iD News and Blog

Summer Video Game Camp Fosters Video Game Design Skills

For Immediate Release:

Media Contact: Karen Thurm Safran, (408) 871-3733

Video Game Sales Continue in the Billions in 2007

Again this year the hottest holiday gifts are video games. In 2006 video game sales were a startling $6.5 billion as tracked by the NPD Group. This month manufacturers are on track to exceed last year’s holiday sales with October 2007 sales already $1.1 billion. The annual holiday selling season accounts for about half of the industry’s yearly sales of video games and computer games.

Video Game Camp Prepare Students for Video Game Development Careers

So what does it take to create and develop video games? iD Tech Camps, a summer camp at the forefront of the computer camp industry has ratcheted up its video game course offerings. “A few years ago, we only had one Video Game Creation course. Now we offer multiple courses focusing on different areas of video game design and development”, said Alexa Ingram-Cauchi, co-founder of iD Tech Camps. The camp offers multiple weeklong gaming courses including 3D Game Design, Game Modding, 3D Game Modeling with Maya^®, and an exclusive teen summer camp dubbed the iD Gaming Academy. The camp has seen interest in learning video game design parallel the mega growth of the video game industry. Each year the youth summer camp revamps its weeklong curriculum to offer robust game development instruction over the summer months.

iD Tech Camps partners with major players in the video game industry to ensure their tween and teen students learn by using the best tools to develop and modify video games. Their partners include Midway Games Inc., Epic Games, Inc.Valve and Activision Blizzard. These industry leaders know they must find ways to motivate and mentor young people to ensure fresh creative minds will enter the future job pool. Their association with iD Tech Camps is a tangible means to support that objective. And what kid wouldn’t want to get a foot in the door to a possible career in the game industry?

“Our company seeks out the best manufacturers to partner with year after year”, commented Karen Thurm Safran, vice president of marketing. “We want our students to use the best development tools available whether they are creating their own games or modifying existing top video games.”

In 2006, iD Tech Camps launched the iD Gaming Academy to provide teen gamers an intensive opportunity to explore their own creativity by developing a full video game portfolio. At this teen summer camp, students learn from top instructors using real-world applications like Autodesk® Maya®, Adobe® Photoshop®, Unreal® Engine and other industry leading commercial games including Unreal Tournament 3 to develop gaming portfolios. The technology camp wants its students to not only compete, but excel in the rapidly expanding fields of game development and professional gaming.

“We are not just a summer youth camp”, said Alexa Ingram-Cauchi, co-founder and chief financial officer. “We provide our students with opportunities to explore future professions via our unique summer camp setting. A lot of doors have been opened for students here at iD–they use it as a launching pad.”

About iD Tech Camps
iD Tech camps is the leading provider of summer youth technology camps with 50 locations nationwide. They provide weeklong, day and overnight summer computer camps for beginner to advanced students ages 7 to 17. As a family-owned company, their mission is to nurture children through creative learning, offering programs including video game design camps, web design camps, digital movie and film camps, robotics camps and programming camps. For more information, please visit www.internaldrive.com or call 1-888-709-TECH (8324).

 

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Maverick’s Surf Competition Inspires Hybrid Summer Surf Camps and Tech Camps in California

For anyone following the Maverick’s surf competition, this is a cool press release. We don’t just teach kids technology. We teach them some surprising other skills too. Read on! I want to thank Alisa for her contribution on this release! Good stuff, Alisa.

For Immediate Release

California Youth Technology Camp Combines Ocean Surfing with Computer Education

CAMPBELL, CA — December 14, 2007 — Where else but in sunny California would you find a youth summer camp that offers kids an innovative camp concept where campers learn to surf in the big blue Pacific, as well as create their own video games and websites? The California coast is known for the innovative, risk taking culture of Silicon Valley, but it is also home to surfing and many small enclaves dominated by the surf culture. So it is no real surprise that near one of these coastal towns, Santa Cruz, the nation’s largest technology summer camp was the first to offer a hybrid summer surf camp and computer camp.

iD Tech Camps has expanded the hybrid option with surf camps in Northern California and Southern California. Students ages 11 to 17 are able to exercise their minds as well as their bodies for a week of mental and physical challenge. They leave camp with surf skills along with skills in video game design or web design.

“Blending waves and technology is kind of a natural here in California. Surfers and gamers are social types, independent spirits, creative thinkers with strong competitive drives”, commented Pete Ingram-Cauchi, president and CEO of iD Tech Camps, one of the nation’s larger summer camp operators.

Technology is a growing component of the surfing community. Up the Northern California coast, the prestigious international Mavericks Surf Contest® recently announced this year’s contest window from December 7, 2007 through March 31, 2008. This event brings in 40,000 spectators and has gotten so big that it is broadcast live over the Internet. Will the surfers one day be testing their skills against the infamous giants out at Mavericks? “I hope our kids stick to surfing normal waves—or the Internet”, concluded Ingram-Cauchi.

For surf and tech course details at the California youth summer camps held at UC San Diego and UC Santa Cruz, visit www.internaldrive.com

About iD Tech Camps
iD Tech camps is the leading provider of summer youth technology camps with 50 locations nationwide. They provide weeklong, day and overnight summer computer camps for beginner to advanced students ages 7 to 17. As a family-owned company, their mission is to nurture children through creative learning, offering programs including video game creation camps, website design camps, digital movie camps, robotics camps and programming camps. For more information, please visit www.internaldrive.com or call 1-888-709-TECH (8324).

About The Mavericks Surf Contest®
Every winter season, Mother Nature offers up supremely harsh conditions and the giant, unpredictable waves that characterize Mavericks and the annual Mavericks Surf Contest®. Frigid waters, dangerous currents, jagged rocks and the ever-present threat of the great white shark. Mix these with perfect weather conditions, and 24 legendary surfers will get the contest call from legendary big-wave surf pioneer and contest director, Jeff Clark. When they do, they will have only 24 hours to arrive in Half Moon Bay to face the extreme conditions, thunderous waves and each other. Coined as “the wave beyond,” the Mavericks™ brand inspires hardcore athletes to face the unpredictably raw power of Mother Nature, and stirs the souls of those who aspire to challenge their own limits. Mavericks remains true to its core: a cold, mysterious and foreboding place that demands respect from everyone who goes there and inspires them to attempt the extraordinary. For more information, including photos, surf conditions and contest highlights, visit Mavericks Surf Ventures online at www.maverickssurf.com.

 

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Be Green this Holiday Season!

No matter what your tradition, this time of the year usually means more travel, more waste and more debt! Here are some tips on how to make it through the season without the guilt.

Greener travel

• Use electronic tickets if flying.
• Make sure your tires are properly inflated for better gas mileage.
• Put a hold on mail and subscriptions.
• When renting a car, ask about hybrids or alternative fuel vehicles.

Greener gifts

• Consider making a donation to charity as a gift.
• Send e-cards rather than paper cards or make your own cards out of recycled materials.
• A week of summer camp makes a great gift, save $75 until 12/15/07. Click here for our Holiday Special.
• Register for iD Tech Camps electronically to save paper.
• Wrap presents in recycled materials. Americans throw away 25% more garbage during this season.

Most of all, remember, take time out to cherish your friends and family this season!

 

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iD Movie Camps Lead to Big Budget Film Financing

iD Tech Camps Hoping Former Staff Secure Big Budget Film Financing

Former iD Tech Camps employees Andrea Ajemian and Jon Artigo, who honed their producing skills in their management roles with the iD Tech Camps, are closing in on securing 3 million dollars to finance their upcoming feature film, a teen comedy “We Got the Beat.” The duo have collaborated on three award-winning feature films during the past six years, working with other iD Tech Camps colleagues including Kevin Painchaud, Chad Meserve, Jill MacDonald, and Julie Fletcher. Ajemian is currently in negotiations with executive producers who would include “We Got the Beat” with a slate of films pitched to investors for a total of 50 million dollars.

“We could not be happier for Andrea and Jon. They are fabulous people and we take pride in knowing iD Tech Camps played a role in supporting their creative careers over the years”, said Pete Ingram-Cauchi, president and CEO of iD Tech Camps.

They say it’s a small world.
While on a conference call, Ajemian was telling an executive producer about her former employment with the top technology camp in the country. When she mentioned “iD Tech Camps,” the executive producer burst out, “I have their brochure right here on my desk in front of me! My son is ten years old, loves creating video games and really wants to go to the camp next summer. I’m thinking of sending him to the Stanford Computer Camp.”

“I couldn’t believe it”, said Ajemian. “Here I am knee deep in negotiations and iD Tech Camps comes up. It’s another reminder of how small the world is and how our lives interconnect. Of course, I told him of my experiences and how I feel iD is the best camp for his son.”

The teen comedy Ajemian and Artigo have written demonstrates they have a unique pulse on today’s youth. Both credit “being in tune” to their professional experiences with iD Tech Camps. They spent time with and around young people–giving them fodder for their creative inspirations in their own teen movies.

Artigo and Ajemian’s latest film “Still Green,” a teen drama set along the gulf coast of Florida, just began it’s festival run. Just weeks after premiering the film at the 32nd Annual New England Film and Video Festival in Brookline, it took top honors winning the Best Narrative Feature Award. “Still Green” won the Spirit of Independence Award for Best Ensemble at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. As they wait to hear from upcoming festivals regarding acceptance, they are in negotiations with a sales agent who will then represent the film to both international and domestic distributors. The film stars Sarah Jones (HBO’s Big Love, Showtime’s Huff), Noah Segan (Brick, Cabin Fever II), Ryan Kelly (Mean Creek, Stolen Summer), and Douglas Spain (HBO’s Band of Brothers, But I’m a Cheerleader).

iD Tech Camps was one of the first nationwide technology programs to offer movie camps and film camps to young students ages 10 to 17. They have been offering cutting-edge courses to students in digital movie editing since their inception in 1999. Their curriculum incorporates professional–grade Apple® Final Cut Pro® in which they have seen significant progression in the software’s capabilities over the years.

In 2008, iD Tech Camps launches the iD Film Academy at UC Berkeley in California. The teen movie camp offers intensive study in filmmaking and post-production. Students in this teen film camp learn from top-tier instructors who have an insider’s knowledge of the industry and film festival circuit. Surely, one of these students will be pitching their own movie project someday.

 

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