The IGDA is pleased to announce that it will once again be offering IGDA Scholarships to attend CEDEC and Tokyo Game Show. Students from around the world, in all disciplines related to the games industry, are invited to apply. CEDEC will take place from 21 to 23 August in Yokohama, Japan. Tokyo Game Show will take place from 19 – 22 September in Chiba city, Japan. Both venues include a studio tour and gathering prior to the event.

The IGDA Scholarships are awarded to the best and brightest students and provide access to major industry events. Students receive individual mentorship from professionals in the field, opportunities to meet and talk to senior figures, as well as the chance to visit local studios in the area of the event. Through this experience, students can get a feel for what it truly means to be a part of our industry.

Applications close on 20 June 2013, as the judging process begins. For more information and for the applications form, please visit http://ifigdaj.blogspot.sg/2013/05/igda-scholarship-cedec-tokyo-game-show.html

Thank you,
The IGDA Scholarships Committee

The IGDA is thrilled to announce that thanks to the continuing support of UBM, organizers of the GDC series of conferences, it will once again be offering IGDA Scholarships to attend GDC Europe. Students from around the world, in all disciplines related to the games industry, are invited to apply to receive an All-Access pass to one of Europe’s most prestigious conferences, held in Cologne, Germany 19-21 August.

As with all the IGDA Scholarships, the benefits of winning extend far beyond access to the conference. Being part of the Scholars program marks you as being amongst the best and brightest of the next generation of game developers. From one-on-one mentoring from industry professionals to meetings with senior figures and more, an IGDA Scholarship represents an excellent way to kickstart your career.

Applications are being accepted until 14 June at which point the judging process will begin. We hope those of you who have been unable to travel to previous conferences will be able to consider applying to be a part of GDC Europe. For more information and to apply, see http://www.igda.org/scholars/2013-info/how-to-apply/

Thank you,
The IGDA Scholarships Committee

It is with great pleasure that we are able to announce the list of winners of the Scholarships to attend this year’s E3 event. As always, there were a great many applicants for our judges to choose amongst, and we are delighted to announce we have selected the 8 best who will be getting the Scholars experience in Los Angeles this year. They are:

• Oleg Brodskiy (Binghamton University, USA)
• Spencer Buchanan (University of Utah, USA)
• Brianne Christiansen (University of Utah, USA)
• Jacob Cramer (Iowa State University, USA)
• Edaleen Cruz (Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico)
• Josh Lee (University of Utah, USA)
• Erich Schuler (Southern Polytechnic State University, USA)
• Chelsea Southard (Berklee College of Music, USA)

Please join us in congratulating the E3 winners, and for those of you who would like to participate in the program this year at Casual Connect USA – the last of our North American Scholarships opportunities – the deadline for applications is May 20th.

In this guest post from a member of the 2013 Judging Panel, Chris Tihor addresses an issue that he (and many other judges) have noticed when evaluating Scholarship applications.

As one of the judges for the IGDA Scholars program, I spend a certain amount of time reviewing applications from students. By and large this is an inspiring experience: I get to see what great things the future wave of game creators are up to while they’re learning and developing their craft. But unfortunately there’s a downside to this process as well: many of the applications I’ve read aren’t living up to their potential. I see good applications that could be great applications. And, sadly, I see many applications that don’t represent their authors very positively at all. I hate to see it, because more often than not an awesome applicant is being dragged down by some simple mistakes that can be easily fixed.

One of the most obvious mistakes that I see revolves around the sections regarding volunteering. After reading a number of them, the impression I get is that students are unclear on what volunteering is, so I thought that I’d see what I can do to help. I’ll begin by giving you examples I’ve gleaned from actual applications that are definitely not volunteer work:

• Attending an IGDA Chapter/Game Dev group meeting – While fun and informative, this is not the same as volunteering.
• Working on your game – Another great learning experience, but not volunteering.
• Working on someone else’s game – See “Working on your game” above.
• Working on a game for a class project – This is more along the lines of education instead of volunteer work.
• Donating to a charity – Please do, but don’t call it volunteering.
• Participating at a charity event – Sure, it feels good to have fun while donating to a worthy cause, but it’s not volunteering.
• Working on an unpaid internship – Good for getting valuable experience, but not the same as a volunteer position.
• Buying indie games – Good for you! Indie games are worth your time and money, but that’s still not volunteering.
• Supporting crowdfunded projects – Also worth the effort, but also not volunteering.
• Beta testing a commercial game – A great way to witness how studios get a game to that last level of polish, but it’s not volunteering.
• Attending a game jam – one of my favorite ways to learn how to make games, but, you guessed it, not volunteering.
• Buying games instead of pirating them – not just a good idea, it’s the law. Also, it’s not volunteering.

There’s more, but I think you get the idea. Now that I’ve shot down all of these activities as not volunteering, you’re probably wondering what would actually count as volunteering. Here are a few suggestions:

• Helping out an IGDA Chapter/Game Dev group – Offer to help the organizers with a particular area or whatever needs doing (there’s always something that needs doing). If there’s no nearby group, start one yourself.
• Helping a charity – Donate your time and effort to help the charity raise money, reach its goals, and improve your community. There are plenty out there that could use your help. You might even be able to help them with your game dev related skills: making art for posters, fixing their computers, etc.
• Helping at local schools – Volunteer for an after-school program teaching kids programming, drawing, creative writing; wherever your skills lie.
• Helping at a conference – Most conferences are largely run by volunteers. Why not volunteer for one of your favorite ones? Not only do you tend to get a free pass to the event, you also get to meet the other awesome people who put it on and get a backstage view of how conferences are run.
• Helping the IGDA – We’re always looking for people who are willing to volunteer their time. Most of what gets done in the IGDA is through the help of our fantastic volunteers. Contact us and we’ll soon find something you can help with.

In summary, volunteering is about putting some of your time and effort into endeavors that help others more than they help you. It’s about actively participating in your community, local or international, public or professional, and making a change for the better for all. The great thing is that even though you’re helping others, you’re helping yourself at the same time. You’re building relationships, experiencing new things, and getting a feeling of satisfaction in knowing that you’re making a difference in people’s lives. I know this firsthand: as a volunteer for my local IGDA chapter, as a volunteer for the IGDA Scholars program, and as a volunteer for the IGDA as a whole. In fact, I volunteered to write this article. I did so because I want to help students write better IGDA Scholar applications and help show the judges how awesome they really are. So if this piece helps even one person to do so, then it will make the effort all worthwhile.

Chris Tihor is a writer, narrative designer, creator of comics, and organizer of IGDA Victoria. He’s also the creative dynamo behind Ironic Iconic Studios. You can check out some of his work at http://www.ironiciconicstudios.com/.

The IGDA is happy to announce that applications are now open for scholarships to attend 2013 IGDA Summit and Casual Connect USA! The deadline for applications is 20 May.

At the IGDA Summit, we celebrate game development by sharing the knowledge and expertise found within the IGDA. This event is the place for our global community to provide valuable professional development, actionable insight and candid discussion to elevate our craft.

Casual Connect USA is the premier event for the casual games industry, attended by over 5000 professionals and featuring three days of lectures on every facet of casual game development. As an IGDA Scholar, you will have the opportunity to meet some of the best minds behind casual gaming and learn about the latest trends of the medium.

Those who receive the scholarship will be paired with established industry professionals as part of our mentorship program. For more information and to apply for the Casual Connect Scholarship please visit http://www.igda.org/scholars/2013-info/how-to-apply/

The IGDA Scholars program can provide valuable opportunities in jumpstarting a career – by being chosen from a highly competitive pool of applicants IGDA Scholars distinguish themselves as the best and the brightest emerging in their field. If you or anyone you know is interested in becoming an IGDA Scholar, we would greatly appreciate your help to spread the word around relevant institutions, chapters and other groups.

Thank you,
The IGDA Scholarships Committee

We are delighted to share that the 2013 IGDA Scholarships Program is now accepting applications for the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) which is held 11-13 June 2013 in Los Angles, California. The program is open to students and recent graduates in fields related to game development. The deadline for applications is 2 April 2013. Please visit our How to Apply page for expanded details.

The IGDA Scholarships are awarded to the best and brightest students and provide access to major industry events, individual mentorship from professionals in the field, opportunities to meet and talk to senior figures, as well as the chance to visit local studios in the area of the event. Through this experience, students can get a feel for what it truly means to be a part of our industry.

E3 is the second venue announced in our 2013 Scholarship lineup and we have additional exciting events just around the corner. Keep an eye on this website or follow @IGDA_Scholars on Twitter to stay up-to-date on application openings and deadlines.

These fantastic Scholarships are made possible through the generous contributions of our sponsors, the event organizers, the local studios who open their doors to us, and the industry professionals who donate their time to help select and mentor our Scholars. We are truly grateful for their continued support.

The IGDA Scholarships Committee

Today we are very pleased to announce the winners of the IGDA Scholarships to attend GDC 2013. Our judges combed through almost 200 applicants, from well over 100 universities and colleges in order to select what we feel represents the very best of  the upcoming talent, and the brightest, most engaged students. After extensive deliberation, the following people have been chosen as IGDA Scholars:

• Rose Abernathy (Haverford College, USA)
• Matthew Dyet (Edith Cowan University, Australia)
• Isabelle Gramp (Adelaide University, Australia)
• Michelle Hill (Academy of Art University, USA)
• Yngvill Hopen (University of Teesside, UK)
• Jukka Laakso (Turku University, Finland)
• Justin Lara (University of California, Irvine, USA)
• Harry Lee (Monash University, Australia)
• Michael Lin (University of Southern California, USA)
• Chris Mathews (Savannah College of Art and Design, USA)
• Carlos Christian Muriel (USC School of Cinematic Arts, USA)
• Brittany Oswald (Iowa State University, USA)
• David Parker (University of Colorado, Boulder, USA)
• Bryan Ploof (University of California, Irvine, USA)
• Jorge Espiridiones Riquelme Cucoch-Petraello (Instituto Profesional ARCOS, Chile)
• Emanuel Rosu (University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA)
• Thomas Rousse (IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark)
• Timea Tabori (University of Abertay Dundee, UK)
• Drew Utterback (University of South Dakota, USA)
• Evan Yovaisis (Academy of Art University, USA)
• Alexander Zook (Georgia Institute of Technology, USA)

Please join us in congratulating all our new Scholars who will be joining the previously announced winner of the Eric Dybsand Memorial AI Scholarship, Owen Macindoe, for what will hopefully be a very memorable experience with the IGDA at this year’s Game Developers Conference.