moderator: Robert Bloomfield, Cornell University
Open Discussion and Questions

5:00 - 5:30 pm: Break*

5:30 - 6:30 pm: Plans and Possibilities*
Chair/Moderator: David Altig, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Open Discussion and Questions

7:00 pm: Wine Reception and viewing of “Cartooning for Peace” exhibition
Schatten Gallery, Robert W. Woodruff Library

7:30 pm: Dinner with Mike Luckovich,
editorial cartoonist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jones Room, Robert W. Woodruff Library

February 11, 2008
*Goizueta Business School Auditorium, Room E130

8:30 am: Public Registration Starts (In front of E130)

9:00 - 10:15 am:Virtual Worlds Evolving*
Chair/Moderator: Benn Konsynski, Emory University
Edward Castronova, Indiana University
John Clippinger, Harvard University
Dan Miller, Joint Economic Committee - U.S. Congress
Rhonda Lowry, Turner Broadcasting System Inc.

10:30 - 11:45 am: Emerging Virtual Institutions in Business and Politics*
Chair/Moderator: David Bray, Emory University
Michael Rowe, IBM Corp.
William Dutton, University of Oxford
Rachel Gibson, University of Leicester
Dave Altig, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

12:00 - 1:00 pm: Buffet Lunch (W525)

1:15 - 2:30 pm: Mirrored Influence of Virtual and
Real-World Elements*
Chair/Moderator: Holli Semetko, Emory University
Dmitri Williams, University of Southern California
Bruce Bimber, University of California - Santa Barbara
Inga Vailionis, Intel Corp.
Diana Mutz, University of Pennsylvania

2:45 - 4:00 pm: Possible Futures of Virtual Worlds and Society*
Chair/Moderator: Robert Bloomfield, Cornell University
Byron Reeves, Stanford University
Benn Konsynski, Emory University
Chris Klaus, Kaneva
John Zdanowski, Linden Lab

4:00 pm: Close of Conference*

Co-chairs:
Benn Konsynski, George S. Craft Professor of Business Administration, Goizueta Business School;
Holli Semetko, Vice Provost for International Affairs, Director, Claus M. Halle Institute for Global Learning, Professor of Political Science;
David Bray, PhD Candidate in Information Systems.

For more information on Virtual Worlds, please read
"Virtual Worlds, Virtual Economies, Virtual Institutions" (May 2007). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=962501

For more information on this or other Halle Institute events, contact The Halle Institute at 404-727-7504. Please let us know if there are others who would like an invitation to this event but have not received one.