IGDA Chicago Chapter Updates

Hello Chicago!

The IGDA Chicago Executive Board has been extremely busy in 2020.

Individually, we’ve been spending 2020 much the same way you have; holding it all together. Collectively, we’ve done our best to pull together and help our community do the same. It has taken a lot of hard work and a lot of patience, but we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel that is 2020.

We wanted to take a moment and share some of what we have accomplished this year and what we plan to do next in the Fall.

Chicago’s Year in Review (so far)

At the start of the year we partnered with DePaul University to host a Global Game Jam site and we packed the house! With over 100 jam participants, we saw some very high quality games made by our community’s talented students.

In February, world events took a turn and our best laid plans were put on hold. By March we were in crisis mode, and at a time when we usually help our community prepare for conventions like GDC, this year we were helping them cancel their plans and transition to learning and working remotely.

Our chapter did its best to embrace a new virtual reality as stay-at-home orders placed most of us under house arrest. We ramped up our Twitch streams and doubled down on Discord engagement. In place of a planned in-person community roundtable, we hosted our first Discord AMA in March with GGJ Co-Founder Susan Gold.

We had great success with our first Discord AMA. Our community was enthusiastic to engage each other in a new virtual space and we became optimistic that a digital transition would be possible, and in some ways, extremely beneficial to our community.

By May we were accepting social distancing as a new normal, not an exception. We hosted a second Discord AMA, this time with legendary designer and film-maker Josh Tsui. We had to cap the questions on our audience. They could have asked Josh questions about his days at Midway, Mortal Kombat, Studio Gigante, Robomodo, and his film Insert Coin all night!

The start of the Summer for Chicago, like many other cities in the US, was marked by civil unrest. Our home became a national stage for political demonstrations and widespread civic engagement. IGDA Chicago responded to the situation by hosting a virtual panel to discuss how the game industry can be better in regard to diversity, inclusion, and representation.

This August, social distancing guidelines unfortunately meant the cancellation of our annual end of summer picnic and we instead focused on chapter administration and recuperation. We held a virtual Q3 Executive Board meeting and planned out the beginning of our Fall programming.

What’s Next?

Now in September, we’re excited to announce our first panel of the fall, an AMA with the IGDA Chicago Executive Board, to be held Thursday Sept 24th at 7pm on our Twitch & YouTube Channels. We look forward to telling you more about your IGDA Chicago board members, taking your questions, and hearing your feedback on how to make IGDA Chicago even better!

We’ll be rolling out more details on our Fall schedule in the coming weeks. We don’t want to ruin the surprise, but you can expect new, updated installments of our popular Spooky Game Jam and Extra Life events and much, much more!

Stay safe and take care of each other.

Game on!

Ross A. Hersemann 
Chair, IGDA Chicago

IGDA Chicago Launches New Website, Chapter Updates

Hello world!

If you’re reading this then you already know…

WE HAVE A NEW WEBSITE!!!

It’s taken the collective efforts of the entire board and many months of hard work, but today we’re thrilled to share our new website with you. You’ll notice updates in style and accessibility for all of the great content we’ve been working so hard to produce at IGDA Chicago.

Videos from prior events are now directly accessible from our media page, our jobs page has received a facelift, and we’ve include a Chicago Community section to highlight everything that makes Chicago and the Midwest a hub of video game development. Additionally, we’ve included easy to find links to our Discord, Twitch, and all our other social media channels on our contact page and on every page footer.

Of course, this is by no means the end! We intend to update the site regularly with updated content and features to always increase value to our members and the local community.

We value your feedback and we want our site to be as accurate and comprehensive as possible. Please use the website contact page to let us know how we can make the site even better.

Since it’s been so long since we’ve written, we have lots of other updates to share too.

Here are some quick wrap ups of the events we’ve hosted so far this year:

• Global Game Jam

  • This year we provided support and judges for DePaul University’s Global Game Jam Site. Ross A. Hersemann, Kyle Bailey, and Ashlyn Sparrow weighed in on the student projects and provided constructive feedback to over 100 participants.

• Pre-GDC Workshop

  • Our Pre-GDC Workshop made a comeback this year at Columbia College. Ross A. Hersemann, Ryan Sizemore, and Sam Bond gave a talk on the do’s and don’ts of GDC. Industry veteran Josh Tsui also gave a presentation on his GDC experiences and offered some helpful advice to Columbia College students. After the panels, the Board provided resume and pitch feedback for attendees.

• GDC Midwest Mingle

  • Our Midwest Mingle also made a comeback this year. During GDC we had an open meetup with other Midwestern IGDA Chapters and developers to touch base and reconnect.

• Post GDC Roundtable

  • Following GDC and after some well-deserved rest, the IGDA Board led a round table discussion at DePaul University to go over everyone’s GDC experiences. There were success stories and many lessons learned.

• An Evening with Jeff Spoonhower

  • Industry veteran Jeff Spoonhower joined IGDA Chicago to give a talk on his upcoming work and his experiences in the industry. Attendees at Columbia College were treated to some inside knowledge about what it’s really like working in AAA studio environments and the realities of transitioning to indie game development.

• Midwest Gaming Classic

  • IGDA board members Ross A. Hersemann, Tom Caprel, and Sam Bond took a trip up to Milwaukee to staff an IGDA booth at this year’s Midwest Gaming Classic. They discussed community and IGDA initiatives with attendees and showcases some game jam games from previous IGDA events. Lots of great connections were made and old friendships renewed.

• Principles in Game Coding in Unity with IGDA Chicago

  • This Summer IGDA board member Sam Bond led a coding workshop in Unity at the Microsoft Store in Schaumburg. She instructed a group of enthusiastic young people through making their first platformer and the basics of coding.

• Retro Game Jam

  • In collaboration with DePaul University’s student group JDE and Columbia College’s AlphaLab, IGDA Chicago hosted a Retro Game Jam at DePaul two weeks ago. Students were challenged to make games inspired by the Atari-era of gaming, using only period accurate color palettes, resolutions, and controller configurations. They delivered in style!

That about brings us up to date!

We hope to see all of you at BIT BASH this weekend. The IGDA Board will be there in style to discuss IGDA’s role in the community and showcase the amazing games from our recent Retro Game Jam. Drop by our table and say hi!

It’s been a very busy Summer, but the year’s not over yet, so stay tuned for news of our upcoming events so that you can mark your calendars!

Game on!

Ross A. Hersemann 
Chair, IGDA Chicago

Happy New Year!

Hello world!

2019 has begun! For many of us, this time of year is one for resolutions and fresh starts, and IGDA Chicago is no exception. We have many new initiatives and updates to share with you that we are very excited about.

First and foremost, we have a new board! Ross A. Hersemann will be taking the helm as Chair, supported by returning board members Tom Caprel and Chris Weiss. Joining the board this year for the first time will be familiar faces Ryan Sizemore, Josh Delson, and Sam Bond. It’s a privilege to serve the Chicago game community. Wish us luck!

The new board met this month and began making its plans for the year. We’ve reviewed membership feedback, our chapter mission, and outlined many goals for things we’d like to accomplish. We look forward to a continuation of the great programming our chapter is known for as well as spearheading new initiatives to better serve our local game community.

Our chapter legacy events like the Global Game Jam, End of Summer Picnic, Spooky Game Jam, Extra Life, and the Holiday Mixer will be back in full force. Educational panel presentations and professional networking events will also be part of our scheduled programming. Additionally, we remain committed to partnering with the city’s colleges, studios, and industry organizations to provide the highest quality content and support possible, while strengthening the collaborative bonds of our local community.

As for what’s new, here’s a teaser of a couple things we have in the pipeline:

• A major website update for added functionality and aesthetics

• Mentorship and student ambassador programs with city colleges

• Even more professional and social support for students and industry veterans alike.

That’s all for now, but stay tuned! We’ll be announcing our latest updates via this blog and social media. This is sure to be a banner year for IGDA Chicago, and we’re excited to have you on board.

Game on!

Ross A. Hersemann 
Chair, IGDA Chicago