NYC Chapter

The conference organizers are offering a special discount for IGDA members. Check it out!

http://gamexpo.us/summit/pass.html

GameX Industry Summit Ticket Pricing
• Early Bird Registration until September 25 - $55
• After September 25: Regular Registration - $85
• After October 11: Last Minute Pre-Registration - $115
• At the Door Registration - $145

Special Prices for IGDA Members:
• IGDA discount of 10% until September 25 - $49
• IGDA price after September 25 - $55
• IGDA price after October 11 and at the door - $85

All GameX Industry Summit passes include the following:
• Boxed lunch on Saturday, October 24.
• Philly Game Jam awards luncheon on Sunday, October 25.
• Access to GameX Industry Summit Lounge.
• Access to industry mixers on Friday and Saturday evening.
• Access to all 3 days of GameX, the Games & Media Expo.

NOTE: Pre-registration does not include online processing or by-mail fees.

GameX (Games & Media Expo), October 23-25, 2009 in Philadelphia, is announcing its first official “call for volunteers” meeting, scheduled for Saturday, August 29, 1 pm to 4 pm at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, PA.

Being a volunteer at GameX provides fans with a chance to get behind the scenes at one of the biggest media entertainment shows on the East Coast. With a variety of pre-, day of, and post-show opportunities to support GameX, volunteering is a great way to enjoy the show, save cash and meet important people in games, TV, film comics and more.

Volunteers must be 16 or older (16 and 17 year olds will need parental consent) and are asked to donate a minimum of 12 hours over the course of the three-day event. In return for 12 hours of volunteered time, volunteers a pair of GameX weekend passes, a GameX staff t-shirt, and access to Saturday night VIP party. Volunteers will also be provided with lunch drink and snacks on all three days of the show.

The Greater Philadelphia Expo Center is located at 100 Station Avenue in Oaks, PA. Driving directions are available online at: phillyexpocenter.com. Interested volunteers can arrive anytime between 1 pm and 4 pm on Saturday, August 29 for a brief orientation, an opportunity to meet the convention producers and to pick up written materials on GameX volunteer opportunities and benefits.

For more information about GameX, please visit http://www.gamexpo.us. Questions about volunteering for GameX can be directed to volunteer@gamexpo.us.

The organizers of the upcoming NY Games Conference are offering IGDA NYC members a special discount on registration. Use the promo code “IGDA09” for $100 off the lowest available rate. Here are the details about the event:

_______________________________
NY Games Conference, Sept. 30, 2009
http://www.nygamesconference.com/

The most influential decision-makers in the digital media industry gather at NY Games Conference to network, do deals, and share ideas about the future of games and connected entertainment. NY Games Conference – now in its 3rd year – features lively debate on timely cutting-edge business topics. Executives from publishers, developers, advertising, investment firms, social networks, technology providers and content companies mingle together at this top industry event.

Confirmed speakers include:
Tom Akel, Supervising Producer, MTV
Wade Tinney, CEO & Co-Founder, Large Animal Games
Eric Zimmerman, Co-Founder & Chief Design Officer, Gamelab
Jay Eum, Co-Founder & Managing Director, TransLink Capital
Sanjay Sarathy, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Vindicia
Nanea Reeves, SVP, Online, EA
Susan Choe, Founder & CEO, Outspark
Adam Caplin, President, Super Rewards
Dan Jansen, CEO and Co-Founder, Virtual Greats
Anu Shukla, Founder and CEO, Offerpal Media
Sebastien de Halleux, Co-Founder & COO, Playfish
Jason Oberfest, SVP of Business Development, MySpace
Jonathan Epstein, CEO, Double Fusion
James Green CEO, Giant Realm, inc
John Bates, MMO Evangelist, Entropia Universe / MindArk
Michael Chang, CEO & Co-Founder, Greystripe
Mike Vorhaus, President, Magid Advisors

From our IGDA friends up north:

Darius Kazemi writes:

Scott Macmillan and I are hosting the second annual Boston GameLoop, an all-day unconference on Saturday, August 15th in Cambridge, MA. It's a self-organizing game conference: people show up and, if they have a talk they'd like to give or a roundtable they'd like to moderate, they throw it up onto the board. There are rooms for people to meet in, and a big board with a schedule grid to coordinate it all. Last year's GameLoop was a huge success: we had 42 attendees from about 25 companies, including 2K Boston, Harmonix, Rockstar New England, and MTV Networks. But while last year was mostly Boston and NYC people, this year we already have attendees coming from Xbox Live in WA and Bethesda Softworks in MD.

The signal-to-noise ratio at a conference like GameLoop is pretty astounding. What I like best about it is that it's just developers talking about stuff they want to talk about. Last year we had sessions about procedural animation, ethics in rulesets, distributed version control, and many others. Some sessions were incredibly small and focused, just three really passionate people who don't know each other discussing a topic they care about. Other sessions were more like standard conference lectures. You can see the whole 2008 schedule, along with some audio and notes from the sessions, here:

http://www.bostongameloop.com/event-recap

Keep in mind that none of this was really planned! A lot of the sessions were born out of discussions over breakfast in the morning.

There's no entrance fee, but we will ask people to donate $20 or so to help us cover costs, if they're willing. Our plan is to sponsorship for breakfast and lunch. That night, groups of people will head to dinner to hang out. And as a side note - we're limiting attendance to industry professionals. Academics and students who have worked as devs are considered professionals, but basically we want this to be a by devs, for devs event. And yes, indie devs count as devs! We pretty much just care that you make games in some capacity.

IF YOU LIVE OUTSIDE OF BOSTON: Scott and I are more than happy to try and set you up with crash space while you're here for GameLoop. Just let us know if you'd like that and we'll see if we can arrange it. We can also recommend nearby hotels.

If you'd like to RSVP, drop us a line at bostongameloop@gmail.com, and we'll add you to the list. Then you'll receive a logistical email with travel details, etc. We've set up a wiki at www.bostongameloop.com with more info on things - please feel free to take a look. We'd also love to get some possible talks up on there - if you're interested in speaking on something, just let us know.

To donate, go here: http://www.bostongameloop.com/pay-for-registration

We hope you can make it! We also hope you'll pass the word on to other industry types that you know, maybe even send a note to your company's internal boards or lists.

-Darius

I just received the following email from the New York City Economic Development Council. I'm not sure exactly how game development fits into their picture, but it seems like there might be an opportunity.

Over the past several months, NYCEDC has held many discussions with leading entrepreneurs and venture capitalists to learn how the City can better support the startup community. A clear message from the community is that the City should do more to encourage entrepreneurs in technology and new media to help develop solutions for the public sector. The NYC Gov 2.0 Tech Forum will bring together technology leaders from the public and private sectors to examine how the City can use technology to improve public services and offer information to companies on doing business with the City.

Please see the attached invite or www.nycedc.com/NYCGovTech for more information and an agenda. Feel free to share this invitation with any colleagues or peers who may find the event of interest.

RSVP: Email NYCGovTech@nycedc.com by June 25.

Philadelphia, PA---Wednesday, May 13, 2009---The GameX Industry Summit today announce its first confirmed keynote speaker, Chris Foster with Harmonix Music Systems, creators of game phenomenon Rock Band. Co-located with GameX (Games & Media Expo), October 23-25, 2009, GameX Industry Summit is presented by the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) chapters in New York, New Jersey, Boston, Baltimore and Philadelphia.

Chris Foster, Design Director for Harmonix Music Systems and the lead designer in the forthcoming The Beatles: Rock Band, is the first of four featured keynote speakers to be announced at GameX Industry Summit.

Game industry professionals are invited to the GameX Industry Summit at the Greater Philadelphia Convention Center for two days of games-focused lectures, panels, roundtables and keynotes from the best and brightest minds in the games business. In addition, GameX Industry Summit attendees have access to GameX, the only major game consumer convention in U.S. supported by a major media sponsor, NBC Local Media in Philadelphia – WCAU TV/NBC 10.

Foster’s keynote is entitled “Stone Soup: Collaboration and Communication in Game Design,” focusing on how game companies can derive the greatest potential game design result from an integrated game development team. His keynote will address methods for meeting challenges in game design, and how to utilize team dynamics, personalities and relationships to shape the final game product.

Foster offers, “Game design may sometimes seem like the art of getting other people to paint your fence for you, but in reality it's about collaborating with others to make the best game possible. It's important to not just learn to work well with others, but to embrace the entire team as a key part of the design process.”

GameX Industry Summit Features Harmonix Keynote Speaker

Darius Kazemi, president of Orbus Gameworks and chapter president for IGDA Boston, adds, "We are excited to have Chris Foster speak at GameX Industry Summit, especially given our conference focus on game art, game design, and game audio. Chris brings a special perspective to game design that all game developers can benefit from.”

Foster joined Boston-area Harmonix Music Systems in 2006. He was the designer of the iPod game Phase, before working on the Rock Band series. Before coming to Harmonix, Chris spent nine years at Turbine, where he worked on the original Asheron's Call and was one of the design leads on The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar.

Game industry representatives interested in responding to the GameX Industry Summit “call for proposals” can review proposal guidelines online at www.gamexpo.us and e-mail their questions and final proposals to: proposals@gamexpo.us. The deadline for final proposal submissions is Monday, June 15.

About Harmonix Music Systems
www.harmonixmusic.com
Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., based in Cambridge, MA, and established in 1995, is the leading developer of groundbreaking music-oriented videogames. Harmonix was founded by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy, who formed the
company to invent new ways for non-musicians to experience the unique joy that comes from making music and have pioneered music and rhythm gaming in the US.

About GameX Industry Summit
www.gamexindustrysummit.com
GameX Industry Summit is two-day game industry conference presented by the IGDA chapters in New York, New Jersey, Boston, Baltimore and Philadelphia. GameX Industry Summit is co-located at GameX (Games & Media Expo), a national game consumer show and ‘pop culture’ festival produced by Virtual Rush Gaming and NBC Universal, designed to draw from local, regional and national audiences of game players, film and TV fans, comic book buffs and tech enthusiasts.

For more details regarding the GameX Industry Summit, contact Morgan Ogburn, ThemePark Studios, 512/916-9633 or morgan@themeparkstudios.com.

To learn more about the IGDA chapters in New York, New Jersey, Boston, Baltimore and Philadelphia, please visit www.nycgames.org, www.njchapter.com, www.bostonpostmortem.org, www.igda.org/baltimore and www.igda.org/philly.

The GameX Industry Summit is a 2-day games industry conference co-located with Games & Media Expo (GameX), sponsored by NBC. Game professionals are invited to submit session proposals for lectures, panels, roundtables and workshops for our ‘Right Brain’ Creativity Track and ‘Left Brain’ Leadership Track. Review proposal guidelines: www.gamexpo.us. Questions and proposals: proposals@gamexpo.us. Final proposal deadline: Monday, June 15.

Philadelphia, PA (March 25, 2009) Virtual Rush Gaming, game consumer and technology specialists, today announced the Games & Media Expo (GameX), October 23-25, 2009 at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center. The only major game consumer show in U.S. supported by a major media sponsor, GameX will partner with NBC Local Media in Philadelphia – WCAU TV/NBC 10 -- to host a high-profile event appealing to local, regional and national audiences of game players, film and TV fans, comic book buffs and tech enthusiasts. A high-visibility entertainment, tech and media show with games as its main attraction, GameX will also feature a variety of pop culture elements such as advance film and TV screenings and trailers, celebrity guest appearances, high stakes game tournaments, robotics demonstrations, video art installations and much more.

High-value content for consumers will be provided by exhibitors and sponsors, including major media and entertainment companies seeking to build their brands with the core games audience.

Produced and presented by International Game Developers Association (IGDA), GameX will also hold a two-day industry summit featuring executive panels and workshops for game professionals and students.

Jennifer Halpin, executive vice president of GameX Show Production, offers, “Not only is the East Coast primed for a large-scale games and pop culture event, but we have the advantage of offering the only major media-advertised consumer show in the country.

Add to this, we are working in a non-union venue, which enables exhibitors and other corporate participants to have a significant presence at a substantial costs savings in relation to similar-sized shows.” She added, “GameX provides the perfect opportunity in this current economic period for publishers, retailers and dealers to have maximum customer exposure for minimum expense.”

NBC Universal’s Local Media outlet NBC 10 first worked with the consumer game community last year when it provided media and marketing support to a similar event in Philadelphia that attracted more than 20,000people. NBC Local Media is supporting this year’s GameX with significant advertising and marketing efforts and will help secure celebrity guests for the event.

Dennis Bianchi, president and general manager of NBC 10 in Philadelphia, states, “ We know that the video game marketplace presents a tremendous opportunity to connect with both a new audience and new advertisers. We also know that our distribution assets, which include, TV, on-line, mobile and digital out of home, can successfully draw a large and engaged crowd. We are looking forward to this year’s GameX Expo, and partnering with Virtual Rush to deliver a high quality gaming and lifestyle event for both marketers and consumers.”

For more details regarding GamesX - Games & Media Expo, contact Morgan Ogburn, ThemePark Studios, (512) 916-9633 or morgan@themeparkstudios.com.

About GameX
The Games&Media Expo (www.gamexpo.us) is a national game consumer show and ‘pop culture’ festival produced by Virtual Rush Gaming, designed to draw from local, regional and national audiences of game players, film and TV fans, comic book buffs and tech enthusiasts.

About NBC Local Media
NBC Local Media is comprised of ten NBC owned-and-operated television stations reaching 27% of US TV households; the NBC Everywhere operation focusing on the growing Out of Home digital market; LX.TV, a content production company that produces lifestyle and cultural programming; and Skycastle Entertainment, an award-winning entertainment marketing and promotion company. Together, the NBC Local Media properties distribute NBC Universal content and produce local content for broadcast television, broadband networks, digital channels and numerous media outlets outside of the home. NBC Local Media is a division of NBC Universal.
####

Contacts:

Morgan Ogburn, GameX Eva Blackwell, NBC 10 Publicist
Phone: (512) 916-9633 (610) 668-5790
Email: morgan@themeparkstudios.com eva.blackwell@nbcuni.com

Want to be the first on your block to hear about all IGDA NYC events and activities? Join our mailing list!

http://nycgames.org/mailman/listinfo/igda-nyc-announce

The NYC Chapter of the International Game Developers Association, Parsons the New School for Design, and Columbia University's LearnPlay present a
roundtable discussion:

What Can (and Can't) Games Do?: The Potentials and Limits of Using Games for Learning

Speakers:
Louisa Campbell, writer, media producer, and adjunct professor, Parsons, The New School for Design
Nick Fortugno, Co-founder and President of Rebel Monkey
Ken Perlin, Professor, Media Research Laboratory, Department of Computer Science, N.Y.U.
Ann Thai, Assistant Manager, Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop
Frank Lantz, Co-founder and Creative Director, area/code

Date: Thursday, October 11
Time: 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

Address (note that this is a brand new venue!):
Parsons/The New School
Room A404
66 West 12th St
New York, New York
http://www.google.com/maps?q=66+W+12th+St,+New+York,+NY+10011,+USA&sa=X&oi=m
ap&ct=title

Please be sure to RSVP for this event, as there is a strict fire
code, and this event is almost full. If you don't RSVP, we can't promise you will get in.

RSVP Page: http://www.largeanimal.com/ igda/games-for-learning/

We look forward to seeing you there!

P.S. If you end up on the wait list, consider volunteering for the event. Volunteers will be guaranteed admittance. Please email kschrier@gmail.com if you are interested in volunteering.