Register for the CUTC Office-Politics Game

CUTC Workshop: Crash Course in Office-Politics


The OFFICE-POLITICS game Office-Politics is a satirical online and wireless messaging game. Think of a steroid pumped "Dilbert" crossed with Animal Farm -- a competitive game where every player is scratching and clawing their way to the top.

Each day, an original interactive Office-Politics dilemma provokes players to comment on thorny topical issues. The object of the game is to amass the most points and snag the title of CEO. Players use a variety of tools including Golden Parachutes, White Knights, Dirty Fingers and Backstabbing to win points. For 2003 a new betting feature (codename: Slacker) is being introduced which allows players to bet points on other players, and which can, theoretically, vault someone quickly into a position of power, with a minimum of effort.

CUTC Registrants can win: Registrants at CUTC can sign-up and start playing prior to the presentation. At the workshop, the top 3 CUTC players will be brought on- stage and interviewed by the game developers from Nerdheaven Ltd. An Office-Politics mug will be awarded to each of the top 3 players (who are in attendance at the CUTC workshop). A custom CUTC scoreboard will display the students rank. Please sign up in advance at www.officepolitics.com/cutc to get the most of this workshop.


AGENDA

The development: From concept to execution

The creators of the Office-Politics game, Bill James and Franke James from Nerdheaven Ltd, will be presenting the story of the game's development, and discussing their plans for the future. You will have an opportunity to ask questions throughout the workshop presentation.

1. The Vision: Play it on the web, wireless, voice web, boardgame, cartoons and TV!
"Since 2000, we've been consumed by the desire to create a humorous interactive game that would appeal to a mass audience and run on all platforms and media. Office-Politics is the culmination of that dream, but we've only just begun to explore its potential." Franke James, Co-creator
2. The Prototype: Preliminary sales demo to bring partners and financing on-board
3. The Web Launch: Why we trashed our Java version and rebuilt the game from scratch using Open Source tools
4. Three CUTC students will be interviewed on-stage about their Office- Politics game experience
5. Revenue Models: Web, wireless, voice web, TV and newspaper
6. Goals for 2003


Player Feedback: "This really is one great game, getting better with each tweaking. And I agree as well that these players are making it good fun and more importantly, perhaps, educational. It's rewarding to see inside the minds of real people, however they react to a given situation. I expected more savages with big knives, but find it rewarding that the hardworkers seem to get nearest the top. It's also rewarding to be armed with more rationale before I react to a given situation in the real workplace. That's the real prize methinks, and I hope everyone wins it."


ABOUT THE CREATORS:

Franke James, MFA,
Artist, Writer, Co-Creator

Franke James, Co-founder of The James Gang and Nerdheaven Ltd., is an artist and writer who has carved out a unique hybrid career thanks to the timely convergence of leading-edge technology, entertainment and advertising. The James Gang's innovative work has been featured as hot sites at AOL, USA Today, Yahoo, InternetWorld Finland, Startsiden Magazine Norway and others. Examples of their interactive content include the MyObsessions.com Love Quiz which is featured on the TELUS Mobility network. Franke's newest brainchild, created with Game Architect William James, is Office-Politics, the game everyone plays. The pervasive multi- player game designed for web, wireless and voice web was officially launched in 2002. Franke participated in a ThinkTank with 19 industry leaders and artists on the Future of Interactive Entertainment at the Canadian Film Centre in May 2001. She has presented at conferences including Flashforward2001 San Francisco, Flashforward2000 New York, and the World Animation Celebration 2000, Hollywood and has acted as a Judge for the Flashforward Film Festival and Marketing Magazine's Digital Awards. Going forward, Franke is focused on creating original content, which can be licensed, from broadband through to wireless.

William James, Game Architect,
Writer, Co-Creator

William James Co-founder of The James Gang and Nerdheaven Ltd., brings over fifteen years of multimedia design, programming expertise and business experience to Nerdheaven Ltd. His body of artistic work includes a series of interactive, computer-driven, multimedia installations which have been exhibited in art galleries across Canada. His 1986 installation for Guerrilla Tactics included real-time integration of user input, consumer behavior and electronic commerce, foreshadowing the internet's biggest trends by almost a decade. Bill James is also a playwright and lyricist. His musical comedy, entitled Control Alt Delete: How To Restart Your Life Even If It's Totally Crashed, premiered at Toronto's Poor Alex Theatre in 1999. He has written numerous articles on design and technology which have appeared in trade and industry publications. As Co- founder of The James Gang Advertising Inc., Bill has led the company into the multimedia and interactive arena, winning numerous awards for design, creativity and programming. The James Gang was featured as creative innovators on the CTV show "Innovating Tomorrow" in 2002. Nerdheaven Ltd.. was selected as one of 10 companies representing the Ontario Digital Media Showcase at the October EMMA 2002 Awards Event.