IGDA Elections – Genevieve Lord
February 16th, 2010 by Macguffin in UncategorizedIf you’re coming to this post without having seen the lead-in, you can find that post here. It links to all the other assessments I’ve posted. You can also find my disclaimer there – I’m on the Boston IGDA chapter’s board and support the candidacy of Darius Kazemi.
Ms. Lord’s goal, from her statement, is to increase the diversity of the industry and its content, and she couches this in terms of a WoW analogy – she wants to be the groups healer. Her work experience encompasses a great deal of production and management, along with her academic experience in her current job at the Director of the Montreal branch of Champlain College.
A bit of digging turned up the postmortem to Myst IV on GamaSutra, which Ms. Lord produced. There are also numerous other hits out on Google with various interviews she’s conducted.
Ms. Lord is one of the co-founders of the Positive Impact Games SIG, “a fairly new group informing the public on the positive aspects of many of the traditional games”.
As with a number of other candidates, there is no firm answer to how much time Ms. Lord plans to apply to being on the board. She assures us that she can manage her time well, and that the amount of time isn’t an issue when it involves something she loves.
Questions for Ms. Lord:
- Why run now?
- You mention in your statement and in the Q&A that you feel lack of diversity is the biggest problem facing developers today. It could be argued, though, that this is a problem facing the medium or industry overall, as opposed to the developers. What do you feel is the biggest problem facing developers right now?
- In the first Q&A question, where you note lack of diversity as the central issue, you don’t say how the IGDA should be involved with resolving this issue. Can you give us some specifics for how you’d like to approach this?
- In the final question of the Q&A, you say, “Any projects that do not cause our existing member’s community and/or new members to be involved within a specific period should be considered as not useful to them and therefore not worth the time investment.“ Can you give us some more detail on this idea? How long is long enough? Also, how will you ascertain if the idea is really not useful, as opposed to just poorly publicized or implemented?
- Please tell us a bit more about the Positive Impact Games SIG. You say in your statement that, “Until now, we have focused on insuring thought provoking presentations at major events such as GDC and MIGS.” What is the overall plan for the SIG to influence our industry, and what are the next steps?
- What do you think the IGDA’s role in the industry-wide Quality of Life discussions should be?
- Do you think the IGDA’s dependence on studio sponsorships for money is a bad thing? If yes, what will you do to begin changing this? If no, why not?
Tags: igda
February 21st, 2010 at 1:42 pm
Hello again,
Here are some more precisions in answer to your questions:
- On the question of time:
A certain degree of thrust is required in cases like this. I could bullshit you and state a number of hours which would not mean anything. I prefer telling you that, when motivated, I devote the time needed to achieve my goal. I hope that answer will satisfy you.
-Why run now?
While I have been involved with IGDA for many years and have known directors personally, I had not considered it as a possible avenue for me until I was nominated by someone. This in turn made me realize that indeed, my set of skills and international experience could be of use to IGDA.
-You mention in your statement and in the Q&A that you feel lack of diversity is the biggest problem facing developers today. It could be argued, though, that this is a problem facing the medium or industry overall, as opposed to the developers. What do you feel is the biggest problem facing developers right now?
I do not make a distinction as you do between the industry and Developers. For me, the interests of one group are reflected in those of the other. As for an example to illustrate my stance on diversity I will refer you Scott McCloud’s “Reinventing comics” (a favorite book of mine – Thanks Heather) in which the author points out twelve different directions (gender appeal, means of distribution and ethnic diversity are a sample in this case) in which the art of comic writing might flourish. Said directions can also be applied to the video game industry and help games appeal to a broader and more varied public. This will in turn create the opportunities we are so much in need now.
-In the first Q&A question, where you note lack of diversity as the central issue, you don’t say how the IGDA should be involved with resolving this issue. Can you give us some specifics for how you’d like to approach this?
IGDA needs to work on its reach, communication and image. We have a lot to gain from reaching out to other audiences’ abroad as well as by increasing our entire multimedia presence and the training we provide to our leaders in the area. IGDA is also lucky to have at its disposal a large community of qualified volunteers on whom it should more often rely. We have to work on our branding and become more active out of our comfort circle.
-In the final question of the Q&A, you say, “Any projects that do not cause our existing member’s community and/or new members to be involved within a specific period should be considered as not useful to them and therefore not worth the time investment.“ Can you give us some more detail on this idea? How long is long enough? Also, how will you ascertain if the idea is really not useful, as opposed to just poorly publicized or implemented?
As in any well-managed project the objective is to set a timeframe by which certain objectives are to be met. The length of said periods is something that is determined by case, there is no generic time limit that can be reasonably advanced for all situations. If a project fails to remain on schedule, the members responsible will need to reevaluate their plans and come up with a new set of objectives.
-Please tell us a bit more about the Positive Impact Games SIG. You say in your statement that, “Until now, we have focused on insuring thought provoking presentations at major events such as GDC and MIGS.” What is the overall plan for the SIG to influence our industry, and what are the next steps?
One of our main goals is to create a flexible website where people searching for references (articles, games, groups, etc…) on the subject of Positive Impact could use this as support. We are also thinking about collaborating with “Games for Change” more closely as our purposes complement each other’s.
-What do you think the IGDA’s role in the industry-wide Quality of Life discussions should be?
To inform and serve as forum for discussion.
-Do you think the IGDA’s dependence on studio sponsorships for money is a bad thing? If yes, what will you do to begin changing this? If no, why not?
) This would be resolved in one way by extending our member base. This in turn would allow IGDA greater flexibility and independence.
Have a good day,
Genevieve