IGDA Elections – Jane Pinckard
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.
UPDATE – Ms. Pinckard came by and answered the questions below.
I’d encourage you to read Ms. Pinckard’s statement – it is both concise and to the point. The three things she identifies that she’d like furthered are Education, Diversity, and Partnerships – and she talks with some specificity about all three.
Ms. Pinckard is, frankly, all over the web. You can find her on seasons 1-3 of the 1UP show, her blog GameGirlAdvance, and in various and sundry interviews and whatnot. I’d encourage people to look at those, too – it’s far too much for me to do anything more than give some of it a cursory examination.
Questions for Ms. Pinckard:
Why run now?
While I’ve always supported the IGDA, there seems to be a sea change happening in the organization, with a lot of opportunity for expansion and pursuing new directions. It’s like the start of a whole new administration – with room for some new ideas and new ways of approaching solutions to problems. I think that candidates who get in the door now would be able to have the chance to contribute a lot to the structure of a stronger, more expansive IGDA.
You mention partnerships with organizations like the MacArthur Foundation. What sort of partnerships do you envision, and to what end?
In cases where the goals of the IGDA are aligned with other groups it makes sense for the two to seek ways to collaborate. The MacArthur Foundation has made digital and interactive literacy in education a priority. We can possibly partner with them to roll out programs in schools or to advise on initiatives in the educational sector. I envision something like a smaller task force changed with building these sorts of relationships.
Do you have any specific ideas for how to “activate the network of members to more effectively match up qualified workers with positions”?
I’ve been participating in the Women in Games SIG’s game mentor online program. It’s a very direct way of communicating and motivating young women and students who are thinking about pursuing games as a career. But there’s so much more we could do. The networking available at IGDA on a national level is largely untapped, I think – and could be a very valuable resource for education as well as for recruitment. We could focus on creating more networking events; alternatively, we can create events like the Leadership Forum with an emphasis on managing a game development career to match up the skills to what is currently needed in the market. And in order to get that data, we could commission a Skill Survey among hiring studios so each year we have a very clear idea of what skills employers are looking for.
How do you plan fpr the IGDA to increase diversity in game development?
The Women in Games SIG has already done a lot, just by its existence, in promoting the idea of women in game development as well as supporting the women who are working (and aspiring!) game developers. We can go further in recognizing and highlighting the accomplishments of women; and what about having an event for people of color in games? But I think when I say “diversity” I also mean it in very broad terms – I would love to see crossover from other disciplines, and perhaps we could set up a presence at film conferences, digital arts and media events, and web 2.0 events to share knowledge. So many people outside of our industry are interested in and curious about games – we could create a lot of goodwill and positive press by reaching out proactively to these people. And if we can fold in some of them to our industry, so much the better.
What do you think the IGDA’s role in the industry-wide Quality of Life discussions should be?
The IGDA needs to take a leadership role here, and it can — we’ve got the white papers and the research and the passionate, committed people to backing it up. The problem is that it’s not enough to simply make statements supporting the QoL initiative – we have to actively show that it’s in employers’ best interests to reform production practices, and to support them by teaching them how. There are some studios that do not crunch (or crunch rarely). What are they doing differently? How do they manage? Let’s collect best practices here and actively campaign employers to adopt them by showing them that in the long run, they are also the beneficiaries as they will see greater performance and greater employee retention. In my view longterm changes to QoL issues won’t happen without getting both employees and employers to the table. It won’t be easy – it’s going to take a long time to turn around a system so embedded in our development culture.
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?
As you all no doubt know, the IGDA took a real hit last year and raising funds is one of the priorities of the organization, and studios are an important revenue stream. But part of my goal as board member is to explore alternative revenue sources: grants or donations for specific programs, research and whitepapers offered for purchase, more events that are of value outside the IGDA membership. We can also launch a campaign to increase membership and explore ways to offer events or services that are exclusive to IGDA members.
Tags: igda