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News Release

Last modified: Monday, May 14, 2007

IU School of Informatics hosts international new media, IT conference

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 14, 2007

INDIANAPOLIS -- Rupert Boneham, the bear-like, tie-dyed-wearing icon from the reality series Survivor, has a tongue-in-cheek warning for new media educators and professionals -- he'll vote them "off the island" if they miss the New Media Summer Converence.

That's part of the video invitation touting the June 6-9 international conference hosted by the School of Informatics at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. The gathering will attract a large audience of colleges, universities and top-level IT professionals in specialties such as digital video, Web design, streaming, animation and graphics.

"This is one of the stellar events of the New Media Consortium, which serves as a catalyst for the many creative and innovative uses of information technology," said Darrell Bailey, executive associate dean. "The consortium includes representatives from nearly 250 academic institutions, including IU campuses at Bloomington and IUPUI, museums, corporations and other education-based organizations."

Indeed, IU will have a strong presence at the conference.

Edward Castronova, an internationally-known expert on large-scale online games and director of the IU-based Synthetic Worlds Initiative, is the keynote speaker at the opening plenary session. Castronova is associate professor in the Department of Telecommunications at Bloomington.

Bailey is among several Informatics and other IUPUI new media experts presenting on topics such as new media curriculum, 3D medical animation, android science, software learning environments, game audio systems, music, health education, live-video streaming and uses of emerging technologies for global humanitarian efforts.

A significant feature during the symposium will be the New Media Gallery, where outstanding examples of student and faculty digital storytelling will be on display throughout the event. Digital presentations in 3D animation, 2D animation, Photoshop, interactive media, video and audio -- all created in IUPUI's New Media program -- will be featured.

Conference programs and sessions will be at the Informatics and Communications Technology Complex and University Place Hotel on the IUPUI campus.

Recent new media student projects at IUPUI can be viewed at https://newmedia.iupui.edu/projects. The Rupert Boneham promotional video, which was produced by the School of Informatics at IUPUI, is at https://archive.nmc.org/events/2007summerconf/index.shtml.

The IU School of Informatics offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in media arts and science.

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