Regular Updates

12 Apr 2016

Sticky Post By Amanda Wallace Posted in Vector 2016 Permalink

One Week Left for Standard Admission Tickets and Schedule Announcement

Sticky Post By Amanda Wallace On April 12, 2016

If you’ve kept up to date with our awesome blog posts, you’ll know that we’ve been announcing some amazing speakers. In the last week we’ve announced Ben Kuchera of Polygon as well as Jake Elliot from Cardboard Computer. We’ve already lined them up for some pretty great talks, including discussions about virtual reality, the K-12 game development career pathway and Unity workshops. Seriously, it’s a pretty great schedule, and you can check it out on

You can also check the schedule out here.

This is also a reminder that prices for tickets are going up this Saturday at noon EST. We are purchasing lunch for all attendees, as well as some pretty cool customized badges. Because of that, if we don’t have the numbers in soon the price hikes for us. So if you’re on the fence about grabbing a ticket, be sure to do so before the prices go up another little bit. You can check out the tickets here. We are also still offering academic discounts and diversity scholarships, so please reach out to us if you are interested in either of these things! We really want you to be there, and we would be super bummed if you didn’t make it because of money.

This is the home stretch folks! Under a month and we’ll be piled together at the Perkins building talking about games. So come out and be awesome! Tell your friends.

One Week Left for Standard Admission Tickets and Schedule Announcement April 12th, 2016Amanda Wallace

11 Apr 2016

Sticky Post By Amanda Wallace Posted in Speaker Announcements Permalink

Speaker Announcement Jake Elliott

Sticky Post By Amanda Wallace On April 11, 2016

Hey folks! We’re coming up on the date and super excited to announce another speaker: Jake Elliot! Elliot will be talking on a panel about the Future of Game Development. We’re especially glad that Jake is joining us this year as he was with us for our inaugural event last year, and was a pretty fantastic addition.

Jake makes games, music & artware. He is currently working with Tamas Kemenczy and Ben Babbitt on Kentucky Route Zero, a magical realist
adventure game about a secret highway in the caves beneath Kentucky. With jonCates, he runs the internet radio station NUMBERS.FM. He lives in Elizabethtown, KY. (website: http://dai5ychain.net)

Again, we’re pretty psyched that Jake is joining us for this year!

There’s still time to purchase your tickets for the upcoming Vector Conference! They’re selling out pretty quickly (which is awesome). You can buy your tickets here. Be sure to contact us for academic and other scholarships!

Speaker Announcement Jake Elliott April 11th, 2016Amanda Wallace

06 Apr 2016

Sticky Post By Amanda Wallace Posted in Speaker Announcements, Vector 2016 Permalink

Speaker Announcement: Ben Kuchera

Sticky Post By Amanda Wallace On April 6, 2016

Hey folks! We’ve got less than a month before Vector and we’ve got another speaker announcement for you. We’re super pleased to announce Ben Kuchera, who is joining our super awesome group of keynote speakers.

Ben Kuchera is the senior opinions editor at the video game and technology website Polygon.com, and has spent the past decade reporting on virtual reality at such publications as Ars Technica, Wired, and Penny Arcade. He lectures and moderates panels on the emerging field of virtual and augmented reality around the world when he’s not spending time in his own basement VR lab.

Ben will be joining our pretty esteemed set of speakers, folks like Dan Hsu, Lisa Brown, and Jerry Belich. It’s a pretty neat lineup.

Tickets are still available to Vector, if you’re interested in attending. We are currently offering student and academic discounts, as well as a diversity scholarship for diverse applicants of all ages. Please contact vector@runjumpdev.org for more information.

Speaker Announcement: Ben Kuchera April 6th, 2016Amanda Wallace

03 Mar 2016

Sticky Post By Amanda Wallace Posted in Bronze Sponsor, Sponsor Permalink

Sponsor Announcement – ChoreMonster

Sticky Post By Amanda Wallace On March 3, 2016

We here at Vector are super pleased to present our newest Bronze level sponsor – the folks at ChoreMonster!

ChoreMonster is a suite of web and mobile apps that aims to make chores fun for parents and kids. Kids can earn points by completing chores that they can turn in for real life rewards like ice cream, an hour of Xbox, or even a canoe trip. Parents can enjoy a simple, hassle-free, digital system that takes the tension out of family chores.

We’re incredibly excited to have ChroreMonster join us for this event, and we look forward to hearing more about their company!

Tickets are currently on sale for the upcoming Vector conference, and we have  a pretty amazing line-up of guest speakers and workshops this year. If you or your company is interested in becoming a sponsor of Vector, please contact us.

Sponsor Announcement – ChoreMonster March 3rd, 2016Amanda Wallace

01 Mar 2016

Sticky Post By Amanda Wallace Posted in Student Showcase, Vector 2016 Permalink

Student Showcase Sponsor – Why I Need Diverse Games

Sticky Post By Amanda Wallace On March 1, 2016

We here at Vector are super excited to announce our first sponsor, I Need Diverse Games!
I Need Diverse Games is sponsoring our Student Showcase, which will allow us to give free tickets to all participants in the Showcase! We’re extremely excited to partner with I Need Diverse Games.

Don’t Know I Need Diverse Games? You should. 

Their info:

We are dedicated to helping those that want to bring more diversity to the art of gaming. We will do this by sponsoring attendance at diverse gaming conventions, promoting those that are making diverse games, indie projects and presenting on the topics of diversity in gaming at conventions. One of our goals is to have more articles, to pay people for their contributions, and to do more tangible things for the community.

We also want to help others get to conventions, share their work if funding is an issue. We would love your support to send aspiring game devs to conventions like GDC, IGDA events in their city, GeekGirlCon, HavenCon, GaymerX, and other places where gaming and diversity are parts of the conversation. We want to do this by highlighting work by marginalized, underrepresented people in the industry, getting their voices heard and their work seen be it a game, articles, etc.

Find out more about I Need Diverse Games at their website or follow them on Twitter!

If you’re a student and haven’t had a chance to sign up for our Student Showcase, you can do so here.

Student Showcase Sponsor – Why I Need Diverse Games March 2nd, 2016Amanda Wallace

27 Jan 2016

Sticky Post By Amanda Wallace Posted in Speaker Announcements, Vector 2016 Permalink

Speaker Announcement: Dan “Shoe” Hsu

Sticky Post By Amanda Wallace On January 27, 2016

We are pleased to announce our newest addition to our industry speakers, Dan “Shoe” Hsu.

Dan “Shoe” Hsu is an 18-year veteran of the gaming press. He’s appeared in or on Electronic Gaming Monthly, 1UP, G4, CNN, NPR, Bitmob, VentureBeat, CNBC, ABC Radio, and more. During that time, Shoe has seen and coordinated every type of pitch, from the desperate pleas of a one-man indie developer to a worldwide exclusive debut of a triple-A, monster-budget sequel. Currently, he manages the Partner Alliance, Developer Relations department at Sony Computer Entertainment America, helping to support indie and free-to-play PlayStation developers through co-marketing.

We’re pleased that Dan will be bringing his years of experience, both in independent and AAA games, as well as industry press to the developers at Vector.

Remember, you can buy your tickets still for early bird pricing until February 15!

Speaker Announcement: Dan “Shoe” Hsu January 27th, 2016Amanda Wallace

26 Jan 2016

Sticky Post By Amanda Wallace Posted in Uncategorized Permalink

Speaker Announcement: Lisa Brown

Sticky Post By Amanda Wallace On January 26, 2016

We are pleased to announce our second keynote speaker, Lisa Brown!

Lisa Brown is an independent developer and the current Game Designer in Residence at Harrisburg University. She was formally a game designer at Insomniac Games and a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center. Since going indie, she has released several experimental personal games (Imaginal, Lisa vs. the Tornado) and livestreams game development and game design analysis to help others get better at making games. Lisa loves advising students, participating in game jams, and exploring alternative control schemes for games.

Lisa has a pretty awesome website, where you can check out her games and Patreon and see all of the cool stuff that she’s into.

We’re super excited to have Lisa joining us for Vector this year! Remember, you can buy your tickets still for early bird pricing until February 15!

 

Speaker Announcement: Lisa Brown January 26th, 2016Amanda Wallace

25 Jan 2016

Sticky Post By Amanda Wallace Posted in Speaker Announcements, Vector 2016 Permalink

Speaker Announcement : Jerry Belich

Sticky Post By Amanda Wallace On January 25, 2016

Vector is pleased to announce that independent game designer Jerry Belich will be one of our keynote speakers! Jerry will also be working this semester as the Vernon Wilson Endowed Chair of Game Design at Eastern Kentucky Universities Gaming Institute. You can read more about that on the EKU Gaming Institute’s blog post.

Jerry Belich is an alternative game designer, using hardware, electronics, and software to create immersive interactive and storytelling experiences. He went independent in 2013 after a decade of professional software development, now consulting for other indies and companies in game design, narrative writing, and installation work. His first hardware project, the award winning Choosatron, has traveled all over the world, featured at dozens of events, and sparked imaginations all along the way! He plans on continuing creating his own inventions and games, and hopes to help many others to do the same through his talks, workshops, and through openness of his own work.

We are very pleased that Jerry will be joining us at our April 30th event, and are incredibly excited that he will be spending time with the students at EKU!

View post on imgur.com

Speaker Announcement : Jerry Belich January 25th, 2016Amanda Wallace

20 Jan 2016

Sticky Post By Amanda Wallace Posted in Vector 2016 Permalink

Early Bird Tickets Now on Sale

Sticky Post By Amanda Wallace On January 20, 2016

We are excited to announce that Early Bird tickets are currently available! If you’ve been watching updates for Kentucky’s game developers conference and thinking “oh man, I have got to go to that” then check out our tickets!

These tickets are for a short time only. After February 15, we’ll be changing to regular price admission. So if you want to get in while the going is hot and get your advance tickets, you can use that fancy Eventbrite ticket button above or click here.

We could not be any more excited about our upcoming April 30th convention, and we hope that you are too! We’re getting ready to announce speakers, so keep your eyes peeled and your ears open.

Early Bird Tickets Now on Sale January 20th, 2016Amanda Wallace

19 Jan 2016

Sticky Post By Amanda Wallace Posted in Demonstration Space, Vector 2016 Permalink

Demonstration Space for Developers

Sticky Post By Amanda Wallace On January 19, 2016

Have you ever been stuck at the booth when a great talk happened? Ever wished you could spend more time networking with other developers instead of chilling at a booth? Great news everyone! We have a demo space for developers to showcase their games!

Part of the plan for Vector is to get developers away from the traditional expo-floor conference. While there are options to sponsor the event (or to participate in the Student Showcase) there is another option available for developers who would like to showcase their game to other developers at Vector.

Vector will have a free demonstration room with televisions and a system in place where, on the day of, developers will be able to sign up and show their game for a short period of time. This set-up is designed to be both casual. By supplying televisions, traveling developers will not have to transport their own demonstration stations. While attendees should plan to bring their own laptops and gamepads, Vector will supply the televisions and connecting cables as well as a small cache of wired Xbox 360 controllers.

This space is offered for free for all attendees. We hope that this demonstration room will allow flexibility for developers who want to demonstrate games to their peers without the hassle of running a booth or bringing down a large amount of equipment. We want you to be able to network with other developers

Demonstration Space for Developers January 19th, 2016Amanda Wallace