Join us at our half-day Gamification Workshop, Thursday, June 28, in San Francisco, CA at the Moscone Center. The workshop provides a detailed understanding on the use of game design techniques, game thinking and game mechanics to enhance non-game contexts. http://GamificationWorkshop.org/

The workshop, running from 9 am – 1 pm, will provide details on how to make art of the “game” and “play” a key asset in your digital enterprise by creating connections that keep your digital entity top of mind by influencing users to engage, compete, return, and desire more.

Whether you’re interested in building enterprise-wide awareness and support for gamification or developing a holistic corporate gamification strategy, prepare to leave with a raw draft of a potential gamified approach that can help bring your enterprise to life.

This special workshop is ideal for:

- IT Architects
- Application Developers
- Community Managers
- IT Consultants
- User Experience Designers
- Business Process Experts
- Solution & Product Managers
- Marketing & Brand managers
- Game Designers.

Register online for $395 by June 22. A catered breakfast and coffee-breaks will be provided. During the workshop be aware of low-flying Angry Birds plush toys. We cannot guarantee that you’ll leave the workshop without one. Register and find additional details at: http://GamificationWorkshop.org/

DMW Presents 
Mobile & Social Entertainment Summit @ Digital Media Conference East New York City — June 28, 2012

 Museum of Jewish Heritage, New York City

Fueled by the huge momentum behind social and mobile media, entertainment and advertising companies in 2012, the first annual Mobile & Social Entertainment Summit at DMCE, part of the CE Week in NYC, will focus on mobile and social content creation, distribution and monetization. What does it take to successfully launch media and entertainment content in a world where a growing percentage of people are reading, listening and watching content on smartphones, tablets and other connected devices? Packed with useful hands-on case studies and panels featuring leading digital media entrepreneurs and innovators, this one-day conference is a “must-attend” for anyone in the media and entertainment industry looking to learn the latest trends in mobile and social media and make useful business connections in times of major disruption in media consumption.

For an updated agenda visit: http://www.digitalmediaconference.com/east/index.shtml#agenda

To Register visit: http://msesummit.eventbrite.com/

For more information and to inquire about sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities, please contact Tinzar Sherman (tinzar@digitalmediawire.com) or Jay Baage (jay@digitalmediawire.com) or call 310-855-0033 or 202-546-8903.

Skövde, Sweden – May 10, 2012 – With the hopes of fostering good relationships with young videogame developers and helping build their collective talent into something the industry must take note of, the Swedish government has funded The Game Incubator Network, a national cooperation that hosts development start-ups in order to aid them with their intellectual properties. The program is implemented by Gothia Innovation AB and located at Gothia Science Park in Skövde. One of the members leading up this effort is Nichlas Dunham, a former head of major development studios Starbreeze and Grin, who oversees getting potential new developers help with business development, sales and legal consultation, development technology support, and much more.

With well over two dozen development teams in the seven incubators, The Game Incubator Network is poised to make more news in the very near future. For more information on the program itself, please visit www.tgin.se.

Head’s up! July is just around the corner! You do know what happens in July, don’t you?

Yes it’s that time of year again when we start planning this year’s Develop in Brighton Conference taking place from 10 – 12 July . We’ll be seven years old this year, can you believe? And we’re really looking forward to another busy, fun and inspiring three days.

With a programme that is shaped by some of the industry’s key figures, the conference touches all levels of the development community from the largest companies to the smallest studios; from development directors to programmers.

So, as well as inviting speakers directly, we would like to throw open an invitation to all you game developers out there to submit your own ideas for talks or panel discussions. This way, you can actually help shape the conference content.

If you’ve got an idea for a session we’d love to hear from you. All you have to do is click on this link and complete your submission by 30 March 2012. For more information, visit  http://www.developconference.com

   2012 Marks the 5th Annual Jalloo!

Come and join us for the education, the networking, the recruiting, and the fun!

The Atlantic Coast’s gathering of professionals for Animation and Games.

Jalloo exists to help promote and develop the Animation and Games industry in the Atlantic provinces.

The Annual Jalloo Festival plus a variety of activities during the year allows professionals the opportunity to network, meet new professionals just entering the industry, meet with guest speakers from all over, and take part in professional development through discussions, panels, and workshops.

For more information, check out Jalloo online!

The Web Game Conference is the conference for leaders and innovators of the web, social and mobile game industry, organized by the SNJV, France’s Videogame trade Association. This annual conference hosted for the first time this year at La Gaîté Lyrique , brings together european industry leaders to discuss, collaborate, and share advancements about design, business, community and legal areas of online game development and publishing.

The Web Game Conference features one day of web, social and mobile game development lectures, roundtables, renowned local and international industry speakers and meetings. It is the sole place to enhance your knowledge of the social and browser games european market.

If social, mobile and browser games matter to your business, the Web Game Conference is the conference to attend. We look forward to seeing you there!

Get more information:
E-mail: webgameconf@snjv.org
Phone: +33 (0)9.70.46.06.11

http://www.webgameconf.eu/

Serious Game Expo is calling you! 

You can apply on line if you are interested in becoming a speaker and competing to win an award. The 8th Edition of Serious Game Expo has been launched. It will take place in Lyon, October 22nd & 23rd 2012. For additional information, visit: www.seriousgameexpo.com

• If you want to submit a conference proposal click here (submission deadline: May 31st)
• If you want to submit a serious game project for our awards click here (submission deadline: July 31st )

 This year, 18 conferences will be available on 2 different tracks will be organized at the same time:

• 1 track will deal with Human Resources/Training (introductory & advanced level)
• 1 track will deal with Communication/Marketing (introductory level)

 Regarding the Serious Game Expo awards, 3 projects will be awarded:

• Best Serious Game HR/Training award 2012
• Best Serious Game Communication/Marketing award 2012
• Innovation prize Serious Game Expo 2012

Each proposal will be assessed by several boards of international experts.

Take your chance and good luck!

Join the ranks of expert speakers who share their knowledge and insight at the International CES. The Call for Speakers for the 2013 CES is now open. Running from May 1 through 5 p.m. EDT June 12, 2012, all submissions must be processed online using the Speaker Ready Room management tool.

The Call for Speakers process encompasses only those sessions produced by CES.

For more information, head on over here.

I frequently talk about jobs, tools for getting jobs, strategies for staying employable and how to maneuver layoffs.  Now I want to talk about inspiration.  It’s important to battle our discouragement that creeps in at times and tells us we just make games.  During those times we should remember that we have the power to:

• Create a fun afternoon or evening for a person of any age
• Bring a family together in the living room and again at the table as they discuss the game they played
• Inspire young people to work harder in school so they can find as much fun in their work as they do in our games
• Connect old friends through an online game with voice chat
• Bring joy to a child in a hospital who is stuck in bed
• Help the military and emergency personnel train and prepare to face real-life situations
• Give a parent and child something to talk about in those times when they don’t have anything else they agree on
• Create a weekend of fun for someone who has been working too hard
• Inspire others to join the games industry
• Unravel a story to inspire a world of imagination
• Deliver excitement or emotion as we put our best into our individual jobs that deliver game into the hands of players
• Entertain and expand horizons

We don’t do this every day with every game.  I’m merely reminding all of us that when we do our best we create the opportunity to do all of the above.

The Eighth Annual Games for Health Conference is June 12-14, 2012 at the Hyatt Harborside Hotel in Boston, MA.

The Games for Health Project announced the keynote speakers for the eighth annual Games for Health Conference, the nation’s largest conference dedicate to videogames, health, and health care, which will be held June 12-14 in Boston.

The Games for Health Conference brings together hundreds of researchers, health professionals, and game developers to discuss a wide range of topics involving health and videogames.

Over three days, more than 400 attendees will participate in over 60 sessions led by an array of international speakers. Topics will include exergaming, physical therapy, disease management, health behavior change, biofeedback, rehab, epidemiology, training, nutrition, and health education.

The 2012 event adds new tracks on sensors and gamification to its traditional exercise, sensorimotor rehab, cognitive and emotional health, and nutrition games tracks.

Read the Press Release for more information, or Register Now!  

Following a record-breaking Game Connection America, which welcomed 1680 attendees from more than 800 companies and 56 different countries for a total of 5527 meetings scheduled through the meeting application, Game Connection returns to Asia this year from June 28-29th at the Pudong Expo in Shanghai, China.

This international event will offer conference tracks, Master Classes and the Selected Projects program, all packed into two efficient days of B2B meeting and networking.

Registration is now open!

USC Demo Day is Wednesday the 2nd of May 2012 2:30pm to 6:30pm.

Industry professionals are welcome!  A draft agenda is here

Demo Day is when students show off games built in the laboratory in the last semester. Participants in game development in the lab include students from the School of Cinematic Arts Interactive Media Division (BA Interactive Entertainment, MFA Interactive Media) and students from the Viterbi School of Engineering’s Computer Science Department (BS in Computer Science (Games), MS in Computer Science (Game Development), PhD in Computer Science (Games).

Additional students providing concept art, 3D models, animation, rigging, music and sound come from all across the USC campus and from collaborative schools. Collaborative schools involved in a large way this semester include students from the Laguna College of Art & Design and Atlantic University College – students from those programs have been providing concept art, 3D models, animation and rigging for our games.

LA-based DMW Bringing Digital Media Delegation to Europe to Connect Companies with Business Opportunities

LOS ANGELES & LUXEMBOURG, April 4, 2012 — Digital Media Wire and Farvest Group are pleased to announce their collaboration for the upcoming ICT Spring Europe June 19-20, 2012, during which will be held the first Digital Media Wire Event in Europe.

The collaboration was initiated and fostered through the longstanding efforts of the Luxembourg Trade and Investment Office in New York.

In addition to the exclusive ICT Spring ecosystem, a “Digital Media Village”, focusing on the exciting world of entertainment, media and technology, will be implemented at the heart of the exhibition. Produced by Hollywood-based Digital Media Wire, a global leader in publishing and events, the event focuses on media disruption and the constantly evolving landscape for the production, distribution, monetization and marketing of movies, television shows, games, music and print media. The Village will be a forum for entrepreneurs, executives and investors to network, share ideas and build partnerships.

Parties interested in speaking, attending or exhibiting at “Digital Media Village” at ICT Spring should contact DMW by email at europe@digitalmediawire.com.

Thursday, April 26, 2012 from 8:30 AM to 10:30 AM (PT)

Hints for staying professional relevant, from a previous blog entry here at MMN.

Are you knee deep in a long term project? Thinking only about your next deal, milestone, or effort? What will you do when you reach your next goal? You’ll probably come out of your hole and look around at what the rest of the world has been up to while you were working, Right? Wrong. Don’t let four or five years pass you by. You can enjoy the project you are working on and stay in touch, keep your work relevant, and be on top of the latest trends.

Top companies consider the best candidates to be the ones who have the most experience, so why limit yourself to the experience you are getting in your current job? Here are our tips:

Tip One: Enhance your skill set. Acquire new knowledge that will sharpen your tools. Don’t limit yourself to learning skills for the task at hand. Take the time to soak up new information. You may find it even helps you do your job faster, smarter, and more creatively. Sharpening your tools is an important task. Balancing critical tasks with important ones will set you apart from other applicants.

Tip Two: Attend industry talks, events, and seminars. Make time for a weekend conference once a year or even a local evening event. Conferences and gatherings provide the chance to see what others in the industry are doing as well as a chance to personally connect and network with colleagues.

Tip Three: Education. You may not have time to enroll full time or pursue another degree, but you could take a short term, one time class. Many schools offer classes even if you don’t have the years to commit to a program. If there is something you wish you had the chance to take in school, there is no time like the present.

Just in case these tips have inspired you to add something new to your portfolio or resume…please let us know. Email links to your newest work samples, resumes and portfolios to jobs@mary-margaret.com. We are looking for great candidates like you who want to “Find. Grow. Work. Play.”