VWBPE: Transitions

April 3-5, 2025

Join the VWBPE Volunteers

VOLUNTEERS ROCK 2024, photo by Spiff Whitfield

Do you want to do something that is satisfying and of service to the virtual world educational community?

VWBPE volunteers come from many different walks of life and professional backgrounds, all dedicated to promoting applications of virtual worlds in education. Those in academia will find that Service to the Community is a fundamental requirement of most college and university tenure bound educational professionals. VWBPE is an internationally recognized conference that provides opportunities to gain service experience and some scholarship as part of your involvement. Join our Volunteer Team for personal satisfaction, to support the Virtual World Educational community, and, if you are an educator, get valuable experience for yearly reviews, promotion, and advancement. Use the volunteer signup form below.

For more detailed information about the volunteer roles and their responsibilities, read about them below.

Volunteer Role Descriptions

SERVICE: VWBPE HOST

A Host is usually located at the Gateway landing area, but can also be at the Presentations, Exhibits, and Social Events to help participants.

  • The first people that conference participants meet – this is a critical role for the conference.
  • Familiar with VWBPE areas in Second Life and VWBPE Conference events.
  • Welcome participants.
  • Direct conference participants to venues, answer questions, give swag bags, etc.
  • Share tips and items that are helpful for SL.
  • Minimum time commitment: 1 hour training is required, with 1-hour blocks of time commitment (we appreciate multiple time sign ups, please do this at your convenience)

SERVICE: CONFERENCE PHOTOGRAPHER

The VWBPE Conference Photographer takes pictures of as many events as possible and posts them to the VWBPE Flickr Site. We would be happy to have more than one photographer to share the expectations.

  • Experience in photography in Second Life required.
  • Willing to learn.
  • Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment.
  • Minimum time commitment: The photographer should attend as many events as possible, including the Social Events in January and February, pre-conference events, Interactive Session before and after the conference, as well as the three days of the conference.

TEACHING: VWBPE MENTOR

A VWBPE Mentor is a pre-conference coach and one-on-one support person for the presenter during the conference. Presenters are matched to a mentor.

  • Trained on presentation tools used in the different venues.
  • Ensure Presenters have the appropriate presentation tools for their assigned venues.
  • Train Presenters on the presentation tools, as needed.
  • Meet Presenters in the Green Room for the assigned venues.
  • Watch the presentations and assist with any technical problems as needed.
  • Keep track of the presentation time – most presentations are 50 minutes.
  • Mentors may be assigned to assist more than one Presenter.
  • When not assigned to a Presenter or actively working with one, a Mentor may be asked to assist another mentor or presenter.
  • Minimum time commitment: 1-hour training is required. Time per presenter varies from 1 to 3 hours, depending on the presenter’s experience level.

TECHNICAL: STREAM TEAM

The Stream Team provides video capture and streaming for each presentation at the conference. They may need to be available for training up to 2 months prior to the conference.

  • Experience preferred but not required.
  • Willing to learn.
  • Comfortable with camera movement inworld.
  • Broadband connection.
  • Wired connection preferred.
  • Reasonably strong computer.
  • Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment.
  • Minimum time commitment: 1.5-hour blocks – 1 hour recording with set up & wind up (longer blocks are helpful).

Additional duties:

  • Provide streaming for events happening in VWBPE regions.
  • May volunteer for editing of videos after the conference, if interested.
  • Minimum time commitment: 4-hour blocks (although longer would be better).

SCHOLARSHIP: QUADRIVIUM ASSISTANT

Quadrivium Assistants help Quadrivium Facilitators in leading a Quadrivium Discussion.

Note Quadrivium Assistants: Quadrivium papers are published in the VWBPE Conference proceedings, so it is required that your RL first and last names are posted if you are volunteering to be a Quadrivium Assistant.

  • Introduce Quadrivium Facilitator.
  • Assist Quadrivium discussion inworld as needed.
  • Copy text chat for Quadrivium Facilitator’s report
  • Keep track of time – Quadrivium sessions are usually 50 minutes.
  • Trained on SpeakEasy HUD.
  • Assist if any technical problems arise.
  • Minimum time commitment: 1 hour + .5 hours (Quadrivium + Prep + Assistance with Report).

VWBPE Volunteer Signup

You will be asked for your time zone relative to SLT, which is the same as US Pacific (San Francisco, California). Example: If in London, you would say SLT+8 in Standard Time.

Please enter your SL avatar last name if it is NOT "Resident"
Tell us your time zone relative to SLT. Example: US EST would be SLT+3.