Our February 2005 event was "one of our best ever," according to Chapter Prez Josh Druckman. Feedback was very positive and turnout was huge--we estimate at least 120 people came to see IGDA Toronto's Panel Discussion on Establishing a Viable Game Company.

The purpose of the panel was to give new and veteran game developers alike some perspective on how best to do business as a game company--handling projects and employees, navigating the tricky developer/publisher relationship, and how you get the business ball rolling now that you've got your company and game together.

Participating in the panel was a cross section of the local game industry: developers, publishers, and a game agent. We had Jonathan Freedman, Director of First Party Game Relations & Product Evaluation for publisher Hip Interactive. Warren Currell, Founder, President and CEO of Sherpa Games. Josh Druckman, CEO and Creative Director of Brainbox Games (Desert Thunder, Marine Heavy Gunner). Dan Posner, CFO and Co-founder of Pseudo Interactive (Cel Damage). And James Schmalz, Founder and Creative Director of Digital Extremes (Unreal, Pariah). All of the participants should be commended for their commitment to the IGDA, taking time out of their very busy schedules to give the talk. James is just finishing up Pariah, and Jonathan quite literally had just flown in from the DICE Summit in Las Vegas. He came to the panel straight from the airport.

Moderator Jason MacIsaac of The Electric Playground put up various topics for the panellists to discuss--"What makes a good developer?" "How do you meet a publisher?" "What business/administrative skills are required to put together a game company?" Since our panellists came from different ends of the business, lots of opinions were put forth and our panellists would occasionally disagree, making discussion quite lively.

Lots of information was exchanged throughout the two-hour discussion. Even some of our panellists themselves said that they found it to be a learning experience. Common themes that came up? One was that you need a kind of "business hero," a charismatic member of your company who can establish and maintain business relationships, and continually keep the lines of communication open between developer and publisher. Our three developers said that they never pictured themselves in such a roll, but found themselves thrust into it. It took them a few years to get the hang of it.

The audience had lots to ask, and in fact we only got to about half of the topics. Seeing how badly the audience wanted to participate, we used the last half hour just to answer questions. We then wrapped the panel, and invaded the Elephant & Castle to continue the talk over beers.

IGDA Toronto would like to extend a very special thanks to the International Academy of Design & Technology for hosting the panel, and to the students of its Video Game Design & Development program, who did an excellent job with the set-up.

See you next event.

From left to right: Dan Posner, James Schmalz, Josh Druckman, Warren Currell, Jonathan Freedman.	Dan and James listen up.
Jason the moderator	Jonathan considers the topic.
Huge turnout for this event.	The kids in the hall.

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