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June 14th, 2010 by: Pete-V
iD Tech Camps has this incredible incentive program for the Staff called Nachos (I find them particularly incredible because my friend Bryan and I invented them!)
These cool little badges are given for going above and beyond during activity time, completing difficult objectives and making camp a better place. I had the pleasure of introducing the Nacho program at two of the three trainings that were held in 2010.
The Lake Forest and Villanova trainings were amazing!
Between the two of them, hundreds of training-only Nachos were distributed. Some, like “The Second Easiest Nacho in the Book,” is pretty simple. The Staff member simply needs to attend the Camp Culture seminar – a required event!
Others can be a little more difficult. “The Drill Sergeant” requires a Staff member to recite a chant during lunch on tape and “The Night Owl” is given to anyone that participates in the voluntary evening activity session (we had about 150 participants altogether!) Only about 8 or so Staff from both locations managed to earn and claim *all* of the training Nachos, earning them the prestigious “Train the Trainer” award. We did have an excellent time and I wish I could have stayed longer to play more games (but, of course, the dark got the better of me!)
The Nacho program is in full swing at camps across the country. We’ve been giving out about 20 – 30 Nachos a day – and that number is only going to get higher as more camps start the season. This means that the user profiles of many of the iD Tech Staff members are filling up with neat little award icons, the more the better!
We just finished up a contest to create two brand new Nachos for this summer. The winners were:
“The Mascot” (submitted by Medium Rare) – Create a local Camp Mascot and make a movie with the mascot including at least five excited campers, then post it to the forums.
“The Battlefield” (also submitted by Medium Rare!) – Organize a cross-camp gaming night with another camp on the nVidia Servers! Post the end-of-game scoreboard at both camps and on the Forums. Both of these additions encourage camps to go above and beyond in their programming, whether as a fun goofy afternoon activity or a collaborative nighttime event.
Medium Rare (surprisingly, that’s not his real name) gets “The Bender Bending Rodriguez” Platinum nacho for winning the contest; a major addition to his profile.
We hope that multiple staff members can meet the challenge this summer and earn “The King Hippo” Platinum nacho for getting more than 62 nachos, which happened to be the record last year. I’m pretty sure we can make it, because iD is not just a summer camp for teens and pre-teens that teaches video game courses or film-making; It’s a camp that teaches about the power of collaboration, positive social skills and the benefits of going above and beyond to do something big!
June 14th, 2010
Posted in: iD Tech Bloggers, iD Tech Camps, Summer Camps
June 14th, 2010 by: Pete
iD Tech Camps is announcing a new course in digital photography for kids and teens ages 8-17 at twenty university locations across the country.
Campbell, CA (PRWEB) June 12, 2010 — Now in its 12th season, iD Tech Camps, the largest summer technology camp in North America for kids and teens, is offering a brand new course in Digital Photography.
Using high-quality Sony® ± (alpha) digital SLR cameras (models DSLR-A100 and DSLR-A300), the camp is offering Digital Photography at 20 locations in the United States and Canada. Sony’s innovative DSLR cameras make it easy to get the best shot and empower students to easily take creative, high-quality images. As a leader in digital imaging sensors and equipment, the DSLR line of cameras incorporate a range of high-performance features and auto focus lenses that let students capture breathtaking images on the university campuses where the camps are held. Students create portfolios centered around youth-oriented themes.
“We’re excited to have students as young as 10 years old immerse themselves in photography with Sony cameras,” said Pete Ingram-Cauchi, CEO of iD Tech Camps. “Our goal is to run the best technology camps using the best products. Sony’s cameras give us that opportunity.”
During the week-long summer camps, photography students will learn to master the camera’s high performance features while capturing amazing landscapes and professional-looking portraits, using the university campus as the backdrop. Students get hands-on experience with Sony’s high-quality DSLR camera, and ultimately leave the camp with a professional-looking photographic portfolio.
A curriculum development team of professional photographers has put the final touches on the camp’s curriculum, and the course will be debuted this summer.
ABOUT iD TECH CAMPS
iD Tech Camps is North America’s #1 provider of summer computer camps and technology camps for kids and teens with programs at 60 elite universities in the USA and Canada. Locations include Stanford and MIT. Established in 1999 in Silicon Valley, the company is family-owned and operated. iD Tech Camps offers technology courses including 3D Game Design, Digital Photography, 3D Game Modding, Maya®, Game Development, Programming in C++ and Java, Programming iPhone® Apps, Robotics, Web Design, Flash® Animation, Graphic Arts and Video Editing. The summer camps consist of week-long day camps and sleep away camps, and multi-week teen academies. Courses are appropriate for beginner to advanced learners. The company teaches the latest technologies from Apple®, Adobe®, Microsoft®, Autodesk®, Sony®, Valve® and more.
June 14th, 2010
Posted in: iD In The News
June 11th, 2010 by: Josh
Hey everyone, Grizzle here letting you know that this week’s blogs come from one of our very own stellar summer staffers! Rob M., “Mau Mau” has been with iD since 2007 and specializes in our web design and video game creation course. He is hear to today to tell about a very unique program that iD offers…
Hey everyone its Mau Mau, iD Tech’s UCSD Surf and Tech instructor!
Basically, I wanted to use this moment on the iD Tech blog to share with everyone what I consider one of the most unique and fun courses offered here at iD Tech: Surf and Tech.
What is this mythical “Surf and Tech” you might ask? Often times when I tell someone that phrase, they envision the surf part meaning “surfing the interweb” or something like that, but trust me; its much, much better.
Basically, this is a hybrid “Sport and Tech” course offered exclusively at iD UCSD, where campers spend half the day learning how to “shred the nar” (also known as ‘Surf’) on the California coast with professional surfing instructors, and then come back to a computer lab in the afternoon to learn how to make either their very own Arcade-Style video game, or Professional HTML Website. Other fun stuff like Guitar Hero sessions, Ultimate Frisbee games, Online Gaming Tournaments will definitely ensue. Cool swag to take home with you includes your finished project burned onto a CD, a DVD video of your surfing experience and much more.
This combined experience is truly unique; iD Tech is the only camp in the nation that offers this unreal homogenization of activities. Nowhere else can you express both your inner jock and geek quite like this!
If you are from out of state or even country and want to experience surfing in California as well as create some excellent video games on a computer, iD UCSD offers both overnight stay and “Ultimate Gaming Weekends.” What this means is that if you are coming from abroad: you can stay multiple weeks surfing, creating video games and even spend the weekend just chilling out with other campers playing video games and other fun activities without having to go back home until its all over. (sadly!) Spend multiple weeks honing both your surfing and video game creation skills, or mix it up and try some of the other wicked courses that iD has to offer.
Exercise both your body and mind this summer. Enroll in the Surf and Tech program at iD UCSD today.
Hang Ten!
Mau Mau
June 11th, 2010
Posted in: iD In The News
June 3rd, 2010 by: Elise
Website helps connect bored kids with hands-on summer activities
By Patrick Cloonan
An 8-year-old might enjoy a treasure hunter’s week that uses map-reading and riddles to find hidden trails and prizes. A teenager could learn how to design unique fashions or perfect a jump shot. A soon-to-be-kindergartner’s eyes might light up at the thought of traipsing across a stage.
Click here to read the full article about our summer camps in PA
June 3rd, 2010
Posted in: Carnegie Mellon University, iD In The News, Villanova University
