The Serious Games Institute announced its "first European conference on the practical application of virtual worlds," set to take place September 13th and 14th in Coventry (the SGI is an initiative out of Coventry University).

According to the announcement and draft program, this year's theme will be "The Reality of the Virtual World," and will focus on various ways businesses are using virtual worlds, promising an intro to the serious uses of virtual worlds for organizations considering jumping in.

A lot of the panels seem to be Second Life-oriented, though there are others like "The Economics of Virtual Worlds" and "Virtual Disaster Management." Still, the conference claims to be a "first," and invites corporate professionals, multimedia developers, and public sector organizations to attend-- for £395 per day (£295 for academics) not including dinner!

[Via 3pointD.com]