I don’t want to sell you the idea of iD Tech Camp on the iD Tech Camp blog – that’s kind of silly. You’re already here. There’s already something that appeals about this organization – or maybe you just enjoy the color scheme and subject matter of the blog. Maybe you’re a huge fan of my rants… Unlikely, I know.

I don’t want to sell you the idea of iD Tech Camp because I’d rather teach you about where the world of technology is today and where it will be tomorrow. I want you to think about the skills that are necessary for 21st century learners and workers based on the new world of connectivity and digital interactivity that is opening around us. When I was growing up, there were few computers. People with the right kind of eyes could see that the personal computer would soon invade every home. It wasn’t until my early teens that those same innovators saw the early Internet as something of value, something that would change our culture forever.

At the same time, game design was left to the experts – a brilliant few that had both coding and artistic chops, as well as thousands of hours and tons of patience. Luckily, we’ve moved beyond that – way beyond that.

Angry Birds has been downloaded 400 million times and has subsequently spiraled into a billion dollar piece of intellectual property. Billion. With a “B.” Does that seem like an impossible feat for a company with 12 people? But that’s a company – what about the indie developers; the kids?

Minecraft, a PC sandbox creation game, was originally created by a single programmer and now has 15.2 million registered users, almost 4 million of those folks actually paid for the game!

How can this be?

There are more gaming platforms now than ever before. According to VGChartz, over 400 million current generation gaming consoles have been sold on the planet. Additionally, almost 130 million iPhones have been sold and about 50 million iPads by the end of 2011. Android, the main competitor for iOS devices, currently has over 190 million devices in use. This, of course, does not count the countless number of personal computers and laptops, also tremendously capable of gaming. Impressive numbers, right?

The problem with so many devices is that they all need interesting software. A screen is nothing without something interesting to show! Over the years, various screen creators have made different development engines. These starts as very basic SDK’s, or “Software Development Kits.” These kits were incredibly expensive and hard to use. Not only that, but hardware manufacturers only gave the kits to reputable companies, meaning that only a few developers even got a chance to create something great.

Software development has left the hands of the super techies. Now, just about anyone can create an app for the iPhone or an Android device or even a game for the PC or XBox. The point is control – if you imagine it, you should be able to build it. The tools are out there and anything is possible.

So what exactly is the point?

When you read a book to a kid, at some point you want them to realize that they too can craft their own story. When you show a kid some art, at some point you want them to know that they too can paint their own picture. Our world is turning to interactive media – and it’s a user-created universe. It’s time to realize that when you use a piece of software, whether it’s a game, an application, a website, or a cool artsy interactive, at some point you too can create your own vision and make your interactive dreams a reality. It’s not about making money, although that’s can be a welcome side affect. It’s about claiming creative rights and becoming a 21st century contributor.

I was really interested in how a game is made outside of the computer lab – from the idea; to gathering a team; to pouring your talents into something you love. My favorite course at iD Tech Camp is Game Creation: Arcade & Platform because I love Super Mario Bros., Sonic the Hedgehog and LittleBigPlanet (as well as Terraria!) There is so much you can do with a 2D game and I’ve never seen two iD game projects created in Multimedia Fusion that are the same. Anyway, I hope that this interview inspires everyone to follow their passion and create something awesome!

By Gina Macris

PROVIDENCE — In another era, 11-year-old Joseph Laflamme of Smithfield might not have developed his storytelling skills, since English is not his favorite subject at school.

But as a video-game developer, Joseph has created Freezor, a villain covered in icy blue fur who steals the tacos in “Julio Taquito’s Epic Adventures in Quality Mexican Food.”

To get the tacos back, the game player must board a spaceship and chase Freezor across another dimension, dodging the circular blades the monster throws like Frisbees.

Click here to read the full article about our Providence summer camps

By Shantal Parris Riley

Young minds probed deep into the world of computers Thursday at the iD Tech Camp at Vassar College. Scores of kids, ages 7-17, sat in front of computer screens, designing from scratch games, iPod and iPhone applications, and other programs. They were participants at the iD Tech Camp’s computer science summer camp, which is in its 10th year at the college. “I’m making an application that converts English into binary code,” said camper Benjamin Handel of Brooklyn. The 12-year-old held an iPad showing a blank window with a virtual keyboard underneath it. “Say you type this,” he said, keying in “My name is Ben.” He tapped a large virtual button labeled “convert to binary,” and a series of about 50 ones and zeros suddenly appeared in the window.

Click here to read full article about our summer camps in New York

A favorite Tech-Reation activity is outdoor soccer.

An intense game of Capture-the-Flag at our teen Massachusetts summer camps.

Capturing the shot in our photography courses held at MIT.

Students reflect on what they’ve learned at our DC summer camps.

Too cool for school. But not for video game design courses.

A gorgeous day for outdoor summer fun.

Getting ready for off-computer time with some fun board games.

Letting off some steam at our Austin summer camps.

Massachusetts teens get up close and personal with computers.

See you next time!

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) –  Campers are working hard at creating video game and websites.

Director Katie Taylor said that the camp doesn’t just focus on a single kind of game.

“We have a variety of classes offered. Everything from game creation, arcade and platform, to programming C++ and Java and designing FPS games which are First Person Shooter games, and also role playing games,” said Taylor.

Campers enjoyed the experience of meeting and collaborating with others who shared their interests.

“It’s just so much fun to learn how to do everything and make your game so your person can run around in it and play with other people,” said camper Nolan Risse.

Campers collaborate on games, websites: wlfi.com

So you are probably thinking I have a lot of extra spare time on my hands if I am blogging about a cat. Not true. This is a serious post! I take running summer camps and computer camps very seriously. But I also take my front yard seriously. Sort of.

Here’s the deal. My son and I planted flowers in the front yard last weekend. Probably the first time I have planted flowers in about 5 years–my wife would say “ever.” You get the idea. Well, all week long, there had been an anonymous animal (neighbor’s dog?…squirrel?) digging up the flowers. I started getting a little bit upset because half the flowers have died this week. I pretty much figured it was the dog next door (Stella) who was to blame. But I had no proof. Until this morning as I was pulling out of the driveway. It was JIMMY THE CAT!

Jimmy is my cat. He is 7 years old. Many people in the office know him for his crazy tom-cat antics. But he is the culprit–the one taking care of business on my flowers. He digs them up. He rolls around on them. He waters and fertilizes them. Well, Jimmy…you have been caught. You have been blogged!

Being that we are somewhat tech-savvy in our house, I won’t be surprised if Jimmy tries to tweet something bad about me this week, just to get me back. Nobody likes candids of themselves caught in the act. I will be on the lookout.

JIMMY CAUGHT IN THE ACT: DIGGING

JIMMY CAUGHT IN THE ACT: MAKING SURE THE COAST IS CLEAR. HE DIDN’T KNOW I HAD MY CAMERA ON ME.

JIMMY CAUGHT IN THE ACT: REALLY GETTING INTO IT.

JIMMY CAUGHT IN THE ACT: WATERING THE PLANTS…OR…WHATEVER

JIMMY CAUGHT IN THE ACT: GOING ALL IN

If you want to see more on Jimmy, leave me a comment, and there will be more. I could get really crazy and start YouTubing this guy…if he doesn’t get me first!

This email was just sent to one of our client services reps.  Roque received this email yesterday and sent it to me.  I love, love, love hearing stories like this.  We often hear that students at our summer camps learn more in a week with us than they do at a year in school.  The below email pretty much sums it up:

_______________________________________________________

From: Susan (Last Name Withheld)
Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 3:29 AM
To: roque@internaldrive.com
Subject: ID Tech Camp experience 2009

My son, Andrew, attended ID Tech Camp C++/Java class at the University of Michigan in the summer of 2009.  This year, Andrew is in the 10th grade and attends our high school’s math/science program.  One of his classes this year is Java 1 and he is scheduled to take Java 2 next year.  I would like to share with you the progress Andrew has made this year because of the education he received at your camp.

The instruction he received at your camp in one week was the equivalent to about half a year of his Java 1 class.  His computer teacher would like him to work aggressively through the remaining modules so he can complete Java 1 and 2 this year.  I would like to commend you on your dedicated and talented instructors that provide such an excellent education.

Sue (Last Name Withheld)

_______________________________________________________

Sue, thanks for writing to us!  It is great to see that Andrew had such a positive experience at our summer camp for teenagers.  He is now on the fast track.

Best,

Pete

Last week I received in the mail a box of candy from a student.  I was moved by the hand-written card, the thoughtfulness of the gift, but also the reminder that what we do (run summer computer camps for kids) changes lives, one student at a time.

Braden attended our Villanova University location and took a course that is now titled Adventures in Programming – a course that is fun and great for summer learning.  He really excelled and he has a very, very bright future.

Braden – I personally want to thank you for the card and the candy.  I really love the card.  Your grammar and spelling and penmanship are really, really top notch.  And the picture of the computer that you drew is really cool too.  Thanks for taking the time to write me.  You made my day.  And my week.  And I am so glad you enjoyed our summer camp!

Thank you!

Pete

PS, the i in “iD” and T in “Tech” fell off the bottom part of the card, but that makes it even cooler!

We made a little money.  We tightened the belt while still running amazing camps.  But we still had this feeling that we wanted to take our company to a whole new space.  We thought, “We worked hard to survive the Great Recession, so how can we thrive in 2010?  What are we going to do differently to take it to another level?”

One of our initiatives?  POSITIVELY OUTRAGEOUS SERVICE.  Southwest Airlines is one of my favorite companies…and we already have a bit of a whacky culture anyways.  So, we stole the POS acronym from them.  (Full disclosure.)  But I cannot expect my staff to provide POS if I don’t live it myself.  Today, I made Cuban coffee for the team and went around the office with a cart.

That's me, serving my Client Service manager.

We don’t want to feel good about what we’re doing.  We want to feel great about it.  Most of our moms, dads, campers and staff know that we have a passion for service, but we always think we can do better.  In this case, I think my team was excited about the fact that I would go out of my way to make them coffee, and serve it to them personally.  They didn’t ask for it, and didn’t expect it.  And that’s the basis for how we define POS.

It looks staged, but they truly loved the coffee.

OK, back to POS.  Here are some things we already do.  We’ve been doing things this way since iD was born.  It’s just part of our DNA:

• We don’t have a phone tree.  When you call us up, our benchmark is to pick up the phone within 3 rings.
• I personally don’t have an office.  I sit with the client services group.  It keeps me in the know, and close to our clients.  It allows me to listen, and to act fast.
• When a client emails us, I expect the email to get answered the same day. Max 24 hours.
• Out at camp, we expect personalized diplomas from our staff.
• We expect our summer staff to assist with luggage for our overnight campers.
• We expect our technology instruction to be energetic, informative, and unlike anything the students have done before.

These are simple examples of some of our current expectations–and things we do very well already.

So, where do we want to go this year?  Here’s what Positively Outrageous Service means to us:

• We know we want to routinely perform “the unexpected.”  (Think delivering coffee at 3 PM on a random afternoon!)
• We want people to talk about our organization and our brand.  (The CEO of iD made coffee and carted it around!)
• We don’t want to pre-define POS in concrete terms.  It limits our creativity.  (What will I come up with next?)
• We do, however, want to illustrate samples of POS for our internal departments and summer staff, so individuals can visualize what the possibilities are.
• We want our employees to feel empowered to deliver POS–to take some risks and have fun along the way.  (It was fun today.  It gave people a reason to laugh.)
• POS can come in many forms, but the bottom line is to thrill the client in new and unexpected ways.  (It is OK to thrill your employees too!)  Sometimes it might cost a few dollars to make a client happy.  But it is not about money.  Is is about going the extra mile on behalf of the client or camper–and not treating them like another number or commodity.

POS, to us, is something that comes to our team naturally.  It doesn’t bend us in unnatural ways.  We can only deliver POS if we already have a strong culture of service–and if all the people in the company “get it.”  So, be careful who you hire!  We have an awesome foundation already.  The team has to want it, and understand it.  And be smart enough, and sensitive enough, to deliver it.

I am meeting with my client service group weekly to ask each individual how they have delivered POS.  I want to see the proof.  I want the stories.  And I want people to talk about us.  This attitude extends out to our summer camps as well.  The spirit of service is partly why we survived 2009, and will thrive even more in 2010.  A lot of companies talk about great customer service.  Most of it is blah blah blah, right.  Truly, few companies get it.  We do.

And, if you have any doubts about POS, please remember this.  You can always call Captain Curry.  The Captain heads up our Client Services group.  Really.  Don’t believe me?  Give us a call.  We’ll pick up in 3 rings or less.  If we don’t, I owe you a coffee!

Hope to see you out at camp!

Sincerely,

Pete I-C

Captain Curry delivers POS