Ohio State President Karen Holbrook provided welcoming remarks during the eighth annual Megaconference. The November 2 Megaconference VIII, "Breaking Down the Barriers: Global Connections," linked 305 locations in 25 countries, 5 continents, and 38 states, for a worldwide event.

The annual Megaconference is a hallmark event for learning about cutting-edge uses of videoconferencing. Since its inception in October 1999 during the Internet2 Fall Member Meeting in Seattle, the Megaconference has grown in both size and scope, and has spun off several similar events including Megaconference Jr., now in its fourth year, and the Gigaconference, in its second year.

The Megaconference offers a variety of presentations, interactions, cultural exchanges, singing and dancing, museum tours, and much more. Most presentations were 15 to 20 minutes long and demonstrated new or novel applications of videoconferencing technology. Many presentations also focused on increasing world understanding and cultural exchange through such things as tours of national landmarks, native music and dance performances, natural history, and much more.

The Megaconference is sponsored by Internet2, and operated by The Ohio State University and the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC). Ohio State and OSC jointly operate the Internet2 Commons, a remote collaboration service for large-scale deployment of Internet videoconferencing tools that are available to members of the Internet2 community and their collaborators. For more information on the Internet2 Commons go to commons.internet2.edu.

Robert Dixon, systems engineer for the Office of the CIO and for OSC, said this year’s Megaconference theme, "Breaking Down Barriers and Global Connections," reflected the international spirit of the Megaconference by creating friendships and memories that will endure forever.

Information about the Megaconference, including archives of the program and a list of participants, are available at digitalunion.osu.edu/megaconference.