[IGDA-NYC-announce] Demo Night and Games for Change

[Wade Tinney]

Greetings-

 

Two upcoming events to remind you of; the 9th IGDA NYC Demo Night and the
6th Annual Games for Change Festival. Read on for details (and a discount
for IGDA Members!)

 

The IGDA NYC Demo Night will be held on Thursday, May 28th at the New School
University. This time around, we're in a different room than usual, so make
sure you go to the right place! 

 

It's Room A 407, a lecture hall at 66 W 12th St., between Fifth and Sixth
Aves in the West Village. We'll start at 7:00. We'll send an email shortly
with the Demo Night line-up and a link to the RSVP form. 

 

Note that the Games for Change Festival will be going on all day that day at
the New School. Convenient! 

 

 

>From the Games for Change organizers:


Please join us for the 2009 Sixth Annual Games for Change Festival, May 27 -
29, in New York City! (http://www.gamesforchange.org/fest2009.)
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=ckla89cab.0.0.llufxybab.0&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gamesf
orchange.org%2Ffest2009&id=preview>   This is the only event dedicated to
the exciting new movement of video games for social change - games about
poverty, global conflict, climate change. Called "the Sundance of video
games" for "socially-conscious game-makers" we're building a new genre of
video game - games to change the world - for the better.

This year's festival features an Opening Keynote by Pulitzer-Prize winning
author and world-changing New York Times journalist  Nicholas Kristof who
will give us a sneak peek into his new book, television show and video game!

Other festival highlights include a fireside chat with preeminent games and
learning scholars Jim Gee and Henry Jenkins; an interactive game design
session by leading game designer Eric Zimmerman; and a closing keynote by
Lucy Bradshaw, Executive Producer of Spore, and one of the 10 Most
Influential Women In Games.

And don't miss our Games Expo, where festival-goers can see and play these
new games firsthand in a lively and media-friendly reception.  And this year
will see the first-ever Knight News Game Award, sponsored the John S. and
James L. Knight Foundation. Come see how games are being used to address key
events and issues in the news!

Back by popular demand "Let the Games Begin: 101 Workshop on Making Social
Issue Games," our pre-festival day-long workshop for newbies on May 27th!
(2008 MacArthur Foundation's DML Competition award-winner) This workshop is
a soup-to-nuts tutorial on the fundamentals of social issue games. Vital to
those who are new to designing learning games but passionate about social
issues, the workshop features leading experts on game design, fundraising,
evaluation, youth participation, distribution, and press strategies. The 101
Workshop on Making Social Issue Games is made possible through the generous
support of the AMD Foundation.

There are also special festival events for journalists, researchers, and
funders.

Festival panelists and speakers include: 

Ian Bogost, CEO of Persuasive Games and author of Unit Operations: An
Approach to Videogame Criticism

Heather Chaplin, journalist (NPR, NYT) and author of Smartbomb: The Quest
for Art, Entertainment, and Big Bucks in the Videogame Revolution.

Mary Flanagan, Director of the Tiltfactor Lab

Tracy Fullerton, Assistant Professor, USC, Interactive Media

Judith Helfand, Award-winning Independent filmmaker

Frank Lantz, CEO Area Code; Acting Director, NYU Game Center

John Nordlinger, Senior Research Manager, Microsoft

Ian Rowe, Director, Gates Foundation

Katie Salen, Executive Director, Institute of Play; Associate Professor,
Design and Technology Department, Parsons The New School for Design

Seth Scheisel, New York Times game critic and technology journalist

Kurt Squire, Assistant Professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison

Constance Steinkuehler, Assistant Professor Assistant Professor Ph.D.
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Clive Thompson, Contributor, The New York Times, Wired

Among many others. 

A recent Pew Report showing that 97% of teenagers playing games, noted that
"some particular qualities of game play have a strong and consistent
positive relationship to a range of civic outcomes"  making games perhaps
one of the most powerful media of our day for learning and civic engagement.
The Annual Games for Change Festival brings together the world's leading
foundations, NGOs, game-makers, academics, and journalists to explore this
potential and how best to harness games in addressing the most critical
issues of our day, from poverty to climate change, global conflicts to human
rights.  And some of these new games are being played by (literally)
millions of people of all ages.

For more information, visit http://www.gamesforchange.org/fest2009
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=ckla89cab.0.0.llufxybab.0&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gamesf
orchange.org%2Ffest2009&id=preview> .  We look forward to seeing you all
there!

Games For Change is offering all IGDA members 10% off registration for their
annual festival, to be held on May 27-29 in New York City.  The discount
code for registration is 125489IGDA.

 


We are thankful for the generous support of our Festival sponsors, the AMD
Foundation, the Knight Foundation, and Seed Magazine, as well as Parsons The
New School for Design.

_______________________________________




 

 

Wade Tinney

CEO, Large Animal Games

http://largeanimal.com

Chapter Coordinator, IGDA NYC

http://nycgames.org

twitter: @largeanimal <http://www.twitter.com/largeanimal> 

 

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