News from Silicon Island

16/04: Offical Press Release for ITE by PR with Brains

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:
Bill Lessard
PRwithBrains
914.476.6089
wlessard@prwithbrains.com

Second Life Gets Real with Virtual Technology Expo, April 20-22

3-Day Event to Showcase the Best SL-Related Technology from around the World for Practical 3D Business Strategies

Over 55 Vendors, Thousands of Attendees Expected, with Highlights to Include Keynote from Sun Microsystems’ Jim Parkinson - Vice President of Collaboration and ISV Engineering


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NEW YORK, NY, April 16, 2007—Fortune 500 firms, brand managers, financial services firms, advertising agencies, universities, non-profits with a global mandate – in short, anyone or any organization struggling to develop a bottom-line strategy for extending their real-life dealings into the virtual realm should point their digital selves in the direction of the first-annual International SL Technology Expo (SL-ITE), which will be held in Second Life, Friday through Sunday, April 20-22, with entry at the Expo Welcome Center on Silicon Island.

Organized by Greenwich, Connecticut-based virtual events and services firm the V3 Group, the SL-ITE 2007 (http://www.thev3group.com/ite.html) will showcase the best Second Life-related technology solutions and offer best-practices demonstrations from the most creative developers. The likes of Sun Microsystems and Dell Computers will also be represented in support of honoring the vendors.

Sponsored by Cattle Puppy Productions, Reallusion, S Media, and the Second Life Broadcasting Company, the free, 3-day event boasts 50 vendors from China, Singapore, Australia, the Czech Republic, Finland, Spain, Romania, United States, England, Cuba, and others; and will welcome thousands of SL attendees from around the world.

Among the subjects to be discussed at SL-ITE’s various panels:

• "Digital Property: Creating It, Using It, and Protecting It;"
• "Developers Perspective on Client Demands: Community, Architecture, Technology & Environment;"
• “Making Sense of Market Research Related to Second Life;"
• "Breaking the Boundaries of SL: Developing a Robust User Experience for Corporations & Residents Inside & Outside SL."

SL-ITE 2007 will kick off on Friday, April 20, at 12 noon PDT with a keynote address by Jim Parkinson, VP of Collaboration and ISV Engineering, Sun Microsystems, who will discuss the company’s role for 3D worlds. In addition, there will also be exclusive in-world debuts of Reallusion’s award-winning 3D animation and Machinima suite iClone 2.0 and Cattle Puppy Productions’ SoundReach, a revolutionary application that brings voices located on opposite sides of the globe into one virtual space in Second Life by allowing multiple speakers to use a landline phone.

Among the service areas to be covered by SL-ITE’s exhibitors:

• Telecommunications
• Construction Tools
• Web-Based Interactive Linking Systems
• Content Management Tools
• Marketing & Advertising Systems
• 3rd Party Innovations

A Web simulcast of the entire weekend’s proceedings will be provided by SL Cable TV, along with additional interviews on SLBC-Radio. Finally, to assure that this inaugural event ends on a celebratory note, there will be a special live charity party and concert after the scheduled events as well as the SL-ITE People’s Choice Awards for the Most Innovative SL Technologies, with the top winner to receive free rent for a year on the V3 Group’s popular Silicon Island along with a free copy of Reallusion’s acclaimed iClone 2.0, which will also be distributed to the four runners-up.

“We are very excited to have iClone 2.0 as one of the chosen technologies to be highlighted in this expo,” said John Martin, Director of Marketing, Reallusion. “We know that between the in-world demonstration and the distribution of free copies of our software to the winners, iClone will be recognized as the most user-friendly, cost-effective and powerful software application for anyone who wants to create their own virtual world or build customized avatars in the virtual world of Second Life.”

EVENT INFORMATION
Location: Expo’s Welcome Center/Silicon Island
SL Address: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Silicon%20Island/139/142/39/?x=420&y=150&img=http%3A//www.thev3group.com/images/v3office.gif&title=
Time: Noon-6 PM PDT (Friday & Saturday), Noon-5 PM PDT (Sunday)
Tickets: Free admission
Schedule: http://www.thev3group.com/ite.html

Live Video Simulcast: www.slcn.tv
Live Audio Simulcast: www.slbc-radio.com

About V3 Group, llc.
Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the V3 Group is a full-service virtual design and development firm that empowers its clients to realize their business goals in the 3D worlds of Second Life. Founded by interactive design veteran Odin Liam Wright (SL name: Liam Kanno), whose portfolio includes agency and independent projects for Fortune 100 companies like Met Life, Samsung, AT&T, and Compaq, as well as special interest work for the United Nations and the Vatican foundation Centesimus Annus, the firm most recently developed the 3D Silverscreen sim and environment of the movie 300 for Picture Production Company, a premier London-based film marketing agency who created the SL presence for Warner Bros. As well as chief organizer of SL-ITE 2007, the company is also the designer and owner of Second Life’s Silicon Island and Silicon City, which provide its over 15 residents a professional location in the virtual world. For more information about the V3 Group, visit: www.thev3group.com.

About Reallusion, Inc.
Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Reallusion is a leading-edge software developer providing Hollywood-like 3D cinematic animation tools for PC and mobile platforms. Reallusion’s pioneering storytelling technology excelling at character animation, facial morphing and voice lip-sync allows fast creation of interactive avatars for 3D real-time filmmaking and previsualization for professional post-production. Our powerful yet easy-to-use tools make character animation accessible to PC users of all skill levels.

Reallusion’s development of core technologies and growing base of intellectual property firmly establish the company as power among emerging technology innovators, furthering our graphic and imaging embedded kernels to top-brand device manufacturers worldwide. Its products, including its acclaimed iClone machinima software and its freeware avatar animation tool CrazyTalk for Skype, have been featured in Second Life and on CBS News and the Associated Press, in addition to receiving glowing reviews from USA TODAY, C|NET, Forbes, and PC World. For more information, visit: www.reallusion.com.


About Cattle Puppy Productions
Cattle Puppy Productions provides products and services to bridge the gap between entertainment in virtual worlds and real-world markets. Founded by Gary Wisniewski, the company recently launched SoundReach, a revolutionary application which solves the technical problems of bringing voices located on opposite sides of the globe into one virtual space in Second Life by allowing multiple speakers to use a landline phone. Cattle Puppy is also the company behind SLCN.tv, a professional video network designed to expand the in-world audience as well as deliver virtual entertainment to the real-world. Cattle Puppy is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. For more information, visit: www.cattlepuppy.com.

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