http://vortexcompetition.com/

The Vortex Competition in 2007 was one of the best events we’ve attended, and from the looks of it,  Vortex 2009 is set to blow the previous competition out of the water.Vortex 2009 will give you a chance to pitch your game idea to some fantastic members of the industry including:

• Blake Lewin – Senior VP, R&D, Turner Broadcasting and Founder of GameTap
• Kevin O’Leary – Renowned Software Entrepreneur, star of Dragon’s Den and Shark Tanko
• Yannis Mallat – President and CEO, Ubisoft Canada
• Marc Saltzman – Internally acclaimed Hi-Tech and Game columnist, and TV personality

You also have a chance to make a game for the city of Toronto that will be showcased right on the City’s website!  Outside of the competition,  you’ll have a fantastic opportunity to meet other members of the Toronto game development community as well as get one on one coaching with industry veterans.

Be sure to sign up soon because the deadline for applications is October 5th.

We’ll see you there!

- Mark

The good news is that the City of Toronto has offered to support our event.  So in case you didn’t already figure that out, GameCamp Toronto 3 will be really AWSOME.  

The bad news is that we pushed back the event.  There are multiple reasons why we consider this to be a smart move in the long term. However, this can be a disappointment if you were itching to attend see the cool presentations now.  If that’s the case, be sure to check out the newly spiced up IGDA meetings as they operate as mini GameCamps.  Each meeting is aimed at a particular topic with great presentations/discussions/networking opportunities.  The IGDA Meetings take place on the first Thursday evening of every month. The next topic is Publishing Games on XBOX Live Community Games, and I will be the moderator . For more info check out: http://www.igda.org/toronto/

Andrei

Daniel has also posted some coverage of the event on his blog: www.stegersaurus.com. Additional coverage can be found at 360sync. 360sync focuses more on Microsoft’s presentation. If you know of any other blogs related to the event please email me and I will add them to the list.

Last but not least, if you have any suggestions of how we could improve the event in the future, please email us. We appreciate all feedback.

We want to thank everybody for attending and making this event possible. We were very impressed and grateful to see the room as full in the afternoon as it was in the morning. Some faces changed, based on people’s interests, but the attendance was always high. Thank you all for coming out and making the event a blast.

Second of all we would like to thank all our speakers for coming out and presenting. They all did a wonderful job, and provided us with a lot of valuable and entertaining information. Every presentation had its own fans. It was GREAT! For those of you who missed the presentations, Thuan Ta may post summaries for some of the talks. Stay tuned.

We also want to thank Jean-Luc David and Jim McGinley for providing us with the financial help needed to make this event happen. GameCamp Toronto 2 was not sponsored by any company. It was paid from private pockets and we greatly appreciate their sacrifices and the support they give to our community.

Last but not least, we want to thank the people who helped us run the event. There are many names here, without which the event wouldn’t have been nearly as good. In particular we want to thank Ante Bralic, Thuan Ta and Daniel Steger for their help and support. Also we all thank Cristina Cuda for baking all the goodies for us!

We will post pictures from the event in the near future. Come back soon!

Here is a brief overlook of the great things you’ll get to see on Saturday:

There are only three days left to the event! Thus, if you haven’t done so yet, REGISTER NOW!

Chris Charabaruk, IGDA indie SIG
Kasra Zokaei, J2Play
Andy Smith, IADT

Stay tuned for the Event Agenda. And don’t forget to REGISTER NOW!

We have the pleasure of announcing a lot of AMAZING speakers. Check them out:

Mare Sheppard and Raigan Burns, N+ Creators
Jean-Luc David, Microsoft
Mathew Di Iorio, Independent Games Project
Nelson Yu, Casually Hardcore Games
David L. Blazetich, Bedlam Games
Jim McGinley, ToJam

This is truly one amazing lineup and there are more to come!
GameCamp Toronto 2 will take place at University of Toronto, The Bahen Centre for Information Technology, 40 St. George Street, immediately south of Russell Street. (Room BA1130)

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There are only 180 seats available, so don’t procrastinate. REGISTER NOW!

We are extremly to excited to announce GameCamp Toronto 2. Now that GDC08 is over, everybody’s attention is shifting back to Toronto. So GameCamp Toronto welcomes you back!

We listen to your feedback and the event will take place AFTER your exams, during the AFTERNOON. YAY! GameCamp Toronto 2 will take place on Saturday, May 3, 2008.

REGISTRATION is NOW OPEN: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/101271907

Please link to this page and spread the word as much as you can. And if you would like to present, please contact us.

Sorry for the late post. We have been out for most of the holidays. But now are back, getting ready for GameCamp Toronto 2. We aim to host the next event sometime in March (depending on how many presenters we have by then. So far we have 3.) Please contact us if you would like to present.

Andrei