Helen Varley Jamieson has a background in theatre as a writer, director and producer, and has worked in digital media and the internet since 1996. Although she encountered chat rooms and MOOs early on, it wasn't until she met up with Desktop Theater (www.desktoptheater.org) in 2000 that she became excited by the potential of the internet as a venue for performance. She coined the term "cyberformance" to describe live performance using internet technologies such as chat applications.

In 2001, her cyberformance presentation at the Odin Teatret, Denmark, caused such a commotion that she was inspired to embark on a Hunt for the Body and Emotion in Cyberformance. This search began with a research project, the[abc]experiment, and continues in her work with Avatar Body Collision. She remains optimistic, saying that she has always been able to smell her goal and every performance takes her closer.

http://www.creative-catalyst.com/

Karla Ptacek's work spans two decades in New York City as performer, writer and director in multimedia ensembles. She holds an MA in Directing from Goldsmiths College, London, and a practice as research MPhil in Distributed Performance Practices, supported by a scholarship from the Arts & Humanities Research Board, UK.

"I'm interested in the diverse qualities of liveliness that occur when new media scenography is integrated into live stage performances, an interest which dovetails with my work on vertbatim theatre & political satire. Current inspiration is found in the writings of Antonin Artaud & the performance work of Tadeusz Kantor."

http://www.artificialstage.com/

abstract of Karla's article in Digital Creativity:
Avatar Body Collision: enactments in distributed performance practices

Leena Saarinen (Ma in New Media) is practitioner and researcher of digital media with a special focus on interactive storytelling, cross-media.

Leena is one of the creators of Accidental Lovers (Sydän kierroksella), a participatory black comedy for television and mobile phones. She has participated in several collaborative media art productions including numerous community and collaboration concepts on the Internet.

Having education both in information technology and new media arts, she is a digital caldron of engineering, poetry, interactions, interfaces, media arts, software and drama.

Home page: http://mlab.uiah.fi/~lsaarine/

Vicki Smith is a visual artist who has been producing commissioned work and exhibitions for over a decade. She works in a design capacity for both print and web, and has taught second chance education in IT and the web. She has worked collaboratively on mural projects and in the Digital Story Telling medium as a participant and facilitator.

Being part of Avatar Body Collision gives her the opportunity to explore the dramamtic process and further interests in theatre, film and stage design. As well as producing graphics and avatars, Vicki has contributed to developing characters and devising story.

Presently involved in an ICT professional development project for schools in Tai Poutini, Vicki also has an installation project 'Trip the Light Fantastic' in the pipeline.