Primarily known for its majestic steel bridges that lead into the city, its steel manufacturing plants, and its major sports teams, Pittsburgh will now be known as the home of Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.'s (KDE) Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's TRADING CARD GAME United States 2009 National Championship. Hundreds of Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME (TCG) Duelists will converge on Pittsburgh to prove that they are the best TCG players in the world. The road to the U.S. Nationals began in late April at the SHONEN JUMP Championship in Anaheim, California and then progressed through more than 76 Regional Qualifier and Dragon Duel events held around the country. In Pittsburgh, 900 aspiring champion Duelists will be battling to be named a U.S. National Champion, the top four finalists will be invited to compete in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG World Championship in Tokyo, August 8th and 9th. Live coverage of the U.S. Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's TCG 2009 National Championship will be available online during the event at www.yugioh-com/en/events, for those who are not able to attend. Event information: Where: David L Lawrence Convention Center 1000 Ft. Duquesne Boulevard, Pittsburgh, PA 15222 When: July 10-12 Time: 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. Cost: Entry into the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG 2009 National Championship is FREE for Duelists who have qualified for the event through official KDE Regional Qualifiers, the KDE Anaheim SHONEN JUMP Championship, and KDE Dragon Duel tournaments; however there will be a cost for side events, participants will receive Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME booster packs equal to the cost of participation. Prizing information: -- 1st place - Travel and accommodations to Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG World Championship held in Tokyo, Japan; Trophy; "Dark End Dragon" Prize Card; Complete set of Raging Battle and a complete set of Ghost Rare cards from Tactical Evolution through Raging Battle; Digital Camera; Day of sightseeing in Japan; Nintendo DSi(TM) with Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Stardust Accelerator World Championship 2009 game; 2009 National Championship Game Mat; Player Profile on Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG website; 2009 National Championship Card Binder; Set of four Ultra Rare Token Cards -- 2nd place - Travel and accommodations to Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG World Championship held in Tokyo, Japan; Trophy; Complete set of Raging Battle and a complete set of Ghost Rare cards from Tactical Evolution through Raging Battle; Digital Camera; Day of sightseeing in Japan; Nintendo DSi(TM) with Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Stardust Accelerator World Championship 2009 game; 2009 National Championship Game Mat; Player Profile on Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG website; 2009 National Championship Card Binder; Set of four Ultra Rare Token Cards -- 3rd place - Travel and accommodations to Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG World Championship held in Tokyo, Japan; Trophy; Complete set of Raging Battle; Digital Camera; Day of sightseeing in Japan; 2009 National Championship Game Mat; Player Profile on Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG website; 2009 National Championship Card Binder; Set of four Ultra Rare Token Cards -- 4th place - Travel and accommodations to Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG World Championship held in Tokyo, Japan; Trophy; Complete set of Raging Battle; Digital Camera; Day of sightseeing in Japan; 2009 National Championship Game Mat; Player Profile on Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG website; 2009 National Championship Card Binder; Set of four Ultra Rare Token Cards -- 5th - 8th place - Trophy; Nintendo Wii(TM) Console with Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Wheelie Breaker video game; 2009 National Championship Game Mat; 2009 National Championship Card Binder; Set of four Ultra Rare Token Cards -- 9th - 16th place - Nintendo DSi(TM) with Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Stardust Accelerator World Championship 2009 video game; 2009 National Championship Game Mat; 2009 National Championship Card Binder; Set of four Ultra Rare Token Cards -- 17th - 32nd place - 2009 National Championship Game Mat; 2009 National Championship Card Binder; Set of four Ultra Rare Token Cards -- 33rd - Last place - 2009 National Championship Game Mat; Set of four Ultra Rare Token Cards KDE will offer 16-player Last Chance Regional Qualifier flights on Friday to give Duelists without invites the opportunity to qualify for the U.S. National Championship. Additionally, all weekend long, there will be exciting Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG side events which include Win-a-Mat tournaments, Team Dueling, Dragon Duel events and a Dragon Duel Championship Tournament for Duelists aged 12 and under.

Located in Los Angeles, California, Anime Expo, the nation's largest anime/manga convention, serves to foster trade, commerce and the interests of the general public and animation/ comics industry. This event serves as a key meeting place for the general public to express their interest and explore various aspects of anime/manga, as well as for members of the industry to conduct business. AX 2009 will be held July 2-5, 2009 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Southern California. More information can be found at its website (www.anime-expo.org). The 2009 SPJA Industry Awards, one of the most prestigious awards that can be given to any studio and/or individual within the Anime/Manga industries to be held during the Industry Reception at Anime Expo on July 2. Finalists will be announced March 18 ,2009 for public online voting (voting ends May 29, 2009). Vote at www.spja.org.

After months of intense head-to-head regional tournaments, The Pokemon Company International, the worldwide leader in video games and trading card games, today announced details for its 2009 Pokemon Video Game and Trading Card Game (TCG) National Championships. This weekend -- June 27th & 28th -- Pokemon Video Game and TCG competitors from across the nation will converge at the America's Center in St. Louis, MO, in hopes of surviving the two-day storm of battles. Those that rise victorious will then test their skills against the best players from across the globe at the 2009 Pokemon World Championships in August. After using their remarkable talents and strategy for battles in Seattle, San Francisco, Phoenix, Dallas, Philadelphia, and Nashville, 48 master Pokemon Trainers have emerged from over fifteen hundred other players to guarantee their place in the Pokemon Video Game National Championships. Divided equally into two divisions -- Juniors (born in 1997 or later) and Seniors (born in 1996 or earlier) -- these competitors competed on the recently released video game Pokemon Platinum Version with their sights set on the World's Championships in San Diego. However, it is not necessary to win a Regional Championship Event to attend and compete at the Pokemon Video Game National Championships. The event will open its doors to the public for entry via random selection and hopeful contenders can show up for check-in at the America's Center with a copy of Pokemon Platinum Version for the Nintendo DS. Senior Division registration takes place on Saturday, June 27th from 8:30 - 9:30 A.M.; Juniors registration is from 11:30 A.M. - 12:30 P.M. First and second place finishers will be awarded travel for two (invitee and a guest) and the opportunity to play in the Pokemon Video Game World Championships, trophies, and a Pokemon prize package including a Nintendo Wii console (first place only), a Nintendo DSi game system, and other cool Pokemon items. Competitors in each division placing 3rd-16th will also receive travel for two to play in the World Championships. For details on Pokemon Video Game National Championships including prizes and times as well as Pokemon restrictions and rules, please visit www.pokemonvgc.com.

The Gnomon Workshop is proud to announce its eighth Gnomon Workshop LIVE weekend to be held at the Gnomon School of Visual Effects in Hollywood, CA. The event will feature another incredible line-up of instructors and speakers in and out of The Gnomon Workshop library. We have finalized our instructor list with the additions of Neville Page and Dan Taylor. Neville is a Gnomon Workshop veteran who has designed creatures for numerous films including CLOVERFIELD, the recently released STAR TREK and James Cameron's upcoming film Avatar. Dan was the animation supervisor for TRANSFORMERS and for soon-to-be-released TRANSFORMERS 2. The other artists in our line-up include Jordu Schell, Ben Procter, Scott Patton, Ian Joyner, Paul Richards, Alex Oliver, Chuk Wojtkiewicz, Chris Kirshbaum and Glenn Rane. These artists have worked on such projects as AVATAR, CLOVERFIELD, IRON MAN, TRANSFORMERS, TIM BURTON'S ALICE IN WONDERLAND, TRON, MONSTERS VS. ALIENS, KUNG FU PANDA, WORLD OF WARCRAFT, STARCRAFT, QUAKE 4, WARHAMMER ONLINE, WARHAMMER 40,000, BIOSHOCK, HELLGATE and DARKSIDERS, just to name a few. We are also excited to announce the return of our Recruiting Room! This is a great opportunity to meet supervisors and art directors in the industry, so bring your portfolios and your questions. Our past recruiters have included representatives from such studios as: Nickelodeon, Blizzard, Naughty Dog, NBC Universal, ESPN, Top Cow, Insomniac, Activision, Digital Domain, Gentle Giant, and Rhythm and Hues. Also, we are rapidly approaching June 1st, the last day on which you can purchase a ticket at a discounted price. Get your tickets today!.

At C21's Social Media Forum at BAFTA on Monday June 22 producers, channels and rights owners will learn how to work best with Bebo, MySpace, YouTube, Joost, Dailymotion and many more to create new revenue-generating content and build audiences fast. Don't miss this unique one-day networking event for just GBP 299 per delegate. It is vitally important that the content business understand every emerging opportunity to develop new business as traditional markets change. Social media is likely to become the programmer of the next generation of video content and everyone needs to understand how to work effectively in this new space. At the event players from the sector will showcase 'best in breed' partnerships and explain how to drive new business and develop community interactivity around entertainment brands. Keynote workshop sessions include: -- Successful social media content strategies -- The future of online content and social media -- Social media workshops * How to work with Bebo to extend your entertainment brand * How to work with Dailymotion to extend your entertainment brand * How to work with Joost to extend your entertainment brand * How to work with MySpace to extend your entertainment brand C21's Social Media Forum is part of the RE-vision series of live events and online content, designed to help develop next-generation content solutions to help RE-focus, RE-finance, RE-invent, and RE-think the international entertainment business. C21's Social Media Forum 2009 is just GBP 299 per delegate which includes all refreshments and a networking lunch. For contributor information email: david@c21media.net. Go to http://www.c21media.net/intel/ to register.

Virtual Rush Gaming, game consumer and technology specialists, announced today their Virtual Rush Game Design Camps scheduled for this summer, located at seven college campuses in the Philadelphia region, including De Vry University, Delaware County Community College and La Salle University. Virtual Rush Game Design Camp is a career preparatory summer camp that allows middle school and high school students to experience video game development from a game industry perspective. Virtual Rush Game Design Camps focus on giving students a well-rounded education about the video game industry so that they can make clear decisions about the education and careers they want to pursue. The curriculum emphasizes the importance of education, team building, career planning, and having fun. Instruction is provided by working game professionals in two-week sessions that cover Flash, Photoshop and 3-D Blender, taught in state-of-the-art computer labs in several convenient locations. Students will be able to create a "one of a kind" video game in a non-competitive environment. Virtual Rush Game Design Camps combine game creation and fun, where students will experience animation, storyboarding, character development techniques and weekly game tournaments, as well as guest lecturers with visiting game industry experts. Paul Tresca, President of Virtual Rush Gaming, offers "Virtual Rush Game Design Camp is dedicated to providing campers with an exciting, fun and stimulating experience. The goal is to reach children in ways that the traditional academic setting is unable to and provide a highly educational and memorable experience. We are excited by our line-up of professional instructors, all of whom bring significant knowledge and adventure to the process of using games to learn more about technology and teamwork." Virtual Rush Gaming is also the show producer behind GameX (Games & Media Expo), October 23-25, the only major game consumer show in U.S. supported by a major media sponsor. Virtual Rush Gaming is partnered with NBC Local Media in Philadelphia to host GameX, a high-profile 'pop culture' event appealing to local, regional feature advance film and TV screenings and trailers, celebrity guest appearances, high stakes game tournaments, robotics demonstrations and video art installations. You can learn more at www.gamexpo.us. To register online for Virtual Rush Game Design Camps, visit www.virtualrush.net. Virtual Rush Game Design Camps run from June 15 to August 21 for two-week periods. Each two-week camp is $1095.00 per student for each class, with payment plans available. Payment must be made by check, money order or credit card. A $25.00 deposit for each session is required. For questions regarding registration or additional camp information, please call (610) 565-9300.

Now in its fourth year, FSC once again moves into a larger venue as the three day festival continues to grow. This year's event will take place June 5-7, 2009 at the Doubletree Miami Mart Airport Hotel and Convention Center in Miami, Florida. The three day festival will take place in the convention center's west hall and the convention centers entire second floor, making this the largest genre event to ever hit South Florida. The show will include celebrity guests, artists, writers, vendors, industry guests, Q&As, parties, costume contests, anime programming, manga, cosplay, workshops, panels, cosplay photo shoots, dance parties, console gaming, LAN gaming, tabletop gaming, collectible card gaming, tournaments and more. As always, FSC will feature dozens of celebrities, artists and industry guests. Past guests have included the stars of HARRY POTTER, CLERKS, SOUTH PARK, THE SIMPSONS, BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE, THUNDERCATS, JEM, Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Image Comics, SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE, THE GRIM ADVENTURES OF BILLY AND MANDY, FINAL FANTASY, FULL METAL ALCHEMIST and more. This year's show will include more guests than ever before, including 23 guests already set. The convention hours of operation are: Friday, June 5: 3:30 p.m.-2 a.m. Saturday, June 6: 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Sunday, June 7: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. For more information and updates: visit www.floridasupercon.com.

The Producers Guild is working with the top producers in the entertainment industry to host the first annual Produced By 2009 conference this June 5-7 at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City. Attendees will interact with and learn from the likes of James Cameron, Clint Eastwood, Kathleen Kennedy, Lauren Shuler Donner and producers of Emmy winning TV shows including DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES and TWO AND A HALF MEN.

Sessions include:

-- The Collaborative Process Of Visual Effects: From Previs To Post
-- World Premiere Digital Camera Assessment -- Demo the newest generation of HD digital cameras.)
-- A New Dimension: 3-D Stereoscopic Production
-- Performance/Motion Capture Production Technology

Attendees can take advantage of over 30 film, television and new media sessions with 100 producers covering everything they need to know to be a great producer.

Registration: http://www.producedbyconference.com/produceby-form-v3-validate.html

Sessions: http://www.producedbyconference.com/sessions.html

Creating today's entertainment media demands community, collaboration and teamwork. Community is vital to artists struggling in the current economic landscape. The Industry Giants 2009: Building a Community, Visual Effects, Animation and Game Forum features 2D artist/animator Michel Gagne, veteran of Warner Bros., Disney and Pixar, Jay Hawkins, Epic Games' Senior Concept Artist for Gears of War and many other creative professionals. The eighth annual event takes place Friday, June 5 and Saturday, June 6, 2009 at the Spring Creek Campus (SCC) of Collin County Community College, 2800 Spring Creek Parkway in Plano, Texas. It's open to the public, students and industry professionals. Hosted annually by the filmmaking/visual effects, animation, game development non-profit, A Bunch of Short Guys, and Collin's Applied Graphic Design Technology department, Industry Giants 2009 features Masterclasses and a one-day forum and panel discussion. The event features a distinctive lineup of speakers working in all areas of animation and visual effects for film, television and games. Schedules for the Masterclasses, forum and ticket information are available online at www.industrygiants.org. Tickets can be purchased in advance or at the door. Advance combination tickets for both the June 5 Masterclasses AND the June 6 forum are $40 for students and $80 for the public and professionals. Advance tickets to the June 6 forum-only are $15 for students and $20 for the public and professionals. Combination tickets purchased at the door are $50 for students and $90 for the public and professionals. Forum tickets purchased at the door are $20 for students and $25 for the public and professionals. Questions? Please call 972-516-5089 or by email: AGDT_TA@ccccd.edu. Masterclasses will be held on campus in rooms C-103, C-104 and the SCC Conference Center from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Friday, June 5, 2009. With the purchase of a combination ticket, those attending the Masterclasses will be able to choose their own schedule. Masterclasses will be offered throughout the day. Morning sessions will run from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and include "Creating The IK Walk Cycle" by veteran Pixar, Blue Sky and Henson Studios Animator/Animation Director, David Tart. Id Software Character Artist, Brett Briley, will conduct a session on Zbrush digital sculpting techniques in video games. The afternoon sessions take place from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and will include a second session on Zbrush by Janimation Senior Creative Director Greg Punchatz featuring real-time creation of a digital character with audience participation. Jeff Alcantara, Reel FX Lighting and Compositing Supervisor, will conduct a session on compositing for OPEN SEASON 2 in NUKE. In addition, "Artists' Alley" will run all day, featuring Michel Gagne, Jay Hawkins, Jason Manley and others. Artist's books and book signing will be available. The Industry Giants Forum takes place in the John Anthony Theatre from 10:00 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 6, 2008. The lineup includes presentations by Will Nicholson, CG Supervisor at Cafe FX who will discuss his work on recent films and tips on succeeding in the industry. Artist Michel Gagne, veteran of Warner Bros., Disney, Pixar and other studios will feature his recent game, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet and other work. Jay Hawkins, Senior Concept Artist with Epic Games, will present on his work for Gears of War. Digital Domain Technical Developer Tadao Mihashi will feature his lighting and rendering work on THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON. Jason Manley, President of MassiveBlack.com and Founding Director of ConceptArt.org will discuss online communities in the entertainment industry. Winners of the A Bunch of Short Guys 2009 Student Animation Contest will be announced. A full panel discussion will conclude the event. A Bunch of Short Guys (ABOSG) is a non-profit organization that fosters education and career development for students and professionals in the animation, visual effects and game industries. The group hosts free monthly meetings on the third or fourth Saturday of the month. In addition, ABOSG presents Industry Insights, an ongoing series featuring industry artists, as well as various training workshops and the Industry Giants events.

Corus Entertainment's YTV's interactive, entertainment-filled summer road show WOW! will be heading out for another exciting summer tour. Now in its 11th year, WOW! will be travelling to communities across the country, visiting major festivals and attractions from June 4 until Labour Day. This year the summer tour includes HASBRO's Camp NERF DART TAG Capture the Flag! After months of training to become NERF Operatives at CampNERF.ca, YTV viewers can now put their online skills into real-life action, when they get to test NERF DART TAG products in a live game of Capture the Flag. On site, the WOW! crew will be distributing collectible prizes from NERF to all NERF Operatives-in-Training. WOW! will also gets kids up and moving with action-packed Dunkaroos Slam Dunkers All Stars. This inflatable zone is the ultimate basketball experience as kids can practice dunks, shoot hoops and play three on three with their friends. New to the tour this year, is Dunks Bump, where kids must make their shots to stay in the game -- last one standing wins a Dunkaroos prize. Kids can also check out Dunkaroos Dish, Drive and Dunk at www.ytv.com/wow where kids can battle it out online in their own basketball tournaments. Travelling from coast to coast, the unmistakable WOW! vehicles don't go anywhere without the high energy road crew, who travel from event to event, interacting with Canadian kids along the way. WOW! vehicles feature the latest in multimedia technology including a massive 95" screen, giving kids and their families a sneak peek of upcoming YTV programming. WOW!'s first stop is on June 4 at the Clearmeadow School Fair in Newmarket, Ontario. For further information, including video blogs, tour dates and locations for WOW!, visit www.ytv.com/wow.