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Attending the Largest Game Guild Conference in the World

Mathew Anderson
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Attending the Largest Game Guild Conference in the World

We attended one of the largest game guild conferences in the world last month. As the community manager for the studio, I was super excited to see what was in store for this year’s event. While there are hundreds of game industry events of all types, only a handful of them represent guilds like The Syndicate. Sean “Dragons” Stalzer (with such an awesome game name, I must refer to him by it from this point forward) has been the leader of the guild since the very beginning in 1996, just before Ultima Online entered beta.

The Syndicate

The Syndicate has more experience and resilience than any other guild I’ve ever encountered, and they bring it all together at their yearly conference, SyndCon. The event is the epic result of what can be achieved when a guild sets long-term community goals and has strong leadership for it to grow and prosper. Dragons has already written two books about the guild and how to grow a community of gamers into an organization like The Syndicate.

You can pick up the books on Amazon here: http://alturl.com/ya9ip

“The Syndicate is uniquely successful in the online gaming space. SyndCon is a great example of that, since 200+ people are willing to invest their vacation time and dollars to come hang out with their guildmates and grow their friendships.” – Dragons

SyndCon is a long, 5 day, supercharged weekend filled with plenty of activities and chances to meet up with fellow guild members, as well as prominent industry guests. I had attended the last few events over the years and met cool new guild members each time. This year was special in that it was the first time attending after I was inaugurated into the guild as a member. SyndCon was also hosted near the U.S. capital, Washington D.C., a city worth exploring if you ever get the chance.

The main focus of SyndCon is to put faces to names of the hundreds of guildmates we encounter daily in various games, and to solidify friendships and forge new ones. You meet guild members all over the conference floor, as well as throughout the hotel where the conference takes place. Several developer panels and lectures fill the bulk of the scheduled time. The rest of the day includes guild members playing games in the various game rooms, including a larger room dedicated to a wide array of popular board games.

Industry Visitors

A highlight of any event is of course the guests. Several developers attended from Alienware, EA/BioWare, Zenimax, Petroglyph, City State, Roberts Space Industries, and even the legendary Richard Garriott from Portalarium. Alienware provided an array of supercharged laptops to play games on, as well as giving away one in a charity raffle during the last day of the event. We also got a sneak peek at some of their fancy new computer hardware. If you are looking to purchase a new laptop soon, Alienware’s new 2013 lineup is worth checking out!

“SyndCon also plays host to a number of great developer guests. It is always a great time learning about upcoming games, offering opinions in real time and getting the chance to meet them as people and not just names on forums. Syndicate members take a great deal of pride in giving constructive feedback and trying to do their small part to make the online world better for all players.” – Dragons

This year’s guest speakers were chock-full of great games to present. While the guild normally keeps a focus on just two online games at a time, they are looking for another, probably a replacement to one of the existing games. It’s important to keep a guild together and not spread out to thin. Anyone can play any game they like of course, but for official guild activities and events, it’s set at two. Portalarium’s Shroud of the Avatar game, as well as Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls Online, are the two presented at SyndCon that excited me the most.

Outdoor Activities

What group event wouldn’t be complete without some time sunning outdoors around the BBQ? The guild gathered Saturday afternoon at a nearby park for a picnic. While the food was being prepared, several games were setup and played around the open park space. Everything from volleyball to tossing Croquet balls (sometimes at each other) was in action. Even strangers from around the park had gathered to watch the fun.

Catered by a guildmate’s company named In10sebbq and served by an army of guild members, dinner included pulled pork chicken, hamburgers (including turkey burgers for us health geeks), hotdogs, and of course an entire row of cakes for dessert. Bees later came out of the trees, swarming the cakes and threatening to steal the frosting. Fortunately, someone was prepared and had brought with a bottle of Magical Bee Spray (-5 health per second to bees, area-of-effect). We gamers are resourceful types!

Charity Raffle

Swag time! I’m a sucker for free stuff, even if I have to pay for it. What I mean by that is the donations given to the guild’s Charity (American Cancer Society) Raffle event. You donate in exchange for a chance to win some of the items on the swag tables (and simply to be a nice person, of course). There were piles of t-shirts, hats, posters (signed!), game cards, cos-play outfits, hand painted miniatures, and the previously mentioned Alienware laptop as the grand prize.

The charity raffle lasted for over an hour as Dragons and a small team tirelessly handed out hundreds of items, calling off names in his commanding voice. Eventually the piles of swag dwindled to a smattering of leftovers. At that point most members said their goodbyes, while the rest ran up to their hotel rooms to stash away their new loot to free up their hands for one last evening of gaming.

“SyndCon is, at its core, a chance to establish and grow real relationships with the people you would otherwise know only online. It is the single best thing we do as a guild and since we began doing them it has eliminated drama within the community.” – Dragons

There is never enough time to play games, let alone simply enjoy the company of good friends. This is especially true when a fun group of guildies get together. The conclusion of the event came way too soon for my liking, but we all ended up sharing great stories of conquests both in-game, and out in the world of bees…

Here is hoping newcomers will be at next year’s event! If you are interested in joining the guild, you can send in an application at:

http://www.llts.org/Join.php

LLTS (Long Live The Syndicate)!

Written by: Mathew Anderson

Dragon Con 2013 a success on multiple fronts

Mathew Anderson
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0
Dragon Con 2013 a success on multiple fronts

ATLANTA – September 18, 2013 – Dragon Con, Atlanta’s internationally known pop culture, fantasy, and sci-fi convention, announced a record attendance of more than 57,000 for this year’s convention in downtown Atlanta. In addition to attendance, the convention set new records in its charity fundraising and blood drive efforts.

“We had a great year,” said Pat Henry, President of Dragon Con, Inc. “We had amazing actors and other celebrities join us. We had a terrific program of panels, discussions, concerts and shows. And, as always, the cosplay was out of this world.”

During the closing ceremonies, Dragon Con announced a change in convention leadership for 2014. Rachel Reeves, Senior Director of Guests and Media, will join David Cody as convention co-chair. Convention chairs are responsible for running the day-to-day operations of the convention.

Henry and Cody, Senior Director of Gaming, have co-chaired since 2011. Henry stepped down from that role but will continue to be President of Dragon Con, Inc.

Dragon Con’s annual Robert A. Heinlein “Pay It Forward” blood drive attracted a record turnout, with 2,972 attendees donating more than 6,000 units of blood and blood products this year. The annual drive – consistently ranked as the largest convention-based blood drive – benefits LifeSouth, which serves more than 40 hospitals in the Atlanta area and 110 hospitals in the Southeast.

Call for Speakers for Macworld/iWorld 2014 is now open

Mathew Anderson
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Call for Speakers for Macworld/iWorld 2014 is now open

Macworld/iWorld is known around the world for featuring high quality instructors who deliver instruction and best practices about the latest tools and technologies of interest to Apple product users.

DEADLINE TO SUBMIT: Tuesday, November 12th

Click here to go to the Call for Speakers submission page.

To read the Macworld/iWorld Speaking Guidelines, click here.

Captivate Conference 2013 Promotional Video

Mathew Anderson
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Captivate Conference 2013 Promotional Video

Here is the new Captivate Conference 2013 promotional video courtesy of The Manifest Collaborative:

Winners announced for 2013 International Serious Play Awards

Mathew Anderson
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Winners announced for 2013 International Serious Play Awards

The annual Serious Play Conference at the DigiPen Institute of Technology has announced the winning entries for its International Serious Play Awards, honoring serious games geared toward teaching, business, health awareness or advocacy.

MIT Game Lab’s educational game Phantomation, designed to teach animation students fundamentals of both key framing and real-time animation, was named Best in Show. Other studios were awarded medals for their submissions, including the Canadian Space Agency and Schell Games.

Here’s the full list of winners, via the Serious Play Conference:

Read more at Gamasutra.com.

Keynote speakers revealed for Montreal International Game Summit

Mathew Anderson
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Keynote speakers revealed for Montreal International Game Summit

MONTREAL, Aug. 11 /PRNewswire/ — Montreal International Game Summit (MIGS) today officially revealed the five headline speakers who will address the more than 1,500 attendees expected at the sixth edition of the popular industry event. Yoichi Wada, President and CEO, Square Enix, Paul Holden, Lead Architect, Media Molecule, Jason Holtman, Director of Business Development, Valve, Heather Chaplin, Author and Chris Hecker, Technology Fellow, Maxis/EA will be at the Hilton Bonaventure Hotel on November 16 and 17 in Montreal.

(Logo:http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090811/NY59551LOGO )

The official keynote speakers include:

* Yoichi Wada is President and CEO of the Square Enix Group, which has the corporate philosophy: to spread happiness across the globe by providing unforgettable experiences. During his conference, Mr. Wada will share the steps the group has taken in order to build a new, group-wide game development environment in an effort to make full use of the unique individual characteristics of its three core brands – SQUARE ENIX, TAITO and EIDOS and will share his vision of the future of video game development.
* Paul Holden is Lead Architect at British-based studio Media Molecule. Developers of the breakout 2008 hit, Little Big Planet, Media Molecule’s Holden will speak about the unique challenges company encountered in developing LBP and its strategy to leverage user-generated content to its fullest.
* Jason Holtman is Director of Business Development for Valve. Among other things, Holtman manages the distribution of Steam, an online platform enabling more than 15 million gamers to access hundreds of games, and video game development via the SOURCE engine.
* Heather Chaplin, is the author of the hit book Smartbomb: The Question for Art Entertainment & Big Bucks in the Videogame Revolution. A professor of journalism at The New School, she also collaborated on All Things Considered as a video game specialist.
* By popular demand, Chris Hecker will be returning to the Summit this year to deliver the closing session. Hecker works at Maxis/EA as Lead Architect solving problems found at the intersection of gameplay, aesthetics, and engineering. This experienced speaker will attempt to answer the question: “Can video games be considered as cultural products in the same way as literature or theatre?” Hecker will attempt to answer this with the help of data, analyses and, of course, plenty of humor.

This fall season promises to be a hot one in Montreal — something which will be reflected in each of the engaging speaking keynotes at MIGS. In order to get the most out of this year’s event, we invite video game industry professionals to join us and take advantage of special “early-bird” prices by registering online before 25th September at sijm.ca.

About MIGS

The summit was set up in 2004 to serve members of the video and electronic games industry. Adapted to the sector’s needs, MIGS aims to become the main yearly event for game development specialists from all over the world.

MIGS was created in 2004 to meet the needs of the video game industry which, today, represents 7,000 workers in Quebec. It aims to develop the transfer of knowledge and expertise, to increase the influence of Quebec industry overseas and to encourage exchanges and communication between the industry’s stakeholders. Specialist and high-level, MIGS covers numerous fields from artistic creation to design, production, programming and business.

To find out more, register, or receive the MIGS newsletter, consult the website: www.sijm.ca.

Develop 2013 In Photos

Mathew Anderson
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Develop 2013 In Photos

Develop is one of those conferences that truly brings together a great group of industry professionals in a location that’s not too large, nor too small and isolated. We view Develop much like the LOGIN Conference.

Here is a set of Develop 2013 photos to see what we mean:

The increasing value of community management

Mathew Anderson
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“Every year, the art and science of community management is becoming more predictable,” said Jono Bacon, the Community Leadership Summit lead organizer. It’s becoming a renaissance, and over the last few years the practice is starting to be written down and documented. It’s evolving.

The 5th Community Leadership Summit (CLS), an unconference focused on community management and leadership, was held in Portland, Oregon on July 20-21 this year.

There are two general observations worth noting.

First, attendees observed that topics that were typically coming up year after year at the conference, in the sessions, are changing, evolving, or disappearing altogether. This means that community managers are learning, evolving, and advancing onto more complex topics.

Second, there was an overarching question of: How do community managers deliver value? One of the main benefits of an unconference like the Community Leadership Summit is that attendees can explore the answer to this question. Many of the sessions I attended touched on this topic. Translating community growth and management into value that a company can understand is becoming more and more clear.

The experience from the open source community continues to lead and prove the value of community management. The role of the community manager is evolving and becoming more complex.

Read more at opensource.com.

Dragon*Con vs San Diego Comic-Con, which one should you attend?

Mathew Anderson
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Liz Ohanesian from LA Weekly gives her account on the great things to see at both Dragon*Con and San Diego Comic-Con, as well as which one your type of gaming interests might be best suited to for.

“Both Dragon*Con and San Diego Comic Con are massive gatherings, but they are drastically different conventions. Comparing them isn’t easy or even necessary. If you can only attend one of these two conventions, make sure you pick the one that best suits your interests. I’ve broken down some deciding factors below, excluding price, as neither is cheap and the actual cost will depend on how far you have to travel and how early you start making arrangements.”

Read on for the complete article at LA Weekly.

An interview with the ChinaJoy team

Mathew Anderson
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An interview with the ChinaJoy team

We chat with the ChinaJoy team to talk about the event and what attendees can expect later this month. ChinaJoy, combined with multiple conference events within the main event, is the largest game industry event in China. Hosted at the Shanghai New International Expo Center and nearby Kerry Hotel, you don’t want to miss this event if you are traveling to Asia this month!

E4G: ChinaJoy is one of the world’s biggest gaming events that combines multiple events (ChinaJoy, CGDC, CGBC, etc). What are the key areas that new attendees would be interested in discovering at each?

ChinaJoy: As has already been stated, ChinaJoy and its conferences like CGDC and CGBC have achieved great success. In order to continue to maintain this leading position, we always focus on the latest trends of the game industry and accordingly adjust ChinaJoy and related conferences at a moment’s notice to ensure that our exhibitions and conferences can fully keep up the development pace of the industry.

For example, according to the development of the mobile Internet and its impact on the game industry, we have made “Games Composing Your Dream, Mobility Inspiring Future Vision”” the theme of ChinaJoy 2013. Both the exhibitions and the conferences like CGBC and CGDC increase the proportion dedicated to mobile games and relevant topics. In addition, we have also upgraded the China Mobile Entertainment Development Forum of ChinaJoy into an independent event called World Mobile Game Conference (WMGC), making WMGC a comprehensive game forum with special attention to mobile games. This event also includes one- day conference and two-day exhibition and is held simultaneously with ChinaJoy.

E4G: How do you see ChinaJoy in comparison to U.S. events like GDC as a conference, and E3 Expo as the more public media oriented event?

ChinaJoy: The major difference of ChinaJoy from GDC and E3 is that ChinaJoy is a comprehensive forum of the gaming industry rather than concentrating on a single game exhibition or conference but brings the game exhibition (ChinaJoy expo), China Game Business Conference (CGBC) and China Game Developers Conference (CGDC) together into a multiple event. The ChinaJoy expo now includes two parts: the B TO C Area for gamers and the B TO B Area for businesses.

The United States is center of the world’s gaming technology, and the GDC which was held there is the world’s top game developers’ conference. While the China Game Developers Conference (CGDC), which is held in conjunction with ChinaJoy, has made “Set foothold in China, connect the world and promote technology exchange and progress” its mission statement. Therefore, compared with GDC, CGDC involves more Chinese elements, such as the exchange of staff’s experience in game production. CGDC places communication with global game developers as a top priority, so we can now see that there are an increasing number of game developers from the United States, Japan, Korea and other countries to share their experience on CGDC.

E3 was once the world’s most famous game exhibition. In recent years, it has focused more on the game professionals’ participation. At this stage, it’s very similar to ChinaJoy’s B TO B Area; however, ChinaJoy’s B TO C Area is of a much larger scale, a wider range of participants and more visitors.

E4G: Events that have run for several years have quite a history behind them, even in a newer industry like games. What is ChinaJoy’s history?

ChinaJoy: The ChinaJoy expo has developed over a decade since its debut in 2004. It has witnessed the complete development process of the Chinese game industry to evolve from agent operations to independent R&D and finally to participation within the global market. Along with the rapid development of the Chinese game industry, the physical floor space of the ChinaJoy expo has also grown from the initial 10,000 square meters to the current 70,000 square meters, and the expo has also expanded from a single B TO C Area at the beginning into a comprehensive exhibition we see now, including both the B TO B Area and B TO C Area.

The B TO B Area is now more comprehensive and much more varied in terms of exhibition activities. Visitors and professionals from around the world have regarded ChinaJoy as a global annual industry event which is a must to attend. Every year, ChinaJoy attracts more than 400 exhibitors and over 200,000 visitors, including more than 20,000 trade visitors and thousands of journalists.

E4G: The Chinese game industry is exploding in growth with events like ChinaJoy becoming more and more prominent. Where do you see ChinaJoy in five years?

ChinaJoy: The event organizers are working hard to improve the business functions of ChinaJoy and to expand its coverage to various industries. Along with the restructuring and development of the global game industry, ChinaJoy will also correspondingly adjust the contents and forms of its activities to fulfill the needs of enterprises. For example, the World Mobile Games Conference (WMGC) held during this year’s ChinaJoy is a brand new conference which was created to meet the current industry’s trends, in order to better serve the global mobile game industry and professionals. Over the next five years, ChinaJoy shall continue its rapid development while constantly adjusting itself to fully meet the needs of the industry and professionals.

E4G: Speaking of traditions and history, we were looking at the Golden Plume Awards page. Can you tell us more about this award show and other events one can expect to see when attending ChinaJoy?

ChinaJoy: As the Chinese game industry’s most influential, oldest official award, the Golden Plume Award has been awarded over the past decade. Its most noteworthy feature is that the award winners are selected by gamers’ votes. Every year, millions of game enthusiasts all over China vote for the winners. Therefore, the award has become the most coveted award for all game developers across China. The selection of the award winners starts in the second half of every year, and the award ceremony is held in Beijing at the end of the year.

At the ChinaJoy venue every year, in addition to the exhibitions and conferences, there are also many interesting and exciting activities which visitors can take part in, such as the world’s largest Cosplay contest – ChinaJoy Cosplay Carnival, IEM, VGL, etc. For B TO B Area visitors, this year’s WMGC and the publication of the White Paper of Global Mobile Game Industry will undoubtedly be the highlights of ChinaJoy 2013.

E4G: What keynote speakers and celebrity guests can attendees expect to see at this year’s event?

ChinaJoy:

  • Mr. Xiangdong Zhang, Chief Executive Officer，Shanda Games Limited
  • Mr. Greg Street, Lead Systems Designer, Blizzard Entertainment
  • Mr. Dewen Chen, President, Changyou.com Limited
  • Mr. Joe WU , CEO of 91 Mobile, CFO of NetDragon
  • Mr. Edward Cheng, Vice President, Tencent
  • Mr. Wang Yi, VP, Netease
  • Mr. Xuefeng Ji, President Shanghai Giant Network Technology Co., Ltd.
  • Mr. Dazhong Zhang, Vice President of Shanghai Media Group
  • Mr. Hao Liu, General Manager, China Mobile Game Service Center
  • Ms. Xin Wei, General Manager, China Unicom WoStore
  • Mr. Peng Zhang,General Manager, China Telecom Game Operations Base
  • Mr. Peter Tseng, Vice President, General Manager Greater China, Electronic Arts Computer Software (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
  • Mr. Mike Ryder, Vice President and Executive Managing Director, International Operations, Blizzard Entertainment Inc.
  • Mr. Chris Shen, VP, The9 Ltd.
  • Mr. Tao Zou, Senior Vice President of Kingsoft Corporation Limited and CEO of Westhouse Corporation Limited
  • Mr. Keith Shepherd, Chief Producer of Temple Run, Imangi Studio
  • Mr.John Vechey,Founder of Popcap
  • Mr. Haozhi Chen, CEO, Beijing Chukong Technology Co., Ltd.
  • Mr. Chris Whiteside , Studio Design Director, Global Business, ArenaNet, Inc.

E4G: For those hoping to attend from overseas, what are the best airlines and hotels they should book?

ChinaJoy: We have a list of recommend hotels for those who plan to attend ChinaJoy and related conferences. For details, please visit the site: http://btocen.chinajoy.net/zn_Hotel.aspx

E4G: Anything else you would like to share about ChinaJoy and the local game industry?

ChinaJoy: The influence of ChinaJoy on the global game industry comes from ChinaJoy’s own activities and the participation of global industry members. Every year, major game companies and related industrial institutions from all over the world organize dozens of their own social and promotional activities during the ChinaJoy expo. Every year, more than US$100 million worth of orders are generated through business negotiations and talks at ChinaJoy’s B TO B Area. Therefore, the success of ChinaJoy comes from the combined efforts of the global game industry and its members. As the organizers, we are very grateful to all the industry members for their support and participation.

E4G: Thanks ChinaJoy team for sitting down with us to chat about the upcoming event!

– Interview by Jessee Boullion

Xbox One chief Don Mattrick resigns!

Mathew Anderson
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Xbox One chief Don Mattrick resigns!

Zynga has confirmed that Don Mattrick is no longer Microsoft’s head of the Interactive Entertainment Business, and has been appointed chief executive at the social games firm, effective July 8, 2013.

Video Games Barcelona Event – Gamelab Barcelona 2013

Mathew Anderson
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0
Video Games Barcelona Event – Gamelab Barcelona 2013

WHAT IS THIS VIDEO GAMES BARCELONA EVENT AKA GAMELAB BARCELONA??

GAMELAB BARCELONA

Gamelab Barcelona is the most important video games event for the video games industry and interactive entertainment companies and projects in the European video games sector, with special attention to those ones in an early stage of development. Gamelab Barcelona serves as an effective hub for local companies looking to expand their business globally. Spain is currently the sixth biggest market in the world when it comes for using videogames and the fourth biggest market in Europe. Not to forget the fun part, people are able to try some of the new games during this video games Barcelona event.

VIDEO GAMES BARCELONA

Following the success from previous Gamelab Barcelona, this year is going to be the 9th edition of this video games event where 3 of them are held in Barcelona. From the 26th of June to 28thof June 2013, Gamelab Barcelona will reunite the main international creators and gurus of the video games industry to analyze the latest creative, technological and business trends of the moment, and to give a prediction how the very near future of digital entertainment will be and how people will live in it. The Gamelab Barcelona 2013 will be held at the Filmoteca de Catalonia in Barcelona and is expected to be attended by over 1500 professionals, 200 game companies, 150 journalists, 20 countries, and 10 000 casual visitors (consumers).

GAMELAB BARCELONA

THE FOLLOWING EVENTS WILL TAKE PLACE DURING THE 3 DAYS LONG GAMELAB BARCELONA 2013:

VIDEO GAMES BARCELONA

– Games & Digital Entertainment Conference: Top creators from all around the world analyze the technical, creative and business trends in today’s world.

– Technical and Business Bootcamps and Workshops: A closer approach to specific technical and strategic knowledge offered in an exclusive selection of seminars, workshops and bootcamps feauturing experts and highly recognized global firms.

– Business Meetings: Business matching tool of Gamelab Barcelona allows participants to gain visibility for their companies and projects, and to find out in advance which potential partners and clients will be attending the show.

gamelab barcelona

– Games & Digital Entertainment Showcase: Companies exhibit their latest games, products and services during this video games Barcelona event to the audience, the participants of the business meetings and the press.

– Game Industry Awards Night: A two hours exclusive show and party where the professional community celebrates the best games and projects showed at Gamelab Barcelona

– Networking Events & Parties: Gamelab Barcelona offers a program of exciting networking and social events to make a remarkable experience to everyone. This is a great opportunity to share something else more than just work.

– PR & Marketing Actions: Gamelab Barcelona offers several opportunities for those companies looking to connect and improve their visibility towards consumers, as they are one of the most followed industry events in Europe.

GAMELAB BARCELONA

Most of the attendees come from all around Europe where English is the main language of the event, but conferences are also translated to Spanish during the Gamelab Barcelona. This will make it more accessible for the local audience and visitors from Latin America.

gamelab barcelona

Checkout the Gamelab Barcelona schedule, and read more news about activities and contents that is revealed on the Gamelab 2013 website. You can stay tuned to Gamelab Barcelonathrough Facebook .

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