A Message From the CEO

It's been a very busy few months since our last newsletter.  Part of the reason for nGen's success is the support that we have received from the Niagara educational community and the business community as a whole.  We appreciate their ongoing support and in turn, do our best to give back whenever possible.
 
nGen and our tenants have enjoyed and benefited greatly from our close relationships with Niagara's educational community. Together we believe that sharing and expanding our understanding of new technologies in digital interactive media will translate into a skilled personnel pool and eventually job creation in Niagara. We work closely with Brock University and Niagara College and have co-op students from local high schools.  We are currently teaching two classes as part of Brock's Interactive Arts and Science program.  This gives us the opportunity to integrate the technology of 'the Generator at one' into the curriculum. In addition, nGen tenants morro images, Fourgrounds Media and Furi Enterprises are working with researchers at Brock on applied research and commercialization projects. 

nGen tenant the Ontario Augmented Reality Network (OARN) held a half-day conference Interacting with Augmented Reality in June at Brock University. Kevin Kee, Project Director of OARN is the Canada Research Chair in Humanities Computing and Associate Professor at the Centre for Digital Humanities at Brock.  OARN is supporting the development of the augmented reality applications (ARA) sector in Ontario through three types of activities: training; knowledge-sharing; and research.  OARN is currently planning fall workshops.  For more information visit their website.

We also enjoy many positive relationships with the Niagara business community.  We would like to extend a warm welcome to Nick DiPietro, as the Executive in Residence with our Regional Innovation Centre (RIC). The RIC offers a variety of programs and services intended to assist innovative companies and entrepreneurs in their business development.   These services are available at no-charge and include educational programs, advisory services, industry-academic programs, financing advice, and customer development.  For more information visit the website. 

nGen and the RIC continue to host business seminars and networking events to facilitate and encourage greater knowledge and networking .  Upcoming seminars include fundamentals of business strategy and Marketing CoPilot seminar. Contact the innovation centre at ngen-niagara.com/innovation for more information on these events.  We also continue to host successful Interactive Digital Media Mashups.   Our most recent Mashup on September 27 featured a presentation by game production company,Phantom Compass.Phantom Compass is a small Toronto-based company interested in expanding to St. Catharines. The company regularly works with independent media producers, chiefly in the youth media industry and secondarily in the social-issue and educational game sectors.  The Mashups are a popular event because they provide attendees with the opportunity to meet and greet with Niagara's best and brightest in the interactive digital media field.  Our next Mashup is scheduled for November 22nd and will feature OARN.  We hope that you will be able to join us.

Over the next few months, we will be accepting applications for tenancy and we are always open to new ideas in the interactive digital media field from members of the community. If you have any questions, or you want to become involved in the interactive digital media field, feel free to contact us, or add yourself to nGen's stakeholder list.

Jeff Chesebrough

Chief Executive Officer, nGen

nGen launches Niagara's First Regional Innovation Centre Becoming a Member of the ONE Network

The services nGen has provided in the past have now been expanded, as nGen has become a member of the ONE (Ontario Network of Excellence).  ONE is a collaborative network of organizations across Ontario, designed to help innovative people commercialize their ideas.  ONE connects businesses, entrepreneurs, and researchers with services and programs to help innovate and gain a competitive advantage. In addition to the interactive digital media sector we are now able to support innovative companies in sectors such as Bioproducts & Biosciences; Health, Wellness and Life Sciences; and Green Energy & Technology.

Through the ONE program we are able to build upon nGen's past offerings to provide the following services at no cost to you:

• Advisory Services:  Expert coaching and mentorship services are available to help penetrate the market and accelerate business growth.

• Networking: Peer-to-Peer meetings, Mash-Ups, Special Events, Business and Industry Contacts.

• Educational Programs: Entrepreneurship Training (i.e. pitch coaching, business models, online workshops, etc.), Seminars, and Business Tools and Templates. First-time entrepreneurs, researchers, and business veterans can all benefit from the services and programs provided through ONE, which will sharpen skills and advance business goals.

• Financial Programs: Information and support on various business and project financial programs.

• Market Research: Access to quality market intelligence reports pertinent to innovative industries.

 In June, the RIC hosted their first event with great success.  Entitled Niagara Innovation: 2011 Contacts to Contracts, they matched up executives from innovative companies throughout the region to meet and chat about how they could work together.  Each executive attended five meetings, and early reports are that on average three or four of them resulted in ongoing business relationships.

Over the next year, the RIC plans to hold other events such as a lunch and learn series, industry-specific seminars and entrepreneurial education classes.   Stay tuned for announcements of events centering on topics such as creating your "pitch" and optimizing your online marketing.

For more information on nGen's programs and services please visit www.ngen-niagara.com, If you think you could benefit from our program, click on the ONE tab and select Client Intake form to give us more information about your company.  We will respond to you within 3 days and setup a meeting with you or if you have any questions, contact N'ora Kalb, Program Coordinator at 905-685-3460 ext. 205, or nkalb@ngen-niagara.com.

ngen-niagara.com/innovation

Tenancy

nGen is currently accepting applications for tenancy. Applicants must be entrepreneurs in the field of interactive digital media. Those interested in applying, please contact Jeff Chesebrough at jchesebrough@ngen-niagara.com to set up a meeting.

Tenant Updates

Fourgrounds Media

It's been a very busy few months for the Fourgrounds team.

First of all they'd like to congratulate the Lincoln Country Humane Society as the winner of the "free commercial" Facebook contest.  The promo video was used during the grand opening of their new spay/neuter facility.  It will be on their Facebook page shortly (www.facebook.com/fourgrounds)

The team is continuing to create videos for the Niagara market and is excited to be working with two new clients: Offsite Industries and Storybrook Homes. Taking them a bit further from home, the Fourgrounds team is currently producing a hockey documentary being filmed in Boston. 

The team is looking forward to working with a co-op student from Lakeshore High School.

Finally, we are thrilled to announce that Fourgrounds has been nominated for Niagara Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in the categories of Innovative Small Business and Emerging Entrepreneur.   We wish them well.

Check out Fourgrounds on facebook and twitter to stay up to date on company news and events, interesting happenings in the industry, and fan-only contests!

www.fourgrounds.com

morro images

Tobias Wiegand, President, is pleased to announce that the team has added two new artists, and has now grown to a staff of five.  The MoCap Studio is being used for computer games and television commercials, and the product development and rapid prototyping departments are growing steadily. 

morro has brought its expertise in VFX to the service of a US TV series and has recently started production on a feature film.  They are also doing some R&D to develop a new device. 

To stay in touch and always get the latest breaking news from morro images in Canada and Germany, become a fan of morro on facebook or follow them on twitter.

www.morroimages.com

211 INTERACTIVE

211 INTERACTIVE continues to create beautiful, usable websites, produce and integrate rich media content, and develop interactive marketing strategies right here in Niagara. They also provide professional marketing, creative and technical consulting services, and are now offering Mobile App Development for iPhone, iPad and Android based devices.

Look for 211 Interactive's own revised website to go live on October 1, 2011.  The site will showcase MODOcms, HTML 5, CSS 3, AJAX & Rich Media Video Content.

211 recently partnered with a well-established Niagara-based web firm to provide Project Management and Creative services, and have been contracted to provide technical and web consulting to a private National Security company. 

In September 211 met with Minister Goodyear during his tour of the nGen facility, taking advantage of the opportunity to discuss the state of business and nGen synergies.

www.211interactive.com

PixelNAUTS

The  PixelNAUTS team is partnering with Romper Games to co-develop an original iPhone game.  The game will be announced shortly and is slated for release in fall 2011. 

The team has applied for OMDC funding in support of yet another iPhone title –this game is currently in a prototype phase and will start full development in early 2012.

For information about the games, PixelNAUTS services, careers or anything else, visit their website or follow them on facebook or twitter.

www.pixelnauts.ca

FURI Enterprises 

The FURI team has been busy working on a number of mobile and web development projects.  The team is currently building their hosted services and datacentre portfolio through The Generator at One.  More details will be available on the website in the coming weeks.  In the coming weeks we will also be posting developer positions in the career section of the website. 

furi.ca

Ontario Augmented Reality Network (OARN)

Having officially launched at the half-day Interacting with Augmented Reality Conference in June at Brock, OARN is now looking forward to their fall workshops to be held in Toronto, St. Catharines and London this November.

In the next few weeks check in with OARN's website.  You will be treated to some design improvements and more information about Augmented Reality.  For updates on OARN and augmented reality follow them on twitter.

www.oarn.net

Brock University – Centre for Digital Humanities

In June 2011 the Centre for Digital Humanities and the Interactive Arts and Science program worked with nGen to organize the third "Interacting with Immersive Worlds" conference featuring keynote speeches by Dejan Momcilovic of Weta Studios, New Zealand, Michael Schmalz, CEO of Digital Extremes, Professor David Benyon, Director of Centre for Interaction Design, Edinburgh Napier University and Jon-Paul Dyson, Director of the International Center for the History of Electronic Games, Rochester NY. The conference also featured a tour of the Generator at one for participants, followed by the conference banquet at Stella's Restaurant. The tour included a presentation by NSERC on grant opportunities. The conference, tour and banquet were all a great success, with over 70 participants and some fascinating keynote addresses.

The IASC program and nGen continue to work closely together on the educational front, with the "Innovation in Advanced Digital Media" class taught by Tobias Wiegand and Adrian Thiessen now a full year course. In addition, Tobias Wiegand and Jeff Chesebrough are teaching the Interactive Media Portfolio course, preparing IASC students for entry in to the digital media industry. In Winter semester Alex Golebiowski of Pixelnauts will be teaching a course on the Unreal game engine for the IASC program.

The CDH is also ramping up its ties with nGen in the area of research thanks to the FedDev Applied Research and Commercialization (ARC) program.  A number of faculty from Brock, including faculty from the CDH, are working with companies at nGen on cutting-edge research and development in digital media. These grants are in the early stages, so it is too soon to announce research results from these initiatives.

brocku.ca/iasc/

Niagara College

The Niagara College team is currently working on an architectural visualization for a Niagara-on-the-Lake property owner.  The property is an undeveloped plot of land and the team is using CG Visualization to showcase the land's potential.  This includes a CG Visualization of the property including 4 buildings and landscaping; a video render of the property along with 4 still renders and a website to display the work.

www.niagaracollege.ca

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