Not an official logo, just an excited doodle :)

The decision has been made.
Come 2012, the ever-awesome ARGFest-O-Con will be finding its place, once again, north of the border – to be hosted in Toronto, Ontario!

In its earlier years, ARGFest had one incarnation in Vancouver, British Columbia, but over the following years the fest has grown and mutated, filling out its amazepants of awesomesauciness.

If you’ve been to previous ARGFest events, you’ll already know how entertaining and enjoyable the conference is, even just by the community focus and social tomfoolery. But in addition to all that, ARGFest has become a hotspot for speakers and experience designers to share their studies, advice and woes, educate and entertain through their presentations and case studies in the Alternate Reality Gaming and Transmedia Storytelling space – from grassroots creators to mainstream media marketing campaigns.

Speaking for myself, it’s greatly exciting to finally be able bring this event which is dear to my heart to my home country (I hadn’t yet been sucked into ARGs back when Vancouver played host), and it pleases me to no end that the fest committee has chosen Toronto to host next year’s conference.

ARGFest 2011, Bloomington

I very much encourage you to consider attending this event — the gears are in motion and planning is under way, and as soon as more details are decided (such as the dates), you absolutely must mark them off on your calendar!  Whether you are a professional designer, transmedia producer, ARG creator, artist, storyteller, or especially a player of ARGs, or simply enjoy creative projects, stories, and games – this event is for you!

The ARGFest committee has more than proven their ability to create a conference that will impact in many ways, both in professionalism and social merriment. With games to play, puzzles and mysteries to solve, wisdom to soak in, inspiration to take home, and many friends to make, meet and greet (probably for the first time in meat-space), and a wonderful urban attraction (Toronto, remember?) to explore and discover, how could anyone not want to come and experience some Canadian hospitality?

As the exquisite J.C. Hutchins, who offered the keynote at last year’s ARGFest in Bloomington Indiana, said:

People, man. People.

Canadians are all over that :)   Stay tuned for more announcements as the planning progresses… Read the official announcement at ARGFest.com

And finally, don’t ever, ever watch this video to whet your appetite for Canada… seriously, don’t even think about it. Ever.

Also: Poutine. Tim Hortons. Mounties. Canadian Tire. C(anadian) N(ational) Tower. Maple Leafs. Igloos. Royal Ontario Museum. Toronto Island. Ontario Science Center. Skydome Rogers Center. Harbourfront. Hockey. Hockey Hall of Fame. And sooooo much more, eh…?

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