Last Straw Productions has announced the keynote speakers for the second Indie MMO Game Developers Conference, which will take place on March 28th - 30th in Minneapolis.

"The Indie themed keynote speaker on March 29th is Indie Evangelist Jay Moore. Jay was previously Dir. of Business Development, Marketing Director & Evangelist for GarageGames, an online tool dev and game publisher. He joined GG in 2002 when they were 5 guys crammed into a one-room office. When he left, they were a team of 30+. While at GG he launched IndieGamesCon, oversaw the online publishing of independent games, and worked to establish Torque as the game engine platform of choice for independent game developers.

The MMOG Design themed keynote speaker on March 30th is industry guru and founding father of virtual worlds Dr. Richard Bartle. Dr. Richard A. Bartle co-wrote the first virtual world, MUD, in 1978; he has thus been at the forefront of the MMO industry from its very inception. He divides his time equally between being an industry consultant and an academic (he's Professor of Computer Game Design at the University of Essex, UK). His 2003 book, Designing Virtual Worlds, is the standard text on the subject, and he is an influential writer on all aspects of virtual world design and development.

IMGDC founder and director Jonathon Stevens states “IMGDC is honored to have such renowned industry professionals as keynote speakers. It doesn’t get much better than this! IMGDC 2.0 is going to be an incredible conference building on the passion and excitement we saw last year. Last year, we got you excited, this year you’ll leave IMGDC with a passion and love for an industry that desperately needs it!”

IMGDC provides content, community and contacts for artists, designers, programmers, and Indie entrepreneurs. If you've caught the incurable desire to make MMO games commercially, or even as a hobbyist, this is a community gathering of talented individuals and groups you will not want to miss. For more information, please visit the IMGDC 2.0 website at http//www.IMGDC.com ."