Comment Re:The Challenge of the Common Good (Score 1) 11
I know the goal of the IGDA is to help the industry as a whole, but I would like to offer up my own story of how the IGDA has helped me personally:
A little over two years ago I joined the IGDA and started attending meetings of my local chapter (NJ). I was a college student with no game development experience, no game development skills, and no clue as to how the games industry worked. Still, the group welcomed me, showed me resources on the web, told me what to watch out for and where to look for game projects, and shared their experiences and opinions on game development.
A year and change after that, I met Wade Tinney, a partner at Large Animal Games, and an active member of the IGDA community (via the Online Games SIG and NY chapter). Through that connection, I was eventually offered and internship, and today I am an associate producer and designer at Large Animal Games.
Obviously, there was a lot of hard work and other gigs that were dead-ends along the way, but the bottom line is this:
I would not have this job without the IGDA.
I'll rephrase:
I would not be as happy with my career and life without the IGDA.
I'll rephrase one more time:
I owe my career to the IGDA.
Without Jason and Rudy and Darrell and the thousands of other IGDA volunteers, I would never have become a game developer, and I would probably be working as a technical writer for a pharmaceutical giant in central Jersey *shudder*.
Anyway, I'll end my rant here, but I hope this at least sheds some light onto the benefit of joining the IGDA and becoming an active member and meeting attendee. Add that to the fact that yes, you are doing the right thing for your industry, and joining this group of hard-working, talented, and incredibly interesting people is 100% a no brainer.
A little over two years ago I joined the IGDA and started attending meetings of my local chapter (NJ). I was a college student with no game development experience, no game development skills, and no clue as to how the games industry worked. Still, the group welcomed me, showed me resources on the web, told me what to watch out for and where to look for game projects, and shared their experiences and opinions on game development.
A year and change after that, I met Wade Tinney, a partner at Large Animal Games, and an active member of the IGDA community (via the Online Games SIG and NY chapter). Through that connection, I was eventually offered and internship, and today I am an associate producer and designer at Large Animal Games.
Obviously, there was a lot of hard work and other gigs that were dead-ends along the way, but the bottom line is this:
I would not have this job without the IGDA.
I'll rephrase:
I would not be as happy with my career and life without the IGDA.
I'll rephrase one more time:
I owe my career to the IGDA.
Without Jason and Rudy and Darrell and the thousands of other IGDA volunteers, I would never have become a game developer, and I would probably be working as a technical writer for a pharmaceutical giant in central Jersey *shudder*.
Anyway, I'll end my rant here, but I hope this at least sheds some light onto the benefit of joining the IGDA and becoming an active member and meeting attendee. Add that to the fact that yes, you are doing the right thing for your industry, and joining this group of hard-working, talented, and incredibly interesting people is 100% a no brainer.
