Info

Date:

February 18, 2008

Location:

San Francisco, CA

Host:

Game Developers Conference

Organizers:

Dataspelsbranschen Swedish Games Industry

IGDA

Contacts:

Per Strömbäck

Jason Della Rocca

 

Overview

As the games industry develops and matures, support organizations become more important and government initiatives increasingly ambitious and frequent. What challenges does the games industry face short and long term, and what support structures are needed to address them? What kind of government support is more important? Which issues should trade associations focus on? How can the industry grow without losing quality? These and many other questions will be discussed at this seminar, which draws on case studies and participant contribution to reach interesting results.

Takeaway

The goal of this seminar is to identify what issues are best addressed by government and support organizations and to find strategies to deal with them. It is also a networking opportunity for the participants. The seminar is also intended as a source of inspiration that lasts.

Intended Audience

A broad definition of the intended participant is: someone who is involved with developing the structural factors for game developers, but not necessarily developing games herself. This includes civil servants in cultural-, economic development and technology fields, trade associations, policy-makers, researchers (cultural studies rather than tech or design), active IGDA-members (eg, chapter organizers).

Output

Coverage

Materials

Output and materials from the Summit:

Photos


Gordon Walton (BioWare Austin) and Aaron Thibault (Gearbox Software) participate in the IGDA's first ever Government+Association Summit.


Asante Bradford (Georgia Department of Economic Development) presents a case blast on the new Georgia Entertainment Industry Investment Act .


Craig Albeck (Game Republic) presents a case on their efforts to connect developers with publishers.

Program

Schedule at a Glance

 

10:00 Welcome/Opening Remarks
10:10 Keynote - Eric Zimmerman
11:00 coffee break
11:15 Attendee Introductions
11:30 Case Blasts
12:30 lunch break
14:00 Workgroups - Topic Generation
14:30 Workgroups - Discussion Rounds
16:00 coffee break
16:15 Workgroups - Report Outs
17:30 Closing Summation
18:00 drinks (optional)

 

Session Descriptions

Welcome/Opening Remarks

  • 10:00 - 10:10
  • Jason Della Rocca / Per Strömbäck

Brief introductory remarks, and setting of the agenda and ground rules for the day.

Keynote: What is a Game?

  • 10:10 - 11:00
  • Eric Zimmerman

We all think we know what games are when we talk about them, but in reality, the phenomenon of games in the world today is as diverse as other large cultural categories such as the written word or the moving image. In this keynote speech, veteran game developer Eric Zimmerman will provide a number of ways of looking at and understanding games, framing them through the lenses of technology, business, culture, society, and the human experience of play. The point is not to arrive at a final definition of games, but instead to expand the ways that we can conceptualize games, and in so doing, better understand where computer and video games might be headed in the future.

Attendee Introductions

  • 11:15 - 11:30

Lightning round of introductions from all attendees to facilitate with networking and groupwork functions.

Case Blasts

  • 11:30 - 12:30

Representatives from a variety of institutions will present brief case studies. These will focus on existing support programs and schemes (both successes and failures). Each case will be 5 minutes long and follow a strict presentation template in order to facilitate comparisons and to allow as many attendees to present as possible. The goal is to give everyone a better sense of the breadth of programs that are out there. These cases will help serve as inspiration for the group working session.

All attendees who pre-register for the Summit will be sent a call-for-cases email with details regarding these case blasts and the steps required to propose/present one.

Workgoups - Topic Generation

  • 14:00 - 14:30

Working in groups, attendees will generate - and prioritize - the list of topics/areas for further discussion during the following workgroup session. In line with the theme of the Summit, topics will focus on the challenges faced by the game industry and the interplay of government and support associations being part of the solution.

Workgroups - Discussion Rounds

  • 14:30 - 16:00

The list of topics from the previous session will be assigned to tables. Attendees will pick the topic they want to tackle, and sit at the appropriatetable. Each table will wrestle with the topic in terms of what's being done currently around the world, successes/failures, what could or should be done, new ideas and solutions, etc. This process will be repeated three times (30 minutes each round) so that each participant has the opportunity to explore and discuss three different topics. After each round, the table host will "seed" the next round with the highlights of the previous round of discussion.

Each table will have a host/moderator volunteer from the attendee base. All attendees who pre-register for the Summit will be sent an email with details regarding the host role and how to volunteer.

Workgroups - Report Outs

  • 16:15 - 17:30

After the three rounds of discussion (and a break for coffee), table hosts will report out on the key findings and patterns from the group discussions. All attendees are encouraged to make additional commentary, ask follow-up questions, etc. This room-wide report out allows attendees to get a glimpse of all the discussion topics (not just three).

Closing Summation

  • 17:30 - 18:00
  • Toby Barnes

Responding to a full day of intense discussion and debate, this session will attempt to summarize the major themes, threads and patterns from the Summit. The goal is to provide a clear sense of next-steps and future directions for participants and the community as a whole.

Drinks (optional)

  • 18:00 - ...

Attendees are encouraged to keep the discussion and networking going by enjoying a few casual drinks. Location TBD, but will be nearby the convention center...

Speakers

The Summit is focused on providing a space for sharing and knowledge transfer among the attendees. That said, the following individuals will play a small role in providing some of the structured elements of the content. Click on their names to see their complete bio at the GDC website.

Registration

The Government + Associations Summit is an event hosted within the annual Game Developers Conference. Registration is handled directly at the GDC website. The pass options relevant for this Summit are:

  • Summits & Tutorial Only Pass: Alumni = n/a | Early = $650 | Regular = $750
  • All Access Pass: Alumni = $1395 | Early = $1495 | Regular = $1995

Note that the alumni deadline is December 5th and the early rate deadline is January 16th. CMP Media determines the pricing for all Game Developer Conference Passes.

IGDA members receive a $50 discount on GDC registration.