============================== IGDA Newsletter - October 2007 ============================== ================= Table of Contents ================= 0: A Word From Mitzi McGilvray 1: Facebook group for IGDA members 2: GDC08 Scholarship Program Now Accepting Applications 3: IGDA Game Crediting Guide: Call for Feedback 4: Event Action: Leadership, FuturePlay, MIGS, GDC, TGS/DiGRA 5: Columns Update 6: Chapter Meetings/Reports x: Logistical Bits & Unsubscribe Info ================= ============================== 0: A Word From Mitzi McGilvray ============================== Dear Members and friends, As October comes to an end, the folks you elected to the IGDA Board of Directors are preparing to gather in Chicago for our annual off-site. We will spend the weekend discussing everything from how we can better serve or members to how to improve upon our current structures. From our packed agenda, here are some of the major things we'll be discussing: - Chapter structure (ways to improve our current methods of working with chapter coordinators) - Member benefits/value (how we can better answer "what has the IGDA done for me lately?") - Challenges relating to better serving our international members - How we can better support our various SIGs Additionally, each Board member will have time to discuss what's on their mind as it relates to the IGDA. I will bring up my concern about the lack of diversity in the industry and offer up some of my thoughts on how to make this a friendlier place for all. Personally, I think the solution will start with helping the local schools provide better outreach and education to the masses. The other day, I enjoyed a tour of a television studio with eleven 9-year-old girls as part of one of their Girl Scout adventures. I found it amazing to watch how technologically gifted these girls are and how eager they are to learn more about the computers and cameras used to capture/process the news. Of course many of these girls are daughters of game industry folks, as they are geographically located within 10 miles of fourteen game studios! We need to find a way to duplicate this type of enthusiasm so when I post a job for a producer and designer, I get more than 5% female applicants. We hope to walk out of this off-site with many action plans in place and probably a lot more work than we had going in... Happy Halloween! - Mitzi McGilvray Chairperson, IGDA VP Casual Games, TikGames ***************************************** ** Ad: GDC08: Learn. Network. Inspire. ** ***************************************** February 18-22, 2008 San Francisco, CA New for 2008: myGDC! Through the myGDC initiative, your pass gets you access to professional networking before, during, and after the event. Interact with speakers, leading developers, and exhibitors prior to the conference. GDC08 also features 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/ ************************************************************** ================================== 1: Facebook group for IGDA members ================================== In true user-driven Web2.0 spirit, IGDA member Michael Agustin started an IGDA "group" on Facebook and amassed nearly 2000 joins before anyone from IGDA staff/directors even noticed! Thanks Michael, we probably could not have done it better ourselves ;) So, for all those on Facebook that are not already part of the IGDA group, you can jump to this page to take part in the action: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2225842301 Also, for those more serious-minded members on LinkedIn, the IGDA has a private members-only group. Details at: http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/3268/698CF17E5C35 ======================================================= 2: GDC08 Scholarship Program Now Accepting Applications ======================================================= The IGDA has just launched the Student Scholarship Program for GDC08. Twenty-five college students will be awarded complimentary "Main Conference" passes to the 2008 Game Developers Conference. The deadline to enter is Friday, December 7th, 2007. 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/ =============================================== 3: IGDA Game Crediting Guide: Call for Feedback =============================================== Getting credit for your hard work in the game industry has always been a difficult struggle. Whether you're a contractor doing pick-up work, put some time on a game before you left a company, or did the duties of several different positions during development, getting accurate credit for your contributions has always been an arduous task for both the employee and the management responsible for creating that credits list. The IGDA's Credit Standards Committee is looking to help create a standardized ruleset to help companies and their employees solve these problems, and they're looking for your feedback. They've come up with the first pass at a ruleset to help companies determine who should get put in the credits on the games they make. The Committee feels that they've done a good job being as fair to both employer and employee as possible, but we'd like to see what you think. Go on over to the credit standards wiki page to check it out: http://www.igda.org/wiki/IGDA_Credits_and_Awards_Committee And, feel free to comment on the ruleset in the forums: http://www.igda.org/Forums/forumdisplay.php?forumid=197 ============================================================= 4: Event Action: Leadership, FuturePlay, MIGS, GDC, TGS/DiGRA ============================================================= Member discounts at upcoming events and related event action include: - $45 member discount for IGDA Leadership Forum in San Francisco (November 8-9) - $50 member discount for FuturePlay in Toronto (November 15-17) - $30 member discount for Montreal International Game Summit in Montreal (November 27-28) - $50 member discount for Game Developers Conference in San Francisco (February 18-22) Full discount details and links available online: http://www.igda.org/events/ Also, check out the trip "report" from the executive director's visit to Japan for the Tokyo Game Show, DiGRA, CoFesta and CEDEC: http://www.realitypanic.com/archives/335 ================= 5: Columns Update ================= Monthly columns have been updated: Famous Last Words ----------------- "Publisher Default" - Looking at options when a publishers defaults on a dev contract http://www.igda.org/columns/lastwords/lastwords_Oct07.php Culture Clash ------------- "Weight Watchers - Playing Lean, working Lean" - Exploring "Lean" and other formal production models http://www.igda.org/columns/clash/clash_Oct07.php The Games Game -------------- "Designing Beyond Your Playing" - We all don't get to make the games we love... http://www.igda.org/columns/gamesgame/gamesgame_Oct07.php =========================== 6: Chapter Meetings/Reports =========================== Complete list of chapter reports and upcoming meetings: http://www.igda.org/chapters/updates.php Denmark Thursday, November 29 > Demo night http://www.igda.dk/ Berlin Wednesday, October 31 > Book presentation: "Space Time Play" http://www.igda.org/berlin Silicon Valley Tuesday, October 30 > Pizza Social on Tuesday, October 30! http://www.siliconvalleyigda.org/ Columbus Saturday, October 27 > Local Game Development in Columbus http://igda.org/wiki/index.php/IGDA_Columbus Albuquerque Thursday, October 25 > Membership Kick-Off Meeting http://artslab.unm.edu/igda Denmark Thursday, October 25 > Barmeeting / Theme night on working in other countries http://www.igda.dk/ Philadelphia Report, October 25 > Gaming spirit alive and well at Penn http://www.igda.org/philly/archives/2007/10/ocotober_meetin_1.html Finland Report, October 3 > Full 2006-2007 Season Report Now Available http://igda.fi/?p=98 Malaysia Report, September 28 > IGDA Malaysia informal meet-up http://www.igda.org.my/?p=88 Austin Report, September 27 > Outsourcing Panel Discussion http://www.igda.org/austin/archives/2007/09/meeting_report_2.html Seattle Report, September 20 > A Post Mortem on a XBox 360 and an Interview with Stuart Moulder http://www.igda.org/seattle/reports/09_2007r.htm ================== 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: - Cogswell Polytechnical College - Interactive Studio Management - Madison Media Institute - New Horizons CLC - San Diego Continuing Education - 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