The Board of Directors for the chapter is elected by popular vote of local IGDA members. Each director is elected for a two year term, so this election will prove important in setting the direction for the chapter in the years ahead. The candidates running and their statements are listed (alphabetically) below.
If you think you should have received election materials in order to vote but haven’t, please contact [email protected].
Luke Dicken
For the past two years, I’ve been proud to be a board member for IGDA Scotland and to help the chapter go from strength to strength. We’ve seen incredible growth both in the number of members of the IGDA we have locally as well as with our engagement with the broader community. The current board has overseen significant change and development as we have transitioned from a formative “startup” chapter into a firmly established presence in Scotland, powered by volunteers from around the country.
As many of you know though, my involvement with the IGDA goes far beyond our local chapter. I lead the Special Interest Group for Artificial Intelligence, head up the IGDA Scholarships program and earlier this year became the first person to ever be elected to the IGDA’s Board of Directors from outside of North America. This gives me a broad understanding of how the organisation works as a whole and strong connections to our sister chapters around the world, uniquely positioning me to advocate and highlight the good that the chapter achieves to the remainder of the organisation and to the wider industry.
The coming two years represent an exciting time for us as a chapter. Having demonstrated a consistent ability to deliver high-quality events to the Scottish community, we are just now starting to spread our wings and explore new directions – partnerships to deliver special events like the recent visit of Richard Lemarchand and the upcoming GamesWest conference being excellent examples of these new drives. The momentum we are carrying out of the current board term into the next will be crucial to capitalising on these initiatives and taking them further. The three core areas I want to focus on in this coming term are:
- Developing a better, more structured approach to sponsorship, providing the chapter with a stronger revenue source.
- Establishing closer ties with relevant agencies and support groups to better collaborate to represent the industry as a whole.
- Continuing to add value and tangible benefits for IGDA members based in Scotland.
My track record during my first term on the board of IGDA Scotland speaks for itself. You all know me, and I hope you will give me the opportunity to continue the work I’ve been doing, and that we can drive the chapter forwards together.
Lindsay Kirk
I’m a former graduate of UWS with a background in graphic design and traditional art with a strong passion for games. After leaving university with an honours degree in 3D computer animation, I had the opportunity to work at Tern TV and Story Mechanics where I worked on the digital adaptation of “The 39 Steps”. After my brief time there I moved to Reloaded Productions where I’m currently a junior artist. In my time at Reloaded I’ve worked on many different areas: 2d marketing art, weapon asset creation, props, character creation & posing, marketing, training and recruitment to name a few. Working at Reloaded has opened my eyes to a lot of the games industry by being able to see how things work from behind closed doors, which has been an amazing experience, and given me the opportunity to represent the company while doing recruitment at events like Game in Scotland and Develop in Brighton.
With the knowledge that I have gained from working in the industry, I feel I could help to contribute a lot to IGDA Scotland. This is why I would like to ask for your vote to allow me to become part of the board.
If elected, I would want to work closely with my fellow board members to bring IGDA meetings to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee in its rotation every month, not only to help keep it going but helping it to gain momentum. More people should be involved, and to achieve this I would do go to universities and highlight the IGDA’s mission and what it does to the students getting ready for the industry. It’s equally important to introduce the developers to the IGDA, and attending events is a great way to achieve this. I feel that the IGDA is a great way for students to begin networking in a more down to earth and relaxed environment, as well as the benefiting from being able to talk to the developers face to face. Also by meeting new and different people from the various universities or just the people who have a strong passion for games, it can create not only great friends but also the contacts to help either pointing you in the right direction or helping you get your dream job.
I hope I will have your vote in this election.
Andrew Macdonald
As one of the world’s fastest growing IGDA chapters, I believe that IGDA Scotland is rapidly positioning itself to become the leading force for good and positive change within the Scottish games industry. During my time with the chapter, I have met countless people and learned an immeasurable amount about the industry I’m less than a year away from throwing myself head first into; invaluable knowledge that simply cannot go to waste. Bearing that in mind, I am running as a board candidate, to do my part in nurturing and promoting the chapter’s continued growth. Aside from sustaining efforts already underway, my principal aims as a director are to:
- Provide greater value through content and a wider range of membership incentives. Until recently, there has been little cause to become a member as many benefits were only suited to US members. I believe we can break more ground on this by seeking our own sponsors and partners closer to home, and by working alongside other European chapters.
- Build a more close-knit community by utilising our online resources more effectively and organising regional events. As the chapter tours Scotland, it can at times feel like three distinct groups, instead of one cohesive whole. Special occasions such as Richard Lemarchand’s masterclass gave us great cause to meet people from all across Scotland and unite as one chapter. I feel that organising more opportunities in the same vein can only encourage that further.
- Raise awareness of the IGDA and the scholarship programme among Scotland’s thriving student body by supporting student-led societies and their endeavours however I can.
- Strengthen our relationships with industry bodies, government and academics in the interest of offering independent advocacy.
I am a 4th year undergraduate student studying Computer Games Technology at the University of Abertay, specialising in HTML5 and tool development. Additionally, I have served on the committees of several student societies, providing entertainment, education and career opportunities. This includes public speaking and playing a key role in the organisation of the student-led Securi-Tay information security conference (now in it’s 3rd year). I also created Not Sony Linux, an open source PlayStation 2 Linux homebrew development toolchain (on hiatus). More recently, I completed a summer internship at Tag Games; and have been working closely with IGDA Scotland as a volunteer, where I have been authoring video content for the chapter YouTube channel.
Brian McDonald
Brian McDonald is a Lecturer in Games Software Development, he has been an organiser of the Scottish Game Jam and other Game Jams such as the Moly Jam. Brian is very interested in supporting students in their journey form University to professional developer.
Over the last 2 years I have been involved as a director of IGDA Scotland where I have helped to organise the chapter so that we have had regular meetings. I was a key organiser of the Richard Lemarchand master class jointly hosted by GCU and IGDA Scotland. My goals going forward for the chapter is to help to increase the reach of the chapter by attracting high profile speakers in the sane caliber as Richard Lemarchand, I would also like to grow the membership of the chapter by attempting to get more local or relevant offers for members and I would like to ensure that the chapter is more financial secure by attracting more sponsorship and also by advancing formalisation process of the chapter.
I would also like to ensure that the Chapter is relevant to all Game Developers regardless of status, from student to professional development and it serves the needs of the community.