Over the last ten months or so, I’ve been involved with a group planning for a virtual strand in connection with the EUROCALL conference in Granada, September 4-7. After numerous Skype sessions and email exchanges we are now ready to announce this year’s small scale virtual strand, which is open to all free of charge. Remember to sign up, so we can get some idea of how many participants there are, and distribute necessary information. More information will follow in due time.

Here is the formal invitation:

Eurocall 2006 – VIRTUAL STRAND

Can’t come to EuroCALL in Granada this year but would like to get the “conference experience”?

Why not take part in the VIRTUAL STRAND? It’s for people like you who can’t come to Granada or who’d like to know more about the EuroCALL conference.

Can come to EuroCALL in Granada but would like to communicate with people who can’t make it?

The VIRTUAL STRAND is for you, too. You can log in from the conference site to read and comment on the conference blog as well as chat to or exchange
messages with colleagues who are logging in from anywhere in the world.

This is the first time you’ll be able to join the conference from wherever you are. Since we’re still finding out about the best way to give you the ‘virtual conference experience’, the virtual strand this year will be limited to the following activities:

The PLENARY SESSIONS are going to be video-recorded and you’ll be able to watch them online at any time during the conference. If you’re a member of EuroCALL, you’ll also be able to watch them after the conference because they’ll be archived.

There’ll be a CONFERENCE BLOG written by people who are at the conference. They’ll be telling you about the presentations they’ve been to, the social activities and even about the venue itself, and you’ll be able to join in the discussion by posting comments and questions to the conference blog.

As well as this, there’ll be a BLOBBER that will allow you to talk (in real time text and probably also in voice) with people at the conference and others who are attending virtually.

Want to know more? Why not come to the PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP for the virtual strand? You’ll have the opportunity to find out how to use blogs and the blobber and you’ll be able to try out some activities using them. You may even get some ideas about how you could use this sort of tool in your own classes! The workshop is FREE! That’s right, you don’t have to pay anything to take part in this workshop.

Because it’s all online, you can join the workshop from wherever you are in the world. Anyone who’s in Granada can come to a computer room for the workshop, but if you login from home or work while the workshop’s running, you’ll get exactly the same information and practice AND you’ll be able to chat with people who are experiencing the face-to-face conference and find out more about what it’s like.

We WILL need to know if you’re going to join us for the workshop and/or the virtual strand, so that we can make sure you get all the information you need in time for the pre-conference workshop, so we’d like you to let us know by filling in the form you find at http://www.eurocall2006.com/virtual.htm.

The virtual strand promises to be an exciting and fun experience – do join us! We’re looking forward to meeting you!!