July 30, 2008
IGDA Leaderhip Forum - Registration Open
The IGDA, in coordination with the Production SIG, is hosting the second annual IGDA Leadership Forum (November 13-14, San Francisco). This event will focus on advancing the state of the art in game production and management.
The IGDA Leadership Forum is intended for all those who serve in a leadership role in the game development industry and are seeking to become better leaders, create successful games, and learn from other working professionals in the game industry.
The first IGDA Leadership Forum was a smashing success with top rated sessions and 300+ delegates from over 15 countries. The 2008 IGDA Leadership Forum has EXPANDED its session offering to encompass a broad range of leadership topics, including personal leadership, project leadership and management leadership. The sessions will run in parallel tracks and will consist of a mix of lectures, panels, and interactive workshop sessions.
Baseball all-star Curt Schilling (38 Studios) and Mark Cerny (Cerny Games) will open each day with a keynote. Other production/leadership gurus speaking include Mike Capps (Epic Games), David Edery (Xbox Live Arcade), Mat Hart (Ninja Theory), Richard Hilleman (EA), Clinton Keith, David Mann (Foundation 9), Trent Oster (BioWare Corp.), Michael Saladino (Pandemic Studios), Tim Train (Big Huge Games) - among many others.
Full program and speaker details are at:
http://www.igda.org/leadership/?page_id=3
For registration details (early bird pricing ends September 1st):
http://www.igda.org/leadership/?page_id=4
(FYI, last year's conference sold out. There are only 500 seats or so to fill, and we expect them to go fast...)
Posted by HeatherChandler at 02:46 PM | Comments (0)
February 28, 2008
Chairperson Update: Feburary '08
Here are some notes from the Production SIG gather that we had a GDC. It was great to meet people in person, and several have volunteered to help out with SIG activities. We plan to get some momentum going a on few projects that should benefit our efforts.
After we all introduced ourselves, I gave a quick update on what activities we've done in the past and some that are in the works:
1. IGDA Leadership Forum - this was held last November in conjunction with the IGDA. It was a huge success and we are starting to make plans for the next one this fall.
2. Production Wiki - Adrien David is heading up this project. We have added a reading list and some other information to it. I would be happy to have people contribute to this whenever they want. I know that Chris Otalyn posted his roundtable notes from the Leadership Forum there. If you would like a log-in, please let me know.
3. Vendor Database - this is something I would like to get started on and I will try to work on getting something basic up and running.
4. Survey - About 65 people have taken the survey and I've collected some good data. I still need to collate the results and send around to the list. I plan to get that done soon.
We then discussed what we can do to make the SIG more useful to everyone:
1. There was a request to change the reply button so that it will just send the reply to an individual, instead of the Production SIG list. Thoughts? Let me know and if the majority wants this changed, I will make the change.
2. SIG endorsed Project Management method. We discussed how every project is different, but it might be useful to have a general PM method that we write up and endorse as a starting point.
3. Information on local Production SIG members. We talked about putting together a list of which local chapters members are affiliated with and perhaps trying to get a some local production SIG gatherings organized, in conjunction with the local chapters. This would present some good networking opportunities to connect with other producers in your city.
4. Production Seminars - in conjunction with the local IGDA chapter, we could do some production oriented seminars. A 2 hour seminar on managing pre-production for example. This would probably work best with some of the larger chapters at first, but it would be great to get a bunch of local production events organized.
5. Case Studies. We discussed doing case studies to show examples of games that used different types of PM methods and they can be modified for game production. This would provide some valuable real world information.
6. Advocating to students. We discussed taking with students more to explain what a producer does and perhaps get them interesting in pursuing a career in production. We discussed putting together a brief career plan of what classes to take, what to study and read, etc.
7. Role Definitions within different companies. We thought it would be useful to write up a matrix of how each company defines the production roles. For example and AP at EA has different responsibilities than and AP at Ubisoft. It would help us come up with some standard definitions of producers roles, and would be useful when evaluating resumes.
8. Evangelizing the Production SIG. There are still many producers who do not know about the SIG and would be interested in being a part of it. So please start inviting people to join the IGDA and become a part of the Production SIG.
9. Project Management Resource - gathering PM resources and discussing the general pros/cons of each within game development
10. Producer of Month - might be fun to feature a producer of the month. This person would be interviewed about their job, daily duties, tips and tricks for producing. This would be a good way to highlight the variety of projects people are working on - Serious games, educational games, interactive rides, virtual reality, and games
11. PMI - discussed working with the Project Management Institute on getting some type of game production module. This is something Jason Della Rocca discussed with them awhile back and it might be interesting for the SIG to pursue this further.
12. Government Proposal Process - post information on how this process works if you are developing serious games.
13. 10 Best Practices - one quick project we discussed was putting together a list of 10 best production practices. This doesn't need to be too fancy, just useful information that all producers could use. This is something that could easily be handled over the mailing list, and then we can post it on the website and perhaps publish in one of the IGDA monthly newsletters.
14. Cross-events to the Producer's Guild of America - Someone thought it would be useful to talk with producers in the film industry to get information on how they handle certain production issues. For example visual effects, or a voiceover shoot. The PGA might be a good resource for some cross-events, as they have started a New Media Caucus. These events would like happen in either Los Angeles or New York, as that is where the PGA is most active.
15. List of Volunteer Opportunities - we need to put together a list of the volunteer opportunities, so that people know how they can get involved. I will start a small list and we can build on it as we grow.
So as you can see, there are a lot of great ideas here. If you are interested in volunteering for anything please let me know. I am putting together a small group of volunteers who will discuss the projects and then we will pick a few to start on. Also, if you have any other suggestions on what you'd like, please let me know.
Posted by HeatherChandler at 07:56 PM | Comments (0)
November 18, 2007
Chairperson Update November '07
Although it's been awhile since I last did an update, the Production SIG has seen some activity in the last few months. The biggest thing of note is the SIG's participating in the first ever IGDA Production and Leadership Forum, which was held in San Francisco on November 8th and 9th. The forum focused exclusively and production and leadership issues and was well attended by producers, studio managers, leads, and others interested in improving game management issues. To see summaries of the presentations and to download the slides, please go to : www.igda.org/leadership.
I hosted a round table where we discussed the future of the Production SIG and how to make this a valuable resource for all of us. Generally, many people felt that there was a need for some type of standard production terminology and job descriptions - just to get everyone on the same page when discussing production issues. The wide variety of producers and their role on a project, along with how producers can develop their career path were also major areas of interest. Here are a few ideas we came up with for some resources and information the Production SIG can provide:
1. Job titles and descriptions
2. Blueprints for producer career path
3. Identify core competencies
4. Outsourcing Database
5. Developer database
6. Case Studies on different situations a producer faces. (Perhaps modeled after Harvard Business Review)
7. List of due diligence questions to ask developers and vendors
8. Creating bid packages
9. Information on PMP certification - game module?
10. Help people plan for career development. Identify core competencies for each producer type, and then determine why type of training is necessary for these.
11. Information on Project Management Methods. Case Studies of different methodologies.
12. Information on scoping out a project
13. Information on Risk assessment and how to do risk analysis
14. Samples of project schedules and plans? Project archives?
15. Standardized naming conventions for different parts of production. Alpha/Beta mean different things to different companies.
16. Suggested Reading list
I will be working to implement some of these suggestions in the next few months, and create a plan for enhancing the usefulness of the production SIG to all of our members. If you have any feedback or suggestions, or are interested in volunteering, please contact me offlist at heather at mediasunshine dot com.
In addition, I will be hosting a gathering of the Production SIG at GDC in February. If you are attending GDC, please plan to attend. Talking to you in person is a great way to get feedback on how to make the SIG more viable for you.
Posted by HeatherChandler at 12:31 PM | Comments (0)
April 22, 2007
Chairperson Update April '07
As always, the mailing list has been active with people asking questions and offering information and feedback. This is a great way to interact and learn from you peers. In addition, a small group has been adding some content to the Production Knowledge base, which is located here:
http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Production_SIG
This is an area where anyone is free to contribute their production knowledge, add to the list of resources, or suggest new areas we should explore. I hope that this will eventually become a widely used and centralized production resource. If you are interested in participating in this project, please contact Adrien David (adavid at soulsndrakes dot com).
Finally, the IGDA has been organizing a the first ever IDGA Leadership Forum that will be held November 8th and 9th in San Francisco. This is geared towards producers, managers, and leads and will feature a production and leadership track. Please watch the mailing list for more details.
Posted by HeatherChandler at 12:02 PM | Comments (0)
January 28, 2007
Chairperson Update: Jan '07
First, welcome to the new members who have signed up for the SIG in the past few months. The mailing list is generating some very interesting discussions on hiring practices, getting into the industry, and documentation standards. I really hope people continue to use the mailing form as a way to get input from their peers on production issues.
In other news the Production Wiki has officially launched. Several people have volunteered to write content and we should soon be seeing some updates on the Wiki. If you are interested in contributing to the Wiki, please contact Adrien David (adavid at soulsndrakes dot com).
Some progress is being made on an IGDA sponsored event geared towards producers and managment. Look for details soon.
As always if you have question or suggestions about the SIG, please contact me - heather at mediasunshine dot com.
Posted by HeatherChandler at 07:05 PM | Comments (0)