One of the Triangle's most successful video-game companies is building buzz for its next creation by sending its top designer to late night TV.

Epic Games design director Cliff Bleszinski, known affectionately as Cliffy B among legions of game fans and techies, is scheduled to be a guest on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" on Thursday, April 8.

Via Twitter, Fallon indicated last night that Bleszinski will discuss Epic's next project, but didn't give more details.

Fallon's tweet: "Game designer Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) debuts his new game on Late Night next Thur. Set your TiVos! And your Xboxes."

Michael Capps, president of the Cary-based company behind "Gears of War" and the "Unreal Tournament" line of action games, would only confirm that Bleszinski's appearance isn't an April Fool's joke. Capps wouldn't discuss what Epic has planned.

Michael Capps, the president of video game company Epic Games, has been named Technology Executive of the Year by the N.C. Technology Association.

The Cary-based company produced the blockbuster "Gears of War" and "Unreal Tournament" franchises. In addition, its Unreal Engine graphics software is wiidely used to create video games.

Capps is among the winners of NCTA's 21 Awards, which honors companies and individuals in 21 categories. This year's winners range from household names to "companies that you may have never heard of," said Brooks Raiford, the organization's president and CEO.

Seems that Coach K's leadership wisdom remains a draw, despite the down economy.

As of Monday afternoon, the sponsors of the eighth annual Fuqua School of Business and Coach K Leadership conference at Duke University had matched last year's total of 256 registered attendees.

The conference kicks off this afternoon with a timely theme: "Leading in Times of Uncertainty." The conference will bring together a wide range of executives to discuss how they manage, motivate and more.

Scheduled speakers include Abigail P. Johnson vice chairman at Fidelity Investments; James F. McCaffrey, chief strategy officer at Turner Broadcasting System; and Shannon Wallis, global director of leadership development at Microsoft.

Local executives include Michael Capps, president of Cary-based Epic Games, and Jim Whitehurst, CEO of Raleigh-based Red Hat. Get a full list of speakers and other information here.

Tonight's keynote address is "How to Lead in Tough Times" by Bob Seelert, chairman of advertising firm Saatchi & Saatchi.

The conference runs through Wednesday. As is tradition, a conference highlight will be watching Duke men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski leading a practice.