IFTA Production Conference brings together key players in the independent film and television industries to discuss the impact of the introduction of new distribution technologies and content formats on a global basis. The cost (which includes a continental breakfast & parking) is $60 per person for IFTA members and $90 for non-IFTA members. The conference will run from 8:30 am to 1:00 pm. For additional information, contact Lezlie Brazil at (310) 446-1043 or e-mail: lbrazil@ifta-online.org, or visit www.ifta-online.org.

The 2007 International CES, the world's largest consumer technology tradeshow, will celebrate the show's 40th anniversary. Bill Gates, chairman/chief software designer of Microsoft Corp., will return to CES for his ninth pre-show keynote address on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2007, at 6:30 pm. Ed Zander, chairman/ceo of Motorola Inc., will kick off the 2007 International CES with an opening keynote, immediately following a State of the Industry Address by Gary Shapiro, president/ceo of CEA, which starts at 8:30 am on Monday, Jan. 8. Robert Iger, president/ceo of The Walt Disney Co., will round off day one of the International CES with his company's first CES keynote address at 4:30 pm, Monday afternoon. All keynotes for the 2007 show will take place at The Venetian's Palazzo Ballroom. The 2007 International CES will feature the hottest product debuts from 2,700 exhibitors, covering more than 30 product areas, including the latest in wireless, digital imaging, mobile electronics, home networking and more. For more news on the 2007 International CES before, during and after the show, visit www.CESweb.org.

New Media BC announced it will produce and present the first annual PopVox Awards honoring excellence in digital media. Entries can be submitted via the awards website, www.popvoxawards.com, through Sept. 7. Winners will be determined via online votes, which can be submitted Sept. 8-17 through the site. Winners will receive their honors on Sep. 22, at the opening gala celebration for the Vancouver International Digital Festival. PopVox Awards categories will include Best Web 2.0 Application, Best Mobile Game, Best Digital Animation Short, Best Digital VFX, Best Game, Best Digital Music Score, and Homegrown: The Best of British Columbia (BC). For more information, visit www.newmediabc.com.

Following up on last year's huge success, CGarchitect.com is hosting the 5th annual Architectural 3D Awards to be awarded at this year's Mundos Digitales Conference in La Coruna, Spain. The Awards Competition is open to everyone in the Architectural Visualization industry to highlight the best imagery and animations done in 2007 and 2008. This year's awards will be divided into two categories: Still Imagery and Animation. From the submitted entries the public will select the top five in each category. The winner of each category will be awarded the exclusive CGarchitect.com 3D Awards trophy during the Mundos Digitales Conference from July 2-5, 2008. Categories: Still Imagery: Awarded to the individual or company for outstanding achievement in an architectual visualization project. Animation: Awarded to the individual or company for outstanding achievement in an architectural visualization animation project. Information: www.cgarchitect.com/3dawards/# or www.mundosdigitales.org/english/.

Limelight Networks will host its second annual rich media summit, the 2008 Digital Media Innovation Forum. The event will take place at the Desert Ridge Resort and Spa in Phoenix on October 15-17, 2008. With the theme "Innovation: From Creation to Consumption," the three-day event will feature senior-level executives from the content publishing, technology, and telecom sectors discussing the opportunities and challenges in building a scalable and profitable online business. Featured speakers will include senior-level executives from Adobe, Accenture Digital Media Services, Associated Press, CNET Networks, Disney.com, Forrester Research, Fox Interactive Media, MTV, Microsoft, Motorola, and Veoh Networks. Attendees will learn about trends and innovations that are impacting their companies and reshaping the digital media landscape. Presentations and panel discussions will address topics and trends in entertainment, social media and e-commerce. Forum sessions include: --The future of digital media --The six secrets of successful rich media --Creating engaging online experiences --How to meet the needs of today's "me-focused" online audience --Emerging solutions for contextual video advertising --Understanding next-generation mobile media consumption The forum will not only provide insight into the opportunities and challenges in online business, it will present real-life case-study solutions to these challenges. For example, attendees will get a behind-the-scenes look at large-scale Internet event delivery through a case study on the largest online event in history, the 2008 Summer Games. For more details on the conference and registration information, visit the 2008 Digital Media Innovation Forum Web site at http://www.dminnovationforum.com/.

The NAB Show is the world's largest professional digital media industry convention. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has been hosting this event for over 80 years for all traditional broadcast, entertainment and emerging platform industries, including TV, Radio, Film, Internet and many others. This is where it originates -- an extraordinary experience, over twice the size of any other tradeshow centered on content: creation, management, commerce, distribution and delivery. The NAB Show is the ultimate destination for a global audience of media professionals who seek to deliver enriched content from concept to consumption. Kamy Merithew, Vice President of Marketing for WEGENER, and Gary Pelkey, WEGENER’s VP System Architect, will present discussions at the World Teleport Association (WTA) Content Distribution Forum and the 62nd Annual Broadcast Engineering Conference respectively. Pelkey will be joined by Eric Wiler, VP of Technology for Jones Radio Network, for a presentation entitled "Radio Broadcasters: Building File-Based Networks". They will examine the technology behind the next generation of satellite-delivered programming and discuss ways to provide listeners and advertisers with a sense of local presence by transitioning to file-based program delivery. The presentation is part of the session, Radio Technology Advancements and is scheduled for Sunday, April 13 at 1:00 p.m in the Las Vegas Convention Center Room S226/227.

The 2008 SXSW Interactive Festival provides practical how-to information, as well as career inspiration, bringing together some of emerging technology's most creative thinkers. The event features five days of keynote speeches, more than 120 panels, the SXSW Web Awards, the iF! Trade Show & Exhibition, the ScreenBurn Arcade, and dozens of exciting evening events. For more information, see http://www.sxsw.com/interactive.

Delcam will hold its 2009 ArtCAM User Group Meeting at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Kansas City, from 30th September to 2nd October. The event will open with a special networking evening at Hallmark Cards, one of the largest ArtCAM users in North America. This will be followed by two days of workshops on the latest versions of the software. In today's economy, everyone is looking for ways to be more competitive and more profitable. With this in mind, Delcam has decided to focus on ways of improving skill level and productivity at the meeting. The first day will be a general session covering core modelling functionality, 2D & 3D design styles, tips and tricks and what's to come in the 2010 version of ArtCAM. "Already used by many signmakers, cabinet-makers, and furniture manufacturers, this new version is set to further increase the use of ArtCAM in the three-dimensional world," said Ed Powell, ArtCAM Product Manager. ArtCAM 2010 will include a new modernised graphical user interface, direct interactivity and improvements to the core performance by utilizing GPU Acceleration and CPU multi-threading. As with previous versions, ArtCAM development continues to be designed around simplifying the workflow so that even beginners to CNC technology can start using the program as quickly as possible. More advanced users will appreciate the direct 3D interaction and the ability to customise their favourite toolsets. The use of multi-threading will enhance the toolpath calculation performance making ArtCAM even faster and more efficient. In addition toolpath strategies can now be associated with vector layers, making it easier to machine complicated nested patterns. The second day will be focused to specific industries and the related software. "We believe the second day split is the best way for our delegates to effectively make use of the time they have available," said Mary Shaw, Delcam Marketing Manager. "This year during this time we will be looking at the most practical combination of techniques and ideas to transform and improve what you can do with ArtCAM." "Both new and experienced users are often amazed how much they can learn by attending the User Group and learning from real world experience and expertise that is available," added Ms. Shaw. "As well as learning from the Delcam ArtCAM team, probably the best reason to attend a User Group is to meet other users of ArtCAM and learn from them." Like the online forum, the User Group is an opportunity to catch up with friends, find out about other equipment and materials and be inspired by the different uses and applications on show from ArtCAM customers. "Delegates will learn a lot about what is possible for them to achieve and be motivated when they return to their businesses to make ArtCAM an even more productive part of it," said Ms. Shaw. Once again, there will be a design competition in conjunction with the User Group. "We will once again be opening up the floor to our users to show us some of the excellent projects they've been working on," explained Ms. Shaw. Categories will be judged based on industry and product type with the prizes and winners being announced during the User Group. Entries for the competition can be submitted at www.artcam.com/promos/ug2009/index.htm For more information on the ArtCAM User Meeting, call the Delcam North American office at 1 877 335 2261 or email Jackie at jackie@delcam.com.

The Game Developers Conference Austin (GDC Austin) returns this September with three days focused on connected games including online games, virtual worlds, and social networking. Now in its 7th consecutive year, GDC Austin will continue as the mecca for online game developers worldwide to convene and share best practices, new perspectives, and business opportunities in connected games. GDC Austin conference tracks focus on the disciplines of Business and Marketing, Design, Social Networking and Community, Services, Production and Programming. Presented by Think Services, organizers of the industry-leading Game Developers Conference(R) (GDC), GDC Austin is a four-day event taking place at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas September 15-18, 2009.

The 2009 GDC Austin Advisory Board expands to include international game communities and perspectives with new members: Thomas Bidaux of ICO Partners, creator of successful European MMO titles, Dark Age of Camelot, Guild Wars and City of Heroes, and Min Kim of Nexon, creator of the critically acclaimed Maple Story. John Blakely of Sony Online Entertainment, Eugene Evans of EA/Mythic Entertainment, Mike Goslin of Hangout Industries, formerly of Disney where he developed Pirates of the Caribbean Online, and Sheri Graner Ray of Schell Games also round out the new lineup.

GDC Austin will also feature two-day Summits: Game Audio, Game Writers, Independent Games, and the newly introduced iPhone Summit, on September 15-16, 2009.

Online registration for GDC Austin opens in early June. For more information on GDC Austin and the advisory board visit www.GDCAustin.com.

The Burbank International Film Festival would like to call to your attention our Official Call for Entries. If you could please spread the word regarding the festival it would be much appreciated. The link for submissions on withoutabox is http://www.withoutabox.com/login/7137 

Submission Dates 
December 31st, 2010 Earlybird Deadline 
June 15, 2011 Regular Deadline 
July 15th, 2011 Late Deadline 
July 25th, 2011 WAB Extended Deadline