[IGDA_indies] organizational politics

[Brandon J. Van Every]

Jason Della Rocca wrote:
> Brandon Van Every wrote:
> >
> >The message is basically as I said, plans with few to no
> >dependencies are
> >more powerful than plans with lotsa dependencies.
>
> Well, I'd say it slightly differently: plans where you sit around and
> depend on others to do stuff for you are not as powerful as
> plans where you get up contribute.
>
> ;)

That's also true, and often it does need to be said.  However, that's
really not the same message.  The message is DIY vs. spending a lot of
time trying to coordinate with the IGDA.

> - Starting and Managing a Nonprofit Organization
> - The Complete Guide to Nonprofit Management
> - Common Interest Common Good
> - Enterprising Nonprofits
> - BoardSource Committee Series

Of these, which do you find most insightful?

> Don't judge the IGDA based on one chapter. Just because you
> are not happy
> with how Sputnik runs itself, doesn't mean that all chapters
> are similar run.

One thing I haven't done is solicit the opinions of malcontents from
other IGDA chapters.  I *have* gotten on the forums and asked chapter
people what value the parent organization provides them.  I got the
impression I was talking to the 'warm fuzzy' camp though.  Now, maybe
most people are satisfied with how their local chapters are run, that's
entirely possible.  But I  haven't sampled enough people to know the
range of opinions, and whether we have common problems.

> As a counter example, the Montreal chapter is hugely
> successful, providing
> a vibrant hub for local developers to connect, share ideas,
> and even get
> some business done. We grew from 20 members 3 years ago to
> 500+ now (and five Studio Affiliates).

Seattle might be a victim of its own industrial stability.

> I queried the IGDA database and pulled up 250
> names in Brisbane.
> I emailed them with info on what a chapter was and how it
> would be great to
> get one going in Brisbane, detailing the work involved and
> pointing to our
> guidelines for starting/running a chapters. Within a day, a dozen
> volunteers from local studios volunteered to get things
> rolling. Within a
> week, they had their first organizational meeting, within a
> month they had
> their first chapter meeting with a few dozen local
> developers. Now, they
> are planning their second meeting and future calendar of
> events/meetings.

Well that's a tangible.  A database like that for Seattle would be
useful.  Mailing lists and forums only get people so far; the authority
to bother people directly about their stated interests could be quite
powerful.  I don't recall ever registering myself in an
interest-specific manner, and I definitely haven't kept up with it if I
did.  I'm imagining people being bothered with a quarterly survey of
their interests as developers, to plug into the database.  At the same
time, the database would have to be made available to members to be
useful.  If a Gatekeeper restricts its use according to his/her
judgement of 'what's a good idea', that's not compelling.

>  From each being isolated in their own cubicles, they now having the
> fledgling of a local development community. Could this have happened
> without the IGDA? Sure. WOULD is have happened with the IGDA?
> Probably not.

Well, I'll consider the idea of Seattle database registration, if the
IGDA never provides a compelling public access product like I have in
mind.  Truthfully my web skills are lousy though, as anyone visiting my
homepage can see.  I'm not likely to get this done.  But, maybe I'll
find and motivate people who could more easily get it done.

> Anyway, was hoping not to get into another huge debate. Sorry
> to have taken up everyone else's bandwidth.

Why do you assume others have something they want to get off their
chests?  I mean, there isn't anything stopping anyone from posting on
any subject they like, dropping any avenue of discussion they feel is a
waste of time, or skipping anything they don't want to read.
Considering how deathly silent this list was for so long, I'm not
worried about us actually communicating for a change.  If people don't
like how the communication goes, they should say so.  All orgs go
through tussles of "what kind of communication should happen."  It
matters when you're in face-to-face meetings because drones really do
monopolize your time and bore you to death.  But in e-mail, you'd need
an awful lot of posts for that to be true.  We ain't there yet.


Cheers,                     www.indiegamedesign.com
Brandon Van Every           Seattle, WA

"The pioneer is the one with the arrows in his back."
                          - anonymous entrepreneur