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June 30th, 2008 by: Pete
Hi All,
A friend of mine sent me this link a week ago–she thought it would be worth blogging. After reading the stats, I agreed.
In a short article written by Paul Bond on June 18, 2008, he described the video game industry’s explosive growth. The expected global sales are projected to shoot from $41.9 billion in sales to $68.3 billion in 2012. That is a huge growth statistic. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to understand that this spells opportunity for those interested in careers in video games and the gaming industry.
For the past 10 years, iD Tech Camps, through our summer computer camps and the pioneering iD Gaming Academy has been fueling creativity and providing the launching pad for the next wave of game designers, game programmers, marketers and more. We’re creating awareness and legitimacy of this rapidly expanding and exciting field.
Enjoy the article!
-Pete
June 30th, 2008
Posted in: CEO's Blog
June 27th, 2008 by: Ryan
ASU offering summer game design classes
By Travis Roemhild
Playing video games may not be the first option chosen by parents for how they want their kids to spend those hot summer days. However, a day camp hosted by Arizona State University can teach creativity by way of video game creation and design.
Located at the Arizona State University Polytechnic Campus in Mesa, the iD Tech Camp offers several classes specializing in 3-D game design, game modding, Web site design and programming to kids ages 10 to 17.
Participants have full access to professional design and creation of computer programs. They spend most of their time tweaking ideas with close guidance from four experienced counselors.
In the 3-D game design class, students use what is called FPS Creator to create “first person shooter” games that are similar to the popular Halo and Call of Duty series. In the program, kids produce levels from scratch and tweak preloaded character models to create their own unique computer game. Popular games are shown as examples to display what works and what can be expanded upon.
“We tell them that people have already built just about every concept imaginable,” said Ricky Bennett, director of the iD Tech Camp. “We tell them, ‘Let’s build on it, take it a step further.’”
Several Ahwatukee Foothills kids are attending the camp this week, including Aaron Madsen, 12, of Kyrene Akimel A-al Middle School and Connor Gutman, 10, from Horizon Community Learning Center. Aaron has spent his time at the camp building an “escape” game from scratch called Missile Defense and Connor is learning the ins-and-outs of Adobe Dreamweaver to create his own Web site.
“I wanted to make a fan page about this game I’m obsessed with,” Connor said. “It’s fun to create something that anyone can see.”
Bennett and the other instructors take the kids out during the day to play kickball and do other exercises as a break from staring at a computer monitor all day.
“We do a lot of fun stuff besides making video games,” Bennett said.
The camp started as one class 10 years ago and has expanded to 50 campuses nationwide.
“It’s obvious the owners want it to be the best computer camp,” Bennet said. “We want the kids to be creative but at the same time there are measurable standards for every class.”
At the end of the camp, each participant receives a disc with everything they have done for the week.
The weeklong camp comes with a price tag of $749, running Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; and Friday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Find out more about the program at www.internaldrive.com.
June 27th, 2008
Posted in: Arizona State University, iD In The News
June 26th, 2008 by: Jimmy
Dear Campers and Summer Computer Camp Staff @ iD Tech,
Below are our winners for the week! These pictures will be selected by Jimmy in our web and creative department here at iD. He went through the photos on http://www.internaldrive.com/photos to look for the photo-of-the-week winners for this week.
As always, he had a lot of fun browsing the pictures. With almost 50 of our summer computer camps now in session, the pool of pictures is greater, and the competition is stiffer. What is going on at our summer camps around the country this week? Jimmy was looking for iD Spirit, fun, energy, whackiness, university landmarks…pictures that paint the picture for what our summer camps are like. Of course, the better quality photos are preferred, but we also realize there are different levels of camera quality out at tech camp.
Each of the below pictures is a winner for this week. Congratulations to you! And, if your camp was not selected for this week, the good news is that there is always today, tomorrow, and next week to stand out!
Please keep in mind that next week’s theme is “4th of July.” Good luck!
Let’s get started!
Remember, many more pictures can be found at http://www.internaldrive.com/photos. We look forward to many more photos next week!
Photo-of-the-Week Winners
Rider University Summer Camps in the Princeton Area, PA
Villanova University Summer Cams in the Philadelphia Area, PA
Vanderbilt University Summer Camps in Nashville, TN
Wake Forest University Summer Camps in Winston-Salem, NC
UNC – Chapel Hill Summer Camps, NC
Runner Up! University of Michigan for hosting the crazy Mad Matt Baumer!
Have a great week, everyone! Have fun at Family Showcase. We hope you feel great about showcasing your video game projects, digital videos, web sites, mods, computer programs in C++ and Java…and more! Have a great day. Check back next week for more posts, and feel free to leave comments on the blog.
-Pete
June 26th, 2008
Posted in: Summer Camps
June 24th, 2008 by: Ryan
My Fox New York visited iD Tech Camps on June 24, 2008. Click here to see iD Tech Camps in action!
June 24th, 2008
Posted in: Columbia University, Fordham University, iD In The News, New York University, Vassar College
June 19th, 2008 by: Jimmy
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June 19th, 2008
Posted in: Summer Camps
June 19th, 2008 by: Jimmy
Dear Students and Summer Computer Camp Staff @ iD Tech,
Early this morning, Jimmy in our web department here in Silicon Valley went through the photos on http://www.internaldrive.com/photos to look for the photo-of-the-week winners for this week. He says he had a lot of fun browsing through the pictures–as I am sure many of our campers, staff and parents will as well. What is going on at computer camp around the country this week? Jimmy was looking for iD Spirit, fun, energy, whackiness, university landmarks…pictures that paint the picture for what our summer camps are like. Of course, the better quality photos are preferred, but we also realize there are different levels of camera quality out at tech camp. So, for this week, guess what…EACH OF THE BELOW PHOTOS IS A WINNER! And, if your camp was not selected for this week, the good news is that there is always today, tomorrow, and next week to stand out!
Let’s get started!
Remember, many more pictures can be found at http://www.internaldrive.com/photos. We look forward to many more photos next week!
Photo-of-the-Week Winners
Colorado College Summer Camps in Coloroda
Arizona State University Summer Camps in Arizona
College of William& Mary Summer Camps in Virginia
Washington University Summer Camps in Missouri
Wake Forest University Summer Camps in North Carolina (Guitar Hero)
Villanova University Summer Camps in Pennsylvania
Vanderbilt University Summer Camps in Tennessee
University of Virginia Summer Camps in Virginia
UT Austin Summer Camps in Texas
UNC – Chapel Hill Summer Camps in North Carolina
UIW Summer Camps in San Antonio
University of Houston Summer Camps in Texas
University of Houston Summer Camps in Texas
UC Berkeley Summer Camps in California
Southern Methodist University Summer Camps in Texas
Southern Methodist University Summer Camps in Texas
University of Miami Summer Camps in Florida
Carnegie Mellon University Summer Camps in Pennsylvania
Emory University Summer Camps Georgia
Georgetown University Summer Camps in Washington, D.C.
iD Film Academy at UC Berkeley (Documentary Filmmaking in Berkeley for Teens)
June 19th, 2008
Posted in: Summer Camps
June 17th, 2008 by: Pete
Hi there, iD Nation!
Here is a press release that was sent out last week. I thought I’d share!
Teens Learn To Play Unreal Tournament® 3 the Fatal1ty™ Way!
Introducing Camp Fatal1ty™, a partnership with Pro-Gamer Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel
(June 11, 2008)- Johnathan “Fatal1ty™” Wendel, the world’s best known professional gamer, has collaborated with iD Gaming Academy to develop an exclusive teen summer program called Camp Fatal1ty™. During this 2-week program, teens will learn advanced Unreal Tournament® 3 skills from world-renowned professional gamers.
How often can gamers get the opportunity to learn tips and even play against top gamers? At Camp Fatal1ty students will have the once-in-a-lifetime experience of learning a variety of Unreal Tournament® 3 tactics and strategies developed by Fatal1ty and other professional gamers. These strategies have been honed in international competitions. Teens will test their new battle skills against classmates in tournament play. Additionally, they’ll learn to create machinima and build highlight video reels of their best in-game moves and shots. Besides learning how to create games, students can expect late-night NVIDIA®-hosted gaming tournaments and LAN parties. To further introduce teens to the world of gaming, students will tour a major game development studio and will learn first-hand how industry professionals create premier commercial games. At the end of the course, each student will take home a Fatal1ty-branded keyboard.
“We want to partner with the best! We chose the iD Gaming Academy to create Camp Fatal1ty”, said Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel, the world’s best known pro gamer.
Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel is hands down the most accomplished, professional gamer in history and is the breakthrough name and face of what has become a large scale, legitimate sport. As the world’s most famous gamer, he spreads enthusiasm wherever he goes and, in the process, has become the sport’s worldwide ambassador. Like any other professional athlete, he trains for hours a day and analyzes his performances by watching videos of himself in action–all with the goal of being the best in the world.
Winning the 2005 CPL World Tour Finals in New York City secured Fatal1ty’s twelfth Major Championship and tenth world title. This was accomplished while competing in 5 different games – an unprecedented achievement. His New York City victory earned him $150,000 and brought his 2005 total winnings to $231,000. During his competitive gaming career Fatal1ty has placed 1st in 65% of all the competitions he has entered and top 3 in 90% of them.
“We are excited and honored to partner with Johnathan on this new initiative. With this new collaborative offering, we continue to provide cutting-edge instruction to our teen gaming students. Professional gaming is a fast growing profession”, said Pete Ingram Cauchi, president and CEO of iD Tech Camps. “We want to give teens the opportunity to make their dreams possible.”
Using the strategies they learned in the course, the winners of the national Camp Fatal1ty get the opportunity to go head-to-head with a professional video gamer. The winner from the iD Tech Camps national Ultimate Gaming Weekend tournaments will also participate. This Grand Finale Championship event will occur at UCLA on July 24th at 2 PM.
iD Gaming Academy and Fatal1ty are pleased to give 5 scholarships to the Boys and Girls Clubs to attend Camp Fatal1ty at the UCLA and Villanova University locations. Additionally, another five scholarships to iD Tech Camps will be given to the Boys and Girls Club in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Atlanta and Philadelphia. At iD Tech Camps, ages 7-17 create video games, experience game modding, animate 3D characters, improve their gaming skills, design websites with Flash®, build robots, learning programming and more. This weeklong, day and overnight summer program is located at over 50 prestigious universities in 23 states.
Camp Fatal1ty™ is a 2-week course for ages 13-17, held at Stanford University, UCLA and Villanova University this summer. Space is still available at some sessions. Visit the iD Gaming Academy (www.iDGamingAcademy.com) website for complete details and to register for this exclusive course. A priceless course, the program costs $3,499 and $300 for optional weekend stays. Don’t just play Unreal Tournament 3, play the Fatalt1ty way!
About iD Gaming Academy
iD Gaming Academy by internalDrive, Inc. immerses teens in the dynamic world of video game. Courses include Camp Fatal1ty™, Game Modeling with Maya® and Game Programming. Each session spans two weeks and are located at Emory University, Stanford University, UCLA and Villanova University. Programs are taught by top tier instructors with demonstrated game development skills and pro gaming experience. Students use powerful, industry-standard applications like Autodesk® Maya®, Adobe® Photoshop®, and some of the latest, most popular commercial video games for instructional purposes and serious game play, like Unreal Tournament 3. A major game development studio tour will anchor each session as we learn first-hand how industry professionals create premier commercial games. Visit www.iDGamingAcademy.com or call -1-888-709-TECH (8324) for more information.
About Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel
Johnathan became the world’s first full time professional video gamer in October 1999, when he placed third at the CPL’s Frag3 tournament. Two weeks later he was invited to represent the USA in an international tournament in Stockholm, where he went undefeated with a perfect performance, winning all 18 maps and losing none. He has continued to dominate competitions all over the world, competing on 6 continents during his 8-year professional career, including a Gold Medal finish for the USA at the 2000 World Cyber Games in Seoul, Korea. Johnathan has joined forces with DirecTV’s Championship Gaming Series as exclusive commentator, global spokesperson and advisor to help take video gaming to the next level. For more information please visit www.fatal1ty.com.
June 17th, 2008
Posted in: iD In The News
June 13th, 2008 by: Pete
Dear Students and Summer Camp Staff @ iD Tech,
Last night I went through http://www.internaldrive.com/photos to look for the photo-of-the-week winner for this week. It was a lot of fun to get an idea for what is going on at computer camp around the country. When I look for the photo winners, I am looking for creativity, iD Spirit, fun, energy, whackiness…pictures that paint the picture for what our camps are like. Of course, the better quality photos are preferred, but I also realize there are different levels of camera quality out at camp. So, for this week, guess what…EACH OF THE BELOW PHOTOS IS A WINNER! That’s right, every school wins this week.
Remember, many more pictures can be found at http://www.internaldrive.com/photos. We look forward to many more photos next week!
Photo-of-the-Week Winners
Washington University, Crazy Campers
Washington University, lab time
Washington University, focusing on project
Washington University, 3D Game Design
Washington University, Playing on campus
Washington University, Teens at Camp
Washington University, Check out the lab and the project creation!
University of Houston
University of Houston
University of Houston check-in table
University of Houston, Going to Camp
University of Houston, Where is the camper?
University of Houston, All Smiles
University of Houston, Grassy Fields
University of Houston, Campers in Action
Vanderbilt University, Hanging out on the steps
Vanderbilt University Food, I spot RM Justin in the dining hall
Vanderbilt University, Let us out!
Vanderbilt University…up close!
Vanderbilt University, Summer Camp is in session
Vanderbilt University, nap time
Vanderbilt University, Capture the flag
Emory University, Mac Lab
Emory University, Frisbee Time
Emory University, Non-Computer Time
Emory University, Dining Hall
Emory University, Great Costumes and Spirit
Emory University, Sideways Smiles!
Emory University, Getting Crazy
Emory University, Getting ready to rock!
Lake Forest College Summer Camp, iD Tech Camps
Lake Forest College Summer Camp, iD Tech Camps
University of Arizona Lab Decor
University of Arizona Lab Decor–Looking Good
University of Arizona, Guitar Hero!
University of Arizona Lab
Camp Director, Barbara and Student
University of Arizona–UT3
Colorado College, Prepping for Camp Check-In
Colorado College
Colorado College Group Shot
University of Miami Summer Camp Name Game
University of Miami–On Campus
University of Miami Robotics Camp
University of Miami, Having Fun
University of Miami, preparing for check-in
OK guys, I know there are a lot more pictures out there. Thanks for posting pictures. Next week, we’ll narrow down the list, but I want to thank every camp who posted pictures. Every camp wins this week! Have a great Friday. Have fun at Family Showcase. Show off those cool projects!!
Best,
Pete
June 13th, 2008
Posted in: Summer Camps
June 12th, 2008 by: Pete
Welcome everyone! Camp has just started, but we have all types of fun content to start posting. I want to welcome all iD students, camp staff and parents to our blog. We have weekly posts so check back regularly, or, better yet, sign up for RSS and let the content come to you!
OK, let’s get this party started.
I wanted to share this cool email I just got from one of our summer camp staff. This is a former camper that is now working for us. As I travel the country, I see more and more staff that once attended our computer camps as students–it makes me feel older–but quite proud.
From: Mike (Last Name Withheld)
Sent: Monday, June 09, 2008 11:05 PM
To: Pete
Subject: Seton hall – youtube of backflip
Pete,
I just wanted to first off say what a great weekend that was at Seton
Hall. I really had a great time meeting all of the staff and I really
wish I would get to work with each and every one.
It was also great to meet the staff that make this happen. I was
really impressed to see you, the CEO, all over camp, taking pictures
and even blogging about us. I went to the camp nearly 7 years ago,
the first year of camp at Villanova University. I took video editing
and absolutely loved it. The following year I took 3 weeks of
Programming, and now i’m back to teach 3D Game Design 1 and Game Modding 1 at
Villanova University.
I hope I can make camp as fun for these kids next week as
the staff did the years I went to the summer computer camp. This company really has
grown from something that was awesome to something even more
extraordinary.
Anyway, I imagine you’ve heard during one of the sessions we were
playing Kung Fu Hustle and a staff did a backflip to impress everyone.
I was surfing youtube the other day and apparently someone had a
camera. Sorry if they already sent you this but I
couldn’t resist!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=0rGA5m4AHbA
With instructors like this there’s now way the kids could be
disappointed!
Thanks!
-Mike
June 12th, 2008
Posted in: CEO's Blog, iD In The News
June 4th, 2008 by: Pete
Training for our summer computer camps is in full swing. Staff trainings began last month and continue through mid June. I just got back from our staff training at Seton Hall University in New Jersey. We trained 150 of the country’s finest tech professionals. It was a great training session. This is an email that was forwarded to one of our Regional Managers. I am keeping the sender’s name confidential:
It was so nice to finally meet you this weekend. I just wanted to reiterate how impressed I was with the training. It really shows how much the company invests in their employees which is well beyond what I have experienced in the past. Everything we needed to learn was very well organized, concise and to the point. Breakfast was great, and it’s awesome to know you guys have a good sense of humor and are passionate about what you do.
Ok, so let’s recap training from the past weekend and show some pictures:
I took the red eye to Newark. I worked from Starbucks all day and figured out how to get to the Seton Hall, New Jersey Campus.
Yep, I arrived safely!
Training started nice and early. Ms. Kate was armed with her bagel and Starbucks.
Let the paperworkpalooza begin!
Check out Amelia extolling her wisdom on her new team of instructors.
As we walked to lunch, the clouds rolled in, the skies opened up. This is the most creative umbrella I’ve ever seen.
Later in the day, the sun came out again. The Seton Hall Campus in really beautiful.
Here are a couple of iD Tech’s finest. These are three of our Camp Directors.
Walking to lunch–all 150 of us!
Amelia and Josh in the dining hall!
Back at training doing in a “hands-on” teaching session.
Another picture of campus.
Soaking it all in!
A visit from Somer’s Uncle and beautiful baby Santo!
And we ended the final day with a trick on the summer camp staff! We intentionally short-changed the coffee and bagels and cream cheese. We had reinforcements and plenty of food and coffee, but they didn’t know it until the prank played itself out.
OK, our summer tech camps are now upon us! It was great to meet all the staff who will be fanning out across the country. Good luck to you fine group of guys and gals!
-Pete and the iD Team
June 4th, 2008
Posted in: Summer Camps
