iD NEWS & BLOG
Vassar College
Summer Camps at Vassar College–CEO Site Visit–You’ve been Blogged!
July 9th, 2008 by PeteWhat up Vassar College?
It was great seeing you all yesterday and I want to thank you all for being so inviting. It was fun to see the cool projects and great instruction happening at our summer computer camps. Here are some photos I took. Enjoy them!
Have fun today and keep posted on where I head next. Feel free to drop a comment in the blog!
Have fun. Stay safe!
-Pete
Getting to the Summer Camp at Vassar
Gorgeous Campus!
Main Building and an iD Tech Camps Sign
Cool Model
I am Jamie and I’ll take your calls!
I am a Gaming Athlete! Nice close up!
Personalized instruction!
Maya? Piece of cake!
Yep, I designed this!
Wow!
Cool Character
Nice to meet you, too!
Check out this 3D Modeling with Maya. Impressive!
Another shot of the main campus at Vassar

The Vassar College campus
Instruction in our Web Design and Flash Animation course. Nice work!
Deep in thought and concentrating!
Robo Contenders course in action!
There’s the smile! Gotcha!
Design it!
Otter? Ground Hog? Gopher? Who cares! It’s cool!
I caught you smiling!
Twice! Booya!
Teaching Multimedia Fusion in our Video Game Creation course
Instruction delivered 1-on-1 in Gaming Athletes course
Andre, are you smiling?
Unreal Tournament 3 rocks!
I knew you could smile!
The computer camp lab
Health and Safety come first at iD Tech Camps! Muy bien hecha, Jen! Hasta luego!
Game Design Instructors
The Hand
Robotics!
And off I go on another whirlwind adventure!
Have fun!
-Pete
Poughkeepsie Journal
July 19th, 2006 by Nancy
As appeared in the Poughkeepsie Journal
July 19, 2006
Kids get plugged in at tech camp
By Erikah Haavie
Ian Slakas was looking for something special to give his friends during his birthday party next week.
He decided on video games he would create.
”It wouldn’t be the average thing to give out,” said Slakas, an 11-year-old from Croton, Westchester, County.
Slakas is among 90 students from across New York attending iD Tech Camp at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie this week.
The weeklong computer camps are teaching students from elementary school to high school how to create video games, produce digital movies and music videos, program computers and design Web sites.
Vassar is one of 40 colleges and universities across the country hosting the camps, offered by the Campbell, Calif.-based company iD Tech Camps.
Tuition for a week of instruction ranges from $699 for a day program to $1,099 for an overnight program.
The youngest students are learning how to create digital artwork using Adobe Photoshop, while more advanced students are customizing existing video games.
2-time attendee
Jessica Jackson, a 15-year-old from the Town of Poughkeepsie, is attending the camp for the second year.
Her dad piqued her interest in computers, since he works with them every day as an accountant.
She has been designing her own artwork and Web site this week.
”You don’t feel like you’re just sitting around,” Jackson said. ”You get to meet new people.”
While most students come to camp to pursue their technology interests, Pete Vigeant, director of Vassar’s camp, said he hopes students will get a taste of college life and make new friends with similar interests.
”They’re not shy here because everyone here is like them,” Vigeant said.
Doug Mansell, an 18-year-old Salt Point resident, is teaching video-game creation to six students this summer.
He said he has been impressed with their creativity. Students have created games with hedgehog-shooting elephants and mummies that shoot fruit in outer space.
Slakas is working on two video games he’ll share with his friends, a series of challenges named Helicopter and Helicopter 2.0.
He is attending three weeks of computer camp.
”Here it’s always new things,” Slakas said. ”It’s always an adventure.”
Erikah Haavie can be reached at ehaavie@pough keepsiejournal.com
Click article to view in full size












































