This is an urgent message for anyone who was attending or speaking at Virtual Worlds Forum in London this week. The whole thing is going to be re-scheduled due to an incident on Sunday at the venue in which a member of the public was shot. The venue was to be “The Bridge” in London SE1, which is is situated in a series of Victorian arches adjacent to London Bridge. The site dates back to the early nineteenth century but now operates as a club and venue for meetings. Part of Weston Street, near the venue, consists largely of a very long tunnel running underneath London Bridge station.
[UPDATE: Today, Monday, everyone will be at The Hospital private members club – 24 Endell St, WC2H 9HQ here. Refreshments, wifi and virtual worlds networking].
The message from founder Sasha Frieze is below. Check their blog or their Twitter for the latest info:
URGENT! VWF IS RESCHEDULED.
Early this morning there was an unrelated incident at the venue in which a member of the public was shot. The police have closed off the venue for three days, which means that we cannot use it for Virtual Worlds Forum.
With less than day to go, we cannot find an alternative venue over these dates. So we have taken the very difficult decision to reschedule the event.
What it means for you is
1) The event will not take place as planned on Monday and Tuesday.
2) For those people who are in London, the Four Day members pass to the Hospital is still available. Please go to 24 Endell St, London, WC2H 9HQ to collect your pass – there’s quite a few people in town, so lots of people to hang out with.
3) The South by South West party on Monday night is still going ahead.And obviously we are planning the reschedule and we will give you details as soon as we have them.
We are very very sorry for the inconvenience. We will do our utmost to make sure that you get the most out of your involvement with VWF and keep you informed as regularly as we can.
Sasha and the VWF Team
UPDATE: The organisers are desparately trying to find a last minute venue to arrange a sort of un-conference, so that at least the speakers and attendees can meet and network – probably on Tuesday. Stay tuned…