Peter Ludlow was the key speaker tonight. He said [very roughly paraphrasing]: "Why do we need virtual worlds with Draconian terms of service allowing the world to destroy your creation and/or kick you off for any reason ("or no reason")? Why not just go off and build your own thing with your friends in an open source environment? Try Croquet. Try Muppets. Go ahead and learn to script. It's really easy." Ludlow was refreshing and straightforward.
Beth Noveck's conference is off to a good start. It was entertaining to hear about A Tale In The Desert again. It didn't sound fun last year and it still doesn't sound fun. But it's good to think about governance. If only we could make it fun.
Second Life has a great PR campaign: raise money, announce it the day of the conference, and have your journalist be the lead-off speaker. Good work, guys.