Book now for IMMERSION Forum & Showcase (May 24, London) with a 10% discount on attending this leading international event focused on monetisation, funding and distribution of games and immersive social media; the future of MMOs, games, social media, virtual worlds, serious games, augmented reality, virtual goods, micropayments & billing, geospatial apps and search, Facebook apps, iphone apps .. and much more!

Book now using promo code GEN10 to claim the 10% discount to attend the Forum for only £269.10*. www.immersion10.co.uk

…. and if you can’t make it to the Forum, then for only £29* come along to the Exclusive Networking Party in the evening in central London – open to all.. not just delegates .. It’s going to be the best Mixer Networking Party this Spring! Book through the above link.

You’ll be networking with key media and games industry figures .. many with budget .. many with funding opportunities .. many looking to hook up for projects … all with vision for the future. What’s not to like!

Awards: Got a great game? Then submit it for the IMMERSION Awards 2010. Submission deadline 17 May. Click through the link to book Forum, Party or to submit you game for the Awards.

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Confirmed speakers include:
• Peter Bazalgette, NewBaz
• Ian Livingstone, Square Enix
• Adam Singer, BSAC
• Peter Edward, Sony
• Matthew Jeffery, EA
• Mike Rawlinson, ELSPA
• Nic Mitham, KZero
• Toby Beresford, Nudge
• James Bamford, Bing
• Oisin Lunny, Sulake (Habbo)
• Tim Harrison, The Mobile Consultancy
• Ben Keen, Screen Digest
• Richard Bartle, Essex University
• Andy Taite, Pembridge Partners
• Gina Fegan, South East Media Network
• Kim Bayley, Entertainment Retailers Assoc
• Rob Edmonds, SRI
• Justin Bovington, Rivers Run Red
• Ron Edwards, Ambient Performance
• Dave Taylor, Imperial College
• Mike Dicks, Bleedin Edge
• David Burden, Daden Ltd
• Ian Hughes, Feeding Edge
• Jeremiah Alexander, Ideonic
• Michael Schumann, Second Interest
• Modwenna Rees-Mogg, Angel News

The MirrorMe app was born out of a Crossover lab that Jeremiah attended earlier in the year. I now had the privilege of attending a similar Lab along with experts from science, film/ TV production and games.

The crossover science lab was a week of daily brain storming and idea generations exercises to come up with creative ideas based on our skills; designing platforms that can bring science closer to people using games or traditional media.

It was a fascinating experience for me to get a glimpse into how the film industry and the science industry work. All the attendees were experts in their field and chatting to them over dinner and during workshops was very exciting; I think there is a great opportunity for us to combine our skills to produce some truly unique ideas.

The first three  days of the lab we were led by Frank Boyd and the team of mentors to try and establish what we were aiming to achieve as well as understanding each other’s perspectives. The main categories were film, TV, Digital media, Games,  science and psychology; because we were all from very different disciplines, it was important for us to establish a common ground and understanding of each other’s language.

We were constantly put into different groups and doing varied actives to come up with some unique (and some truly mad) ideas. Everyone was in good spirits and no ideas were seen as bad ideas. It was a very fun experience for me and I really enjoyed the creativity and energy that was flowing around the room.  We were given challenges over Dinner and Lunch to work on in teams of 3 to 4, and were always doing pitches for the ideas. Frank and the mentors were brilliant and supportive of the group, constantly giving us great feedback on each of the ideas.

On the fourth and fifth days of the lab, we had to narrow down 50 ideas to just 6 which we all wanted to work on. We then split into 6 teams and with just over one day to work on the idea and prepare a full presentation on Friday afternoon.

I was fortunate to be on a team with Peter Dale from RareDay, Peter Bently from UCL, Pete from Tunatech (yes there were a lot of Pete(r)s in our group) and Rob Davis from Playniac. Our idea involved using augmented reality and geographic data from the UK. It was an incredible, exciting idea, and being the only artist in the group, I was responsible for producing the powerpoint presentation.

On Friday afternoon, the 6 teams had to do presentations in front of a panel from Channel 4, BBC, National Geographic, NHS, Screen Yorkshire and the Wellcome trust (as well as the mentors and the other groups)

Our presentation went really well and the panel gave us some great feedback on how we could improve it and it seemed like a very solid idea that got everyone excited. Hopefully the idea will move forward so I get to work on another exciting project emerging from a Crossover Lab!

The Crossover lab was a truly unique and amazing experience for me, the enthusiasm and energy from everyone was unbelievable. The Ideas coming out of the sessions were extremely creative; it just goes to show that when working with a group of creative people, you can come up with ideas  beyond what an individual could. We were constantly buzzing with excitement due to the creativity and discussions throughout the week.

A huge thank you to all the mentors: Mark Atkin, Heather Croall, John Kent, Margaret Robertson, Patrick Uden ,Emma Cheshire and last but not least, Frank Boyd the lab director.

It was a privilege and honour for me to spend a week with industry experts and share their unique insights; I couldn’t have gained this experience anywhere else.  It was a sad moment when I had to leave the Lab and say goodbye to everyone, but we are all keeping in contact and there seems to be a couple of ideas that are being pursued by the teams. I will keep my fingers crossed for all of them and update you when there is any exciting news!

See more photos from the event.

There was also a talk by mylifestories with two young students. My life stories provides young people a place where they can write about themselves and any stories they would like to share with people. They can add their own short stop frame  animations , photos etc online. It was great to see young people being creative and intuitive using this technology.

The most exciting part of the conference for me was when the audience had a sneak preview of our latest facebook application. The audience’s reaction was great; there was a lot of giggling and laughter when they saw what the application can do. This is a great indicator that we are on the right path and at Ideonic , we are making something unique and different which everybody can enjoy.

I took such a long time to right this blog post but it’s taken me a while to follow up with the great contacts I met and also just absorb all the lessons I learned while on the Digital Mission. In both LA and San Francisco we met many of the major players: Lionsgate, Warner Bros, Sony, Facebook, Apple, to name a few. But we also met many of the smaller creative agencies and start-ups breaking new ground.

To recap, on the 11^th Oct I flew out to LA as part of a select group of 14 of UKs most exciting digital companies. The Digital Mission was organised ‘and might I add excellently’ by Chinwag and UK Trade and Investment (UKTI). The other members on the group were amazing and I learnt just as much from them as I did from the companies in the states; a great mix of digital agencies, animation, gaming studios, technology platforms and video producers.

Digital Mission LA & SF 09 Companies: agency2 – Amaze – Audioboo – etv media group – Great Fridays – Littleloud – MoviesThatRespond – NixonMcInnes – Orangepanda Digital Media – Plug-in Media – Twofour – Type3 – Videojuicer

Once in LA we got to met with the Major movie studios Lionsgate, Warner Bros, Sony each of whom has strong digital strategies planned for the year ahead. We also met with the many smaller (by comparison) creative companies, including G-net and Ant Farm both of whom have done some great work with Gaming Clients including many of the online marketing strategies and poster campaigns you have seen for AAA game titles such as Call of Duty.

In both LA and San Francisco receptions were held in our honour at the Consul General’s residence. In LA Dame Barbara Hay hosted an excellent reception with a great delegation of film, interactive and business experts from across LA – and also the most tasty miniature Yorkshire puddingsJ.

When we arrived in San Francisco late and were rushed off our feet, meeting with many of the top tech companies. We met with Facebook whose office’s, from the outside looks like a school but inside gave off an aurora of true creativity. NDAs were signed at the door, so I can’t say much about what was discussed but it focussed on the Facebook Platform, which was great for us and we are doing some interesting projects on Facebook at the moment and it looks like the platform will only being getting better.

We were also privileged to meet with Johnny Ive the lead designer at Apple – it is said that genius is often linked to modesty, and Johnny totally adhered to that rule. It was amazing gaining an insight into how Apple designs their products and including a focus on user observation over user testing.  We also met with the iPhone team and we’re given a crash course in getting the best out of our iPhone Apps.

We also had a great tour and meeting at IDEO, probably the world’s top design firm and also a company with a name very close to our own – we both love ideas. From the original computer mouse, to bicycles without breaks and the rules of brainstorming, IDEO was a place of great ideas and truly creative approaches. I’m currently reading ‘The Ten Faces of Innovation’ by Tom Kelley, a key member of the IDEO team.

The reception in San Francisco was hosted by Julian Evan. A lively event where I was fortunate to met some great people at the reception including Peter Moore of EA and Xochi Birch of Zuno and co-founder of Bebo. Julian also had a great collection of Welsh Beers, which made the end of the night less memorable than the start J

It was an awesome trip and I loved visiting both Cities and plan to venture back out there in the New Year.  A huge thank you goes out to the people who made this possible:  Sam, Emily, Juliet, Carlo, Sat Darshan, Dame Barbara, Jaclyn, Meagan, Arthine, Julian, everybody we visited and anybody I missed of the list. Thank you very much!

Chinwag’s Photos – http://www.flickr.com/photos/chinwagcom/4013972480/in/set-72157622449349491/

What Next? Well just over a week after being back I’m off again, this time to India (subject to my Visa getting issued in time) to take part in the UK Young Interactive Entrepreneur trade mission. Looking forward to meeting all the great business in the Games and Animation sector in India, expect an update soon.

We recently found out that we had been selected as one of only two companies in the North East of England to take part in the Digital Mission to LA and San Francisco. I will be going to represent Ideonic and along with the other 13 candidates will be flying the flag for Britain’s creative digital sector. As well as receptions in our honour at the British Consule General we will also be taking part in a number of high profile meetings, including: Sony, Facebook, Warner Bros and IDEO just to name a few.

This is an excellent break for us and a real opportunity to demonstrate the great work we’re doing at Ideonic, in the North East and in the UK. I will attempt (no promises though) to write a blog post everyday detailing the activities while I am on the trip, I will also try to increase the frequency of my twitter posts (subject to internet connectivity of course). The mission is organised by Chinwag and UKTI.

Read more about Digital Mission LASF ( http://chinwag.com/digitalmission/lasf09-companies )

Our quest for international success doesn’t end there, I am also proud to announce that I have made it to the finals of the UK Young Interactive Entrepreneur awards J As part of the finals, me and the 5 other finalists will be travelling to India from the 27 October to 6 November 2009, where we will find out more about the interactive sector in India’s and meet many of the great companies responsible for cultivating it’s rapidly growing creative economy.

The final interviews will take place in early December and the winner will be announced in late February 2010 at a UKYCE awards ceremony.  Again I will keep regular blog posts while in India and about the rest of the activities I get to take part in over the next few months as a British Council UK Interactive Entrepreneur representative.

Read more about UKYIE ( http://www.creativeconomy.org.uk/ukyce/Finalists.asp?ID=42 )

The quality of the ideas was amazing, they really knew about technology including quite modern advances such as Bluetooth 3 and Active RFID. Additionally, some groups had functional prototype to demonstrate the software components of their ideas. Even the Graphical Design work was also far beyond what I had expected for that age group; I would be happy with them designing some of our marketing materials!

In the evening everyone was given a chance to relax with a quiz and I’m proud to say that my team won BOTH ROUNDS :-) but unfortunately I can’t say it was because me. My general knowledge has much room for improvement but fortunately they made up for my weaknesses.

On the Second day the judging began with each team delivering a 20 minutes pitch and they were all excellent: well structured, well delivered and covering all the key points – better than many pitches I have seen by real businesses. After some difficult judging the winners were selected and prizes awarded (laptops, a trip to Microsoft, and a trip to BT). Regardless of which group won, I honestly believe they all have bright careers ahead of them and I think the future is in good hands.

It was quite interesting for me to look back from the path I’ve taken all the way from A-level to being involved in the serious games industry. Children have a much wider range of subject material that’s more related to computer games then when I was in school and the college even have software such as 3Ds Max and Adobe After Effects installed for the student to use. It is very impressive to think that when they coming out of the college and into university, they will be more than ready for the steep learning curve ahead. I wish I had 3Ds Max when I was in school. 

During the workshops we introduced the group to the games industry, some of the games we have made, and gave them a general insight in to how we, and the games industry work. The pupils were then introduced to the Microsoft platform PopFly, which is a great interface to learn the basic logic and behaviors simple games have. After playing some of the games and ripping them apart, the pupils then looked at planning and creating their own game using the platform.

The final session was spent polishing the game, and talking about how publishing and marketing works in the industry with some real life examples of our games. The pupils seemed to really enjoyed the sessions and the school plans to introduce similar workshops to more pupils in the future.

GameHorizon Conference 09

 The North’s premier games development conference returned this year with some more insights into the future of the games industry. Technology wise, Andrew Oliver of Blitz Games demonstrated their developments into stereoscopic gaming with a Ninja themed platform game; unfortunately it requires you to wear polarised glasses but worry not 3D TVs should be available in a couple of years.

We were treated to demos of APB from Realtime Worlds and Guillaume de Fondaumiere of Quantic Dream demonstrated the amazing looking Heavy Rain for the PS3. So a lot of great insights into traditional gaming but  the key focus of the conference was the advancements in online/download markets including Facebook and the iPhone – online/download is really allowing smaller developers to break into the games market.

What Comes Next?

Channel 4 Education’s summer conference opening with a fantastic keynote from Zenna Atkins, who you would almost not believe was the Chair of OFSTED. Zenna had an excellent insight into the challenges faced by the UK education system and the need for teachers and people in education to just be brave and innovate. 

Shaun Bailey, Mary Sharpe and Yvonne Roberts gave a great panel, demonstrating the need for more creative and digital solutions to help level the educational playing field especially for those from low income families.

Matt Locke & Alice Tayloralso demonstrated the great projects they have been working on over the past year including BattleFront and Routes. A great conference and no doubt we’ll see some more great projects from Channel 4 next year.

Showcomotion

I returned to the Showcomotion conference for the second year after realising it is about so much more than just TV. Showcomotion is a children’s media conference bringing together people from all sections of children’s media (TV, web, games, etc) and giving them a platform to share ideas. Peter Salmon the newly appointed head of BBC North opened the conference, talking about his passion for the North and excitement about the BBC move to Salford. The conference then continued for 2 days of exciting talks and rather than reinvent the wheel you can check out some great blog posts about on the Showcomotion website.

I believe that is all the conference I will be attending this Summer, so it’s back to the office to begin work on an exciting new project… more news soon.

For the weekend, I hung up my business hat and went along purely as a geek. I ended up working on an idea called Citipedia. Originally submitted by Dundee based designer Lyall Bruce, Citipedia was a platform for giving communities more information and ultimately power over the space around them.

I chose to work on this project because I loved the vision of creating a fun ’simcity like’ interface for people to explore how wasted space could be better used. My contribution to the project was a Flash based editor, that used googlemaps to display an real space which users could then add different terrain and features ontop of and estimate the total development costs and time - in the future we intended to add counters to additional measure the environmental and social impact.  

This editor formed part of a larger social networking platform allowing users to share their ideas and utimately create change. We should hopefully have the full application online at somepoint but until then you can >> Start Planning.