DigiBC strives to ensure that youth in all regions of our province recognize the opportunities available for building their careers in video games, animation, VFX, AR/MR/VR or whatever the next technologies and platforms we see our entertainment content come out on. It’s not only about working to ensure we have a domestic pipeline of talent, but also it's a passion of DigiBC’s Executive Director, Brenda Bailey. “Growing up in Nanaimo, I didn’t have access to learning what careers were out there aside from the traditional stereotypical ones I was surrounded by. I lived at the arcade but it took more than 25 years to find my way into games. I want to help kids know that if they are story tellers, artists, technologists, gamers, geeks, space nuts, comic book fans, explorers, science kids, audiophiles, sci-fi lovers or class leaders, there are careers in the creative technology world for them.”
Digi on the Road takes industry professionals out into rural and remote BC classrooms to introduce kids directly to the work we do, as well as share our stories and passion for our industries. We use this as a gateway to introduce schools to Play to Learn, an EA created technology literacy program we provide (with a free license from EA, thank you!) to classrooms in BC in conjunction with the BC Ministry of Education and our delivery partner, Everfi.
Digi on the Road 2019 took place from September 15-20th and we travelled to Prince Rupert, Sicamous (North Okanagan) and Campbell River. From the border with Alaska to the border with Alberta, DigiBC worked with middle school youth to explore how creative technology is created. Teachers in Campbell River sent in student comments following the workshop that was delivered to their classes from Stephane Cotichini (CEO, 81monkeys) and Brenda Bailey (Executive Director, DigiBC and former CEO, Silicon Sisters & COO, Deep Fried Entertainment).
"What I enjoyed about the presentation were the stories they had to tell and their journey to where they are now, as well as learning about just how many well-known games and movies are made in BC."
"The presentation was really cool yesterday! It was awesome to see that there is a chance for a career in this field. It gave me hope that I could possibly do this for a job."
"I loved hearing the story of his (Stephane Cotichini) third child creating the game for secret Santa, but I also loved talking with my group about the revamp of Pac-Man and making it a dungeon runner."
"I liked the story about the guy who went from a surfer to a Microsoft coder."
"I enjoyed learning about local game companies and I enjoyed the Pac-Man project that we did at the end. I found it interesting that many groups, if not all, wanted to change the whole structure on Pac-Man and not just improve it as is."
“I enjoyed the brainstorming part of the presentation the most along with the fact that I can possibly make it in the games industry."
“The DigiBC presentation yesterday told me a lot about what is made in BC. I didn't know that there were that many well-known games made here. I liked how everybody had their own Pac-Man game they had to make. I am starting to wonder how easy it will become to make games that look almost life like in the future."
