It’s the start of a new year, and we have to talk about the future of RunJumpDev — how do we help our members grow and learn, and facilitate the creation of game designers in Lexington and beyond?
RJD Members
- Game development commercially
- game development on the side, hoping to make games commercially
- game development not commercially
Key Areas
- Sharing Knowledge
- Facilitate collaboration (industry speakers, Tuesday meetings, game jams)
- Marketing/promotion (PAX)
- Mentoring (informal)
Sharing Knowledge
- More trainings
- Have something for middle and high school students (is this a comfortable space for younger participants)
- More detailed in areas (programming, art, design) covering more advance topics
- Different schedules
Facilitate Collaboration
- More game jams (will we do every Ludum Dare? Doing a jam for the Lexitron, more organization)
- Better outreach to industry speakers
Marketing/Promotion
- Louisville Arcade Expo – March 7
- Lexington Comic Con – March 14
- PAX East – April 11
- Lexitron at the Library during April (potentially, in talks)
- TOJam – May 3-5
- Sigma Play – May 23
- We Make Games 2 – TBD
- Also look into more community outreach events, LAN parties, etc.
Mentoring
- Develop more formal mentorship process?
- Help connect people to internships and jobs
Tasks for 2014
- Fundraising – For events, game jams, web site, pay someone for work, etc.
- IRS – Tax exempt status
- Lobbying – Tax credits, better internet
Committees
- Education
- Events (monthly meetings, PAX East)
- Marketing
- Mentorship
- Fundraising
Ideas/Comments
- Formal membership with added bonuses for paid membership (funds would cover events/jams)
- Group Dev Kits? Expensive hardware and shareable resources (Occulus Rift, etc)
- Game/Book library (group Steam account?)
- RJD game bundle
- Business workshops
- What have we done wrong?
- What have we done right?
Lexitron
- Finishing the physical component, completing the bottom and the back, coin doors need to be hooked up, cutting access holes to reach the deck.
- Need input on color scheme, possible digital photoshop competition to figure out paint scheme
- Low key assistance needed for Saturday, but it will not be physically done by then.
- Meeting at noon on Saturday to discuss Lexitron, etc.
RJD Game Bundle
- Games included made in a specific month-long jam.
- Fundraising
- Marketing for the group
Membership
- Membership cards
- Access to the game library
- Access to expensive equipment
- Great for networking and connectivity
- Group sponsorship for a person to go to GDC
- Different fees for companies vs individuals, tiered system
Website
- individual game designer profiles
- space to show off and exhibit game designer.
- gamify
- working on the calendar
- a section of the site where to ask for assistance
- forums?
Assistance for Creating Groups
- Want to expand the community
- Work on remote creation of satellite communities in Louisville/Richmond
- LVL 1 Hackerspace – burgeoning community
- EKU, looking to get more speakers, organize more jams, connect more. ACMEKU.com
- Expanding our reach
PAX East
- WE DON”T KNOW ANYTHING CONCRETE YET
- Last email says that we will know by at latest February 10, but people applied individually
- Randy has hotel info and travel info
- RunJumpDev Business Cards
- Know Your Booth Number
- Booth Design
TOJam
- Near Mothers Day May 3-5
- Toronto
Non-Traditional Gaming Aspects/Outreach
- Contacting companies about game creation
- Autistic Educational Games
- Game Jam for Educational Games/Partner with UK and EKU/Community Tie-In
- A University Convention for students
- Conference for Gaming