Perth Chapter Meeting Report – 13^th November 2007

Jason Della Rocca

After a hot late-spring day in November, the Perth games community gathered for an action filled night at the Velvet Lounge as the Perth chapter of the International Game Developers Association held their latest event. Up for the night was an introduction to the new IGDA Perth committee followed by an informative talk given by Jason Della Rocca - the Executive Director of IGDA globally, and rounded up with a raffle draw for some incredible prizes including an X-Box 360 and a Limited Edition Gears of War game autographed by the producer, Rod Fergusson, himself.
	Jason Della Rocca had a busy time on the day, speaking at a function for the Government and Education sector in the afternoon, and then heading straight over to the Velvet Lounge for the IGDA Perth function. As well as mixing with attendees in the casual atmosphere that IGDA Perth meetings are known for, Jason took to the stage and gave an interesting presentation titled "At least 10 reasons why the game industry doesn't suck". Jason covered some of the pitfalls of the games industry followed up with inspiring examples of hope and people doing it differently. The talk was aimed to encourage Perth talent, illustrating where the mainstream industry is driving and highlighting the opportunities for growth outside of that.
The main talk was followed by several announcements. Geoff Collins from the WA Government Department of Industry and Resources (DOIR) announced some good news. It is widely known that DOIR with the help of community groups attracted Interzone Games to locate to Perth almost a year ago. What is not so well known is that since then a further three games companies have moved to Perth. In other announcements, the month of December promises to be filled with action with the ByteMe Festival, GRAPHITE International Conference, and the annual Perth MASSIVE taking place. The MASSIVE is a gathering of all digital content creation groups, and the IGDA Perth Chapter invites all its members and friends along.
The night also served as the handover point to the IGDA Perth Committee for 2008. The chapter will be chaired by RJ Spencer from Interzone Games, with David Kazim of the GO3 Electronic and Entertainment Expo taking the Vice Chair position. Andrew Hutchinson of Curtin University will assume the role of the treasurer and Martin Masek from Edith Cowan University the secretary position. The general committee consists of Geoff Collins from DOIR, and Jon Hayward, Nicolas Schubert, and Andres Walsh. For the outgoing committee members, the chapter would like to thank Paul Turbett, Chris McCormick, and Nick Lowe for their enthusiastic support in setting up the chapter and for a successful 2007.	The last highlight of the night was the drawing of the raffle. IGDA Perth runs a raffle at every event with some impressive prizes. The proceeds go towards running future events and bringing high calibre speakers to Perth for them. Prizes on the night includes an XBox360 Halo limited edition with the new Halo game, an autographed copy of Gears of War (by Rod Ferguson - Producer), lots of flashy computer hardware like a PC case and speakers, and a load of games. The IGDA Perth chapter would like to thank Game Traders, Anywhere, The Nerd Shop, Epic Games, One Stop Entertainment, and Crumpler for providing the prizes.