Village Gamer

At Capacity – You can still register for the waiting list, though.

Mobile App Developers: Get ready to get down and dirty with the Samsung mobile and TV platform technologies. During this full-day training, you will have your choice of attending coding sessions on Android, NFC, bada, Smart TV, HTML5 and other web-based cross-platform technologies. Samsung representatives will be there to get your questions answered and school you on some of the platforms that will get you promoted on the Samsung Apps store.

Switch between either of the two simultaneous technical tracks to optimize which skills you would like to sharpen. Each track has capacity of only 25 people with first come, first serve seating; make sure you arrive early.

One Samsung tablet, phone and blu-ray player will be given away at each event. Winners will be chosen at each event and you must be present to win.

Waterloo-Stratford campus’ first class of MDEI students invite you to join them for a  gallery-style MDEI Student Showcase where various student projects will be on display. Students will also be on hand to mingle and answer your questions.

Pink Shirt Day

The National Business and Technology Conference (NBTC) is a prestigious annual conference run by Nspire that brings together 300 young leaders and numerous industry professionals from across North America to create an unforgettable two-day experience.

note: web site might not yet be updated for 2012 (as of January 14)

Some highlights:

A young innovator’s panel
Deloitte sponsored Consulting Case Competition with a $2,000 cash prize
Entrepreneurship Competition with a $30,000 in consulting services from MaRS prize
Delegates and competitors from top North American schools including Wharton, Kellogg, Rotman, York Schulich, Queen’s, McGill and the George Washington School of Business
Keynotes from heavy weights in the Biztech world such as Eric Gales (President of Microsoft Canada), Jordan Banks (Managing Director of Facebook Canada) and Cleantech champion Tom Rand

The French chamber of commerce in Canada is proud to present the 8th edition of the Venture Capital Forum, which remains the biggest financial event between France, Canada and the United-States.

With more than 200 participants each year, the forum gives the opportunity to the North-American and European financial community to get together during workshops and conferences and generate co-investments opportunities. Considered as the fastest bridge between Europe and North-America, the forum is also a way for emerging and innovative companies to present their project to the main investment funds in France, Canada and the United States.

Thanks to the wide range of topics and the quality of the speakers, the VCF has become the most important forum of companies’ investment in Canada, with more than 100 companies that have been financed since the event’s creation.

Extend your business network by meeting the most influential investors!

Profit by Design Conference & Workshops

Join us in Vancouver, BC February 24 – 25th, 2012 for ‘Profit By Design’ an exclusive two day product development and innovation conference and workshop. Experience unprecedented access as some of North America’s leading ‘Design First’ corporations divulging their business innovation, leadership methods, and practices of signature success.

‘Profit By Design’ is an intimate 200 person event tailored specifically for corporate and organization strategists. Whether initiating product service systems, R&D, business innovation, capital investment (angels & VCs) or government programs promoting Canada’s value added agenda, ‘Profit By Design’ will inspire you with stimulating presentations and provide interactive workshops with some of the best designers, business minds and investment gurus in Canada.

Organized by the Association of Canadian industrial Designers [ACID] and the Emily Carr University of Art + Design [ECUAD], with support and co-sponsorship from professional associations in Canada.

Registration link

Developer Opportunities with Mozilla Lab App Project

Currently set to launch in spring 2012, Mozilla’s App Marketplace will target 450M users and be accessible regardless of browser, OS or device. Mozilla invites developers and publishers who are considering and/or currently developing HTML5 apps to learn about opportunities with the Mozilla Labs App Project and Mozilla’s new App Marketplace.

Come meet Mozilla’s team for an interactive briefing session that will cover developing for HTML5, submitting apps to the App Project, criteria for selection as well as features of the App Marketplace. Mozilla is interested in all types of apps, including games, media, social networks, productivity tools, etc.

If you are also interested in a one-on-one meeting with Mozilla, please contact Victoria Hayes at victoria.hayes@international.gc.ca and provide a short profile of your company and include any specific interests with Mozilla.

AGENDA:
9:00 – 9:30 AM – Registration & Breakfast
9:30 – 10:30 AM – Developing for HTML5 (Joe Stagner, Senior Program Manager, HTML5)
10:30 – 11:30 AM – Opportunities with Mozilla App Marketplace (Ron Piovesan, Business Development)

*If you are also interested in a one-on-one meeting with Mozilla, please contact Victoria Hayes at victoria.hayes@international.gc.ca and provide a short profile of your company and include any specific interests with Mozilla.

Introduction to Visual Analytics Workshop

Audience:
This workshop is directed toward individuals (Analysts, Managers, executives) looking to learn more about visual analytics; how you can interactively synthesize information to see new patterns of interest and how VA can be applied in your organization.

Introduction:
This short, 4-hour workshop introduces participants to visual analytics (VA) and its role in decision support and knowledge discovery. We will show how VA can be used to create interactive, visual displays from large, heterogeneous data sets. Case studies will be presented demonstrating VA’s power to unlock hidden knowledge and improve workflow. Live software demos of leading VA products will be provided and participants will have the opportunity to work in small discussion groups on their own key interests pertaining to VA, with guidance from course staff.

Topics include:

• From Data to Decision: Introduction to VA Components of VA
• Visual Perception
• Goals of VA
• Benefits and challenges
• The VA process and paired analysis Case studies: VA in action
• Software demonstrations

Your favorite video games turned into burlesque routines!

Video Game Burlesque Starring

Scarlet Delirium in Fallout 3
Malvina MasVino in Portal
Rufflesilkskin in Dance, Dance Revolution
Kitty Kitty Bang Bang in Sonic the Hedgehog
Sweet Sashay in Tomb Raider
Bunny Meugens in Metroid
What’s Her Name in Spyro
Velvet Von Doff in Tron

The VanDolls as Tetris, Pac Man, Zelda and Super Mario

with special guest Jenny Magenta

Video game give-a-ways all night long from Gamedeals Video Games!

COME IN COSTUME AND GET A FREE DRINK!
There will be a costume contest!

Responsive Enhancement

More information on this event will be available on April 4th

Responsive design is one of the most exciting developments to hit the web for some time. But there’s a common misconception that it involves merely slapping some media queries on to an existing desktop-centric site and labelling the result “mobile-friendly.” Nothing could be further from the truth.

What will you learn?

This workshop will help you to construct web sites that will feel natural on a whole range of devices, from mobile phones to tablets, laptops, e-readers and devices we haven’t even thought of yet. You’ll learn how to:

• Ensure that no visitor is denied access to information.
• Decide when to switch layouts using media queries.
• Apply fluid layouts based on percentages.
• Serve up different sized images for different environments .
• Prioritise content.

What should you bring?

Bring some paper and a writing device (I find a pen works well). If you want to bring a laptop to play along with some of the code examples, you can but it isn’t necessary. I’ll give you all the slides and examples so don’t worry about frantically taking notes.

What should you know?

This workshop is aimed at both designers and developers (and if you’re a content strategist, there’s some good stuff for you too). There will be a healthy dollop of code (HTML, CSS and JavaScript) but it’s the concepts that really matter so don’t worry if you’re not that confident with development.