Coray Seifert 2010 Board Statement

Contact Coray

Candidate Position Statement:

When I proudly took office as an IGDA Board Member in 2007, the economy was strong, I had never heard of that Tim Langdell fellow, and our biggest concern was that pesky website. Today, the IGDA faces a vastly different landscape. The economy is shit. Our credibility has been tarnished by the resignation of an embattled board member. Membership and sponsorships are down, as is the entire industry. However, this isn’t time to panic, abandon the IGDA, or riot in the streets.

It is time to seize an opportunity. More than ever, game developers need a unified community that connects them to their peers, advocates on issues important to their careers, and advances the art and industry of game development. The IGDA is that community, and if elected, I would be honored to work to make that community even better.

Over the past three years, I’ve split my time as the IGDA’s Secretary, working to increase our organizational transparency and as the Programs & Membership Committee Chair, guiding the organization of the Chapters and SIGs. If reelected, I would focus 100% on the chapters, the core roots of our organization and the most tangible component of our organization. While we’ve laid a good foundation over the past three years, we have an opportunity to make our chapters even stronger.

Specifically, my core goal would be to set up elections for regional Uber Coordinators. That is, IGDA volunteers who provide chapter coordinators in their region with the knowledge, resources and support to make their chapter meetings, events, and communities even stronger. Uber coordinators would facilitate chapters to share best practices, combine lists of speakers interested in giving local talks, and standardize elections and advisory boards.

As a board member contributing to the mission of the IGDA at large, I would spend any remaining bandwidth and energy working with the Awards Committee to move forward with plans for an IGDA Awards Initiative. We have a unique position in our industry as the voice of the game developer. Accordingly, it is up to us to recognize the PEOPLE behind our industry’s most outstanding works. Not the companies. Not the celebrities. The PEOPLE. The men and women behind the keyboards that bring the games we love to life.  I have truly appreciated serving the IGDA for the past three years, and I would be honored if you gave me the chance to serve three more.

Candidate volunteer credits:

2007-Present: IGDA Board Member (2008-Present: Programs & Membership Chair,
2009: Secretary)
2002-Present: New Jersey Chapter Coordinator
2008-2009: Game Design SIG Co-Founder and Interim Steering Committee
Co-Chair
2006: Game Writers SIG Book Contributor (Game Writing: Narrative Skills for
Videogames; "Adding Magic: The Voice Actors" chapter)
2004-2009: Writers SIG Quarterly Co-Founder and Editor
2004-2007: Writers SIG Steering Committee Member
2004-2006: New York Chapter Volunteer
2004: Online Games SIG Volunteer

Candidate Bio:

Coray Seifert is a game designer at THQ's Kaos Studios, creators of Frontlines: Fuel of War. The youngest ever member of the International Game Developers Association's Board of Directors, he has also served as the principle coordinator of the IGDA's New Jersey chapter since 2002. Coray has developed games as a writer, level designer, and producer for companies like Large Animal Games, Blade Edge Software, and the US Department of Defense. He has also appeared on Gamasutra.com, Forbes.com, The NY1 News Channel, in Game Developer Magazine, and at numerous game industry events as an editor, panelist, or host. An advocate for the aspiring game developer, Coray teaches game design at Bloomfield College and the New Jersey Institute of Technology. When he isn't distributing high-fives and D&D jokes, he lives in Morristown, NJ with his amazing wife Katie and their two highly eccentric cats.

Board Interview Q and A:

I think the biggest challenges to game developers – and to our industry at large – is to mature in the public eye from being considered toys for kids to being considered an art form – to everyone, not just us hardcore gamers.

Naturally, the debate over “What is Art” is one that we could spend a whole afternoon on, but the simple fact is that film, radio, television, comics; these forms of media are all considered art forms. While some informed consumers, critics and parents look at video games as peers to these media, the fact is that many still think of games as a novelty; as a toy.

On an industry level, this has lead to unfair double-standards in regards to censorship, consumer perception, and the role of video games in popular culture. On a personnel level, this has lead to our artists; the programmers, designers, musicians, game artists, producers and testers, being considered commodities. They are viewed in the same way that factory robots, calculators, or render farms are viewed. Both of these things need to change.

This is where the IGDA is invaluable. We are the voice of the game developer - and by extension, the voice of the game development industry. Our presence as a legitimate industry association lends strength to our industry as we work with the ESA, national and regional government to defend the works of art that make up the games industry against censorship, unfair blame, and inaccurate perception.

Likewise, with the outstanding work being done by our Quality of Life initiative, the best practices being developed by our Special Interest Groups, and the strength of community being created by our Local Chapters, the IGDA provides a voice to help the individual game developer achieve better working conditions, more effective development practices, and overall a better industry to work in.

I’ve been an IGDA volunteer for the past eight years, first getting involved as coordinator of the IGDA New Jersey chapter in 2002, and then working with the IGDA Writers, Online Games, and Game Design Special Interest Groups. These experiences – along with my past three years on the board - have given me a wealth of familiarity with the inner workings of the IGDA, and I fully expect to work closely with the Chapters and SIGs if elected. As noted in my candidacy statement, I would love to create a more formal structure for supporting and nurturing our local chapters, by creating regional “Uber Coordinators,” and empowering them to make their regional chapters the best they can be.

Additionally, as a former producer, I have a good deal of experience in just plain GETTING THINGS DONE. One of the practices I would love to bring to the board is to increase the rate at which we propose, consider, and adopt new ideas and programs. In the past, I fear we have moved extremely slowly due to a fierce commitment to process and order. While I fully appreciate the need to follow protocol, the current economic climate we face does not afford us the luxury to cross every T and dot every I. The time for deliberation and debate has past. The time for action is now!

As much as it takes! While I’ve been involved in a number of SIG and chapter initiatives in the past, while serving on the IGDA Board over the past three years, I have actively trimmed my involvement down to just the New Jersey Chapter (gotta stay true to Jersey!). While it was extremely painful to step back as a committee member and Quarterly Editor for the Writers SIG, for example, it’s given me more time to focus on Board projects, and the Writers SIG has certainly not missed a beat!

I think Board Members have a two-fold responsibility. First, they must be able to quickly weigh in on critical issues facing the board (public position statements, budget reviews, board minutes, etc.). Second, they must be able to take high-level action items, and get results on them.

 

1. 48-hour turnaround on critical issues – For board-level issues that require a vote, discussion, or board-level activity, each board member should be responsible for providing feedback via email within 48 hours. It is essential that the developers who are elected to these positions be responsible for the direction of the organization.

 

1. One Feature Per Year – Each board member should take the lead on one “Feature” per year, and drive it to completion. Whether it be creating “Uber Coordinators,” driving a new IGDA Awards Program, or starting another new initiative to bring value to members, each board member should own and execute on one big venture each year.