[Eug-lug] SAO Lane County Monthly Meetings

[Kevin Kenan]

The Lane County SAO Chapter is awakening from hibernation and is  
resuming its monthly meetings. The press release is below. We are  
targeting meetings on the 3rd Wednesday of every month.

Thanks,
-kk

==== Press Release ====

New SAO Monthly Meetings Beginning Wednesday, March 19th, Will Feature  
Enhanced Industry Networking Opportunities and Local Presenters. This  
Month, Pipeworks’ Software CTO, Dan White, Describes His Company and  
Trends in Game Development.

Eugene, OR- The Lane County Chapter of the Software Association of  
Oregon (SAO) will initiate a new series of monthly meetings at the  
Vista Room, located at Symantec’s Springfield site, 555 International  
Way. The first meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 19th from 6 to  
8 PM.

“The new meeting format will emphasize and facilitate social  
networking for professionals engaged in computer technology here in  
Lane County”, said Raymond Hardman, Infrastructure Architect for  
Symantec Corp. and one of the meeting organizers. “While these types  
of social networking opportunities are common in places like the  
Silicon Valley, they have been all but non-existent here. Many of my  
Symantec colleagues and employees from other tech companies locally  
have expressed an interest in being able to connect in an informal  
setting”.

Giving a short presentation about his company at this month’'s meeting  
will be Dan White, the CTO and co-founder of Pipeworks Software.  Dan  
has been in the games business since 1995.  He is originally from  
Eugene (SEHS class of 1984), but moved away to get degrees in physics  
and mechanical engineering before returning in 1992.

Pipeworks Software was started in 1999 as in independent game  
developer, and merged with the Collective and Backbone to form  
Foundation 9 Entertainment in 2005.  Pipeworks currently develops  
games for the Wii, PS3 and Xbox360 platforms.  Some recent titles  
include "Godzilla Unleashed" for the Wii, and PlayStation, and "Prince  
of Persia: Rival Swords" for PSP.

Foundation 9 Entertainment is a premier developer of interactive  
entertainment products and properties, from licensed titles to  
original IP’s. The company is one of the largest independent game  
developers in the world, and has over 800 employees in locations  
ranging from Orange County CA, to Sheffield, England.

There is no cost for this first monthly meeting. Light refreshments  
will be provided. Business and technical professionals working in any  
aspect of the computer technology industry, including: software  
application development, network administration, web development,  
etc., are encouraged to attend. The meeting is also open to providers  
of professional services who work with technology clients.

For further information regarding this meeting or the Lane County  
Chapter of the Software Association of Oregon, contact Paul Berger at  
541 485-7220 or bergerp at comcast.net. For information about the  
Software Association of Oregon visit www.sao.org.