For one week a year, a collection of professionals, students & hopefuls from around the world gather in San Francisco, California to share knowledge, and celebrate the creation of video games. It is the Game Developers Conference — the “can’t miss” event of the year. The 2013 GDC proved no different, setting a new record of 23,000 attendants.
As it does every GDC, the International Game Developers Association — the largest nonprofit membership organization serving the video game development community — was there to meet new people and greet old friends. In many ways, GDC is a family reunion for the IGDA, as no other event gathers so many of the IGDA leaders and members in one place at the same time.
And, much like a typical family reunion, not everything always goes exactly to plan. (More on that later.)
New Leadership
This year’s GDC was the first time for many to see the new IGDA leadership in action. New Executive Director Kate Edwards was just appointed at the end of 2012 and new Operations Manager Tristin Hightower joined the IGDA only a few weeks before GDC.
Upon arriving at GDC, Kate, Tristin, and the IGDA Board of Directors immediately rallied the troops. They assured the membership that old problems plaguing the IGDA (a lack of clear communication channels, a bulk of abandoned or underdeveloped projects, and a website that seems to always be under construction) will soon be worries of the past.
Logistics was a key message – they understand that working for the improvement of the video game industry at an international level is difficult if the IGDA leadership cannot effectively communicate with the local Chapter heads and Special Interest Group (SIG) leaders. Improving the internal infrastructure of the IGDA will be the top priority throughout the next year.
Another message was improving both the tangible and intangible benefits of IGDA memberships. While many plans have been put into action (including the return of physical cards) and others are being processed (more discounts), much of the discussion was focused on generating more ideas. Keep an eye out here for future announcements about these benefits.
Chapters & Special Interest Groups
The local IGDA chapters are the lifeblood of the organization, so the main focus of the Chapter Leaders Meeting was how to best improve each individual chapter and the chapter system as a whole. Each chapter’s regular attendance varying from single digits to hundreds of people, and each area has different needs to fulfill. The group agreed that the local chapters’ main focus should be to become what their communities needed most, instead of trying to force an agenda on the community.
Further, many discussions centered on cross-chapter collaboration and sharing. If one chapter has a speaker come in, there should be a real effort to record that session and share it for other IGDA members and chapters to view. Skype sessions and online meet-ups were also discussed.
The IGDA Special Interest Groups Leaders meeting had a similar theme. Sheri Rubin, secretary of the IGDA Board and head of the SIG Committee, laid out a vision where SIGs are far more mission-driven, have multiple leaders, and where it is easy for volunteers to contribute in whatever way they choose. “You never turn down a volunteer.” – Sheri.
It was also made clear that there would be some housecleaning in the SIGs. Some of the SIGs are defunct and need to be revived, absorbed by other SIGs, or simply shut down. In addition, they are looking into solutions for SIGs that are not actually SIGs, but more focused on broader career paths such as Game Design or Programming. There is value in these groups, but they are inherently different than the smaller, focused SIGs.
VIP Luncheon
Every year at GDC, the IGDA Board of Directors and leadership invite the SIG leaders, chapter heads, and other hard-working volunteers by holding a VIP Luncheon. It is a chance for the IGDA leadership to show their gratitude to all of the volunteers that go above and beyond to contribute to the organization.
The luncheon is also an opportunity for the IGDA to name its Most Valuable Players for their service to the organization. The awards, first introduced in 2005, are the IGDA’s way of highlight those individuals or groups that shine beyond expectation. This year’s 2013 MVP Award winners are:
■ The Bohle Company
■ Daniel Greenberg
■ Heather M. Decker-Davis & Luke Dicken
With so many members gathered together, it is also the perfect opportunity for Kate to address everyone. She reinforced her messages from the day before, reassuring a renewed focus on organization and communication as bedrocks for the IGDA to work more diligently and efficiently in the future.
Advocacy Track
A point of pride for the IGDA this year is the partnership with GDC for the Advocacy track. These earnest discussions of the issues being faced in the industry happened all throughout the week, and most were directly co-sponsored with the IGDA.
Talks this year included a look at the damage of cloned games, the dangerous perception of the average gamer, equality for all genders in online gaming spaces, and designing games for maximum real-life impact. No speaker held their punch as they discussed how we as developers can do better for each other and for society.
Of particular note was the multi-speaker event on Wednesday afternoon: #1ReasonToBe, a session focused on what it means to be a woman in games. The six panelists (Leigh Alexander, Mattie Brice, Robin Hunicke, Kim McAuliffe, Brenda Romero, and Elizabeth Sampat) delivered unique and varied experiences, but each was passionate and to the point that we, as an industry, need to be more inclusive. Many shed tears as the women received a standing ovation.
IGDA Party
The next day, a report came out via Forbes about the IGDA Party and some of the hired costumed perfomers that were in attendance. It must be addressed, despite the pain it caused the members of the IGDA and the game development community.
On Tuesday night, March 26th, hundreds of people piled into Ruby Skye for the YetiZen party, co-sponsored by the IGDA. While some expected the party would be a great networking event or a place to discuss issues with fellow game developers, they quickly found out that this was a loud party, including live music, a dance floor, and (unknown to the IGDA at the time) costumed models wandering the event. These models interacted with guests on the floor and briefly danced on stage at the invitation of one of the musical performers, along with YetiZen’s two founding partners.
The IGDA, as an organization, is focused on Advocacy and making this industry as inclusive as possible for everyone. No excuse can make up for the fact that a party co-sponsored by the IGDA objectified women and made some people uncomfortable. The IGDA leadership was very disappointed that this happened, and are committed to ensuring this does not happen again.
Specifically, Kate Edwards recently announced via her Executive Director’s blog (http://www.igda.org/edblog) that the IGDA will no longer have “parties,” and will instead focus on fully inclusive networking events. This is just one in many steps that are being taken to ensure that the actions of the IGDA fully match the message that it broadcasts.
Annual Meeting
While it is understandable that part of the Annual Meeting dealt with the events of the party and how it came to pass, the IGDA’s annual meeting during GDC was also an opportunity for the IGDA Leadership to talk to the membership at large about their goals for the coming year.
These goals include:
■ The completion of a new website, a problem that has plagued the IGDA for far too long.
■ An iOS and Android app for members focused on organization news and communication.
■ Physical IGDA Membership cards.
■ Add more tangible benefits to membership.
■ Adding additional support channels for Chapters, SIGs, and Project Leaders while also holding them more responsible for continuing their activities.
■ An increased focus on making the IGDA more International.
■ Better long-term planning for events such as GDC.
The post-meeting Q&A focused in part on the party again. While more details were revealed, the important factor is embodied in the meeting’s opening statement: “One of the core values of the IGDA is encouraging inclusion and diversity. Obviously we need to be more vigilant in our efforts. We intend to be so in the future.”
Takeaways from the IGDA @ GDC 2013
It will be far too easy for most people to remember the IGDA @ GDC for the unfortunate situation at the party and the angry reactions. It doesn’t matter how it happened, it happened, and the IGDA was associated with it.
But, if you take time to look at the whole picture, there are a lot of reasons to have hope. There is a reinvigorated IGDA leadership that truly understands the tasks ahead of them. The goals of the IGDA, focusing on communication, logistics, and long term planning, will not only help avoid issues such as what occurred, but will prepare the organization for the challenges ahead.
More importantly, this is a time to let your voices be heard. The IGDA Leadership needs to know what you think and how you feel. If you don’t like the answers you hear, let them know that too. They are working to serve your needs, so that we can collectively make this video game industry that we love a better place for all of us to work in.
Doug Hill has been a game designer, writer, and producer in the game industry for over ten years. He is currently a Lead Game Designer for Disney Playdom, and is working on an unannounced social game.
Doug has previously worked with several companies including Take Two, PopCap, Nickelodeon, THQ, Warner Bros. and Activision. He has worked on such franchises as Sesame Street, Dora the Explorer, Garfield, Wizards of Waverly Place, Dr. Seuss, and UNO. His most recent release was the Disney Playdom social game Armies of Magic for Facebook.
Images by Morten Skovgaard.
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More from this issue:
- Self-Learning as Effective Learning, Keith Nieves
- IGDA AI SIG Reboot, Luke Dicken
- GDC 2013: Recap, Reunions, and Revisions, Doug Hill
- Q & A with IGDA Executive Director, Kate Edwards, Interview by Mary Kurek
- Game Design Aspect of the Month: HTML5 Prime Time, Raymond Jacobs and Tom Novelli
- The Code to Protecting Your Game, Suzanne Jackiw
- Playcanvas!, Peter Yu
- IGDA Scholars Program, Luke Dicken
- Is Programming Related to Age?, Dr. Emerson Murphy-Hill
- IGDA Summit Call for Proposals
- Member Benefit: Pearson