Unite 09, a conference devoted to the Unity 3D game engine, runs this week in San Francisco. While i would have loved to have attended, the home fires currently command my complete attention. The good news is that Unity is taking the show on the road, with a little help from Unity 3D distributor dimeRocker.

dimeRocker is seeding a number of Unity 3D user groups across Canada, including one in Toronto and one in Montreal. The Toronto and Montreal events are both evening user group meetings, with hands-on workshops the following day. Here’s what the schedule looks like:

Toronto November 10th – 11th

November 10th: Social Networking Event

• 5:30pm – 6:30pm Reception, drinks & appetizers at the Gladstone Hotel
• 6:30pm – 7:30pm Keynote followed by Q&A with Unity Team
• 7:30pm – 9:00pm Networking Social, raffle – Unity 3D License

Speaker: Tony Garcia – Business Development

Tony Garcia is a seasoned 26 year industry veteran having held senior positions for such
companies as Electronic Arts, LucasFilm Games, and Microsoft. In 1991, Tony founded the
games division at Microsoft and grew it over a period of six years to establish the company as a
major player in the videogame space. In 1998 Tony was the General Manager for Electronic
Arts Seattle where he oversaw the development of such leading franchises as Need for Speed,
FIFA Soccer, and Motor City Online. Tony has also been responsible for a string of successful
startups and won a diverse set of industry awards for many of the products that he has been
involved with.

November 11th: Course and VIP Sponsor Dinner

• 12:30pm – 1:00pm Registration & refreshments
• 1:00pm – 3:30pm Unity Skills Workshop
• 3:30pm – 4:00pm Workshop Q&A
• 7:00pm – 10:00pm VIP dinner – Unity Team & Premium Sponsors

Speaker: Amir Ebrahimi – Developer and Field Engineer TORONTO WORKSHOP

Amir comes from Naughty Dog, Activision, and Flagship Studios, where he wrote tools, graphics
code and gameplay scripts on Jak II, Jak 3, Jak X, X-Men, Tony Hawk Project 8, and Hellgate:
London. Occasionally Amir writes for Game Developer magazine and teaches at the Art Institute
of California, San Francisco.

Montreal

November 16th: Social Networking Event

• 5:30pm – 6:30pm Reception, drinks and appetizers
• 6:30pm – 7:30pm Key Note followed by Q&A with UT
• 7:30pm – 9:00pm+ Networking Social raffle off Unity 3D License

November 17th: Course and VIP Sponsor Dinner

• 12:30pm – 1:00pm Registration
• 1:00pm – 3:30pm Unity Skills Workshop
• 3:30pm – 4:00pm Workshop Q&A
• 7:00pm – 10:00pm VIP dinner – Unity Team & Premium Sponsors

Speaker: David Helgason – CEO

An entrepreneur, visionary, and ex-programmer, David’s job is to lead the team to stardom,
while making sure that each step is taken with love and care.
In the past David founded and participated in startups in fields such as news & community
integration, music distribution, and consulting. David serves on the boards of several games and
technology startups.

Sponsors

• Telefilm Canada (who are funding dimeRocker’s whole initiative)
• dimeRocker (surprised?)
• Unity (doubly surprised?)

Strategic partners include:

• alliance numerique
• interactive ontario
• Montreal International Game Summit
• George Brown College

Unrealistic?

George Brown’s participation is interesting. The school is planning to use Unity in the third and fourth year of its Game Development program, where most Ontario schools are using Unreal Engine 3. Interestingly, Joystiq suggested last week that a consumer-grade version of the Unreal Engine 3 was in the works, as a direct competitor to Unity.

Become a User

Here’s where to sign up:

• UUG Mixer Event, Toronto November 10th
• UUG Course Toronto November 11th
• UUG Mixer Event, Montreal November 16th
• UUG Course Montreal November 17th

For more articles about Unity 3D, check out our Unity Nuub feature.

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