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virtual reality

September Main Event featuring Mike Wozniewski of Hololabs

By | Meetings, Presentations | No Comments
Mike is a game creator and a man with a gaze as intense as a thousand suns.

Mike is a game creator and a man with a gaze as intense as a thousand suns.

Hi everyone! Chris here to give you the lowdown about our next monthly meet-up at Swans. This September, we’re happy to have as our feature presenter Mike Wozniewski. Mike is the founder and president of Hololabs (www.hololabs.org), an award-winning indie development studio making games, mobile apps, VR experiences and art installations. He has recently relocated to Victoria from Montreal, where he spent over 15 years building interactive media of all sorts.

His Master’s degree (from the Centre for Intelligent Machines at McGill University) focused on authoring tools for intelligent environments, human-computer interaction, motion tracking, and virtual reality. After that, Mike joined the Society for Arts and Technology [SAT], where he developed software for immersive audiovisual environments. After founding Hololabs in 2011, Mike has worked with many artists, designers and developers to build creative, experimental, and somewhat wacky games and art projects.

Mike will be discussing the recent boom of game making apps, level editors, and the promise of user-generated games as a form of social media. From LittleBigPlanet, to Minecraft, Project Spark, Super Mario Maker, Pixel Press, and Hololabs’ own Papercade, Mike will discuss the world of consumer-focused game creators. With a long-term obsession for creative tools, this talk will explore the affordances necessary for successful game-making systems, and will also serve as a postmortem for Papercade. Along the way, Mike will introduce Hololabs, provide some of the history about the studio, and will give a sneak peek of Hololabs’ next game that will be developed here in Victoria.

After the talk we will be holding the usual open stage and social time. We have a private room with a projector and a ton of space. Show off your current projects; do some play-testing; or just relax and enjoy the awesome local food and craft-brewed beer. Let’s all come out and give Mike a warm welcome to Victoria!

Schedule:

  • 4:30pm: Doors open (room is locked earlier)
  • 5:10pm: Opening announcements by group organizers
  • 5:15pm: Featured presentation
  • 5:45pm: Open stage for show-and-tell, networking and socializing
  • 7:30pm: Venue closes (We are free to move to the main bar if we wish)

See you there!

Details:

Monday, September 7th, 2015

Buckerfields aka The Collard Room – Swans Hotel and Brewpub

506 Pandora Avenue, Victoria, BC

Doors open at 4:30pm

Please RSVP via the Meetup event

Virtual Expo, Real Job

By | Events, Meetings | No Comments

I'm hoping the other interviews go better than this one did.

If you’re based in Victoria and you’re looking for work in the Game industry, or if you’re based in Victoria and looking to hire for your Game company, or really, if you’re based anywhere that has internet access and looking to work/hire, than you could do worse than check out the new Virtual Career Expo. Hosted by Game Recruiter and partnered with the IGDA, ESA, Casual Connect, and a bunch of other organizations, the Virtual Career Expo is a job fair that you can attend from the comfort of your own home. As a job-seeker, this is an excellent opportunity to attend an interview in your pyjamas. As an employer, you can set up your own virtual booth, meet job candidates, and interview them all while wearing your pyjamas. It’s really a big games industry pyjama party that may get you the work you’re looking for without the hassle of a lot of travelling costs. It’s worth a look if only to avoid potentially troublesome pillow fights.

Oh yeah, check out the Facebook page for a contest you can enter to win a personal resume review with GameRecruiter CEO and Co-Founder Marc Mencher. I’ve seen a few talks featuring Marc and that guy knows his stuff.

Also, I’d like to remind everyone about the upcoming November Mid-Month Pub Social happening at the Moon Under Water pub this Saturday. It’s a chance to kick back and relax with your fellow game developers and enjoy some tasty beverages and good conversation. See you there!

Event Details:

Saturday, November 19, 2011, 2:30 PM – 5:30 PM
The Moon Under Water Brewpub
350-B Bay Street, Victoria, BC

Meetup event