In recent months at IGDA Scotland, one of the things we’ve been working on is trying to improve and strengthen our international presence, primarily by building stronger ties with other chapters around the world and learning from their experiences. We had a pretty strong contingent present at GDC in March, and now we’re building upon that success with some more appearances at IGDA events around the world.
Well it seems that all the hard work is paying off. Committee member Luke Dicken will be working with IGDA chapters across the pond as part of his larger lecture tour. Starting in Chile on the 26th June, Luke will be participating in the Video Games Extreme Workshop. It’s a three day event, with an estimated 400 participants. The first day includes panels and seminars from industry experts, that then leads into a two day game jam. During the event Luke will be giving a lecture during the instructional first day, and will be acting as a mentor during the game jam itself.
Moving into July, and closer to home, IGDA Scotland will be well represented at Develop in Brighton, with several of the committee making the journey down. Alongside chapter founder (turned Southern defector) Hazel McKendrick, we are also taking an active role in organising and chaperoning the IGDA Scholarship program in its inaugural year being held both at Develop and within the UK, ensuring that the scholars have an amazing time and meet some of the many industry leaders the UK has to offer!
As soon as Develop wraps up, it’s over to the USA, where, amongst other engagements, Luke will be speaking at Boston’s “Post Mortem” IGDA chapter on the 17th. The Boston area is a hotbed of game development activity, and it’s only fitting that it also home to one of the most active and established chapters, with a monthly “Games and Grog” event.
After Boston, it’s on to Seattle and the IGDA Summit taking place on the 23rd and 24th of July. This is an annual gathering of IGDA members to discuss a range of topics, but focuses on providing “valuable professional development, actionable insight and candid discussion to elevate our craft”. There Luke has been asked to give a session that he’s called “Skynet and You: Game AI for the Uninitiated” as part of a track being presented on the Monday aimed at providing an introduction to some of the more niche areas of the game development process.
It’s all go from here! Keep an eye on the website for news from Luke on his experiences with our IGDA cousins abroad in the weeks after his
return.
Thanks for the great write-up Emma! Going to be a seriously busy few weeks, but I’m really glad to be making so many connections with our IGDA cousins overseas!