2009 October | Cogswell College Blog

Archive for October, 2009

Don’t Miss the Social Game Fest – Learn to Make Facebook Apps!

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

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It’s still not too late to register for the upcoming Social Game Fest sessions at Cogswell College. This is a great opportunity for programmers with all levels of experience to learn from each other.

Session One – Monday, October 19
Session Two – Monday, October 26
Session Three – Monday, November 2
Session Four – Monday, November 9

“So far a lot of people from industry – some very serious, productive people in fact – who can program just about anyone under the table, have signed up for the four sessions at Cogswell College,” said Ann Burkett organizer of the Social Game Fest.

Experience creating social games and applications will not only look good on your resume but it just might be the reason a company would hire you instead of someone else. Besides – you never know who will be attending the sessions – maybe a company looking for talent.

The sessions will offer technical tutorials on basic Facebook API for those who are doing typical Facebook games from scratch as well as basic technical coverage of possible ways to integrate existing games on other platforms. There are currently 3d games starting to be integrated into Facebook too – this is a new frontier. socialgamefest_sana101409

Confirmed Speakers:

How to Design for Going Viral – Sana N. Choudary – Online Virality and Social Media Strategy consultant specializing in helping businesses increase viral traffic and user engagement, will go through an example which shows how an extremely successful and viral game put in the right hooks and strategies for viral success. Sana will speak at Session One.

How to Monetize – Nicholas Talarico – Director, Publisher Development at OfferPal Media will be going through examples on how to monetize your app or game. Nicholas will speak at Session Two.

Finally, a judge from EA for one of the categories has just been confirmed. Awards will be announced sometime after the December break.

-Bonnie Phelps, Dean of Institutional Advancement

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Ambassador Blog by Josh Hodges, Digital Art & Animation Major

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

JoshHodges

Hi! My name is Josh Hodges and I am an Ambassador at Cogswell College. I am a Senior in Digital Art & Animation Program – majoring in Entertainment Design (wanting to be a character and creature concept artist).

My favorite and most challenging class this semester is Project X. It sparks my creativity and pushes me beyond my limits and minimal sleep requirements. I love it though, it’s what I want to do for the rest of my career in the industry.

I DJ many events at Cogswell and love them all. The event I am looking forward to is a “work in progress.” It’s going to be a really relaxed – chill out night – I visualize low lights, couches, maybe some mixed drinks (virgin of course) and some really chill lounge/club/low-fi music.

Tags: Cogswell Students, Student Ambassadors
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Cogswell College Fall Open House October 24

Monday, October 12th, 2009

Are you a creative mind looking for that special place to help you turn your dreams into a productive career? Want to be part of a dynamic, innovative, collaborative community of students, faculty and alumni? Are you eager to join a campus that values industry involvement and seeks out opportunities to make their expertise available to students?

Look no further! Visit Cogswell Polytechnical College at our Fall 2009 Open House on October 24 from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm and begin your journey into the exciting digital media career fields of animation, game development, 3D modeling, audio recording or production or software, computer or digital arts engineering.

This is your chance to talk to faculty and advisors, see demos of student work, talk to students, tour the campus and learn about our bachelor degree programs through classroom presentations.

Special sessions will be offered on financial aid, the admission process and building an outstanding portfolio.

We look forward to seeing you here!

Schedule of Activities

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Tags: Open House, Prospective Students
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Art Alive, Experience Art in the Making, At Cogswell College

Friday, October 9th, 2009

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Acclaimed author and artist, Michael Mattesi, creates a work of art before your eyes on a larger than life canvas. The event will take place in conjunction with Cogswell’s Open House on October 24, 2009 and will run from 1:30 to 5:00 p.m.

“For the last four or five years, I have wanted to do a large painting of a figure and thought it would make an interesting performance piece,” said Mattesi. “I want to thank Cogswell College for hosting the event so my idea could become tangible. I hope the audience will be as intrigued and engaged as I will be during this challenge.”

“The Art Alive event will be a festival of art that celebrates the creativity and humanity that is infused in the making of art,” said Susan Harby, Associate Professor at Cogswell and event organizer. “Cogswell is happy to partner with Michael and bring this unique artistic experience to the Silicon Valley.”

Visitors can watch the work in progress, enjoy the hors d’ouevres and beverages, tour the campus or view the works of art in our Gallery. Admission is free and the event is open to the public.

Date: October 24, 2009
Time: 1:30 to 5:00 p.m.

Where:
Cogswell Polytechnical College
1175 Bordeaux Dr
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
MAP

About the Artist
Mattesi has been working as a professional production artist and instructor for the last twenty years. His clients have included Pixar, Walt Disney Feature Animation, Walt Disney Consumer Products, Marvel Comics, Hasbro Toys, ABC, Microsoft, Electronic Arts, DreamWorks/PDI, Nickelodeon and many others. He has instructed and lectured at some of the top art schools around the world. Mattesi is currently an Art Director for LeapFrog in Emeryville and teaches art workshops at local Bay area entertainment companies and art schools.

In 2002, his popular book series began with, Force: The Key to Capturing Life Through Drawing, which became a mainstay for artists around the globe. Other books in the series include: Force: Dynamic Drawing for Animators and his most recent, Force: Character Design from Life Drawing.

-Bonnie Phelps, Dean of Institutional Advancement

Tags: Art Alive, Michael Mattesi
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Cogswell Students Host Casino Night

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

CasinoNight-101

The Cogswell College Associated Student Body (ASB) once again hosted a successful Casino Night! This eagerly anticipated annual event kicks off the new school year and gives students the chance to see old friends and meet the new students. The theme of this year’s event was 1920’s speakeasy.

The ASB hired a professional company to set up and operate the Craps, Roulette and Blackjack tables to refresh the memories of experience players and help novices learn to play. Other tables were set out for poker where Cogswell’s President, Chet Haskell, dealt hands for most of the night.

A bar was set up with mixed juice drinks, all with names of prominent people from the 20’s era like Hemingway, Charlie Chaplin and Houdini. Ginger Cafe provided hors d’ouvers for everyone’s munching enjoyment. The Committee spent a lot of time decorating the Dragon’s Den and making sure there were spots perfect for photo opportunities.

The night concluded with a costume contest with the winners being Christian Henderson and Jessica “Psy” DeLacy. Great job ASB on another fantastic event!!

~ Rachael Reisdorf, Design Coordinator

Tags: Casino Night, Cogswell Students, Student Activities, Student Life
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Audio Studio Improvement Project Phase 2

Monday, October 5th, 2009

Evan Peebles demos the capabilities of the new Studio B equipment. See the slide show below for more photos!

The Studio Improvement Project was set in motion in 2008 to diversify, update and enhance each of the college’s primary three audio studios as part of an ongoing effort to expand and improve the capabilities of the facilities. The construction of Studio B represents the second phase of three in the Studio Improvement Project. The first phase of the project was the redesign and construction of Control Room A was completed last fall. The third phase will be the acoustic treatment and reconfiguration of Control Room C planned for later this year.

“Our goal is to prepare people for the various aspects of the audio industry,” said Dr. Timothy Duncan, Director and Associate Professor of the Digital Audio Technology program. “We wanted the studio to be more than technically proficient workspace but we also wanted something that was aesthetically pleasing – a place where people feel like working and are inspired.”

Construction
Studio B’s construction was significantly less involved than that of Control Room A. In many ways though, its tuning needed to be much more precise. As a 5.1 post production studio, speaker placement was paramount to the accurate reproduction of content.

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Tags: Audio Studio Remodel, Cogswell Audio Program
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