Digital Shoreditch festival

FIRST EVER DIGITAL SHOREDITCH FESTIVAL CELEBRATES THE WORLD-CLASS TALENT AND DIVERSITY THRIVING IN THE HEART OF LONDON’S DIGITAL COMMUNITY.

3 ^rd to 7 ^th May, 2011, Shoreditch, London: The countdown has begun to turn Shoreditch into a pulsating digital playground for the very first Digital Shoreditch festival this May. The festival will showcase the outstanding creativity thriving within London’s digital community, through a series of open houses, massive projections, interactive artworks, pioneering augmented reality games, and late-night digital parties, culminating in a one day summit.

These events provide an exceptional opportunity for companies, creatives and entrepreneurs to make business connections, host open houses, and meet the digital superstars and innovators that make Shoreditch the UK’s premier production capital.

Tickets are now available at www.digitalshoreditch.com. UKIE members will receive a 10% discount (and should visit www.ukie.org.uk/digitalshoredtich for more information). Creatives can also sign up here to host an open house.

Highlights of the programme include:

The Digital Shoreditch Summit- This climax of the festival will bring together the Brains, the Creatives and the Visionaries behind the vibrant Digital Shoreditch economy.  The summit will explore some of the key issues driving the bottom line for digital entrepreneurs today. This unique gathering of talent will also drive the manifesto for our Digital Shoreditch community going forwards.

The Family Day- an exhibition to engage and inspire children and families, with outstanding digital interactives, installations and artworks from local creatives, companies and studios.

Thingmakers- a conference and exhibition bringing together the thought-leaders and key inventors of 3D printing technologies for the first time. Headline contributions include the creator of the machine that prints itself, the man who prints chocolate, and the machine that can print anything from toys to shoes!

SCAMP- A conference of ideas, inspiration and mashup, hosted by SheSays looking at how digital is influencing other creative industries and how other industries are driving digital innovation. Speakers will include designers, artists, educators, advertisers, technologists and creative influencers from advertising, media, arts, fashion, and other creative sectors.

Digital Shoreditch Closing Party- a gathering to celebrate the first ever Digital Shoreditch, with music from Patch William, DJ Jigsaw, Stereo Addiction and Hello Mexico.

Further details of the schedule of events can be found at www.digitalshoreditch.com/calendar

Kam Star, CEO of PlayGen and festival founder, said, ‘We are astounded by the support of the digital community, and incredibly excited about coming together to turn Shoreditch into the most incredible digital playground in the world.’

Michael Rawlinson, Director General of video games trade body UKIE, (a Digital Shoreditch Sponsor) said: “The digital creative community in and around the Shoreditch area is home to many game developers producing new, innovative interactive entertainment products – not least festival founder PlayGen.”

”There is the potential for exciting connections to be made between up and coming digital creatives who produce interactive entertainment and more established developers and publishers.“

 “UKIE is delighted to be a sponsor of this exciting Festival. The programme of activity looks fantastic and we’re happy to announce that our members will receive a 10% discount on tickets, on top of the early bird rate. UKIE members should visit www.ukie.org.uk/digitalshoredtich for more information.”

Organisations currently presenting and supporting the events include festival founders PlayGen, London Metropolitan University, Less Rain, Albion, and Intro; sponsors Buongiorno, LinkedGov, DN Digital, Queen Mary, IC Tomorrow, and UKIE; and supporters Unruly Media, Mother, Stink Digital, Tech Hub, Last FM, Inition, Hi-ReS!, RedAnt, Thingmakers, Innovate London, We Love Mobile, and SheSays, and many more. Additional media partners include Creative Review, Tiga, BIMA, The KTN, and New Media Age.

Shoreditch is home to over 500 digital businesses, and companies here win more awards for their digital creativity than any other geographical location in Europe. For more on Digital Shoreditch and to engage, see: http://digitalshoreditch.com/

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Contacts:

For all press enquiries, please contact the UKIE press office on T: +44 (0)20 7534 0582 or E: press@ukie.org.uk

Digital Shoreditch is a festival celebrating outstanding creativity, from 3 ^rd-7 ^th May 2011.Shoreditch will be transformed into a digital playground with late-night parties, open studios, eye-catching displays, lighting up buildings, gigs, conferences, workshops, real-world interactive installations, and augmented reality games. However, it is not just about ‘the event’. As an ongoing enterprise, Digital Shoreditch will nurture and support an extensive community through ongoing online and offline platforms, including monthly meetups. More information at www.digitalshoreditch.com

PlayGen PlayGen is the UK’s leading gamification and serious games development studio. Developing playful solutions to engage and educate players, influence their behaviour and inspire action. PlayGen make games designed to make players happier, smarter, better informed, healthier, more creative, more confident and better connected. The audience includes children, young adults, parents, professionals, targeted consumers and citizens. More information at http://playgen.com/

For more information on Digital Shoreditch contact:

Emily Memarzia

Director

Digital Shoreditch

020 7749 3742 or 07889 336 153

emily@digitalshoreditch.com

About UKIE

The Association for United Kingdom Interactive Entertainment or UKIE is a trade body that represents the whole of the UK’s video games and wider interactive entertainment industry. Founded in 1989 (and formerly known as ELSPA), UKIE’s membership includes games publishers, developers and the academic institutions that support the industry.

UKIE works with government to champion a range of issues including age ratings, education and skills, tax incentives and protecting intellectual property rights. It also works with the media to ensure true and accurate representation of the sector by raising awareness of the industry’s positive economic contribution and the societal benefits of gaming to policy makers, regulators and consumers.

One of UKIE’s key roles is to support its members by providing them with key market information, promoting careers and offering the business support services, training and best-practice knowledge to enable them to operate most effectively.

In addition, UKIE works with GfK Chart-Track to compile weekly, monthly and annual retail charts and sales reports for the UK market.