Spring in Orlando: A quick visit to the IGDA Orlando Chapter and Full Sail's Success Seminar
by Jason Della Rocca
On the very first day of March, I headed down to Orlando to attend an IGDA chapter gathering and speak at Full Sail's "Success Seminar". Although, I've been crazy busy prepping for GDC, any excuse to get away from frigid Montreal was a good one 
Gamers R' Us
For those who don't know, Full Sail is dedicated new media school providing education and degrees in game programming, digital media, animation, audio and the like. Their associates degree in game programming is an intense 15 month program that teaches the ins/outs of game programming (AI, 3D, physics, engine architecture, etc), as well as writing, design and team management skills. Touring their facilities was quite impressive - especially so for some of the other degrees. For example, I have never so many knobs in my life... on the audio mixing boards, that is. I recommend a tour to anyone visiting Orlando!
Orlando Chapter Action
On Friday evening, I attended the February/March gathering of the IGDA's Orlando Chapter. While most of the approx 125 people in attendance were students from the school, there was healthy dose of local "pro" developers. Headed up Dustin Clingman, one of the Full Sail teachers, this chapter is going strong and truly benefiting from its relationship with the school (eg, the chapter's meetings are held on campus and leverage their A/V setup, etc).
Dustin gave an inspiring welcome speech and IGDA pitch (yeah!), and intro'd the guests on hand. First up, Marc Mencher, a well known and respected game industry recruiter, gave an extremely informative talk on how to network at GDC. With many students in the room heading to the GDC for the first time, this info on maximizing their trip was invaluable. After Marc, I got up briefly to say hi and make some further comments on the networking theme. I also answered a handful of IGDA oriented questions before passing the mic off to John Romero and Stevie Case.
John and Stevie spoke briefly on their new company, Monkey Stone, and the mobile/handheld games they are working. They also gave some further advice on the networking theme. Most interesting were the anecdotes John got into about his career. You know when a story starts by "...back when we were starting id Software..." you are into the good stuff!
The Orlando Chapter meeting ended off with John and Stevie being swarmed with questions. I on the other hand, took the time to chat with Dave Arneson, one of the founding fathers of Dungeons & Dragons, now teaching game design at Full Sail.
Students on Industry Issues
About twice a year, Full Sail hosts what they call their "Success Seminar". They invite industry people to speak to their over 300 gaming students over the span of the week-end. Myself, John and Stevie, as well as Troy Dunniway from Microsoft and a few others were invited in to spend time with the students. I had two 2-hour sessions on Saturday that primarily dealt with game industry issues. I took an interactive approach, with the students doing much of the talking. It was quite encouraging to hear many of the students talk intelligently about topics as wide ranging as violence in games, piracy, lack of innovation, gameplay vs technology, lack of women in development and a myriad of other issues.
After these sessions, I got to spend some time with the Full Sail teaching staff, who were keen to elicit feedback on their program. This was a fun meeting, and great to see them so open to input and constructive criticism. To close out the trip they treated us to a nice meal at a nearby resto.
All in all a really fun 2-day trip! Big thanks to Full Sail and the Orlando Chapter for making it so painless and enjoyable!!!
Here are some shots I took during my quick trip down to Orlando (with some additional shots provided by Marc Mencher). All names are from left to right.
The Orlando Chapter in session at Full Sail.
Jason Della Rocca (IGDA), Marc Mencher (VSearch), Dave Arneson (Full Sail, and the creator of Dungeons & Dragons) and John Romero (Monkey Stone) pose before the chapter action gets underway.
It was a full house with over 125 attendees!
Orlando chapter coordinator Dustin Clingman (Full Sail) gives an inspiring welcome speech.
Jason Della Rocca (IGDA) answers questions about the IGDA, GDC, Academic Summit, the Game Developers Choice Awards and other cool stuff.
John Romero and Stevie Case talk about their projects at Monkey Stone and tell stories on projects past...
Rob Catto, Full Sail's Program Director for their game degree was always nearby to give a helping hand!
John Romero is swarmed by fans after the chapter meeting.
Stevie Case chats with Tom Buscaglia (South Florida chapter coordinator), who came all the way up from Miami to attend.
Jason Della Rocca (IGDA) talks with the Full Sail students on industry issues.
Bill (Full Sail), Jason Della Rocca (IGDA), Troy Dunniway (Microsoft Games) and Dustin Clingman (Full Sail) talk to the back of Matt Scibilia's head (Kalisto) at the closing dinner.
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