IGDA Elections – Ron Schaffner
February 17th, 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 – Answers from Mr. Schaffner below.
First off, I can say that this Ron Schaffner is NOT the same one that hunts for Bigfoot. I’ve looked at pictures, and they’re two different people. Trust me on this.
Mr. Schaffner’s statement is relatively short and concise, but isn’t followed up by any Q&A answers. His goals are to create more programs helping out-of-work game devs, the encouragement of indie development, and the continued global expansion of the IGDA.
He makes a point to mention that he is inspired by the IGDA’s Code of Ethics (which can be found here), and promises to follow it if elected.
Questions for Mr. Schaffner:
Will you be posting your Q&A answers?
If you don’t have these answers in your Q&A, can you elaborate on how you plan to effect your three goals above?
Thank you for doing this! Regarding my Q&A answers, I did submit them earlier this month; I have since requested Joshua and Joseph to post them, which I expect will be done shortly.
Why run now?
A current IGDA Board member approached me, telling me that he would nominate me to run. Prior to that conversation, I honestly did not think about running. I am currently on the board of my local Little League organization, and contribute in support of my children and the local community. When thinking about being part of the IGDA Board, I remembered the shock that I felt last year over the event that eventually saw one Board member resign. I thought about if I can contribute to IGDA as a Board member, putting the organization ahead of my personal interests. I concluded that I could work with the new and existing Board members to continue to grow IGDA’s impact to our industry. I then decided to accept the nomination.
What do you think the IGDA’s role in the industry-wide Quality of Life discussions should be?
First off, as a business owner myself, as well as an employee at a large organization, I can relate to both sides of the issue. In my company, my personal attitude is against forcing or putting employees into a position to give up all else for their job, to meet a project deadline. When such situations arise, our colleagues typically take pride in delivering on-time and at the highest quality, and put in the incredible effort to deliver. However, when this becomes the norm, it is a situation of abuse by the employer. We have no labor union or any other strong voice in our industry. IGDA must remain involved and at the forefront of such discussions.
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?
I can understand concern around an organization accepting money for sponsorships, but believe that IGDA is structured to minimize or prevent any inproprieties from taking place. IGDA helps individual members, providing growth and educational opportunities, which in turn, also benefits the studios, whether they sponsor or not.
Tags: igda
February 17th, 2010 at 1:26 am
Hi Scott,
Thank you for doing this! Regarding my Q&A answers, I did submit them earlier this month; I have since requested Joshua and Joseph to post them, which I expect will be done shortly.
- Why run now? A current IGDA Board member approached me, telling me that he would nominate me to run. Prior to that conversation, I honestly did not think about running. I am currently on the board of my local Little League organization, and contribute in support of my children and the local community. When thinking about being part of the IGDA Board, I remembered the shock that I felt last year over the event that eventually saw one Board member resign. I thought about if I can contribute to IGDA as a Board member, putting the organization ahead of my personal interests. I concluded that I could work with the new and existing Board members to continue to grow IGDA’s impact to our industry. I then decided to accept the nomination.
- What do you think the IGDA’s role in the industry-wide Quality of Life discussions should be? First off, as a business owner myself, as well as an employee at a large organization, I can relate to both sides of the issue. In my company, my personal attitude is against forcing or putting employees into a position to give up all else for their job, to meet a project deadline. When such situations arise, our colleagues typically take pride in delivering on-time and at the highest quality, and put in the incredible effort to deliver. However, when this becomes the norm, it is a situation of abuse by the employer. We have no labor union or any other strong voice in our industry. IGDA must remain involved and at the forefront of such discussions.
- 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? I can understand concern around an organization accepting money for sponsorships, but believe that IGDA is structured to minimize or prevent any inproprieties from taking place. IGDA helps individual members, providing growth and educational opportunities, which in turn, also benefits the studios, whether they sponsor or not.