Is the Chapter active? Are you in the area?
As someone who is formerly from the Birmingham area that still travels back a few times a year, I was wondering if the Birmingham chapter still holds meetings periodically and how many people in the area (from Huntsville to Tuscaloosa) are either working in the industry (contract, full or indie) or aspire to.
It may not be the answer you're looking for, but I'd be glad to offer up the IGDA-Atlanta's contacts to our comrades in Alabama.
If you talk to some of the veterans around here you'll find that driving 3 or 4 hours to go to an active chapter meeting is not unheard of. It's not always practical, but it's possible.
So anyone who wants to come on over to Atlanta is welcome into the fold. We have a number of active companies here that participate in the meetings so you stand a good chance at making some contacts.
Plus the Georgia Game Developers Association launched this year and it's another way to partner with people in the industry.
Thanks for the suggestion! I've just mailed a handful of people on the subject, people who I know have addresses of others that I do not. Hopefully, a few through the grapevine will be interested in getting something together here, as well as traveling together to other nearby meetings and events.
We'll keep the porchlight on for you. You can find our meeting info at igda.org/atlanta.
We (the Forge - IGDA B'ham) had a meeting in June, and we'll have another in September... at this meeting there were about 16 people. sorry there was no post:(
Professional developers are scarce in Alabama, and many that I saw listed are in related industries. I know of a few that went under, but 3Romans is still alive, and shipped our latest title, "Country Justice" just a few months ago(March).
That being said, there are ways of meeting like minded persons in this area - and maybe even getting some more participants in the chapter. I lecture at some of the Tech schools and teach at UAB - also, I'm on the board at other local schools. This allows nonproffesionals to get a glimpse of the dev world, and allows me to generate local support. I hope this support can lead to more dev groups being published and making their way into the market.
I would welcome anyone to visit these sessions, and/or email me if you would like to volunteer some time and effort into the website updates - this would be a great help:)
Also, my profile has email and phone number, so i can be reached.
Special appreciation goes to our neighbors in Georgia...
I've visited many other Chapters (Diego, Austin, etc), and I would like to suggect anyone interested in games should do the same, with special consideration to the Chapters in our southern sister cities like New Orleans and Atlanta - 2 places I've lived and loved:)
Of course, local invlovement is very important, and without some participation at home - we might not be as good as we could be.
Please help us make B'ham better, and hopefully we will all prosper from your efforts...
Thanks,
Carlo
Carlo Romano, CEO
3Romans, LLC
I may be speaking out of turn here, but I do not think the chapter is still active. I do not know that there has been a meeting since I began reading, which was over a year ago.
I do not think that in this case the student chapter idea -- which I proposed February -- seems likely, either. As I understand it, there should be some association with, and support from, a main chapter. I myself will be leaving University with my second degree in a matter of months and plan to return to the workforce at that time. I was hoping the IGDA would provide me with networking opportunities not provided by my University honor and leadership groups. It did not happen for me quite as I would have hoped, but, I still think that some sort of a student outreach, mentorship, or internship program would be beneficial in the future and worth pursuing for an area business. I know that I for one would be interested in staying in the area, and there is a wealth of skilled, talented people leaving our colleges and Universities that would as well.