The goal of Hub2 is to introduce a deliberative process into community meetings that currently does not exist. Who do this by integrating Second Life into the existing community process. We believe that the affordances of the tool and the specifics of the practice we built around it, we are adding the following:

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Categories: placeofmedia · boston · citygovernment · SecondLife · hub2 · gene_koo · civic_engagement · net-locality · mixed_reality · mediated urbanism · cities

For the last several weeks, Hub2 has been working on a project in the Allston neighborhood of Boston. With full support from the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) and funding from Harvard’s Allston Development Group, we have begun work on the community input process around Library Park. Our mission is to augment the […]

Categories: placeofmedia · boston · citygovernment · SecondLife · hub2 · gene_koo · civic_engagement · mixed_reality

This week, I was interviewed by Carol Colletta of Smart City Radio to discuss Hub2.  You can listen to the radio program here.

Categories: boston · citygovernment · hub2 · civic_engagement · Community_Informatics · cities

I’m editing a special issue of the journal Space and Culture on the “Geography of Virtual Worlds.” Here’s a draft of the introduction. It’s still in process, but it might give some sense of what I think will be a very interesting issue.
This evening I am home in front of the fireplace, chatting […]

Categories: placeofmedia · SecondLife · games · hub2 · article ideas · second life · geography

The key is presented to Mayor Menino

The virtual mayor takes the key to the virtual city
The Hub2 kick-off event was a big success. We had a packed room, both in first and second life, and there was an overall positive reception to the work we are doing. Bill Oates, the Chief Information Officer […]

Categories: placeofmedia · boston · citygovernment · city · hub2 · civic_engagement · net-locality

Below is the press release for our event on December 13. Should be a good time. We’re going to say a few words and symbolically hand Boston Island to the service of the City of Boston. There will be a virtual key, and real food.
BOSTON, MA – Hub2 (www.hub2.org), a project […]

Categories: placeofmedia · boston · citygovernment · city · hub2 · gene_koo

Last week I was in Chicago at the National Communication Association conference. I never used to go to this conference, but over the past several years I’ve been attending a pre-conference seminar with this group called the Urban Communication Foundation. It’s an interdisciplinary group of folks who are concerned with the various aspects […]

Categories: placeofmedia · boston · SecondLife · city · hub2 · gene_koo · civic_engagement · cities

In class last week, we spent about 90 minutes arguing over the merits of community networks. The real question was: why would we want network technologies overlaying physical space? Don’t we have enough “connection?” Shouldn’t urban planners and architects help us figure out ways to “disconnect?” The argument I offered against […]

Categories: placeofmedia · boston · citygovernment · SecondLife · city · hub2 · civic_engagement · net-locality · Community_Informatics

For the last four weeks, we’ve been doing some general thinking about how cities, digital networks and virtual worlds might fit together. We’ve talked about the relationship between play and urban spatial practice, and we’ve pondered the general success of the spaces we daily occupy in the city of Boston. Everyone in my […]

Categories: boston · SecondLife · city · hub2 · civic_engagement

The Hub2 initiative started this week in the form of an upper-division class at Emerson College. The community class is set to begin next Tuesday. At this point, we are enrolled to capacity, and are quite eager to get started. The Emerson class is conceived a little differently than the community class. […]

Categories: placeofmedia · boston · SecondLife · hub2 · civic_engagement