Meet the HIE Team: Mal Burns

Mal Burns is a metaverse news aggregator and broadcaster. He is co-host of two shows on Youtube. MBTV is a news show VR technology, innovation and innovators. Inworld Review, is focused on the latest developments and events in Opensim Both shows are broadcast each Sunday when in season, and you can find previous shows here on Youtube. Mal has been involved in virtual worlds since their inception, in Second Life, Sansar, Sinespace to mention a few of the many he has explored, and these days is mostly to be found in Opensim. He co-created the original HIE event, back in 2017.

This conference is the Hypergrid International Expo. What does 'International' mean to you in this context?

Mal Burns: Well - there isn't anything else with that broad scope. We know from travelling around opensim for HG Safari and elsewhere that the English language is not everybody's, and some other events (like the ones in SL) seem to be USA or English language focused.  This event has a different focus - not so much conventual talks, but art and entertainment too. Our target audience are looking for a fun, creative and looser atmosphere than most conferences.

What is your biggest hope for the Expo? What kind of impressions or benefits do you hope the presenters and audience members will gain from it? Was the event easy to plan?
Mal Burns: I hope it reaches largest audience possible, especially for the presenters. I hope the audience comes away with an even greater experience of variety and culture across the grids. I will probably learn a few more French words lol - and I'm looking forward to some wow-factor arts. I also hope that if we do well with the multilanguage logistics, we can get English speakers more interested in international events and projects, 

Planning and producing this event is complex because of multiple languages of both sessions and audience. Without language groups we used and translators, would be near impossible

Mal Burns: Finding a host grid for the first HIE, in 2017, was an ordeal in itself, but then Licu showed up, and all went fine, so of course we were very happy to return to Craft for this year's event. It has a very creative focus and, though based in Italy, it is language/culture neutral grid.

When you think of all the elements of the event - the streamed speakers, the subtitles in group, the many languages, the regions with their night club look - what is the one element you're most excited or proud of?

Mal Burns: I am really fond of the build - the auditorium has an intimate, nightclub feel, and perimeter walk for the Expo, with lots of publicity booths makes a good contrast.