Village Gamer

Sault Ste. Marie – More financial aid opportunities will be available next year to students studying computer games technology in Sault Ste Marie. Beginning in 2010, Canadian students entering the Master of Science in Computer Games Technology program at Algoma University will be eligible to receive up to $10 500 in scholarships from Algoma University.

“We recognize that for prospective students, the financial costs associated with graduate studies can sometimes seem daunting,” says Deborah Loosemore, Algoma University’s Director of Advancement and External Relations. “I’m pleased that over the last several years we have been able to continuously introduce new financial awards, on-campus work opportunities and program-specific benefits for students studying the MSc (CGT) here at Algoma U.”

In addition to scholarships, MSc (CGT) students also have the opportunity to offset the costs of their studies by working on-campus, pursuing internships and participating in the Dare to be Digital international games competition held annually in the United Kingdom.

Other benefits of taking the MSc (CGT) at Algoma U include paid travel and accommodation to the annual Future Play conference in Vancouver, BC and being able to network with invited expert speakers from the games industry on-campus.

Current MSc (CGT) student Eric Stock understands the importance of having different financial aid and on-campus work opportunities available. He received a scholarship valued at $17 300 from the National Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), a $5 000 entrance award from Algoma University and has participated in Dare to be Digital and worked on-campus as a Teaching Assistant.

Says Stock, “The NSERC award, along with working as a Teaching Assistant and being paid during the Dare to be Digital competition, will allow me to finish my Master’s studies with near-zero debt. Also, the recognition of receiving an NSERC will help me to promote the research I am conducting for my Master’s dissertation.”

First offered at Algoma University in 2007, the MSc (CGT) is among the world’s foremost graduate-level programs in the field of computer games. The program, which takes between 12 to 16 months to complete, is offered on the Algoma University campus by the University of Abertay Dundee, Scotland. Classes are taught by Abertay faculty and lectures are delivered in real-time using videoconferencing technology. Students graduate with a Masters of Science Computer Games Technology degree from the University of Abertay Dundee.

Vancouver – Mingleverse Laboratories Inc., just six weeks after a very successful consumer launch of it’s Mingle Room service, today announced it has already hosted over 10,000 live mingles with participants from Canada, USA, Europe, and Asia and has just received a seed investment from Telefilm Canada for its upcoming uVenu project for entertainment based Mingles. Mingle Rooms are a youthful new audio/visual communications platform and an alternative to telephones that can easily connect 2 to 50 people instantly from around the world for live meet–ups using innovative 3D high quality voice within a web-based 3D visual environment.

“Telefilm is our first outside investment and is very strategic within our plan of providing the newest form of live online and mobile immersive communications to new markets like the entertainment industry where traditional services are not an option”, said Ron Stevens, Co-founder of Mingleverse. “Our uVenu program will allow a wider range of experts, radio and TV personalities, and guests to safely showcase their talent and interact live using natural voice with an internationally connected audience that is spending more of their time online. We will also go behind the scenes with a movie set service to allow movie fans to interact live with cast and crew.”

The Mingleverse uVenu project will initially provide simple web based venues that look like theatres, sports venues, and talk show studios like the “Daily Show” for up to 50 people to connect and interact live online with each other in a whole new fun and youthful way. “The focus will be on a smaller more intimate group setting that maintains the integrity of the live 3D voice communications“ said Daniel Ruscigno, Youth Marketing Coordinator for Mingleverse. “We have already generated a lot of interest from religious groups, media and sports personalities and we will have some exciting uVenues to announce in the New Year for live singing, comedy and quiz shows. “

“We are very impressed with Mingleverse’s platform and could easily see the potential of uVenu for the entertainment industry which is so important for Canada as well as for many other vertical markets” said Earl Hong Tai, Regional Director, Business Development, Western Region, Telefilm Canada. “Merging entertainment, 3D live voice and social communications technology has never been done before and this is an excellent opportunity to help the growth of the industry and to showcase this country’s talent to a worldwide audience.”

Surrey – KrabbitSoft is pleased to announce that KrabbitWorld Origins is now available on Direct2Drive for both Windows and Mac for $14.95. KrabbitSoft has burst out of the gate at full speed, garnering kudos from journalists, gamers and even lawyers. The Davis LLP blog says that “Indie developer Krabbitsoft has done what some thought was impossible, developing and releasing an exciting, graphics-laden Action/RPG based on their own IP.”

Furious hack n’ slash combines with customizable Krabbits and choice to play in Story Mode or Battle Modes including Arcade, Versus, Team and Survival. Six playable Krabbits can be leveled up to 99 in sandbox or linear gameplay style. No grind and loot aplenty, characters level quickly in Story Mode, gaining XP with every action. Building your Krabbit doesn’t stop at level 99. Continue building powers to 999. Character building includes gaining XP, building stats, and changing appearance any time. 3D drag n’ drop inventory and paper doll windows are featured along with account share bins, colour cloning bins, dye vendor, click map to travel and Ruby Slippers of ‘return to Adobe’.

KrabbitWorld Origins is a creative game focused on colour. Players are encouraged to experiment with dying their Krabbits to their heart’s content. Choose from 8 Realms of Origin colour palettes to design a Krabbit influenced by Darkness or Light, Death or Dreams, Solar or Contrivance, Beast or Archetypical KrabbitWorld. Transfer your Krabbits from an earlier version to a newer version or from laptop to desktop PC. Re-install a new version over an older one and still retain your already leveled Krabbits.

New Features This Week:
• Brutal Moves
• Built-in Patcher
• Elemental Bracers & Weapons Packs

There are still a few tickets left for Wednesday evening’s SIGGRAPH Vancouver presentation of Bringing Dragon Age to Life. BioWare’s Lead Animator Clove Roy and Lead Character Artist Shane Hawco discuss the challenges faced in creating digital actors for BioWare’s newest award-winning role-playing epic Dragon Age: Origins. This presentation will provide an in-depth look in how to tell a huge complex story through an interactive narrative complete with hundreds of emotionally engaging digital actors. I am so not missing this session – and tonight I am playing through the Final Onslaught and taking on the Archdemon for the first time. Soon all of you will be able to find out my thoughts on the entire game. If you missed my first 48-ish hours in Dragon Age, you can catch up here.

Montreal – As Day One of MIGS gets underway, all reports thus far say the seminars have been fantastic – along with the weather. Eidos Montreal kicked off their MIGS week with a very successful open house event which saw over 500 guests come through the studio – and get a few glimpses at Deus Ex 3 and Thief 4 goings-on. I’m feeling just a touch of envy here.

Also in Montreal, Bug-Tracker has announced that Wolfgang Klingel is its new General Sales Manager for Europe. This move closely follows Bug-Tracker’s expansion strategy into Asia and Europe and its ever increasing focus on those critical markets.

With over 15 years’ experience in the video game industry, Wolfgang Klingel will be responsible for extending the company’s foothold in the European video game market as well as strengthening its exposure to the publishers and developers in this area. Klingel’s duties will involve collaborating and developing synergies between the North American and Asian studios in order to improve communication throughout the whole group and thus enhancing overall customer satisfaction. Klingel’s past experience includes Director of Development at Vivendi Games’ Coktel Studio and Vice-President Europe of Enzyme Testing Labs, another major quality assurance and localization company, and helped contribute to its successful development.

“Wolfgang will greatly help reinforce and grow our presence in the market we started out in 10 years ago” declared Antoine Carre, founder and CEO. “He will bring together and integrate key components of Bug-Tracker’s worldwide studios, in order to shape, lead and create new market opportunities. Adding an accomplished European video game business veteran such as Wolfgang to our team demonstrates our commitment to continuously fortify our leadership role in the QA and localization industry.”

Calgary via Digital Alberta – Alberta’s minister of culture says the province’s film industry will finally be getting its own state-of-the-art film studio after reaching an “agreement in principle” with the owners of the Canada Olympic Park site to purchase land for a new facility.  The studio, which is estimated to cost $26 million not including the purchase of the land, will be built on four hectares to be purchased from WinSport Canada, which operates Canada Olympic Park. Blackett says he hopes to start building in the spring, but stressed that negotiations between WinSport, Calgary Economic Development and the Government of Alberta were still ongoing.

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In remembrance of those who went before, those who have yet to be, and those who fight every day for our freedom.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8gRx8tWJmI]

Ottawa – Today at the Toronto Stock Exchange representatives from the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance Women in Technology Forum (CATA WIT) were on hand to open the markets. The event marks the launch of a CATA WIT initiative promoting employer best practices and a web site designed to attract women to science and technology careers.

The program takes a three-pronged approach to address inequalities in women’s participation in science and advanced technology by focusing on ways to support recruitment, retention and entrepreneurialism. The program was undertaken with the support Status of Women Canada, Ontario Women’s Directorate and a number of corporate partners.

Working with CATA WIT, Dr. Wendy Cukier, founder of Ryerson’s Diversity Institute and Technology Strategy Consultant organized workshops with women across the country to explore their experiences and to take a fresh look at women in Canada’s high tech sector. Over 50 women from all stages of their careers met for roundtables in Halifax, Montreal, Toronto and Calgary, and 250 women were surveyed online. Discussions were also held with Human Resources professionals and executives in a number of technology companies to explore leading practices on diversity and develop tools to promote the importance of diversity.

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The Entertainment Software Association of Canada (ESAC) has released five new videos which explain step-by-step how to utilize the built-in safety and parental controls for the PC, Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360. Danielle Parr and Marc Saltzman take parents through a quick and easy step-by-step interactive guide on how to use the built-in features to ensure your children enjoy a safe and fun gaming experience. In the Introduction video, Danielle and Marc discuss console placement and choosing appropriate games for your kids and family.

Vancouver Event Reminders For This Week:

ACM SIGGRAPH Vancouver and the National Film Board present an Evening with Chris Landreth tonight (and this afternoon) at the VanCity Theatre. Tickets are free, and there are still some available at the door.

There will also be a Get Animated event this Sunday at the Vancouver Public Library main branch:

NFB Co-presentation with Reel to Real Film Festival
Vancouver Public Library 350 West Georgia Street
Info: 604 331-3663

Sunday · November 1, 2009
1:00 pm: Family Program — Kids & Youth Program
2:00 pm: Kids’ Animation Workshop — Scott Kiborn
3:30 pm: Family Program — Kids & Youth Program

Ghoulash Bash takes place tomorrow night (October 29) at the Metropole Pub on Abbott Street. Come out and enjoy the Halloween fun as the Game Industry Gives Back – dress up as your favourite retro game character and help raise funds for the Vancouver Regional Food Bank Society. Take part in a silent auction, buy tickets to win passes to events such as Game Design Expo 2010, Casual Connect Conferences and Games For Change, plus much more. Admission is by donation – either non-perishable food or cash. See the Ghoulash Bash web site for more information.

The Masters of Digital Media programme is holding an open house at the Great Northern Way Campus, also on October 29th, from 5-7pm. You are invited to mix and mingle with current faculty, students and soon-to-be graduates at the Open House. There will be samples of student work, facility tours and information about the program, scholarships and program admission requirements.

Thursday night is apparently a very busy night in Vancouver. There will be a Drupal meet-up at Appnovation Technologies ( L200-560 Beatty Street) for the Vancouver League of Drupalers beginning at 6:30pm. This month’s feature presentation: Information Architecture for Drupal – A User Based Approach with Vanessa Turke. Implementing a fresh design or new CMS without giving some significant thought to the organization of the actual content of the site can be a costly mistake “ a new look or a new system is not a fix for a poorly-structured website with boring content!” Vanessa discuss hows how some careful planning at the beginning of the process can help. There will also be a case study on the newly relaunched Vancouver Observer by Dave Egan and discussion regarding holding a Vancouver Drupal Camp in 2010.

Montreal – Today marks the launch for Ubisoft’s live action and CGI Assassin’s Creed 2 movies which tell the back-story to Ezio’s Florentine Italy. Lineage Part One went public earlier today on YouTube, and you can also watch the short Lineage: Intro Movie below.

Starring Romano Orzari as Giovanni Auditore, Ezio’s Assassin father, and Devon Bostick as Ezio, the story begins with events surrounding the brutal murder of the Duke of Milan, which is part of a conspiracy against one of Lorenzo de Medicis allies, whom he works for.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VioI6ZwRBtI]

Failing to save the Duke’s life, Giovanni is dispatched to investigate the crime. His mission is to determine who is responsible and why. The answers he uncovers implicate Italy’s most powerful families reaching all the way back to the Vatican itself. As Giovanni draws closer to the truth, he becomes hunted himself. He must expose the conspirators before he joins their ever growing list of victims.

Developed by Ubisoft’s Hybride Technologies, the visual effects studio behind 300 and Sin City, Assassin’s Creed: Lineage combines live action and computer generated imagery (CGI) to explore the events that happen just before the Assassin’s Creed II game starts.  We are able to see and learn more about the ancient creed which governs Giovanni’s life and guides his blade as he fights for family, justice and honour.

The film series will whet the appetite of game players and fans of this type of cinematography in advance of the in-store release of the video game on November 17, 2009. Assassin’s Creed: Lineage will also introduce some of the characters that players will meet in the game: both foes and friends of the family, like Lorenzo de Medici, the Italian statesman and de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic during the Italian Renaissance period.

I’ve have watched the first two videos – the intro and Lineage Part One, and all I can say is “Wow!” – the attention to detail, historic accuracy, the costuming and props – all are absolutely incredible. Writers Yves Simoneau and William Reymond have created an atmosphere of dangerous beauty, one which leaves the viewer wanting more and the gamer hungry to get into the game. The cinematography, lighting and atmosphere in these movies serves to set a very high plateau for the game environment’s designers, but judging from what I’ve seen thus far of the game play, I think the team rose to the challenge and have produced a title which will leave gamers in awe.

22…more…days…

EA Montreal has released a new Army of Two: 40th Day trailer. This short video focuses on the multiplayer extraction mode. Army of Two: 40th Day is slated for release on January 12 2010.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4lPGdoe6o4]

Vancouver Film School is holding a Halloween makeup contest. Impress their judge, film industry veteran and Head of the Makeup Design for Film & Television program Stan Edmonds (The Butterfly Effect, I, Robot, Unforgiven), and you’ll have the chance to win some great prizes, including a selection of professional-quality makeup supplies! All you have to do is show your Halloween-themed makeup skills – and that can be anything you imagine as long as you’ve created the makeup yourself – on the photo-sharing site Flickr between October 26 and November 1. Once three finalists are chosen by our judge, the public will get to vote on the winner.

Ottawa – Corel has introduced Corel® Paint it!™ touch, a new digital art studio built explicitly for the Windows 7 platform. Corel Paint it! touch is optimized for use on touch-screen computers, Paint it! touch provides budding artists of any age with a unique artistic experience. Using the program, consumers can create original artwork with the touch of their fingertips. The program’s touch-enabled capabilities let consumers add artistic touches to photos or create art from scratch using a number of realistic brushes and effects.

“With Paint it! touch, it is now possible to bypass mouse clicks and interact directly with your digital canvas, all with the touch of your fingertips,” said David Toeg, Paint it! touch Product Manager for Corel. “Windows 7 and Windows Touch have enabled Corel to create new possibilities for our users by removing barriers and helping them to connect with their digital content in more personal ways. Whether they are creating painted masterpieces, photo projects, or home videos, it can now be an even more spontaneous and interactive experience.”

IUGO Mobile Entertainment has released information about their latest game which is headed for the Apple App Store – Implode, where players are tasked to carefully plant limited dynamite bundles in order to demo obsolete structures. Sounds easy enough, right? WRONG! Implode! is a classic “easy to learn, hard to master” casual game that will pull you in and won’t let go. IUGO currently has three games in the pipeline for the App Store – Implode, Zombie Attack Second Wave and Cliffed.

Features include:

• 60 dynamite levels
• Reactive UI, touch and drag control options
• Fun chalkboard theme and clean graphics
• Two different types of bombs (traditional bombs and blast bombs)
• Varying structure shapes for ongoing challenge
• Submit score online (online score is the sum of all levels’ high scores)
• Grading system for high scores adding replayability to each level
• 3 Difficulties; Casual, Veteran, and Expert
• In-level help system: Learn as you play!
• IUGO VIP: Sandbox cheat gives you more bombs and you never fail! (high scores disabled with this feature)
• Watch buildings tumble with real physics!

Victoria – Island Tech 09 is looking for speakers. Island Tech takes place on November 13th at the Crystal Garden and will feature an afternoon of thought-provoking discussions, much in the style of the TEDx conferences. They are looking for people that have an interesting topic they would like to present. Talks should be rooted in innovation, or at least connected to technology. The organizers would prefer talks with a broad and/or unconventional scope. Do you have anything you’d like to say that fits this bill? The format for the talks is a 20 minute presentation followed by 10 minutes of Q&A with the audience. People should come away from this part of the Island Tech event thinking “I’ve never thought about it that way”, or “man, that was interesting”, or maybe even “that was brilliant!”. We want these talks to stretch the boundaries a bit, and make people think. Please email Island Tech 09 with a synopsis of your talk.

The MindShare Learning Report—Canada’s, Leading, Learning & Technology eMagazine and title sponsor Microsoft Canada Co., are set to officially launch the Microsoft – MindShare Learning Report™ 21st Century Digital Classroom Challenge (Contest Info – PDF). In its second year running, this event aims to inspire teachers, along with their students from across Canada to share their successful classroom practices using technology. Teachers from publicly funded schools can qualify to win one of three technology prize packs valued at over $15,000 for their school.

The office launch takes place at W.H. Day Elementary School in Bradford, Ontario, the site of one of last year’s contest winners, grade 5 teacher, Mali Bickley. “It is an honour to have the Mindshare Learning Contest launch hosted in my classroom. Winning the Mindshare Learning contest and having the technology for the class helped us connect with so many other classes throughout the world. The technologies were the tools that connected my students in curriculum based projects that truly made a difference in their lives and other students globally,” says Mali Bickley.

Through a video submission, K-12 educators from publicly funded schools across Canada are challenged to share their success stories using technology to support student success. Qualified entrants will be eligible to win one of three classroom technology prize packages, each valued at more than $15,000, from leading classroom technology providers, including: Microsoft Canada, Advanced Education, Dell, EPSON, FrontRow, ISTE, NECTAR Foundation, netTrekker, Pearson, SMART Technologies and MindShare Learning.

“Canadian teachers are excellent stewards in marrying technology with education and are critical in developing instructional environments that use technology to ignite the imaginations of students,” says Shann McGrail, Director of Education, Microsoft Canada. “Microsoft Canada is committed to helping educators to prepare students for today’s and tomorrow’s workforce with education-specific tools and technologies, and this contest maps to our belief that technology is one way to deliver enriched instruction to engage students and improve learning outcomes.”

“The awesome prize packages were carefully selected and represent best-of-class technology to enable 21st century digital learning in the classroom. I’m humbled by the generosity of our sponsors,” says Robert Martellacci, president and publisher, The MindShare Learning Report.

Vancouver – Members of New Media BC and winBC have voted to merge the two associations into one. The new association is tentatively named DigiBC, which is short for the Digital Media & Wireless Association of BC. This merger has been in negotiation for several months now, and was officially accepted at the NMBC annual general meeting, which was hosted by Rainmaker Entertainment. Following the AGM, a brief extraordinary general meeting was held for members of winBC, so that their members could also vote on the merger.

The new organization will have many strategic priorities, including the building of a member-centric, results driven and sustainable industry technology association which will deliver value to its members, sponsors, stakeholders and the community at large. DigiBC will also promote British Columbia as a centre of digital media excellence across the globe, and enable BC digital media companies to excel in that competitive global market through innovative development programmes, strategic initiatives and advocacy.

DigiBC is proposed to have a format consisting of a Board of Directors, an Executive Committee, Association Management & Administration, plus approximately seven Special Interest Groups (SIGs) as well as a Strategic Advisory Group. The SIGs will encompass the many aspects of the digital and interactive media industry, such as Video Games, Animation and VFX, HR and Talent, Capital, Web 2.0 & Social Media, eLearning and Mobile & Wireless.

The web site for the new association is currently in development, but I imagine that as the merger moves forward, there will be more news coming from the existing amalgated Boards of Directors and the administrative staff. This merger promises to be a positive step forward for our industry in BC, and I’m looking foward to many new and exciting events and programmes for the province’s digital media industry.

Xbox Canada will be in Montreal this weekend (October 17) at Parc Jean-Drapeau and in Toronto on October 24 at The Better Living Centre on the CNE Grounds. Why? For the Forza Motor Sport 3 Drive Your Dreams promotional event, of course.

Event Details:

Be one of the first to experience the thrill of the world’s most exotic and exquisite cars as you take the wheel of more than 400 automobiles on over 100 renowned real-world tracks and exotic road courses from around the globe.

You’ll play right next to the most beloved cars featured in the game, watch car artists bring design to life before your very eyes, check out the gallery of performance upgrades, and even have your own shot at learning the ropes on the Autocross Demonstration, Instruction, & Ride Experience* with the Canadian Automobile Sports Club and Club Auto-sport Des Laurentides.

Come escape into the world of car culture and you could win** the ultimate DRIVE YOUR DREAMS experience that could get you behind the wheel for an exhilarating full day on the track, plus the ultimate Xbox 360 Racing Package.**

*Must have valid Driver’s License and sign applicable waivers to participate in the Autocross
** NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Contest is open to all legal residents of Canada. There is one (1) grand prize (ARV $3,660) and ten (10) secondary prizes (ARV $89.99) available to be won. Skill testing question required. Contest closes at 11:59pm on October 24th, 2009.

DIGS has announced another Keynote Speaker. Last week the event announced that Victor Lucas would be the Keynote Speaker for the November 3rd Dinner, and today they have announced that Ubisoft Toronto and Montreal CEO Yannis Mallat will be the Keynote Speaker at the conference proper. DIGS takes place this November 3rd and 4th in London, Ontario.

If you are a student and have been sitting on a game design, you can enter the DIGS Game Competition and vie for $10 000.00 and more in prizing. The entry deadline has been extended to October 26th, so register now!

If you are in Vancouver, don’t forget about Ghoulash Bash, our local fundraiser for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society. Ghoulash Bash is happening at the Metropole on Abbott this coming October 29th. The theme is Retro-Reanimated, ticket prices are very reasonable, and it’s a chance to get your ghoul on. Ghoulash Bash is an approved Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society event, so tax receipts can be issued for qualified donations. The event is still looking for swag and sponsorship. Please see the Bash site for more details.

Don’t forget that the Taco Bell Fill Up On Game Gear tour will be in Kelowna tonight, Surrey on Friday night and then in Coquitlam on Saturday. Get your entries in for all of the awesome game gear that Taco Bell is giving away, including the Emporer game chair. Gotta have it. We’ll be meeting up with Craig and Ryan this weekend to check out the Tour Truck and the prizes – hopefully this west coast weather will improve some before they arrive.

The Montreal Game Summit is gearing up for November 16th and 17th, and now you can customize your agenda. You can even post it on Facebook, email it to yourself and others, or just print it for easy reference.

On Day 1, Yoichi Wada, President and CEO of Square Enix will be presenting a Keynote Address about Fostering Cultural Diversity in Game Development, while Heather Chaplin, Professor of Journalism at The New School will be delivering a Keynote Address on The Guy Culture. Keynotes for Day 2 include Tools and Testing in LittleBigPlanet: Consequences of a user-generated world which will be presented by Paul Holden, Lead Architect for Media Molecule and Jason Holtman, Director of Business Development at Valve will present on Games Entertainment in the Age of Connectivity.

Stewart Butterfield, co-founder of Flickr, reportedly the most popular photo sharing site in the world, will be the Keynote Speaker at the 3rd Fusion Venture Forum 2009, presented by New Media BC on November 12 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Butterfield is a firm supporter of Vancouver’s Digital Media industry and was part of the original team that grew Flickr from a tiny Vancouver based operation to a worldwide phenomenon. He and his co-founder Catherine Fake sold Flickr to Yahoo reportedly for more than $30 million, barely a year after launching it in February 2004. The original plan had been to create an online game that never quite took off. Flickr remains one of the most noted digital media success stories from this region.

Butterfield will open Fusion ’09, the only Venture Forum devoted to Digital Media in Western Canada, by sharing his success story with some 150-200 attendees, mostly Canadian founders with early to growth stage ventures. Twenty of Canada’s hottest digital media companies will present their latest ventures to top tier investors from North America, including heavyweights Google Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners and SoftTech VC. Deadline to register for Fusion’s Bootcamp and Conference is Oct 20, 2009.