Register Now for the Inaugural Broadcast from the American University in Cairo's Virtual Newsroom

Second Life avatar of US Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs James Glassman in the virtual newsroom of the American University in Cairo in Second Life.

[Ed. Note Update: We've posted archived video of this event here and here.]

On Monday, January 12, 2009, at 11 am Eastern Time, 6 pm Cairo Time, 8 am Second Life Time, Dancing Ink Productions will host a live event from the American University in Cairo's Virtual Newsroom in the virtual world of Second Life featuring James Glassman, US Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs in conversation with a group of Egyptian political bloggers who covered the 2008 US presidential campaign. Do you have questions for Under Secretary Glassman or the bloggers? Tune in at www.dancinginkproductions.com and be a part of the conversation.

CLICK HERE to register.

HOW IT WORKS: The event will be streamed live to the web and will be viewable on the Dancing Ink Productions website by clicking on the Live Events tab. Viewers do not need to have a Second Life account to watch the live webcast from the virtual world, but will need to complete a simple, basic registration in order to view. Register to watch and participate here: http://dancinginkproductions.com/?page_id=361

This project is directed by Lawrence Pintak and the event is sponsored by the Adham Center for Journalism Training and Research at the American University in Cairo, funded by USAID and produced by Dancing Ink Productions. It will include real-time chat between a live Internet audience and event participants in the virtual world of Second Life. The US State Department collaborated on Undersecretary Glassman's participation in this event.

The live chat-stream including the live Internet audience will be moderated by Rita J. King, CEO and Creative Director of Dancing Ink Productions and Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. The live event in Second Life will be moderated by Joshua S. Fouts, Chief Global Strategist of Dancing Ink Productions, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, and former founding director of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy.

The event will be a new step for public diplomacy as it will be the first time that a sitting US Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy will be participating in a press conference in a virtual world through the use of their own avatar. It is significant both as a new opportunity to explore how 3D immersive spaces can be used toward better understanding between cultures and as way of examining new tools for journalism.

If you have any questions about the event, please contact below. We can also be followed or direct messaged about this event in Twitter. Follow us at: @josholalia and @eurekadejavu. If you have any questions or comments in Twitter please add the Twitter hashtag #DIP to the end of any tweets that you post so that we can be sure to find the question.

See you all on January 12.