A Letter from the New Board of Directors
Our Fellow Game Developers:
A few months ago you may have heard that the Austin Game Developers (AGD) fell into hibernation. The AGD had become too onerous for its volunteer organizers to tame, and the focus of its programming was not clear at times. As a result, the AGD sometimes failed to serve those for whom it was created in the first place: people employed making games in the Austin region. The AGD's future looked bleak and some of us doubted whether its hiatus would, in fact, become its demise. Yet the need for this group and the professional and social services it provides to our local industry have never been greater.
Thus, we are delighted to announce the reawakening, the reformation, and the revitalization of this vital organization that connects and fortifies Austin's game development community.
You'll notice many changes, some shallow, others deep:
- We've shed the name AGD in favor of IGDA-Austin to underscore Austin's connection to an international community of developers and to capitalize on helpful resources provided by the IGDA, including free web and blog hosting, white papers and research, and operational support to help our Austin chapter operate more effectively.
- You'll also notice a new URL and a new look to our website, http://www.igda.org/austin/ .
- The web site will provide timely and relevant information for your career, industry and community. Within it you’ll find job postings, forums (one of the most active IGDA ones in the world), and a FAQ.
Beyond these surface changes, you'll soon see differences in the type of events and programming hosted by IGDA-Austin:
- The AGD lost its relevance to some of our peers who found events so generic that they did not pertain to their positions or help them in their jobs.
- IGDA-Austin's events, in contrast, will be measured against one criterion: how does this help folks actually working in the game industry? There will still be social events and happy hours, but they will be limited to working professionals. IGDA-Austin meetings will focus on building skills and abilities that make us more productive, more informed, more effective, and more valuable.
- Too often our professional development has been limited to those lucky enough to attend conferences, leaving those who can’t go with little opportunity to sharpen their skills.
- IGDA-Austin will strive to bring conference-like growth opportunities to our entire local community throughout the year.
- AGD meetings were, at times, attended by more non-professionals wanting to break into the game industry than working professionals.
- The majority of IGDA-Austin meetings, on the other hand, will focus on and be limited to working professionals in the game industry and related fields.
This does not mean that we will turn our back on ambitious people who want to learn what it takes to earn a living making games. Rather, we will extend a hand to aspiring new folks through focused initiatives that will better serve them and our working professionals:
- Working with the IGDA, we will help Austin-area schools and universities create their own IGDA-certified game clubs, which give students benefits, access, and information they wouldn't otherwise receive.
- We will host a limited number of newbie-friendly IGDA-Austin events each year in which those needing information about breaking in can solicit it from willing insiders. We believe this new system will ensure that working game developers receive the professional development and networking opportunities they need, while students and other aspirants to our industry will have a chance once or twice a year to interact directly with industry veterans who want to help them.
We hope you approve of the above changes and numerous others that you'll encounter in the months to come. Game development, along with all the industries helping to promote, staff, outfit, and supply it, is a big part of Austin's economy and our lives. Too often we're subsumed by our own milestones and projects that we ignore the things that we need to be more satisfied in our positions and more valued by our employers. Collectively, through IGDA-Austin, we can help ourselves meet those needs.
We welcome the rebirth of IGDA-Austin and ask that you join us in making it strong through your support and participation. And we give a special thanks to Quoc Tran for his tireless effort at reforming and relaunching this organization. His is a thankless job, and he deserves a beer and some barbecue from each of us.
Best regards,
- Denise Fulton - Midway Austin, Studio Director
Rodney Gibbs - Amaze Entertainment, Studio Director
Mike McShaffry - Breakaway Games Austin, Studio Director
Binu Philip - Edge of Reality, President
Warren Spector - Junction Point, President
Gordon Walton - BioWare Austin, Co-Studio Director
Posted by KainShin on June 15, 2006 12:23 AM
