Share your insight and knowledge and make a difference in your industry by presenting a seminar at IIDEX/NeoCon Canada 2009. With over 5,000 conference attendees and 100+ sessions, IIDEX is Canada’s largest conference focused on the design, architecture and the built environment.

If you have an interesting presentation or an idea that could be developed into an educational session, you are invited to submit a written proposal. If selected as a conference speaker, you will gain visibility in the industry and contribute to the advancement of your profession.

To apply, please download the application form [PDF] and submit it via email to msearle @ iidexneocon.com (remove spaces) or print and fax it to 416-921-2707. The deadline for applications is April 1, 2009.

FITC Toronto 2009 celebrates what it means to live, think and play outside the lines with a three-day event focused on the art and craft of Interactive design and technology, April 25 - 28, 2009, at the Toronto Hilton Hotel in Toronto Canada. Now in its 8th year, FITC Toronto is one of the largest and longest running events for the design and technology community.

“FITC Toronto 2009 is a celebration of doing things differently,” said Shawn Pucknell, Founder and Executive Producer of FITC. “This year, it’s all about thinking outside the box, or more specifically outside the lines, as we look for ways to meet today’s creative and business challenges.”

FITC Toronto includes two full days of presentations, demonstrations, and panel discussions preceded by a full day of workshops. The entire program is topped-off by the FITC Awards on Monday, April 27, 2009, an annual awards show which honors the best and brightest in the world of Interactive and new media design.

Insights and expertise from respected presenters and senior-level attendees are shared across three subject areas: creative, technical and business. This year’s speakers include: David Carson, Joshua Davis, Joshua Hirsch, and MK12. See page end for full bios.

Returning for a second year, the popular Get-A-Job event takes place Saturday, April 25th at the Toronto Hilton. The Get-A-Job event is open to the general public (no festival pass required) and was created to connect up-and-coming designers and developers with top Interactive agencies and technology companies. For more information, go to http://www.getajobevent.com.

In an effort to include more female participation, FITC has put aside 100 free tickets to FITC Toronto specifically for women working in the industry — whether designers, developers, or account managers. A video submission is required to qualify for the ticket. Full details can be found at http://www.fitc.ca/female/.

FITC has held 17 events over seven years in nine cities and four countries with over 10,000 attendees. The festival began as a Flash conference but has since expanded to included technologies such as Flex, AIR and Processing.

Compostmodern is fertile ground for sustainability. Presented by the San Francisco chapter of AIGA and the AIGA Center for Sustainable Design (CFSD), this interdisciplinary conference explores the range of design thinking necessary to create a socially and ecologically responsible society. Designers, manufacturers and business leaders come together to find inspiration, share knowledge and explore real world opportunities for transforming products, industries and lives.

Compostmodern 09 will be held at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco on Saturday, February 21. The event will be webcast live and will be available for 90 days following, encouraging online participation and satellite events at AIGA chapters and educational institutions everywhere. This year’s conference demonstrates how sustainable solutions converge as design, ecology, social activism, business, and economics intersect. Speakers include Eames Demetrios of Eames Office, Saul Griffith of Makani Power, Allan Chochinov of Core 77, California College of the Arts (CCA) Design MBA Chair Nathan Shedroff, climate strategist Michel Gelobter, John Bielenberg and Pam Dorr of Project M and the HERO Housing Resource in Alabama, Emily Pilloton of Project H Design, and Autodesk Sustainable Design Program Manager Dawn Danby. GreenBiz editor and sustainability author Joel Makower will reprise his role as emcee.

The conference is the fruit of the hard work of more than 100 volunteers who have willingly devoted their time, energy and expertise to keeping the sustainability conversation alive, fresh and relevant to the design and business communities. Visit the site to learn more.

From October 17th to October 26th ILLUSTRATIVE’s 4th forum of illustrative and graphic arts will take place in the Zurich Messehallen. Conceived in 2006 in Berlin, ILLUSTRATIVE is an annual forum, and the one and only of its kind worldwide that presents the latest inclinations which run the range of illustrative and graphic art in one exhibition.

In 2008 the Illustrative has given international creative companies the possibility to showcase their work and activities in an exclusive booth area. Taiko & Associates Inc., the internationally prestigious creative management and illustration agency, based in Tokyo, Japan, will exhibit a group of 20 Japanese young and leading illustrators. The extraordinary show with over 40 artworks will be shown at the Illustrative Forum, Zurich Messe, Halle 9 from October 17th (opening party start 19:00h) until October 21st. 2008 from 11:00 - 8:00 daily. For more information please view www.illustrative.de

New York-based filmmaker, designer and author Hillman Curtis, music video director Chris Milk and video and feature film director Mark Romanek have been added to the line-up for PAUSE: Ideas in Motion, a new two-day event for the broadcast and film industry, which takes place November 10 - 11, 2008 at the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Centre in NYC.

The three award-winning directors join previously announced presenters BTRY, Brand New School, BUCK, Digital Kitchen, GMunk, Hush, Joseph Kosinski, MK12 and UFO. Mark Romanek and Curtis Milk (Kanyne West, U2, Green Day, Modest Mouse) bookend the event with end-of-day sessions on Day 1 and Day 2 respectively. Romanek will host an “in conversation” presentation that touches on his career as a music video and feature film director (”One Hour Photo” staring Robin Williams). Hillman Curtis will also take a personal approach to his presentation by talking about the creative processes he’s developed while making short films. Each day of the event opens with a one-hour tech and tool presentation by Autodesk.

PAUSE is open to anyone who works with 3D and motion graphics technologies, whether 3D Max, After Effects, Combustion, Maya, Motion, or a combination of these and other bold new toolsets. All PAUSE NYC attendees will be entered to win a prize pack, which includes a copy of Avid Media Composer software valued at $2,500.00. Visit the site to learn more about tickets, etc.

The Art Directors Club (www.adcglobal.org), the longest-running global creative collective of its kind with membership in advertising, design and visual communications, will hold Designism 3.0, its annual forum for creatives and designers to gather and debate their roles in social activism, on October 2, 2008 at the ADC Gallery, 106 West 29th St., New York.

The event, now in its third year, was conceived by Brian Collins, chairman and chief creative, COLLINS: and ADC board member, to explore the responsibility and experiences of designers and creatives in driving social and political change through their work and career focus. This year’s edition is co-produced by Collins and fellow ADC board member Benjamin Palmer, CEO, the barbarian group, New York.

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