Online Games SIG/Conference Calls/April 12 2006

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--James 19:35, 13 Apr 2006 (EDT)

Table of contents

[edit] April 12th, 2006 Conference Call

[edit] Attendance

[edit] Present

James Hursthouse, Brian Robbins, Jay Moore, Jonathan Greechan, Elonka Dunin, Peter Freese, Larry Mellon

[edit] Apologies

Daniel James, Michael Steele, Michael Welles

[edit] Next Call

Wed May 3rd 2PM EST / 11AM PST

  • We agreed to try and use the Diamondware VOiP solution for future calls. Benefits are it's completely free unless you dial in (in which case you are charged regular long distance as with current system); voices can be positioned spatially so good for cross talk intelligibility; better chat functions so we can swap URL's / files etc. Please download the client from:

http://onlinegameservices.com/dw/dwsetup.exe

  • An instruction sheet for using the system along with user names and passwords will be emailed to you shortly (Action : JH)

[edit] Wiki

  • We will be using the Wiki for agendas, notes, collaboration throught this year. Please take time to familiarize yourself with the Wiki if you are not already familiar with it.

Please view the Quick Start Guide at:

http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/IGDAwiki:Quick_Start_Guide

Please use the links on:

http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Online_Games_SIG/Steering_Committee

to add a profile page.

Contact Elonka if you need more specific Wiki help.

[edit] Charter / Mission Statement

  • We agreed to review and edit the Online_Games_SIG/Charter to have a version that we can approve at the next meeting on May 3rd. We also aim to create a list of tangible goals. The list has been started on the same page as the Charter.

[edit] 'Membership'/Outreach

[edit] Current Membership

  • JH suggested that we try and formalise the current 'membership' of the SIG and seek to expand it. In conjunction with developing the charter, we need to identify how much of our efforts are focused on activities for the current active 'member' base and how much effort we should expend on growing that base through activities focused on the wider online game development community and also other groups within the IGDA. New committee members noted that the SIG is somewhat myopic to the community at large.
  • The current OGSIG mailing list consists of 560 individuals. How current is this list? How many of them might be considered active SIG members (ED suggests 20%). Response tracking for the recent OGSIG GDC party shows attendees came from the following sources:

None 16 (unknown)

GDC5 65 (Gordon Walton mailout)

IBM1 25 (IBM)

MSB 20 (Mike Steele / EGT)

OG1 63 (James Hursthouse mailout)

OGLIST 36 (OGSIG List)

TOTAL: 225

So the response from the list was quite poor.

Additionally, the number of IGDA members responding was 123 compared with 102 non-members, so it is clear that we were catering to a group of people outside of the IGDA. Is recruiting new members a major aim for us in 2006 / 2007?

[edit] Membership 'Tiers'

  • JM noted that there are moves afoot within the IGDA at large to introduce SIG dues in addition to the standard IGDA membership. The committee generally feels that this is not something we would welcome, but would like to see ways for sponsors of the IGDA generally to 'channel' their sponsorships towards specific SIGs if they choose.
  • We will consider how to implement two 'tiers' of 'membership' - so that we server both a wider 'non-IGDA' community (who perhaps only receive limited information) in addition to our active community of paid up IGDA members.

[edit] International Outreach

  • The committee felt that the SIG is rather too insular with regards to the North American market. We should aim to broaden our focus, either by reaching out to international IGDA chapters with regards to the idea of the OGSIG in those markets, or through the inclusion of non-US industry professionals on our steering committee. There is no hard and fast rule regarding the number of people on the committee, so if anyone knows of someone appropriate for addition to the committee then please make suggestions. (Action : JH to contact international IGDA chapters)

[edit] Publications

  • JH suggested that it might make sense to create a 'publications / content' focused group within the committee to enable cross pollination of content development between newsletters / quarterly / Podcast / Whitepaper etc. There would then be one group of people focusing on Publications / Content and one group of people focusing on Membership / Outreach activities. What do people think of this idea?

[edit] Quarterly

  • Rather than producing a Quarterly in the traditional sense, it might be more productive to produce one article or shorter e-newsletter per month, giving us more opportunity to communicate with the SIG. We can then collate interesting articles into a printed format for distribution at conferences and other events. PF noted that the OGSIG forums are very inactive so perhaps this monthly communication would be a good springboard to promote discussion on the forums.

[edit] Podcast

[edit] Whitepaper

  • JM volunteered to transfer the contents of last year's Whitepaper to the Wiki to form the framework of an update for the next version. Committee feels that the Whitepaper can develop over time organically through re-writes / additions to last year's content. Ideally, the content should have transformed sufficiently for us to announce a 'new' Whitepaper by AGC 2006.
  • Action : BR to email JM Word version of previous Whitepaper.

[edit] Website

  • It was agreed that the OGSIG Website (http://www.igda.org/online/)needs review and updating. A lot of content is out of date. We will decide how to proceed with this after agreeing on a new charter and direction for the SIG.

[edit] Forums

[edit] Wiki

  • Review of Vernacular - JM suggested that the industry would benefit from a standard vernacular / glossary. Should this be included as part of the Wiki?

[edit] Mailing List

  • JH volunteered to help ED with mailing list moderating.

[edit] Conferences / E3 Activity

[edit] E3

  • We decided to hold a Committee Gathering / Drink prior to the main IGDA Party at the Figueroa on Tuesday 9th May. Committee Gathering @ 6pm. Rather than any separate IGDA OGSIG networking event, we will attend the general IGDA party.

[edit] Bank Account / SIG Budget / Future Events

  • As noted above, the SIG expressed an interest in having a means to both raise and spend money on activities.
  • Action : JH to check with Jason Della Rocca re. SIG bank account and more control over budget and expenditure.
  • We should consider a party for Austin Game Show - perhaps Whitepaper launch party?

[edit] Misc

  • JH to send out thank you mail to previous committee and ask them if they wish to continue to be on the SC mailing list.
  • JH to send out mail to OGSIG List with greetings from new committee - after agreeing on Charter / which other announcements to include.
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