Each year, the IGDA is at the Game Developers Conference to further connect members, deliver valuable learning content and address the issues of the day. Everything the IGDA's got cooking for GDC09 is listed below.
General GDC Info
- Date: 23-27 March
- Location: Moscone Convention Center, San Francisco, California, USA
- Web: http://www.gdconf.com/
- IGDA members receive a $50 discount on registration (membership will be verified). (Note: The IGDA discount does not apply to Expo or Student Passes.)
IGDA Events
The IGDA hosts a series of specific events for members and volunteers. More specific details to come shortly.
- Members-Only Party on Tuesday night from 8pm to midnight at the Westin on Market
- IGDA Annual General Meeting at 12:15pm-1:15pm on Thursday in room 2014 West during the lunch break (boxed lunches available)
- VIP Luncheon on Wednesday (by invite only)
- Chapter Coordinators Workshop on Monday (by invite only)
- SIG Leaders Workshop on Monday (by invite only)
Members-Only Party*
Date: Tuesday, March 24th
Time: 8pm - 1am
Location: Westin on Market
(* OK, by party, what we really mean is a big huge room full of IGDA members all chatting and drinking and having a good time. It's not, like, a real party, party, with a dance floor and stuff...)
IGDA Annual General Meeting
Date: Thursday, March 26th
Time: 12:15pm-1:15pm (during lunch break)
Location: room # 2014 Moscone West
Note: Boxed lunches will be provided in the room
The IGDA's Board of Directors and executive management give developers a rundown of the association's progress over the past year, as well as an indication of what's in store for 2009. There will also be an extensive Q&A period to get feedback and input from the community.
Booth Action: Board Members + Social Gatherings
The IGDA booth/zone is located in the Moscone West lobby area (#944). It is a hotbed of action during the week, including a set of social gatherings on Wed/Thu/Fri, and IGDA Board members on "duty" to chat with members, take questions, etc. Stop by the booth to interact and hang out. (*click on social gathering links for exact session timing)
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | ||||
| Board Members | Board Members | Social Gatherings | Board Members | Social Gatherings | Board Members | Social Gatherings | Board Members | |
| 9am | Tobi Saulnier | Tobi Saulnier | Producers | Tobi Saulnier + Brenda Brathwaite |
Outsourcing | Tobi Saulnier | ||
| 10am | Bob Bates | Academics | Jen MacLean | Brenda Brathwaite | Accessibility | Tim Langdell | ||
| 11am | Tobi Saulnier | Gordon Bellamy | Tim Train | |||||
| 12pm | Mitzi McGilvray | Government | Students | |||||
| 1pm | Mitzi McGilvray | Women | ||||||
| 2pm | LGBT | Writers | ||||||
| 3pm | Tobi Saulnier | Lawyers | ||||||
| 4pm | Tobi Saulnier | Minorities | Tom Buscaglia | Bloggers | ||||
| 5pm | Tobi Saulnier | Tobi Saulnier | ||||||
IGDA Sessions
The IGDA and our various SIGs and committees are leading the following sessions at GDC (dates and times will be set shortly):
Summits
Special Sessions
- Rant: Burned by Friendly Fire: Game Critics Rant: Over the last four years at the IGDA rant session, game developers have delivered explosive tirades, heartfelt anger, and revolutionary manifestos. This year, it's time for game journalists to catch fire.
- Real-Time Research: An Experiment in Understanding Games (Tuesday setup session / Friday results presentation): Real-Time Research is a two-part session that turns the GDC into one huge research experiment. In the first session, attendees will collaboratively design one or more research experiments that will actually take place at GDC itself. Over the next few days, they will conduct their experiments across the GDC. At the concluding session, research results are presented.
IGDA Group Meetings
- AI SIG - Alexander Nareyek
- Anti-Censorship and Social Issues Committee - Daniel Greenberg
- ARG SIG - Adam Martin
- Casual Games SIG - Dave Rohrl
- Credit Standards Committee - John Feil
- Curious/New Members: Gaming the IGDA - Coray Seifert
- Education SIG - Susan Gold
- Flash SIG - Brendan Iribe
- Game Accessibility SIG - Michelle Hinn
- Game Design SIG - Dino Dini
- Game Localization SIG - Tom Edwards
- Game Preservation SIG - Henry Lowood
- Indies SIG - Stephanie Barish
- Minorities SIG - Joseph Saulter
- Mobile Games SIG - Marque Pierre Sondergaard
- Online Games SIG - David Laux
- Online Safety SIG - Dave Govan
- Outsourcing SIG - Munir Haddad
- Positive Impact Games SIG - Thomas Anderson
- Production SIG - Heather M.Chandler
- QA SIG - Sheri Rubin
- Quality of Life Committee - Judy Tyrer
- Sex SIG - Brad Abram
- Tools SIG - Jeff Ward
- User-Research SIG - Bill Fulton
- Visual Arts SIG - Chris Mielke
- Women in Games SIG - Fiona Cherbak
- Writing SIG - Wendy Despain
Social Gatherings
- Academics - Stephan Jacobs
- Bloggers - Dave Thomas
- Game Accessibility & Developers with Disabilities Social Gathering - Thomas Westin
- Government & Support Organizations - Per Strömbäck
- Lawyers - Jim Charne
- LGBT - Jeb Havens
- Minorities - Joseph Saulter
- Outsourcing - Munir Haddad
- Producers - Karin Groepper Boosman
- Students - Andrew Armstrong
- Women - Belinda Van Sickle
- Writers - J. Robinson Wheeler
Other Stuff
We've also got this other cool stuff going on. More details to come...
- Student Scholarship Program
- IGDA booth/zone in the West Hall lobby, #944
- Members-only t-shirt give-away
- Membership ribbons
For those interested, the IGDA is seeking sponsorship for some of its activities. Contact us if you would like to know more.