PAX East II Kicks off at NERD

Before I get to PAX, I wanted to start off by introducing myself. My name is Kayt Racz and I am a new Marketing Specialist at NERD. My role is to help coordinate and market the events that happen at NERD every day. This includes helping to put together events, such as the PAX East “Made in MA” party, as well as thinking of new ways to generate awareness about all of the exciting events happening at NERD. I started this position about a month ago and it has proved everything that I wanted it to be—fast paced and challenging. I hope to get a chance to meet all of you who read the blog as you will see posts from me frequently! Now back to the subject—PAX East.

Guests enjoy Dance Central for Kinect

Over 1,000 people gathered at NERD last Thursday to celebrate the vibrant Massachusetts gaming industry. In partnership with Mass TLC, we hosted a three hour “Made in MA” party, which included more than 30 gaming companies—all of which call Massachusetts home. Major Nelson, Microsoft’s Xbox Live personality, also made an appearance and guests enjoyed Dance Central “Dance Off” on our 16 foot projection screen.

The “Made in MA” party kicked off a three day gaming stretch as this past weekend was the second annual PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) East Conference. PAX East, which started with PAX Prime on the West Coast in Seattle, is a three-day game festival for tabletop, videogame, and PC gamers. Visitors come together from all over the U.S. to attend tournaments, free-play areas, concerts, panel discussions, and an exhibitor hall filled with booths displaying the latest from the top game publishers and developers.

The party also served as sneak preview of PAX East. Game-fanatics were able to mingle with creators of their favorite games, as well as network with their peers. Some of the products that were featured include: FireHose Games’ new Slam Bolt Scrappers, The Lord of the Rings Online from Turbine, and Kinect for Xbox 360 along with the top selling game Dance Central, developed by Cambridge-based video game company, Harmonix.

Major Nelson cuts the official "MadeInMA" cake

Major Nelson welcomed the crowd along with Steve Charkoudian, Partner at Goodwin Proctor, Dr. Robert Johnson, President of Becker College, and Eric Nakajima, Senior Innovation Advisor for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Following the event, President and CEO of Mass TLC, Tom Hopcroft said:

“The PAX “Made in MA” party was a terrific way to kick-off a weekend of activities for the digital gaming industry.  Based on the level of participation and enthusiasm at the party, the games industry is a thriving community and one that should not be overlooked when considering growth opportunities in the State.  We had more than 30 local companies, universities, politicians and industry execs participating at the NERD Center with more than 1,000 fans from across the country.  Microsoft and our sponsors stepped up again to support the community and create a high-energy event that showed the industry all that Massachusetts has to offer.”

We couldn’t agree more. The year’s “Made in MA” party was a blast and we cannot wait to begin planning for the 2012 PAX East “Made in MA” party.

Click here to view more photos.