[IGDA_indies] possible focus/purpose

[Jason Della Rocca]

Hi all,

I've been chatting with some indie folks about what role an Indie SIG could 
play, or gap that it could fill. (A special thanks to Jay Moore from 
GarageGames for cycling with me on this).

The conclusion is that the SIG could:

1 - provide a central repository of indie info
2 - promote and generate awareness for the indie scene within the industry
3 - serve as a "voice" for indie developers within the IGDA

All three points are somewhat related, but the idea is that there is in 
fact a ton of info out there, group already supporting indies, success 
stories, etc, etc. But, you have to work hard to find it all (yes, Google 
helps, but still) and there's no sense of cohesion.

Doing (1) would be somewhat tedious, but it is not rocket science. The 
reality is that the IGDA site get hundreds of thousands of hits a month. 
Yes, everyone comes for a different reason, but many are just looking for 
info on how to make games and get involved in development. Getting them 
started on the right foot could be a huge help.

Doing (2) is a bit vague, but the goal would be to help the industry and 
those involved in games to better understand the indie space. I could see 
cases/success stories being popular. Or, some kind of annual "state of the 
indie scene" report going out to the IGDA's 80k members/users and the 
media. Etc, etc, etc.

Finally, (3) would be more about getting indies involved in IGDA programs. 
As a volunteer org, much of the IGDA's work is biased towards those who are 
willing to contribute. If only big industry pros get involved, then the 
IGDA "output" will reflect that...  This could be manifested in terms of 
how some chapters could be more welcoming to indies, getting indie folks on 
various committee projects, etc, etc...


While such efforts will not make every indie a millionaire, it would 
provide some meta-level support and cohesion to the sector in the hopes of 
making the indie scene slightly more conducive to the production of 
millionaires ;)


As always, a big challenge is finding those who'd be willing to lead such 
efforts and contribute effort.

Thoughts? Feedback?

Jason

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jason Della Rocca
Executive Director
International Game Developers Association

t: +1-514-426-1162
f: +1-514-426-1201
Montreal, Canada
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.realitypanic.com/

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