RE: IGDA - International Game Developer's Association
Why do you join any organization? You join because you feel that a motivated, like minded group can do more than a single individual. For a good reference - Google "Lance Armstrong" and you'll see what I mean. Lance may be a star, but the US Postal Team is what pulled him to the top spot.
Back to the IGDA - your dues give you some stuff you couldn't get otherwise, like discounted registration for GDC. That's neat and everything, but it's not your main motivation. Join because the IGDA seeks to make everything about our professional lives better - your support funds some critical work that can be shared by everyone.
As an example, I was just asked to join the IGDA "Quality of Life" Committee. This group of professionals will study issues surrounding long hours and job stress in our industry, and assemble some solution strategies - in other words, how can we make great games and have great lives at the same time???
Don't join the IGDA if you believe you'll get a tee-shirt or special lapel pin. Join it because it's the premier game industry trade association that seeks to make our jobs better.
RE: IGDA - International Game Developer's Association
mrrmike,
Well put. I am also seriously considering joining IGDA. I think the main concern for us "non-professionals" is that we are not currently working in the industry so we are worried that what is being done may not have an effect on our working lives. Also, many of us would like to use this as a forum for networking for our job search but are very concerned that it may be frowned upon by members. Or just a nuisance at the very least.
I have sent an email to the main contact of the New York City chapter but have not received a reply as of yet. Are you currently a member? (you mentioned being asked to join a certain group). If so, have you been to any chapter meetings? I understand some of the smaller chapters do not require membership to attend the chapter meetings. If this is true, It would be nice to have a little peek first =)
RE: IGDA - International Game Developer's Association
welp, I went and did it. I am officially a member of IGDA. I will of course attend a chapter meeting as soon as I can and give all the details to those interested.
Are there any other resources you recommend making use of while I wait? I have used the forums a bit and of course gone through the site a bit. But anything that might provide a larger benefit or just worth looking at in the meantime?
I was disappointed in the turnout here in Vegas. Diana Gruber and Rod Stafford helped me to pull together a meeting here that was very cool except for one minor caveat: The first question I was asked was "What's in it for me?"
Well, after over three years of thinking on this one I have still not come up with the key answer to that. I have come to the conclusion that some of what's in it for all of us is like what's in Mr. Mike's book - sharing of information and experience. Some of what's in it is comraderie, friendship, "networking" and so on. It's pulling together to bring to light the fact that games are serious business. It's remembering that games are put together by a wide range of professionals, not just the programmers. It's about bringing a level of professionalism, dedication, skill, diversity and pride in workmanship that only a group of enthusiastic devotees can bring. It's about taking pride in your work (or study if you're aspiring) and mentoring those with less experience to improve the quality of both the games and the lives we build.
"Ask not what your profession can do for you. Ask instead what you can do for your profession." to paraphrase....
Anyway - It's a cool thing....
"Your job is not to die for your country. Your job is to make some other poor sod die for his."
The game industry is still pretty small, considering the amount of money that flows through it. The networking consideration is a primary force in anyone's career, perhaps secondary only to working on games that actually hit the shelves.
Being in the credits is the best networking you can get...
I came across the IGDA site but I didn't think anything of it. Then a few weeks ago I read through it, And I really liked what I read. I love the info it has to offer, and yeah its benefits do more then raise an eyebrow.
I would like to pay for a membership, when I get the money of course, if nothing else then to support it.
But would it be able to aid me along the way till I because a programmer? Again I am a college student. But I am still not very knowledgeable, I have my feet wet. But I don't have much to bring to the table.
I am going to Naugatuck Vally Community College.
I am taking their Object Oriented Programming Cert.
I thought it was a good place to start before I head out.
The college is in Waterbury, but I am in the Naugatuck area.