The Tenth Annual Digital Media Art & Technology (DMAT) Student Showcase is rapidly approaching. The event is scheduled to take place Thursday, May 7th 3:00pm-7:00pm (during finals week.) Make sure to attend the event! It is a great opportunity to see and celebrate the best media projects developed by students over the last year. Popcorn and light appetizers will be provided. Invite your friends and family to attend!

This year, we are changing the format and venue a bit from previous years!

This year’s event will include:

• Student Film and Animation Festival (3-5pm) - Student created films, videos, and animations will be screened in Comm Arts room 134 Studio D from 3-5pm.
• Interactive Media Showcase (5-7pm) - Students created interactive media projects (games, web projects, and other interactive media experiences) will be demoed in Comm Arts room 134 Studio D from 5-7pm. Each team will have "Five Minutes of Fame" to present their interactive innovations in this high-paced, energetic session.
• Awards Ceremony (7pm) - Judges will attend the showcase and select the top projects in Fiction Film/Video, Non-Fiction Film/Video, Animation, Entertainment Games, Serious Games, and Web/Interactive Media. These projects will be awarded as "Best of Show" at the DMAT Showcase Awards Ceremony. The audience also has the chance to select the winner of the often-coveted "People’s Choice Award". The ceremony will take place at 7pm in room 134 Studio D.

Call for Submissions

If you have been a MSU student during this past 2008-2009 year, you can submit your media projects to be judged by a panel of academics and industry experts. Worthy projects will be shown at the DMAT Showcase 2009 Exhibition. The best projects will be highlighted during the DMAT Showcase Awards held at the event!

Download the Submission Requirements (pdf) document for details on how to submit to the showcase.

Deadline for submission is Monday, May 4th by 11:55pm.

Submit Online Today!

The Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media at Michigan State University is seeking an innovative, dynamic individual to fill a full-time, tenure stream position in Games and Interactive Media at the Assistant professor level.

Candidates will join an enthusiastic, multidisciplinary faculty team and should be able to contribute through design experience in one or more of the following fields: digital games, serious games, virtual worlds, computational media, computational art, user-centered design, and interactive media.  Experience in the field may take the form of creative practice and/or scholarly research. Expertise or experience in other disciplines is also welcome.

Candidates will be expected to gain visibility through juried creative works and/or peer-reviewed academic research publications. Faculty are expected to pursue external funding to support their creative and research activity.

Multidisciplinary approaches are encouraged to teach two courses a semester in our undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as advise graduate students on projects and theses. Visit http://tism.msu.edu for complete information on our majors, degrees, and specializations.

Qualifications: Terminal Degree. University level teaching experience preferred. A versatile practitioner with a portfolio of innovative work and/or research.

Application: Applications may be sent by email or physical mail. Applications must include:

• a letter of application
• a curriculum vitae
• names and address of three references (no letters at this time, please)
• a portfolio of work, properly labeled with any operating requirements. Emailed portfolios should contain a web link to an online portfolio or download of the work.

Please send materials to:

Cliff Lampe, Search Committee Chair
Games and Interactive Media Faculty Search
Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media
Room 409, Communication Arts and Sciences Building
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1212.

Email: lampecli@msu.edu

Application review begins December 1, 2008. Search closes when a suitable candidate is hired. Duties begin August 16, 2009.

MSU is an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity employer. MSU is committed to achieving excellence through cultural diversity. The university actively encourages applications and/or nominations of women, persons of color, veterans and persons with disabilities.

Meaningful Play 2008
October 9 - 11, 2008
East Lansing, MI, USA
http://meaningfulplay.msu.edu

The final keynote line-up for Meaningful Play 2008 includes:

• Richard Hilleman, Chief Creative Office, Electronic Arts
• Ian Bogost, Associate Professor at the Georgia Tech and Founding Partner at Persuasive Games LLC
• Leigh Anne Cappello, Vice President and Play Futurist with the Future Now division of Hasbro
• Ute Ritterfeld, Professor for Media Psychology at VU University Amsterdam and co-founded the Center for Advanced Media Research Amsterdam (CAMeRA@VU)
• Nick Fortugno, co-founder and President of Rebel Monkey
• Tracy Fullerton, Associate Professor in the Interactive Media Division of the USC School of Cinematic Arts and Director of the Electronic Arts Game Innovation Lab

Meaningful Play 2008 is an interdisciplinary academic conference that explores the potential of games to entertain, inform, educate, and persuade in meaningful ways. The conference includes thought-provoking keynotes from leaders in academia and industry, peer-reviewed paper presentations, panel sessions (including academic and industry discussions), roundtable discussions, an exciting poster session, and an exhibition of games.

Complete details on Meaningful Play 2008 is available at http://meaningfulplay.msu.edu.

The Environmental Science and Policy Program (ESPP) is hiring a student/temporary employee to assist with the updates and edits of the ESPP web site. Experience using Adobe Dreamweaver is desired, as are strong written and verbal communication skills. Candidates must be hard working, self-motivated, reliable, and have a desire to learn. The position is 15-20 hours/ week and pays $15-17/ hour.

Specific Responsibilities

• Carry out maintenance of the Environmental Science and Policy Program web site.
• Ensure consistency of design, layout and integrity of content across site.
• Playing an active role in tracking necessary Web updating, taking the initiative to track down content and prepare it for the Web.
• Coordinate with other students and staff on Web maintenance.
• Specific work may include updates to the employment/funding pages and events calendar  
• Performs other duties as assigned by ESPP staff and/or the Program Webmaster.

Education and Training  

Familiarity with PC and HTML/XHTML. Experience with Adobe Dreamweaver and/or Contribute, CSS, PHP/MySQL, Javascript a plus. Successful candidate may be trained.  

Application

Please send cover letter and resume (with two references) to Maya Fischhoff, mayaef@msu.edu, 432-8833

Experience: Exceptional Experience.

Organic is all about the exceptional. We are a leading digital communications agency – the first, in fact – focused on designing and building exceptional experiences that help make the online channel really work for leading companies. We work on everything digital – from websites to online marketing campaigns, from mobile applications to digital billboards – for companies such as Chrysler LLC, Warner Bros. International, Geek Squad and Bank of America. We are passionate about emerging platforms, and this helps keep us on the edge of the hottest and most interesting stories in the industry. And, as a leader in the marketplace, we have the opportunity to work on really exciting projects. Organic has an open, diverse culture that encourages participation and innovation. We reward exceptional work and creative ideas. At Organic we believe in working hard and having fun while we’re doing it. We have great benefits and perks including massages, pet insurance, Wednesday bagels and Friday cocktails.

Position Summary

The Associate Interface Engineer (Contract) collaborates with the Creative team and back-end developers to translate visual designs, user experience flows and content into functional and engaging interfaces for client projects. They contribute to the creative process by determining browser or other client side technology recommendations and guidelines, under the direction of more senior members. The Associate Interface Engineer (Contract) develops and tests client side interface implementations and tests these implementations for conformance to creative and development specifications.

Education/Work Experience

• 1+ yrs overall experience preferred including:
  1+ yrs related job experience in presentation layer technologies, coding, and design.
  • Knowledge of blogs, feeds and tags.
  • Knowledge of internet-based services such as social networks, wikis and other emerging technologies.
  • Conceptual understanding of OO methodologies and development processes such as AGILE, RUP, etc.
  • Experience with in Flash I preferred
• Bachelor’s degree preferred, or equivalent work experience.  

Rebecca L. Sanders
Sr. Contributor, Project Manager | Diversity, College Relations, Events
Organic, Inc. | 2600 S. Telegraph Rd, Suite 100 | Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302
Tel: 248.454.1258 | Fax: 248.454.3370
Email: rsanders@organic.com | Blog: http://threeminds.organic.com | website: www.organic.com | Linked in: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rlsanders

The DMAT Showcase Exhibition and Awards Ceremony 2008 is rapidly approaching. The event is scheduled to take place Thursday, May 1st 4:00pm-7:00pm (during finals week) in the Communication Arts & Sciences Building on the campus of Michigan State University. Make sure to attend the event! It is a great opportunity to see and celebrate the best projects developed by DMAT MA and BA students over the last year. This year, in addition to the exhibition, we will also have an awards ceremony at the showcase! Invite your friends and family to attend!

If you have created a medium to large-scale digital media project over the last year in a course at MSU or on your own, please consider submitting it for exhibition in the DMAT Showcase. Quality projects will be chosen by a panel of judges for exhibition at the showcase. The top-three projects will be selected as “Best of Show” in Video, Audio, Web, Games, Interactive Media, and Overall production, as well as a People’s Choice Award. The projects will be highlighted during the Awards Ceremony to take place at 7:00-7:30pm at the event.

Details on submitting your projects to the showcase are available at: http://dmat.msu.edu/showcase/

Deadline for submitting is Monday, April 28 at 8pm.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, is looking for a motivated student to help support and maintain the existing Mechanical Engineering website; Students must be willing to work 12-15 hours/week on average.

Job duties will include: maintaining and improving the current department website; creating and developing new content for the website; posting news and events. All applicants must have good communications skills, be reliable and willing to work on an individual and group basis. Proficiency in HTML layout is required. Knowledge of Dreamweaver or similar HTML editor, XHTML and CSS coding, work with a content management system, a good sense of web style and design, and an understanding of usability are desired. Resumes should be sent to bishop@egr.msu.edu.

Meaningful Play 2008
October 9 - 11, 2008
East Lansing, MI, USA
http://meaningfulplay.msu.edu

Call for Submissions

Whether designed to entertain or for more “serious” purposes, games have the potential to impact players’ beliefs, knowledge, attitudes, emotions, cognitive abilities, and behavior.

Meaningful Play 2008 is an interdisciplinary academic conference that explores the potential of games to entertain, inform, educate, and persuade. The conference includes thought-provoking keynotes from leaders in academia and industry, peer-reviewed paper presentations, panel sessions (including academic and industry discussions), innovative workshops, roundtable discussions, and exhibitions of games.

Submissions are sought from both researchers and practitioners in academia and industry. Graduate and advanced undergraduate students are also encouraged to submit either jointly with an academic/member of industry or alone.

While any topic related to games for entertainment and learning is appropriate to submit to Meaningful Play 2008, topics of particular interest include:

1) Exploring meaningful applications of games

• Games to change attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors (including social impact games and personal health games)
  
• Games to stimulate creativity or innovation
  
• Games to build social skills 
  
• Games to advertise (advergames) and persuade
  
• Games to exercise specific cognitive functions
  
• Games to explore personal beliefs and help make decisions
  
• Games to build knowledge and skills (games for learning)
  
• Serious games for history and cultural heritage learning 

2) Issues in designing meaningful play

• Game design for specific audience segments
  
• Player types and play styles
  
• Story and storytelling in games
  
• Competitve and cooperative play (single player, multiplayer and massively multiplayer)
  
• Balancing entertainment and serious goals
  
• Repurposing entertainment games for serious purposes
  
• Unintended and unexpected effects of games
  
• Using psychology and neuroscience to design and understand games
  
• Evaluation and assessment of game impacts 
  
• Barriers to the adoption of serious game

Submission deadline is July 1, 2008.

Complete details on Meaningful Play 2008 are available at:
http://meaningfulplay.msu.edu