Interactive Ontario

Launching a new venture is always a difficult endeavour but one that has become increasingly complex in today's era. A great idea is no longer singularly enough. That great idea has to be supported by passion, talent, perseverance, and a breadth of resources who have expertise in the broad spectrum of skills that are n...ecessary to operate and grow a corporation today. Entrepreneurs today need to be creative and innovative but also need to understand the broader definition of innovation.

This gTalk will provide real-world insights into the various characteristics of successful entrepreneurs and will shed some light on the facets of companies that have the ingredients to become true success stories. While the path from start-up to success can be a tortuous one, the journey is worth embarking on for those ambitious and focused enough. Learn more about passion to project in this gTalk from someone who lives for the journey.

Vikas has the privilege of working with an extraordinary team and, together with them, is establishing TransGaming as a global leader in the development of innovative products for the electronic entertainment industry. TransGaming has been featured as a PROFIT Hot 50 company as well as ranking third in the TSX Venture Top 50.

Prior to joining TransGaming, Vikas was the founder and President of InterLogic Systems, a telephony consulting and systems integration firm dedicated to delivering innovative and creative enterprise solutions to Fortune 1000 clients in the areas of Computer Telephony Integration, Interactive Voice Response Systems, and fax processing systems. InterLogic was acquired by Prima Telematic and Vikas served as President of Prima Canada and Executive Vice President of Prima Telematic.

Vikas play an active role in advising and mentoring a number of start-ups, is Chair of the non-profit organization, McCluhan Festival of the Future, and sits on the Board of Interactive Ontario. Vikas is also a frequent speaker and lecturer at the University of Toronto Rotman School of Business and Ryerson University's Business and Technology program. In 2008, Vikas was the recipient of the Indo-Canadian Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneur of the Year Award and has also been featured in a broad range of print and television media. Vikas is a graduate of the University of Waterloo, Canada's premier high-tech educational institution. Read More

In this session, Jen will trek the thorny path of game development for two ambiguous, elusive, and, (they say) ‘untapped’ game development markets: women / girls and education. For the former, she will argue that chasing women’s / girls’ preferences in terms of games is like reading tea leaves, and for the latter, she ...hopes to show how, on very little, an extremely playable, and fun, educational game might be made.

Jennifer Jenson is Associate Professor of Pedagogy and Technology in the Faculty of Education at York University. She has published on gender, technology, digital games and education, is currently President of the Canadian Game Studies Association, and is co-editor of a digital games and culture journal, Loading... She has worked on numerous educational game design products over the last 10 years, most recently a Baroque music game for teens. The color of her DSi is blue and she is inclined at the moment to replay different versions of Zelda. Read More