[POSTPONED] WESST to Host Green Tech open house 12/16

POSTPONED DUE TO WEATHER

WESST Corp and Abba Technologies are teaming up for a Green Tech event at WESST Corp's new Enterprise Center in Albuquerque. Check it out...

Join Abba Technologies for a Green Tech Open House!

Please join Abba Technologies for a Green Tech Open House on Tuesday, December 16 from 10:30 AM - 2:30 PM. In conjunction with Extreme Technologies, Dell, and VMware, we look forward to sharing with you strategies to save money and make your IT environment more efficient.


Guest speakers to include:
Susie Marbury
Energy Efficiency & Green Building Administrator
NM Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department

John Soladay
Director of Environmental Health, City of Albuquerque

Nick Babic
Project Developer, Affordable Solar

Bruce Wells
Project Manager, Abba Managed Services

Additional technical presentations on:

• Streamlining of the data center & infrastructure
• Automation of power management tactics
• Virtualization

Event host and location: WESST Enterprise Center 609 Broadway NE Albuquerque, NM 87110 www.wesst.org At the event, enjoy a tour of WESST's LEED certified center.

Your RSVP for the event is greatly appreciated (Sign Up Here).

Call for Documentary Filmmaker applications

Calling all filmmakers who want to use film as a catalyst for progressive social change!

Working Films is accepting applications for its five-day residency for documentary filmmakers at Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA). The residency, which is called the Content + Intent Documentary Institute, will take place March 11-15, 2009 in North Adams, MA. Applications for admission to the Institute may be found online at www.workingfilms.org (or you can contact Anna Lee at alee@workingfilms.org). The application deadline is January 28, 2009.

Ensuring that a film’s release has an impact is as important as its production. The Content + Intent Documentary Institute will guide approximately eight filmmakers and advanced film students through the development of audience and community engagement plans for their film projects. Linking the documentaries-in-progress to organizations committed to progressive social change will be a key component of the Institute.

Participants will create an audience engagement plan for their films, identify potential community and non-profit partners, and develop first drafts of select support materials, including effective timelines, budgets, and implementation strategies. Working Films will offer insight on the development of web sites, fundraising tactics and press strategies. A two day film festival at MASS MoCA - featuring documentaries on social justice and environmental issues - runs concurrently with the Content + Intent Institute.

Filmmakers accepted to participate in the Institute must submit a $500 enrollment fee to attend. (Some scholarships are available.) The enrollment fee covers residency costs and materials, housing costs and some meals. Attendees will reside in MASS MoCA’s artist housing which is within walking distance of the training site.

Working Films will announce accepted applicants on February 6, 2009.

About Working Films
Based in Wilmington, NC, Working Films is a national nonprofit that connects documentaries to social change. Our services range from coordinating rough-cut community feedback screenings, to developing strategies for a documentary’s outreach, to constructing collaborative campaigns between filmmakers and organizers. Working Films is also the only national media outreach organization offering free consultations on using films for social justice to independent filmmakers, with over 400 to date. For more information on Working Films, please visit www.workingfilms.org.

IGDA December Event: Child's Play Fundraiser @ O'Niell's

The Rio Grande IGDA chapter is glad to announce our 2nd annual holiday
fundraiser for Child's Play (http://www.childsplaycharity.org/).

More details to come, but for now, save the date:

When:    Thursday, December 11th, 6-9PM
Where:   O'Niells Pub, 4310 Central SE Albuquerque

Since 2003, over 100,000 gamers worldwide have banded together through Child's Play, a community based charity grown and nurtured from the game culture and industry. Over two million dollars in donations of toys, games, books and cash for sick kids in children's hospitals across North America and the world have been collected since our inception.

For more information about "Child's Play" visit their website at: http://www.childsplaycharity.org/
Local donations benefit New Mexico's Children's Hospital.  Can't make it?  You can also donate at http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/registry.html/?_&id=21EIN5ZGOFY3U

Want to help out?  Please visit our group site if you'd like to volunteer or help sponsor.
We're at http://groups.google.com/group/riogrande-igda?hl=en

New local UX Group Meet-up Next Thursday

Building our local networks and connections between them is, we believe, a key part of growing our local creative media community. And this one is particularly fun -- please check it out.

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USER EXPERIENCE (UX) SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP -- IxDA LOCAL PRELIMINARY MEETING

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Are you an avid reader of IxDA mail list? Or do you design the behavior of digital products, websites, applications and software? Or are you an Interaction Designer, User Experience Designer or Information Architect? Or do you call yourself something else like Usability Engineer or UI Designer? Maybe you don't have a fancy title, but are totally into user experience and interaction design?
If so join us for the inaugural meet-up of the IxDA New Mexico Local Group.

We're meeting at Savoy Bar and Grill at 10601 Montgomery Blvd NE in Albuquerque (we'll be in the bar) for an initial meet and greet at 5:30pm on November 19th.

Come meet with other UX Professionals to chat about all things UX and to discuss building a local IxDA community here in New Mexico.

The IxDA (Interaction Designers Association) is a member-supported organization committed to serving the needs of the international interaction design community. With more than 5,000 members since 2004 IxDA hosts a vibrant online community. To find out more about IxDA go to: www.ixda.org

For more information about the IxDA New Mexico Local Group contact
kevin at clearwired dot com.

SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival call for Submissions...

Forwarded from Maya Martinez to the SIGGRAPH 2009 Computer Animation Group:

SIGGRAPH's Computer Animation Festival is the premiere festival dedicated to presenting the state-of-the-art in computer graphics. We only show the best of the best work accomplished in the last year, everything from "making of" sequences to commercial spots, music videos, research visualizations, experimental animated shorts, and traditional narrative.

Computer Animation Festival: Films

"My particular aesthetic of light and color and design wouldn't change as a result of working with computer graphics rather than with slit scan or miniatures."
Douglas Trumbull

We are looking for films that showcase the most recent advances in computer-generated imagery and, at the same time, entertain and educate. Whether the computer that created the film has a standard engine or a game engine; runs Mac, PC, or Linux; or is an old SGI you just couldn't part with, if your work is visually stunning and conceptually entertaining, we encourage you to read the submission guidelines and submit your film.

The subject matter of the films we would like to see includes:

* Content that educates the festival audience about advances in rendering, animation, research, and the tools used to create digital images, including astronomy, medical, visual music, and science visualizations.
* Content that elaborates and highlights the tools and talent used to create visual effects, games (real-time captures as well as pre-rendered work), and animations.
* Content that shows the many uses of real-time game rendering engines outside of the gaming industry.
* Content that reflects the joy of music and the complex history of New Orleans, or enhances our conference themes of Music and Multi-Senses, are particularly encouraged.

Films, with the exception of documentary/educational films, should contain at least 50% computer-generated imagery for consideration in the Computer Animation Festival.

Production must have been completed between September 2006 and February 2009.

You are also encouraged to submit a proposal for a Talk or a Panel about your film, or about other topics of interest to the animation festival.

For details on how to submit, http://www.siggraph.org/s2009/submissions/caf_films/index.php

Computer Animation Festival submissions are due Wednesday, 4 March 2009.



--
ARTS Lab's Experimental Music Series starts November 6th. More info at http://artslab.unm.edu

Eric Renz-Whitmore, Program Coordinator
ARTS Lab
MSC04 2570
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131
505-277-2253
http://artslab.unm.edu

Upcoming Events Update...

Hi everyone...

Been a little while, but after this Tuesday's excitement (Please VOTE, if you haven't already), there are a few things we're involved with that we'd like to share some information on...

Thursday, November 6th
ARTS Lab Experimental Music Series

ARTS Lab presents the first in a series of experimental music concerts featuring composer-performers who work inside (and outside) the musical fields of Electroacoustic, Acousmatic, Noise, and Free improvisation.

The first evening features a collaborative performance by Raven Chacon and William Fowler Collins and a set by Luperci. Doors are at 7:00 PM, with the first performance starting by 7:30 PM.

Where: ARTS Lab Garage - 131 Pine Street NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106, just north of Central and one block west of University
When: 7:00 PM
Cost: $5-10 sliding scale
Web: http://artslabmusic.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, November 11th
AniMotion NM

ARTS Lab hosts this monthly meeting of the local animation and visual effects community, with guest speaker Brad Swardson. More info to come...

Where: ARTS Lab Garage - 131 Pine Street NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106, just north of Central and one block west of University
When: 8:00 PM
Cost: always FREE
Web: http://www.nmaug.com/

Tuesday, November 11th
Rio Grande IGDA: An Evening with Novint Technologies
This month the Rio Grande IGDA proudly presents an evening featuring Novint Technologies, creators of the critically-acclaimed Novint Falcon.

Born out of haptics (3D touch) research conducted at Sandia National Laboratories, Novint Technologies has made it possible to simulate realistic sensations of touch through a low-cost consumer device. Recently, Novint Technologies has been a buzz in the game development world, with major publishers such as Electronic Arts and Valve signing up to have the Falcon integrated into their respective titles. Along with these titles, Novint has self-published several games featuring the Falcon, and just released the Pistol Grip addition to the Falcon, giving a new experience to the first person shooter genre. Representatives will be on hand discussing the latest developments at Novint and have plenty of Falcons on hand for attendees to try.

From the company website:

"Novint Technologies, Inc. (NVNT) is the pioneer of 3D touch for consumer computing. Novint is developing a new category of products that add high-fidelity interactive three-dimensional touch to computing, beginning with our introduction of the award-winning Novint Falcon. The Novint Falcon is a first-of-a-kind game controller that lets you experience realistic 3D touch and force feedback when playing touch-enabled games."

What: Rio Grande IGDA Meeting: An Evening with Novint Technologies
When: November 11, 2008. 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm (meeting starts promptly at
7:00).
Where: Arts Center Design College (5000 Marble Ave NE)
Cost: Free!
Web: http://groups.google.com/group/riogrande-igda?hl=en


Thursday, November 13th
NMITSA Tech Lunch: IT Projects as a Catalyst for Change

For our November luncheon, NMITSA is pleased to welcome Dr. Chelle Stringer in a preview of her talk to the Ninth International Conference on Knowledge, Culture and Change in Organisations:

IT Projects as a Catalyst for Organizational Changes: The Other Side of IT Projects

There is a synergistic relationship between information technology projects and organizational change. Organizations decide to implement new technology in order to achieve something they are not currently achieving or to continue performing in a changing environment. The technology implementation usually initiates and often requires changes to policies and procedures, job duties and responsibilities, communication channels, and use of terminology. Additionally, the technology design should address the organizational need which prompted the technology project in the first place.

This presentation will outline five hurdles that IT projects face and strategies for overcoming each hurdle. These strategies have been proven in both private and public sector organizations.

WHEN: Thursday, November 13th 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM (Presentation begins at noon)

WHERE: Technology Integration Group (TIG) 2731 Broadway St NE Suite F

COST: $25 for members of NMITSA Organizations (1 free each); $40 for other guests

WEB: http://www.nmitsa.org

Also coming up with NMITSA (full disclosure, I'm a board member), we're pleased to kick off both our Santa Fe meeting series and relationship with the Santa Fe Complex with our December event:

Friday, December 12th
NMITSA Launches Santa Fe event series with Tech Legislation Preview

As part of NMITSA's efforts to better serve our Northern New Mexico members, we're launching a quarterly luncheon in Santa Fe at the Santa Fe Complex Friday December 12th with our annual Tech Legislation Preview.

From the NM Supercomputer to broadband access and other technology initiatives, the 2009 NM legislative session will shape our tech business landscape for years to come. Featuring State Science and Technology Advisor Tom Bowles, Economic Development Department Director for Science and Technology Stephan Helgeson, and others in technology development, this special NMITSA membership luncheon will provide attendees with a rundown of legislation to watch and the players involved.

WHEN: Friday, December 12th 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM (Presentation begins at noon)

WHERE: Santa Fe Complex, 624 Agua Fria, Santa Fe

COST: $25 for members of NMITSA Organizations (1 free each); $40 for other guests

WEB: http://www.nmitsa.org


And... in January, the NM Media Industries Conference returns on Saturday, January 17th as "MIX" at UNM's Student Union Building. Please save the date.