Saskatchewan Interactive

Speakers

Confirmed speakers include:

Opening Remarks

Honourable Dan D'Autremont
Minister responsible for the Information Technology Office (ITO)
Information Technology Office
Regina
Bio

Keynotes

Rochelle Grayson
Chief Operating Officer
Donat Group Enterprises
Vancouver
Bio

At the Heart of the Global Convergence Culture: The Crazy Collision Course of Culture, Media, and Technology

We have all heard about 'Convergence' for many years. In this keynote, hear how recent global convergence developments are affecting all media, all industries and all global economies. Learn why you need to understand this global cultural shift; which elements and stake-holders are critical to ensuring a global growth economy; and why your industry is not immune!

It is an exciting time at the heart of this impact with many lucrative opportunities. However, if you are not planning your global convergence strategy today, you may be left behind! Listen, learn and be inspired to Take the Leap!

Sean Branagan
e-Vangelist and Advisory Board Member
Wireless Grids Corporation
Syracuse, NY
Bio

Digital kids and the future of mobile disruption

If you want to understand the future of technology, look to why and how technology enters into the lives of tomorrow’s customers. See the future of moble technology and other digital devices and connectivity by looking at how childhood has changed -- rather than looking at how technology has changed.

Ray Hutchins
SimGame Exchange
Denver
Bio

Virtual and real world convergence: raising money and structuring interactive media deals

The virtual world and the real world are rapidly converging and it is not easy to predict where things are going.
What are the implications for business and society as these two worlds collide? How do we position ourselves to benefit from this convergence? What specific business strategies are available to software developers to turn their interactive media concepts into real world businesses?

Sessions

Mark Baldwin
President
MindHabits
Montreal
Bio

The development of an emotion trainer game for stress reduction

There is currently an enormous opportunity for the creation of interactive software - in particular, serious games - to foster psychological self-development. In our lab, our scientific research has shown that the Social Intelligence games we have been developing help people train their minds toward positive and away from negative social feedback - leading to increased self-confidence and reduced stress. I will describe this research and the thinking behind it, and then demonstrate the new MindHabits Trainer, which recently was awarded $1.3 Million in development funding as the winner of Telefilm Canada's Great Canadian Video Game Competition.

John Barden
Dept.of Kinesiology
University of Regina
Regina
Bio

Motion capture and sensor-based technology for human movement applications

Technology that provides information about human movement has had, and will continue to have, a significant impact on health research and the provision of a variety of health care services including physical rehabilitation and exercise, surgery and the prescription of prosthetics and orthotics. This session will present several current technologies related to the measurement of human movement including wearable, body-fixed sensors such as accelerometers and camera-based technologies such as motion capture to demonstrate some of the ways in which technology can be used to improve the health and physical well-being of large numbers of people. The application of other technologies such as computer animation, interactive games, virtual-reality environments and computer simulation will also be discussed.

Jonah Bossewitch
Senior Technical Architect
Columbia Centre for New Media Teaching and Learning
Columbia University
New York
Bio

Teaching in the new vernacular: designing learning environments

In an era when software/technology/media environments mediate human-human interactions, not just human-machine ones, software architecture has taken on many of the characteristics of traditional architecture -- as a leading art. This talk will explore the challenges of designing environments intended to balance the flow of knowledge, communication, and power - within the classroom and beyond.

Sean Branagan
e-Vangelist and Advisory Board Member
Wireless Grids Corporation
Syracuse, NY
Bio

Effective use of social media in the corporate world

The days of crafting and spreading corporate messages are coming to an end – with empowered customers using blogs, wikis, social networks, mashups and user-generated content to talk about your business: the choice is no longer whether to engage in the online conversation, but how. But, all of these new social media create cultural and tactical challenges for corporations.

In this session, we’ll look at how these media change the marketing environment, and offer some practical advice on how to use them in ways that build relationships with your customers and your market. From strategic and cultural issues to practical considerations in launching social media campaigns, we’ll help you determine what’s right for you organization. We’ll also discuss social media trends that will affect your business in the future.

David Callele
Solido Design Automation
Saskatoon
Bio

So You Want to be a Game Designer...

“Game Designer!” Sounds exciting doesn’t it? Many of us want to be game designers but few of us ever get paid to do it. In this talk, I will introduce to audience to what a game designer really does, and what it takes to move from a concept to a finished game.

James Carter
Instructor in Medicine & Psychiatry
Harvard Medical School
Boston
Bio

Interactive media in behavioral healthcare
Interactive media is utilized in many aspects of behavioral healthcare across the world and new research indicates that it has the ability to reduce costs, address logistical and supply problems, and improve treatment outcomes. Uses of interactive media in behavioral health include:

Assess patient symptoms and status
Provide self-guided treatments
Support health behavior change
Train behavioral healthcare providers

This presentation will provide an overview of current work being done in these areas, as well as research to evaluate these applications. Practical guidance on how to proceed with the development of these types of products will be provided.

David Daniel
Senior Marketing Manager
SOA & WebSphere Software
IBM
New York
Bio

Developing business skills through Innov8

INNOV8 is an award winning 3-D business simulator, designed to help teach the fundamentals of Business Process Management and help bridge the gap in understanding between business leaders and IT teams within an organization. Business schools started using simulators years ago because of their effectiveness in teaching complex ideas and interrelationships. With INNOV8,IBM combines the educational value of traditional simulators with modern 3D-gaming technologies. This presentation will cover background information on the INNOV8 project and a brief demonstraation of INNOV8 game play. See the winner of Datamation's 2008 Product of the Year Award in the Business & IT alignment category!

Chris GauthierDickey
Professor
University of Denver
Denver
Bio

Role of programming games in education and research

Abstract: In this talk, I will discuss the role of programming games in education and research. At DU, we have created two undergraduate degrees that allows students to learn how to make games from an artistic to a technical perspective. As an educational institution, we have the opportunity to change the way games are made and how students perceive and design games. But beyond game programming simply for game development, what roles and opportunities exist for game programming in education and research? We discuss our ideas and where we see the future of games going.

Kathy Gibson
Director of Human Resources
Threewave Software Inc.
Vancouver
Bio

The right message, the right person, the right time

Connection between quality content (casual and multiplayer) to the right audience and how that delivers value to specific brands.

David Gratton
Founder
Donat Group Enterprises
Vancouver
Bio

Using social networks to enable communities to generate & capture knowledge

This session will illustrate, via a series of case studies, the progression of informal collaboration systems to generate and manage knowledge. David Gratton will discuss the features and evolution of talk lists, Learning Object Repositories (LORs), SharePoint, discussion forums, blogging, and integrated social networks. Is there an optimal "silver bullet" approach, or does each technology offer unique functionality for learning and knowledge capture in the workplace? David Gratton will engage the audience in a discussion about collaborative systems and what's driving the new trend towards constructed online communities.

Learning outcomes:
1. Discover and recognize the types of environments that facilitate the generation and capture of knowledge.
2. Learn how knowledge generation and knowledge capture are pulled together to produce social learning.
3. Learn to apply these skills to corporations as well as communities of interest.

Audience: Those involved in corporate knowledge management, training, and research. This session will also be of interest to broader industry associations and Centres of Excellence.

John Hill
Director – Technology Strategy & Innovation
SaskTel Technology Division
Regina
Bio

Wireless opportunities in the Saskatchewan marketplace

John will discuss the highly dynamic wireless mobile industry and its influence on the Saskatchewan marketplace. He will focus on global services and technology developments and future trends within North America, and in particular, how the Canadian wireless landscape will evolve towards an open network based on global third party content and applications.

Michelle Hinn
University of Illinois
Bio

Gamers with disabilities: or how I learned to play the Jedi mind trick

It is estimated that roughly one in ten to twenty people have some kind of disability. Despite this, many games do not take into account basic accessibility issue in their design and implementation, and few if any provide information on the packaging to describe their accessibility.

Disability issues affect a minority of individuals, but at 10-20% of the population, this group still represents an economic force. Furthermore, we have a moral (and in some countries, legal) obligation to provide accessibility support. By considering accessibility issues, we can dramatically improve access to games - not only for those with disabilities, but also for players who are simply lacking in game literacy, those who want to play games that are exciting, alternative, and provocative for all gamers, and even help development teams reach localization goals more quickly. For all these reasons, accessibility is an issue which cannot be overlooked -- come here why game accessibility simply doesn't mean "boring games." Instead, it can mean a look into the future of games.

Ben Katz
Content Developer
Enspire Learning
Austin, TX
Bio

Surely, You Can't Be Serious: Building the Business Case for Serious Games

Serious games are an innovative and creative way to teach course content to learners. However, many business executives do not see the value in using a game for educational purposes. Corporations with already tight budgets need a strong business case to take the leap into serious games. Unfortunately, even the most entertaining learning games can’t quite hit the mark with an effective value proposition. Entertaining educational games are becoming more prevalent in corporate training. It is important to understand the value of these games and know how to make a case for serious games to executive teams and relevant stakeholders.

In this session, you will learn:

How to craft and present the business case for serious games
Best practices for smoothly integrating instructional strategy with compelling game play
Risks and pitfalls specific to serious game development
How to determine which game experiences work best for different types of learners.

Darius Kazemi
President
Orbus Gameworks
Boston
Bio

Gameplay Metrics for a Better Tomorrow

As the creators of video games, we often make assumptions about our designs based entirely on intuition. And while intuition is important, it can also be dead wrong. This session shows how the collection of gameplay metrics, when coupled with an appropriate methodology, can greatly assist in aiding game designers through alpha, beta, and beyond.

Takeaway: Developers will learn specific kinds of metrics they can collect in order to design better games.

Intended Audience: This session is for anyone involved in the design process.

Ryan Lejbak
Zu Communications
Saskatoon
Bio

Mobile 2013: Where will we be in five years?
Interactive technology is rapidly evolving. Cell phones and BlackBerry's have applications few predicted five years ago. So where will we be five years from now?

In this session speakers will attempt to predict the future of mobile. What will mobile devices look like in five years? How will mobile change our lifestyle in 2013? What types of applications will be used on them? What types of social networks will exist? Will there be desktop computers?

Speakers will discuss how Saskatchewan companies can keep up with and capitalize on this new wave of hand-held technology.

Leanne McCarthy
Director, Student Recruitment
Northern Alberta Institute of Technology
Edmonton
Bio

Virtual worlds in education
Second Life, an online , multi media, real time, gaming environment is an open source tool for educators and business. Hear more about how NAIT , an institute of technology in Alberta runs the virtual; campus and uses the virtual learning environment to provide an innovative new way to reach and teach millennials. The environment is used for both theoretical and practical training. The second life environment can also be used for simulation and money making ventures.

Ernie Medina
CEO
XRtainment Zone
Redlands, CA
Bio

Saving a generation with games

For various reasons, physical activity is decreasing around the world, contributing to an increase in chronic lifestyle-related diseases such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease. One of the newest tools to emerge in reversing this trend is the use of interactive video and computer games (also knowns as "exergaming" or "exertainment"). Exergaming is being used in a variety of populations, including children, seniors, special needs, and those who are difficult to motivate to exercise. This session will give an overview of this growing field, the current research validating this intervention, and practical applications. By the end of this session, each attendee will be able to describe at least 3 different exergames and be able to incorporate those tools into their professional work life.

Patrick Minotti
Tribal Nova
Montreal
Bio

Growing a game development business from the gound up

Susan Sweeney
Connex Network Inc.
Waverly, NS
Bio

The U.S. continues to be Canada's most important trading partner. The internet and a company's on-line strategy can be crucial to success in this competitive market. Susan's series of presentations will help your company to stand out and be found by prospects in the U.S. and beyond.

Online marketing trends

The Internet provides an unsurpassed international marketing vehicle. Never in history has it been easier to market and sell internationally. In order to do this, and be successful, you have to have the right Web site elements that meet, or exceed, your international competition. Susan Sweeney, Internet marketing expert and the author of 8 Internet marketing books including 101 Ways to Promote Your Web Site, 3G Marketing on the Internet and The e-Business Formula for Success will share with you the formula for e-business success and discuss the latest trends – the past, present and future – that are becoming the benchmarks of a successful Web site. Blogs, wikis, RSS, social bookmarking, widgets, consumer generated media, podcasting and mobile marketing are a few of the topics to be discussed. This session is a must for all industry professionals who want to see how their site measures up against competitors all around the world, learn what they have to do to catch up and learn what they have to prepare for in the future.

Secrets of search engine success

Internationally, research on the Web is done the same way… through search engines. 85% of Internet users are using search engines to do their research online and most rarely go beyond the first 10-20 results. To benefit from this tremendous business opportunity you have to make sure your site is designed to be search engine friendly. Susan Sweeney, Internet marketing expert and the author of 8 Internet marketing books including 101 Ways to Promote Your Web Site, 3G Marketing on the Internet and The e-Business Formula for Success will identify the most popular search engines and provide information on their formulas for search engine ranking, as each one uses their own set of rules. Susan will walk you step-by-step through her methodology to make your site is search engine friendly and she will show you the key elements of web site design that accommodate the search engines.

Increasing web site traffic

Your competition is no longer just the store next door. The Internet provides consumers with the option of purchasing products and services from anyone around the globe. However, just having a Web site is not enough. Driving business to your site takes knowledge, planning, time and effort. Susan Sweeney, Internet marketing expert and the author of 8 Internet marketing books including 101 Ways to Promote Your Web Site, 3G Marketing on the Internet and The e-Business Formula for Success will show you how to increase the traffic to your Web site by introducing you to proven Internet marketing tools and techniques. The Internet offers many ways of generating traffic to your site and with increased traffic there also comes huge opportunities to increase your business. Susan will show you how to increase traffic to your Web site and how to get those Web site visitors to return again and again – and watch your sales go through the roof

Dave Warhol
President
Realtime Associates
El Segundo, CA
Bio

Games for health—potential impact on the payor

With health care costs dramatically rising, alternative methods of prevention and intervention can help forestall costly treatment. And, with video games becoming a bigger part of youth culture, they become an ideal medium to educate while they entertain. This session explores three examples of "games for health" developed by Realtime Associates designed to convey positive health care outcomes in cancer treatment, conflict resolution, and traffic safety, and considers the factors involved in the justification of funding for similar games .

Linda Zimmer
CEO
MarCom: Interactive
Bio

I, Avatar: Real Marketing, Fake Places, Distributed Selves

Who would have thought people or even life would need to be qualified as “real!” As people are morphing into virtual beings, and creating and living multiple digital identities, marketers need to get real with avatars. People are increasingly migrating to virtual spaces to facilitate their real lives - and ironically, to find very real experiences, relationships, entertainment, work, and commerce. What may appear to the casual observer as just a cartoon world on the computer screen is often more “real” today than what the physical world or media hold.

In the old, really “real” days, marketers relied on demographics and psychographics to drive marketing strategies – these tools hold little value in the face of multiple selves distributed across many virtual online spaces. Today “technographics,” new doctrines of authenticity, and new concepts of location must enter the successful marketing initiative.

Have some virtual fun, meet the avatars, learn why they are the most expensive real estate online, and get some practical hints for designing marketing strategies for today’s “real”-seeking, ever-shifting virtual persona.