IGDA Newsletter - November 2007
===============================
IGDA Newsletter - November 2007
===============================
=================
Table of Contents
=================
0: A Word From Mitzi McGilvray
1: Press "Memo": Credit standards for the game industry
2: Leadership Forum Recap
3: GDC08 Scholarship Deadline Soon: December 7th
4: Mentors Needed for Scholarship Program
5: Columns Update
6: Chapter Meetings/Reports
x: Logistical Bits & Unsubscribe Info
=================
==============================
0: A Word From Mitzi McGilvray
==============================
Dear Members and friends,
The past few weeks have been busier than ever with exciting IGDA happenings. At the end of October, the entire Board of Directors convened in Chicago for our annual strategy retreat. Here we were able to work face-to-face to put together programs that will turn into improved member services, better communications and some exciting changes to our online community.
Mid-November brought the first IGDA hosted conference, the Leadership Forum. The conference exceeded our expectations in every category. We had top caliber speakers and several hundred attendees who left with new knowledge and connections. See the news item below for info on the slides, session summaries, etc. Watch out for more event action in the coming year.
Finally, last week, I had the pleasure of attending a meeting for the IGDA's Silicon Valley chapter. It was so exciting to see a chapter that just a year ago was struggling, now able to fill a large room with both developers and students. This is truly the result of dedicated chapter coordinators and members making the effort to get out and connect with others.
- Mitzi McGilvray
Chairperson, IGDA
VP Casual Games, TikGames
********************************
** Ad: The Mobile Games Forum **
********************************
January 23 24, 2008
Sofitel St. James, London
Not just another mobile games event this is the definitive marketplace for developers, publishers and operators.
Now in its 5th year, the Mobile Games Forum is the industry's most established and respected event. With the whole ecosystem present operators, publishers, developers, handset manufacturers and software providers all industry viewpoints will be represented. The unbeatable MGF08 speaker line-up includes 36 cutting-edge presentations from industry leaders.
Special £499 independent developer rate; email andrew_mowbray@osneymedia.co.uk or call +44 (0)207 336 4692 for details, or:
http://www.mobilegamesforum.co.uk/tracker.asp?magazineid=944
********************************
=======================================================
1: Press "Memo": Credit standards for the game industry
=======================================================
(The following statement was sent to the media on November 5th, 2007.)
The recent controversy around the credits of Manhunt 2 serve as a significant example of why crediting standards are needed in the game industry. FYI:
http://news.google.com/news?q=rockstar+vienna+credits+manhunt+2
Accurate, complete, and fair credits are essential to ongoing employment, professional development, and artistic fulfillment for all developers. Further, having accurate credits helps employers make informed hiring decisions.
The IGDA is pushing for an industry-wide adoption of professional standards in game credits. To achieve this, the IGDA has a Credit Standards Committee with the goal of establishing generally accepted guidelines that all studios and publishers can use.
A public "beta" of the IGDA Credit Standards Guide is online and was posted for feedback to IGDA members back in September:
http://www.igda.org/wiki/IGDA_Credits_and_Awards_Committee
This Guide covers minimum professional standards to ensure accuracy and fairness in the crediting process, even for developers who no longer work for the company when a title ships.
John Feil, the chair of the Credit Standards Committee, will be hosting a roundtable session during the 2008 Game Developers Conference:
"The IGDA Credits Movement: The Revolution Is Already Here" https://www.cmpevents.com/GD08/a.asp?option=C&V=11&SessID=6412
****************************************
** Ad: GDC08: New sessions announced! **
****************************************
Read about the first talks in the lineup at www.gdconf.com. Sample sessions include:
- "Your Music Is the Game: Designing PHASE, The Other Project at Harmonix"
- "Storytelling In BioShock: Empowering Players To Care About Your Stupid Story"
- "At The Cutting Edge Audio Production For Heavenly Sword"
Register today and take advantage of myGDC, the new professional networking system that gets you access to speakers, leading developers, and exhibitors before, during and after the conference. Also new for GDC08 are two new summits the Game Outsourcing Summit and the Worlds in Motion Summit in addition to the Serious Games Summit, the Independent Games Summit, the Casual Games Summit, and the ever popular GDC Mobile.
Register by January 18 to secure up to 30% savings. IGDA members receive an automatic $50 discount!
http://www.gdconf.com/?cid=GDC08_QUENX2
****************************************
=========================
2: Leadership Forum Recap
=========================
The IGDA welcomed over 300 producers, team leads and studio directors to San Francisco for its first ever Leadership Forum. Organized in conjunction with the IGDA's Production SIG, the conference focused on the nuts and bolts of team/project management, as well as the more intangible skills of leadership.
A volunteer team of "live" bloggers posted summaries of each session to the conference website. Additionally, the slides from each session, along with some event photos are up at the site as well.
http://www.igda.org/leadership/
Note, videos of the recorded sessions will also be made available online for members in the coming weeks (as well as for purchase on DVD).
Special thanks to our sponsors for making the Leadership Forum possible:
- Autodesk - http://www.autodesk.com/
- EA Partners - http://www.ea.com/
- Hansoft - http://www.hansoft.se/
- Midway - http://www.midway.com/
- NPD Group - http://www.npd.com/
- Omni Interactive Audio - http://www.omniinteractiveaudio.com/
- Softimage - http://www.softimage.com/
- Stormfront Studios - http://www.stormfront.com/
================================================
3: GDC08 Scholarship Deadline Soon: December 7th
================================================
The deadline to apply for the GDC Student Scholarship Program is fast approach (December 7th). Twenty-five college students will be awarded complimentary "Main Conference" passes to the 2008 Game Developers Conference. Recipients will be announced mid January.
Applicants are required to be full-time college students (or equivalent) and IGDA student members for consideration. Scholarship applications will be judged by a panel of professional game developers.
Students can now apply online:
http://www.igda.org/scholarships/
=========================================
4: Mentors Needed for Scholarship Program
=========================================
The IGDA is looking for experienced attendees of the Game Developers Conference to volunteer some time to serve as a mentor to a GDC Student Scholarship recipient. It is a huge opportunity for these students, but the experience is somewhat overwhelming due to the scale/scope of GDC.
We assign a mentor to each of the 25 scholars. If you're an industry pro and a pro at attending GDC, here's what you'd need to commit to:
- spend at least 1-hour each day (Wed/Thu/Fri) with your assigned student
- attend the Scholarship orientation meeting on the Tuesday (February 19th)
In spending time with a student, the hope is that you'll provide advice on how to navigate GDC, give some development tips and career advice, introduce them to your industry friends, and just generally make the scholar's experience more valuable, and welcoming.
If you would like to volunteer to be a mentor, please contact Jason Della Rocca (jason @ igda.org). Note that best efforts will be made to match each mentor with a student's given discipline, etc.
=================
5: Columns Update
=================
Monthly columns have been updated:
Famous Last Words
-----------------
"Getting Off the Ground: Start-up Suggestions for New Studios"
- Some advice for start-ups
http://www.igda.org/columns/lastwords/lastwords_Nov07.php
Culture Clash
-------------
"Monkey See/Monkey Do - What's worse than doing? Watching"
- Exploring interactivity and violence
http://www.igda.org/columns/clash/clash_Nov07.php
The Games Game
--------------
"Serious Indie Action"
- Even indie devs need agreements and other formal bits...
http://www.igda.org/columns/gamesgame/gamesgame_Nov07.php
===========================
6: Chapter Meetings/Reports
===========================
Complete list of chapter reports and upcoming meetings:
http://www.igda.org/chapters/updates.php
Albuquerque
Thursday, December 13 > Membership Meeting
http://www.igda.org/albuquerque/events.html
Pittsburgh
Saturday, December 1 > Gamers Give Back - A Video Game Charity Event
http://www.igda.org/pittsburgh/archives/2007/11/gamers_give_bac.html
Denmark
Thursday, November 29 > Demo night
http://www.igda.dk/
North Carolina Triangle
Thursday, November 29 > Destineer Studios - Leadership talk and more!
http://www.igda.org/nctriangle
Detroit
Wednesday, November 28 > XNA Tutorials
http://www.igda.org/detroit/archives/2007/11/november_meetin_1.html
Philadelphia
Wednesday, November 28 > Chris Jurney on AI and Game Design Challenge at Penn
http://www.igda.org/philly/archives/2007/11/november_meetin.html
Montreal
Tuesday, November 27 > Playing Columbine documentary screening at Montreal Game Summit
http://www.igda.org/montreal/archives/2007/11/november_27th_p.html
Finland
Report, November 21 > New attendance record with 243, Recoil shows concept art for Earth No More
http://igda.fi/?p=134
Salt Lake City
Report, November 13 > Final Burn: A party for professional game developers in Utah
http://www.igda.org/slc/nov07mr.htm
Perth
Report, November 13 > Jason Della Rocca visits
http://www.igda.org/perth/event_07_11/07_11_Report.htm
Austin
Report, November 10 > Your Game Career, from the Beginning Onwards
http://www.igda.org/austin/archives/2007/11/november_meetin_2.html
Berlin
Report, October 28 > Intel @ IGDA Berlin Report
http://www.games-academy.de/IGDA/tabelle.php?hauptteil=report11.php
Pittsburgh
Report, October 27 > Second Annual IGDA South Side Studio Crawl
http://www.igda.org/pittsburgh/archives/2007/11/thanks_for_a_gr.html
==================
x: Logistical Bits
==================
Unsubscribe/Subscribe to Newsletter
-----------------------------------
To unsubscribe simply send an email with the subject "unsubscribe" to igda@igda.org.
Or, you can update your newsletter subscription details via your MyProfile page:
http://www.igda.org/membership/myprofile.php
Thanks to our Partners
----------------------
The IGDA extends its sincerest thanks to all our Partners! Especially those who just joined us, or recently renewed their commitment to support the game development community:
- Cal State Fullerton Extension
- Cogswell Polytechnical College
- Houston Community College
- IGN Entertainment - ModCenter.com
- Interactive Studio Management
- Madison Media Institute
- New Horizons CLC
- Savannah College of Art and Design
Without their support the IGDA simply would not survive - let alone thrive.
Further details and a complete list of Partners are available online:
http://www.igda.org/partners
Contact Information
-------------------
Please contact us if you have questions, comments or input:
http://www.igda.org/contact.php
19 Mantua Road
Mount Royal, New Jersey
USA 08061
RSS Feeds for IGDA News and Chapter Updates
-------------------------------------------
The IGDA web site has RSS feeds for IGDA news (eg, org announcements, committee work, etc) and chapter updates (eg, upcoming meetings, event reports). Those using RSS readers can point to:
IGDA News: http://www.igda.org/igda_news_rss.php
IGDA Chapter Updates: http://www.igda.org/igda_chapters_rss.php
-------
- end -
------m
IGDA Newsletter - November 2007
===============================
=================
Table of Contents
=================
0: A Word From Mitzi McGilvray
1: Press "Memo": Credit standards for the game industry
2: Leadership Forum Recap
3: GDC08 Scholarship Deadline Soon: December 7th
4: Mentors Needed for Scholarship Program
5: Columns Update
6: Chapter Meetings/Reports
x: Logistical Bits & Unsubscribe Info
=================
==============================
0: A Word From Mitzi McGilvray
==============================
Dear Members and friends,
The past few weeks have been busier than ever with exciting IGDA happenings. At the end of October, the entire Board of Directors convened in Chicago for our annual strategy retreat. Here we were able to work face-to-face to put together programs that will turn into improved member services, better communications and some exciting changes to our online community.
Mid-November brought the first IGDA hosted conference, the Leadership Forum. The conference exceeded our expectations in every category. We had top caliber speakers and several hundred attendees who left with new knowledge and connections. See the news item below for info on the slides, session summaries, etc. Watch out for more event action in the coming year.
Finally, last week, I had the pleasure of attending a meeting for the IGDA's Silicon Valley chapter. It was so exciting to see a chapter that just a year ago was struggling, now able to fill a large room with both developers and students. This is truly the result of dedicated chapter coordinators and members making the effort to get out and connect with others.
- Mitzi McGilvray
Chairperson, IGDA
VP Casual Games, TikGames
********************************
** Ad: The Mobile Games Forum **
********************************
January 23 24, 2008
Sofitel St. James, London
Not just another mobile games event this is the definitive marketplace for developers, publishers and operators.
Now in its 5th year, the Mobile Games Forum is the industry's most established and respected event. With the whole ecosystem present operators, publishers, developers, handset manufacturers and software providers all industry viewpoints will be represented. The unbeatable MGF08 speaker line-up includes 36 cutting-edge presentations from industry leaders.
Special £499 independent developer rate; email andrew_mowbray@osneymedia.co.uk or call +44 (0)207 336 4692 for details, or:
http://www.mobilegamesforum.co.uk/tracker.asp?magazineid=944
********************************
=======================================================
1: Press "Memo": Credit standards for the game industry
=======================================================
(The following statement was sent to the media on November 5th, 2007.)
The recent controversy around the credits of Manhunt 2 serve as a significant example of why crediting standards are needed in the game industry. FYI:
http://news.google.com/news?q=rockstar+vienna+credits+manhunt+2
Accurate, complete, and fair credits are essential to ongoing employment, professional development, and artistic fulfillment for all developers. Further, having accurate credits helps employers make informed hiring decisions.
The IGDA is pushing for an industry-wide adoption of professional standards in game credits. To achieve this, the IGDA has a Credit Standards Committee with the goal of establishing generally accepted guidelines that all studios and publishers can use.
A public "beta" of the IGDA Credit Standards Guide is online and was posted for feedback to IGDA members back in September:
http://www.igda.org/wiki/IGDA_Credits_and_Awards_Committee
This Guide covers minimum professional standards to ensure accuracy and fairness in the crediting process, even for developers who no longer work for the company when a title ships.
John Feil, the chair of the Credit Standards Committee, will be hosting a roundtable session during the 2008 Game Developers Conference:
"The IGDA Credits Movement: The Revolution Is Already Here" https://www.cmpevents.com/GD08/a.asp?option=C&V=11&SessID=6412
****************************************
** Ad: GDC08: New sessions announced! **
****************************************
Read about the first talks in the lineup at www.gdconf.com. Sample sessions include:
- "Your Music Is the Game: Designing PHASE, The Other Project at Harmonix"
- "Storytelling In BioShock: Empowering Players To Care About Your Stupid Story"
- "At The Cutting Edge Audio Production For Heavenly Sword"
Register today and take advantage of myGDC, the new professional networking system that gets you access to speakers, leading developers, and exhibitors before, during and after the conference. Also new for GDC08 are two new summits the Game Outsourcing Summit and the Worlds in Motion Summit in addition to the Serious Games Summit, the Independent Games Summit, the Casual Games Summit, and the ever popular GDC Mobile.
Register by January 18 to secure up to 30% savings. IGDA members receive an automatic $50 discount!
http://www.gdconf.com/?cid=GDC08_QUENX2
****************************************
=========================
2: Leadership Forum Recap
=========================
The IGDA welcomed over 300 producers, team leads and studio directors to San Francisco for its first ever Leadership Forum. Organized in conjunction with the IGDA's Production SIG, the conference focused on the nuts and bolts of team/project management, as well as the more intangible skills of leadership.
A volunteer team of "live" bloggers posted summaries of each session to the conference website. Additionally, the slides from each session, along with some event photos are up at the site as well.
http://www.igda.org/leadership/
Note, videos of the recorded sessions will also be made available online for members in the coming weeks (as well as for purchase on DVD).
Special thanks to our sponsors for making the Leadership Forum possible:
- Autodesk - http://www.autodesk.com/
- EA Partners - http://www.ea.com/
- Hansoft - http://www.hansoft.se/
- Midway - http://www.midway.com/
- NPD Group - http://www.npd.com/
- Omni Interactive Audio - http://www.omniinteractiveaudio.com/
- Softimage - http://www.softimage.com/
- Stormfront Studios - http://www.stormfront.com/
================================================
3: GDC08 Scholarship Deadline Soon: December 7th
================================================
The deadline to apply for the GDC Student Scholarship Program is fast approach (December 7th). Twenty-five college students will be awarded complimentary "Main Conference" passes to the 2008 Game Developers Conference. Recipients will be announced mid January.
Applicants are required to be full-time college students (or equivalent) and IGDA student members for consideration. Scholarship applications will be judged by a panel of professional game developers.
Students can now apply online:
http://www.igda.org/scholarships/
=========================================
4: Mentors Needed for Scholarship Program
=========================================
The IGDA is looking for experienced attendees of the Game Developers Conference to volunteer some time to serve as a mentor to a GDC Student Scholarship recipient. It is a huge opportunity for these students, but the experience is somewhat overwhelming due to the scale/scope of GDC.
We assign a mentor to each of the 25 scholars. If you're an industry pro and a pro at attending GDC, here's what you'd need to commit to:
- spend at least 1-hour each day (Wed/Thu/Fri) with your assigned student
- attend the Scholarship orientation meeting on the Tuesday (February 19th)
In spending time with a student, the hope is that you'll provide advice on how to navigate GDC, give some development tips and career advice, introduce them to your industry friends, and just generally make the scholar's experience more valuable, and welcoming.
If you would like to volunteer to be a mentor, please contact Jason Della Rocca (jason @ igda.org). Note that best efforts will be made to match each mentor with a student's given discipline, etc.
=================
5: Columns Update
=================
Monthly columns have been updated:
Famous Last Words
-----------------
"Getting Off the Ground: Start-up Suggestions for New Studios"
- Some advice for start-ups
http://www.igda.org/columns/lastwords/lastwords_Nov07.php
Culture Clash
-------------
"Monkey See/Monkey Do - What's worse than doing? Watching"
- Exploring interactivity and violence
http://www.igda.org/columns/clash/clash_Nov07.php
The Games Game
--------------
"Serious Indie Action"
- Even indie devs need agreements and other formal bits...
http://www.igda.org/columns/gamesgame/gamesgame_Nov07.php
===========================
6: Chapter Meetings/Reports
===========================
Complete list of chapter reports and upcoming meetings:
http://www.igda.org/chapters/updates.php
Albuquerque
Thursday, December 13 > Membership Meeting
http://www.igda.org/albuquerque/events.html
Pittsburgh
Saturday, December 1 > Gamers Give Back - A Video Game Charity Event
http://www.igda.org/pittsburgh/archives/2007/11/gamers_give_bac.html
Denmark
Thursday, November 29 > Demo night
http://www.igda.dk/
North Carolina Triangle
Thursday, November 29 > Destineer Studios - Leadership talk and more!
http://www.igda.org/nctriangle
Detroit
Wednesday, November 28 > XNA Tutorials
http://www.igda.org/detroit/archives/2007/11/november_meetin_1.html
Philadelphia
Wednesday, November 28 > Chris Jurney on AI and Game Design Challenge at Penn
http://www.igda.org/philly/archives/2007/11/november_meetin.html
Montreal
Tuesday, November 27 > Playing Columbine documentary screening at Montreal Game Summit
http://www.igda.org/montreal/archives/2007/11/november_27th_p.html
Finland
Report, November 21 > New attendance record with 243, Recoil shows concept art for Earth No More
http://igda.fi/?p=134
Salt Lake City
Report, November 13 > Final Burn: A party for professional game developers in Utah
http://www.igda.org/slc/nov07mr.htm
Perth
Report, November 13 > Jason Della Rocca visits
http://www.igda.org/perth/event_07_11/07_11_Report.htm
Austin
Report, November 10 > Your Game Career, from the Beginning Onwards
http://www.igda.org/austin/archives/2007/11/november_meetin_2.html
Berlin
Report, October 28 > Intel @ IGDA Berlin Report
http://www.games-academy.de/IGDA/tabelle.php?hauptteil=report11.php
Pittsburgh
Report, October 27 > Second Annual IGDA South Side Studio Crawl
http://www.igda.org/pittsburgh/archives/2007/11/thanks_for_a_gr.html
==================
x: Logistical Bits
==================
Unsubscribe/Subscribe to Newsletter
-----------------------------------
To unsubscribe simply send an email with the subject "unsubscribe" to igda@igda.org.
Or, you can update your newsletter subscription details via your MyProfile page:
http://www.igda.org/membership/myprofile.php
Thanks to our Partners
----------------------
The IGDA extends its sincerest thanks to all our Partners! Especially those who just joined us, or recently renewed their commitment to support the game development community:
- Cal State Fullerton Extension
- Cogswell Polytechnical College
- Houston Community College
- IGN Entertainment - ModCenter.com
- Interactive Studio Management
- Madison Media Institute
- New Horizons CLC
- Savannah College of Art and Design
Without their support the IGDA simply would not survive - let alone thrive.
Further details and a complete list of Partners are available online:
http://www.igda.org/partners
Contact Information
-------------------
Please contact us if you have questions, comments or input:
http://www.igda.org/contact.php
19 Mantua Road
Mount Royal, New Jersey
USA 08061
RSS Feeds for IGDA News and Chapter Updates
-------------------------------------------
The IGDA web site has RSS feeds for IGDA news (eg, org announcements, committee work, etc) and chapter updates (eg, upcoming meetings, event reports). Those using RSS readers can point to:
IGDA News: http://www.igda.org/igda_news_rss.php
IGDA Chapter Updates: http://www.igda.org/igda_chapters_rss.php
-------
- end -
------m
Last updated:
09/28/2009 - 11:57 AM
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