Who am I?

Entrepreneur and collaborative leader, I have founded a multitude of organizations, including the Quebec Electronic Sports Federation, the Virtual Guardians Foundation, UQAM Gaming and Boreal eSports.

Active in the field of electronic sports and online communities since 2002, my experiences, dedication and successes have earned me the status of being a recognized reference among my peers in Canada with regards to the electronic sports market, the online communities environment and the prevention of various issues present in the digital world.

Philanthropist by nature, I am leading many battles and files aiming at improving the life of not only gamers, but of the whole society.

The complete list of my numerous projects, causes that I care about, as well as my successes, can be found in the portfolio.

Since 2020, I’ve been reconnecting with the academic side of me, notably through a master’s degree in communication, with a focus on video games and gamification, and through participation in a multitude of scientific research projects.

Why Savard.Work?

Since 2015, I had been using the website Leonin.ca as both a personal and professional digital showcase. His French blog covered a wide range of topics, from video game news to updates on other projects unrelated to electronic sports.

Savard.Work, conceived in the fall of 2021, was born out of a desire to have a specialized platform that would allow me to vulgarize my knowledge and experiences in the field of electronic sports, in addition to advancing certain debates on video games in a scientifically rigorous manner. In order to make this site accessible to a maximum of people around the world, I decided to make it bilingual French-English.

Current affiliations

Member of the Homo Ludens research group (UQAM)

The Homo Ludens research group focuses on the social, philosophical and semiotic aspects of play from a communicative perspective.

Website : https://homoludens.ca/

Member of the Canadian Game Studies Association (CGSA/ACÉJ)

The Canadian Game Studies Association (CGSA/ACÉJ) is an organization dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of digital games. Its main objective is to support the work of Canadian researchers, graduate students, artists, game designers, programmers, theorists and others working in this field.

Website : https://gamestudies.ca/

Member of the Association pour la Recherche et les Etudes Francophones sur l’Esport (AREFE)

Created in 2018, this research association brings together nearly thirty French-speaking researchers around the world who work to uncover new information about esports.

Website : https://arefesport.fr/

Associate member of the Esports Research Network

The Esports Research Network is a collaboration of various researchers fostering interdisciplinary research on the emerging phenomenon of esports. Esports is truly global and truly digital, therefore, esports can be utilized to research existing social issues and act as foresight into the digitised world. Research on esports can be seen as a future lab.

Furthermore, in order to understand esports, it is necessary to research in-depth the social impact, the evolution of esports as well as the current and future role of esports in society. The goals of the Esports Research Network are to gain rigorous insights into esports, foster the sustainable growth of esports, shape the role of esports in the society and translate this knowledge to obtain cognition for the digitised world society is growing into.

Board member (Chairman), Fondation des Gardiens virtuels

The Virtual Guardian Foundation is a registered Canadian charity whose mission is to be a beacon on the Internet for people in distress, and to promote responsible digital use.

Website : https://gardiensvirtuels.quebec/

Board member (Coordinator), UQAM Gaming

UQAM Gaming is the student club of the Université du Québec à Montréal that brings together all those who love games. Its mission is to provide common spaces for uqamians who share these interests and our love of gaming. A club for gamers of all kinds, whether they play video games, board games, role-playing games or GN.

Website : https://uqamgaming.ca/

Citizen member of the Association québécoise de prévention du suicide

The Association québécoise de prévention du suicide is involved in all aspects of suicide prevention in Quebec. A non-profit organization founded in 1986, AQPS now has some 200 members. Its mission is to mobilize all players, support communities, equip professionals, raise public awareness and influence decision-makers to prevent suicide.

Website : https://aqps.info/

Partnerships

Hébergement Web Canada

Web Hosting Canada is a Montreal-based web service provider that I use for all my different sites.

Nature of partnership: Only an affiliate code allowing me to reduce my web hosting costs.

Website : https://clients.whc.ca/aff.php?aff=1407

Meltdown Montréal

Meltdown Montreal is a themed bar hosting e-sports and video game events.

Nature of partnership: Permission to use the establishment outside opening hours for my private meetings.

Website : https://www.meltdown.bar/montreal

Régulus

Regulus takes care of the accounting management of SMEs, advising and supporting entrepreneurs so that they can devote themselves fully to their raison d’être and prosper. I’ve been doing business with them for several years for my professional and personal accounting.

Nature of partnership: Exchange of good practices

Website : https://reguluscompt.com/