Regular readers of my articles will be very familiar with gaming in virtual worlds, who the players are and what the issues are. So it is hardly surprising that next week I will be at the Virtual Worlds Forum in London where many of the key players in the industry worldwide will be speaking on most of theses issues.

Mel Guymon will be there from Google. He is Head of 3D Operations and Product Manager for Lively and is giving the opening keynote talk. It is excellent that he is out and about explaining Lively because with Google’s weak marketing this must be one of the most misunderstood products out there.

Geoff Iddison from Jagex is giving a talk on day two titled “Choosing the right business model-experiences in adapting a business to embrace technology”. He will be coming to the forum on a high as the Guinness Book of Records has just accepted RuneScape as the world’s largest free MMORPG.

Timo Soininen from Sulake Corporation will be presenting a case study “Habbo-the continuously evolving teen virtual world”. Which, with their experience, should contain many gems of wisdom.

There is an interesting panel discussion on “Harnessing social networks, virtual worlds and MMOs to create community”. With, amongst others, Raph Coster from Metaplace. He then goes into the closing plenary discussion with, amongst others, Ginsu Yoon from Linden Lab.

So far I have just mentioned companies that have featured in articles here. Other speakers are from so many of the world’s leading players. The BBC, Electronic Arts, Endemol, NC Soft, Walt Disney and Dizzywood amongst others.

The congress is over two days, the 6th and 7th of October and is pretty much essential for anyone with any management responsibility in this space. If you see me there don’t be shy, please come over and have a chat.