IN 2010 TO DELIVER UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTERACTIVE MEDIA BUSINESSES

2010-09-02

In less than two weeks Canada's top digital entrepreneurs, creators and thinkers from across all interactive platforms will come together at IN 2010 in downtown Toronto to take the pulse of the ever-changing interactive entertainment business.

"Expect the unexpected," says Interactive Ontario President and CEO, Ian Kelso. "IN 2010 is a truly creative and diverse business event where you will meet the most innovative people and generate new ideas that could lead to exciting opportunities for the growth of your interactive business."

Now in its fifth year, IN has earned a solid reputation as an essential meeting place and presents a key opportunity to get a front-line view of emergent trends across converging platforms and business models.  In the past two years the conference has achieved a 98% satisfaction rating based in its own exit surveys.

"We are very excited that IN 2010 is taking place in September for the first time," says Kelso. "It will be a chance to refocus after a long hot summer and provide attendees with an opportunity to meet some of the top creative thinkers in the interactive digital media space, which this year includes two TED speakers."

Tom Wujec, Fellow, Autodesk and Eric (3ric) Johanson, Project Scientist and Entropy Generator Intellectual Ventures Lab have both been selected presenters at the TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) conference which is held annually in Long Beach, California and is widely heralded as one of the most exclusive conference events in the world.

This year, IN 2010's move to September also aligns it with the Toronto International Film Festival. To celebrate the serendipitous timing, IN will feature several sessions and speakers who will examine the opportunities in transmedia development between interactive media, film and TV entertainment.

Most notably is the opening keynote presentation by Jordan Mechner, creator of both the successful video game franchise Prince of Persia, as well as the recent feature film of the same name produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. The Prince of Persia game franchise has sold over 14 million units while the film has grossed well over $300 million making it the most successful video game to movie crossover ever.

"We asked Jordan to lead off the conference particularly because he is the creative visionary behind the franchise on both platforms," says Kelso. "I think media makers from both new and traditional media will be very interested to get a better handle on the thought process that went into this successful adaptation."

IN 2010 will feature almost 90 presenters participating in five programme tracks including: Games, Mobile, Blackberry Social Media Stream, Rogers Digital Media X-Platform Stream and OCAD University Visionary Stream. IN 2010 also offers registered delegates the opportunity to meet with conference speakers and attendees via the one-on-one meeting system. This year IN is also a partner in MOBILEINNOVATIONWEEK, one of Canada's largest festivals of mobile media content and services which takes place September 13 to 18.