Thursday, March 7, 2013

Gamasutra - News - Boy Scouts can now earn a Game Design merit badge

Gamasutra - News - Boy Scouts can now earn a Game Design merit badge
Boy Scouts can now earn a Game Design merit badge
Boy Scouts can now earn a Game Design merit badge

                  The Boy Scouts of America are ready to introduce a new merit badge encouraging children to learn the art of game design.

The new Game Design badge requires Scouts to design a game from scratch in their own design notebooks. Scouts "must demonstrate an initial concept, multiple design iterations based on initial testing, and feedback from blind testing." The game can then be prototyped and tested at Boy Scout functions, such as camp outings.

The new Game Design merit badge pamphlet will make its debut at the SXSW Gaming Expo in Austin on Friday.

Upcoming merit badges currently in the works include Programming and Animation.

Friday, March 1, 2013

Marketing Fellowship Winners Gen Con 2013

Gen Con Indy 2013: Roll for Initiative
Marketing Fellowship Winners and Important Reminders
March has arrived! With it, Gen Con is less than half a year away. August will be here before you know it! In today's newsletter, you will get to meet some exciting new exhibitors at Gen Con Indy 2013, our Marketing Fellowship award winners. There also are some important reminders for those wishing to participate in the 2013 show.

Volunteer Applications Coming Next Month
With the incredible growth in badge sales this year, Gen Con Indy 2013 is likely to be our biggest show yet. And we will need a lot of volunteer help to make sure everything runs smoothly! Gen Con volunteers are a terrific group that help make this show the best gaming experience in the world.

Volunteer Applications will arrive in late March, so keep your eyes open for upcoming newsletters on how to sign up to be a Page or Apprentice Volunteer for Indy 2013!


2013 Marketing Fellowship Winners Announced (Part One of Two)
Launched at Gen Con Indy 2010, Entrepreneurs' Avenue is a special area in the Exhibit Hall that supports businesses either making their Gen Con debut or independent, entrepreneurial companies showcasing new products. If you have never tried it, it is a great place to seek out fresh new ideas and welcome new faces to the show. As part of the Entrepreneurs' Avenue, Gen Con awards six Marketing Fellowships to the top applicants from Entrepreneurs' Avenue. Part of a competitive application process, these awards afford the selected companies the opportunity to gain better exposure for their businesses through on-site marketing and expanded space in the Exhibit Hall.

Please join the Gen Con team in congratulating the first three announced Gen Con Indy 2013 Marketing Fellowship recipients! Today, three award recipients will be announced; check out upcoming newsletters to hear about the next three!

This year's winners have prepared messaging regarding their selection to help introduce themselves below.

Fez-O-Rama



Fez-o-rama is thrilled and honored to be selected for a Marketing Fellowship as part of their Gen Con debut. Since 2005 Fez-o-rama has been creating high quality, hand-crafted embroidered velvet fezzes featuring original artwork that celebrates the best of the geek, gaming and exotica cultures. Each fez design is painstakingly engineered and themed according to the unfathomable whims of the Fezmonger, Jason Rodgers. Seriously, who bases a business on images of drunken monkeys, Great Old Gods, obsolete technology and gaming dice? And, have you seen their booth? Only an obsessive and deranged personality would make such a thing. On the other hand, this obsessive commitment to detail results in Fez-o-rama fezzes being much more than novelty hats - these fezzes are the chapeaus of Kings. If Kings wore fezzes instead of crowns. Which they don't. But if they did… well.

Stop by the Fez-o-rama booth this year and get yourself fitted for a fez! Guaranteed to give you a +10 Style bonus (Guarantee applies to Chaotic Neutral players... not actually a guarantee but it’s worth a shot) While you are there, witness the rare Fezmonger in his natural state: doodling on boxes for the enjoyment of others.

Fez-o-rama: Less brim, more whim!


G33k & Co.

One Geek, Two Geek, Me Geek, You Geek,
Part Geek, True Geek, Old Geek, New Geek!
This geek is a gaming star.
This geek likes to dress bizarre.
Say! What a lot of geeks there are!
The number of people proudly announcing, “I’m Geeky and I know it!” nowadays is fantastic. Even better, a great many of these geeks are taking on protégés or are having munchkins of their own that they can mold into adorkable little geeklings. G33k & Co. was created to support this passing of knowledge on to version 2.0. We've put together a fun and useful line of products meant to help usher in the newest generation of geeks while entertaining adults as well. Some of our favorites are: "Grow with me RPG’s" for kids 4-7 and 7-12, which pair well with our learning dice and "My First Dice Bags", ‘The SurReal Mother Geek’, a great first look at geekery, "My First Swag Bag" which allows little ones to carry around their own con loot, and “Kalijor”, our sci-fi/fantasy novel series and RPG for older audiences.
We’re a one-stop shop for all ages! Come on by the booth and see what we have for you! www.g33knco.com
Morland Studios

Morland Studios was founded in 2010 with the goal of producing quality display and gaming miniatures for painters, collectors, and gamers. Currently, we have three primary ranges that vary in size and include 32mm, 54mm, 54mm busts, 200mm busts and 1/6th scale figures. Our first sculptures were based on our own artwork and imagination that included busts and figures in 32mm and 54mm by well known sculptors. We added other figures to our home range from various international sculptors whose work inspired us. In the future we will expand our Morland Studio line with more of our own concepts. We are the only producers of officially licensed figures from the amazing artworks of US illustrator Howard David Johnson, producing the characters in 32mm, 54mm, 200mm busts and 1/6th scale. Mr. Johnson's characters offer elegance to the sculpted figure for collectors and painters alike.

The licensed figures from The Order of the Stick, based on the web-comic by Rich Burlew, injects a fun quality to our company. The award-winning comic is loved by millions and followed by fans world-wide. Our main goal is to recreate the 2-D characters into 3-D sculptures, keeping them as close to the original artwork as possible.
Event Submission to Close March 15

To date, Gen Con's enterprising event hosts have submitted more than 5000 events for Gen Con Indy 2013. The number of events grows each day, and will provide more gaming and entertainment opportunities for fans than ever before. On March 15, the event submission period closes and Gen Con makes no guarantees on the placement or promotion (including Program Book listings) for late events. While aspiring event hosts may continue to submit events after the March 15 Event Submission deadline, the events team encourages event hosts to get in your proposals prior to March 15.

Get Your Badge for Gen Con Indy 2013
Interested in attending Gen Con Indy 2013? The first step is to buy a badge, and now is a great time to do it! Badges are available for purchase at Pre-Reg prices. Once Pre-Registration closes at the end of June, badge prices will go up, so be sure to get yours before then. Remember, anyone interested in attending our show will need to purchase a badge. A badge will give you access to the Exhibit Hall, Art Show, seminars, and other free events happening in public areas. It will also allow you to purchase event tickets to participate in specific events.

If you have any trouble creating or accessing your account, please contact us at customerservice@gencon.com for assistance. More information on how to create an account and buy a badge can be found in our Attendee FAQ.

Smeagol Sings Mad World