FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:
Eric Gordon/Project Principal
617-842-8828
Eric_Gordon@emerson.edu

Hub2 To Present Mayor’s Office with
the Keys to Virtual Boston At December 13 Event

BOSTON, MA, NOVEMBER 29, 2007 – Hub2, a project involving the City of Boston, the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), Emerson College, and the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, will showcase virtual models created by Boston residents to improve the city’s public spaces and present Mayor Menino’s office with the keys to the virtual city.

The event will take place on Thursday, December 13 from 12:30 to 2:00 P.M. at Emerson College in the Charles Beard Room on the second floor of 80 Boylston Street. Guests should contact Eric Gordon at Eric_Gordon@emerson.edu to attend.

The hour and a half event will include presentations from Hub2 participants at Emerson College and the Berkman Center. The Major’s Chief of Staff, Judith Kurland; the Chief Information Officer, Bill Oats; and BRA officials will also be in attendance.

In September 2007 Hub2 began hosting workshops at Emerson to foster civic engagement using the virtual world, Second Life. For three months students and residents have been creating three-dimensional immersive models of sites in the Greater Boston Area. Their work will be used by the City of Boston to assist in future development plans for the city.

A total of six projects will be on display ranging from designs of Government Center to the Rose Kennedy Greenway in downtown Boston.

About Hub 2
Hub2 was founded in 2007 by Emerson College professor, Eric Gordon, Berkman Center Fellow, Gene Koo, and Special Assistant to Boston Mayor Menino, Nigel Jacob. The organization enlists Boston residents to articulate visions of public spaces using virtual three-dimensional worlds. With partnerships and support from members of Emerson College, Harvard University, the City of Boston and the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), Hub2 began its work in September 2007. The project aims to help Boston residents take ownership of their public space and facilitate civic engagement with their community.