Interactive Media Symposium

Andrew Borman serves as the Director of Digital Preservation at the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY where he leads the museum’s efforts to safeguard and maintain its digital collections related to the study of play. His role involves developing and implementing strategies for digitization, long-term storage, and accessibility of digital collections.

Talk: Research for Everyone: Yes, Even You

Doing research about play and video games isn’t just for people writing books. Learn about the resources available at The Strong to help you become better historians, creators, and developers.

W. Michelle Harris is an associate professor in RIT/IGM's New Media Interactive Development program. Harris is a digital media artist who uses code as a medium for engaging discussions as a Black woman in American culture. She creates interactive installations and produces live-mixed visuals for collaborative performances. Her artwork has been shown at such diverse venues as the ACM SIGGRAPH, World Maker Faire, and INST-INT, as well as regional venues such as Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester Contemporary, the Baobab Cultural Center, Community Folk Art Center, Schwienfurth Memorial, and Squeaky Wheel. Harris has also done live-mixed visuals for performances in collaboration with fivebyfive, Dave Rivello, Reenah Golden, and for several Rochester Fringe Festivals, BIODANCE.

Talk: Celebrating Black Rochester History with Digital Art

The digital media artwork of W. Michelle Harris has been shown at such diverse venues as ACMSIGGRAPH, World Maker Faire, and INST-INT, as well as regional venues like Rochester Contemporary, Visual Studies Workshop, Baobab Cultural Center, Community Folk Art Center, Schwienfurth Memorial, Memorial Art Gallery, and Squeaky Wheel. In this talk, she will show and discuss several works that celebrate the Black community of Rochester, NY, ranging from interactive video installation to digital collage prints.

Nilson Carroll (they/them) is an artist, curator, and educator working at the intersections of experimental games, video art, glitch, and queer theory/embodiment. They are the Assistant Curator and Preservationist at Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, NY, where they specialize in programs around artists’ games, DIY tech-based art workshops, and the history of electronic media. Nilson performs live glitches/noise in the duo shonen book. Capricorn/Scorpio Rising. Nilson is the co-founder of the Queer Games Bundle, which was an annual mutual aid project that helped fund the creation of hundreds of games by queer makers. Nilson's games can be found at: nilson.itch.io

Talk: Toward a More DIY and Queer Community-Focused Games Field

This talk will cover Nilson's curatorial and educational work at the media arts organization Visual Studies Workshop, located in downtown Rochester, NY, as well as their own DIY and queer community-focused post-studio art practice. Topics include: the Queer Games Bundle mutual aid project, finding spaces for artists' and experimental games, making poetry and diary games, and being vulnerable through game development.

8 Bit Bosses is a team of passionate game developers, based in Puerto Rico. They’re currently working on future projects and focusing on developing high-quality and engaging experiences for players.

8 Bit Bosses is ALSO a sponsor of the Interactive Media Symposium!

Talk: The Journey of Reef Escape

Join the studio behind Reef Escape, their studio premiere platformer where you play amongst the great blue ocean.

Additionally, get a behind the scenes peek at what it’s like to run a studio, and learn what is to come!

Rohit Crasta (RIT GDD '13) is Lead Game Designer at The New York Times. He began his career in community and event organizing for game developers before moving into hands-on design roles, contributing to titles like Marvel Puzzle Quest and other Facebook and mobile games.

Talk: Designing NYT Crossplay

Crossplay is the first ever multiplayer game by The New York Times! Get a behind the behind-the-scenes look at the game design, product journey, and lessons learned from this ambitious project.

Bad Bass Games is a team of students & alum from Rochester Institute of Technology. They formed during the Fall of 2023 and have been developing Bait & Tackle ever since.

Talk: Using RIT’s Resources - the Bait & Tackle Story

Join Bad Bass Games as they discuss taking Bait & Tackle, their recently published fishing game! Learn about their process of taking the project from idea to launch - and getting the most from the community around them.