Contact:
Elizabeth Blevins, Director, Office of Communications
Office: (740) 351-3810; FAX: (740) 351-3179; Cell: (740) 464-4854
940 Second Street – Portsmouth, Ohio 45662
E-mail: eblevins@shawnee.edu 
Web site: www.shawnee.edu

            For the seventh year, Shawnee State University is site of the Shawnee 7.0 Conference scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 30 at the Vern Riffe Center for the Arts.
            More than 20 presenters will be demonstrating everything in the gaming industry from computer game design to motion capture techniques and business support for young entrepreneurs at the conference. Both high school and college students will be exhibiting and prizes will be awarded in each category.
            During the conference, Shawnee State University will officially open its world class, state-of-the-art motion capture studio in the Advanced Technology Center. The facility will bring 21st century media tools to students and businesses in the region. The dedication ceremony is at 11:30 a.m. in ATC Room 107.
            “This is something that will enhance education in a number of programs, including gaming,” Dr. Rita Rice Morris, SSU president, said. “The use of advanced technologies, like Motion Capture, will better prepare students for successful careers in the future.”
            The keynote speaker will be Sibley Verbeck, CEO of The Electric Sheep Company, an award-winning creator of virtual worlds and social games for major brands and media companies. Last year the company worked with CSI New York in tracking a criminal through Second Life and offered viewers the ability to look for clues and analyze them in a virtual lab. Recently, the company has launched RIDEMAKERZ, an online driving experience. Verbeck is a co-founder of the Virtual Worlds Roadmap.
            As a former chief scientist of StreamSage Inc. and Comcast Online, Verbeck has been a leading researcher in advanced computational linguistic and statistical techniques for analyzing audio, video and text. In January 2001, he received an award from the Washington Techway Magazine as one of the top young technology executives in the D.C. area. In 2003 he was selected as one of MIT Technology Review’s top 100 technology innovators worldwide under the age of 35.
            Verbeck has been an invited speaker on topics ranging across virtual worlds, search, computational linguistics, Internet infrastructure, digital television, scientific publication and undergraduate science education.
            As many as 500 participants are expected at the conference. In the afternoon from 1 to 4 p.m. the Office of Career Services will have a Technology Job and Internship Fair open to students attending Shawnee State University as well as students from other colleges and universities who are attending the conference.
            Cost of the Shawnee 7.0 Gaming Conference is $89 for general admission and $39 for students and includes lunch.
            For more information or to register, contact Tracy Walters, University Outreach Services representative at (740) 351-3171 or e-mail twalters@shawnee.edu.
            Online information and registration is available at Shawnee State University’s Outreach Services at http://www.shawnee.edu/off/uos/shawnee%20conference.