Game. Set. Match. - Summary Report

By Derek Maninang

Love was in the air (for games that is) as the IGDA Toronto hosted their first event of 2011.  It was a speed dating style networking event straight out of the pages of Cupid’s handbook and the IGDA Toronto was there to make it happen! This event packed the room with over one hundred registered participants all eager to engage in a night of passionate networking.

As the crowds filtered in they were given a name tag and a sheet of paper containing their predetermined set of eight matches. The participants’ matches were determined based on their interests and skills, as well as anyone looking for partners to collaborate on any independent game projects.

Ryan Henson Creighton was his name and he was the MC for the night. He yelled “ROUND 1!” and hit the stereo to serenade the couples with some music from a sample of his game lovin’ playlist.

From exchanges of cheat codes to obtain multiple P-Wings in Super Mario 3, to collaborating on ideas for future projects, there was an array of conversations which from a far sounded like the sweet resonating buzz for the love of games.

There were a few registrants that didn’t make it out that night, but the pool of drop ins to the event more than made up for the no-shows, thereby avoiding the potential hazards of speed dating.

Contacts were made, ideas were exchanged and the event was a huge success.  The night concluded as people continued the networking down the street to the Elephant and Castle for some food and beverages.

The Toronto IGDA would like to thank the City of Toronto for their on-going support and for the snacks and soda that they provided throughout the night. Also thank you to all the volunteers and the participants for coming out and making this year’s first event a big success.

If you would like to leave any feedback or comments about the event you can drop us a message at:

igda.org/toronto ,  IGDA Toronto facebook page , Twitter (@IGDAToronto) , or email toronto@igda.org