iVentures 2017

Volunteering at iVentures (photocred: iVentures FB page)

During reading week, I got the chance to volunteer for the iVentures conference. iVentures is a yearly conference hosted by Interactive Ontario, focusing on three specific streams of interactive digital media—innovation in tech, business and content, partnerships between the industry and other fields, and video games.

The view of the Expo from above

            I volunteered for both days of the conference and got a chance to sit in some panels and took a look at the expo. I had the pleasure of talking to a VR game developer and a representative from a small game company. What caught my attention at the expo was a game called Debris by Moonray Studios. Being a mental health graduate and awareness advocate, I thought it was awesome that they decided to incorporate mental health and videos games—two of my interests—together. Their vision was to create a mainstream game that portrays mental health is an empathetic light, to help educate those who may not know much about mental health but also to related to those with mental health.

''Niche markets that aren't so niche" Panel

I was also very excited to listen to a panel of individuals in the gaming industry; from a music producer to YouTubers to a videogame streamer, I learned a lot from their perspectives on the gaming industry. One quote that stuck in my mind by Steve Saylor was “kill them with kindness” when talking about dealing with haters and trolls. I agree that sometimes, kindness is the way to go when dealing with toxicity and negativity.

After attending this event, I would love to volunteer or participate for an iVentures conference in the future. I would highly recommend this event to those who are not only interested in the interactive digital media field, but also in business or entrepreneurship. This is a good event to network with those who have similar interests as well as gaining inspiration from other creative minds.