Creating + Nurturing Your Indie Game Community
by Jeff Lindsay on Mar 10, 2010
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A talk I gave the Independent Games Summit of the Game Developers Conference 2010
A talk I gave the Independent Games Summit of the Game Developers Conference 2010
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physicistleon
technical admin for tigsource, built tigdb
helped start and influence tigjam
i called it “devhouse” for short.
basically a hackathon, like a gamejam
started in 2005
about every 6 weeks... almost 40 so far
duplicated in over 20 cities around the world.
currently, events range from 200-400 attendees
sharing ideas...
but its also about building cool stuff and working on projects.
free exchange of ideas/knowledge helps develop -- silicon valley.
belonging, especially to things that stand for what you’re passionate about.
“i found my people”
this is the basis of the rest of the tips.
TIGJam shows this. GDC shows this.
any excuse to get likeminded people together is awesome. parties, mixers...
but great events happen when you:
gimmicks and “attractions” (speakers, contests) make it about THAT.
make it about something more and cultivate intrinsic value of people together
with common values and purpose from OUTSIDE the event
hardest part for people to do. indies know all about this.
mvp: "if you're not embarassed by v1, you spent too long on it"
remain light (we’ll come back to this)
major events start from small events.
gdc started in a living room with about as many people as devhouse.
the key is to...
annual events require much more marketing...
if you look at blogging, improve readership: blog often,
more importantly: consistently.
front room.
living room.
another advantage of often is allows more people to experience the event.
one might not be able to make one month, but can the next.
later you can spread them out if you want.
which brings us to...
organizers: whoever joins in. give them responsibility.
attendance: don’t turn people away. welcome those on the fence.
positive reinforcement is more effective long term.
have the “right” people from the beginning.
always invite people that exemplify what you stand for.
stay true and remember what you stand for.
indie games is pretty easy and the ongoing debate of “what is indie” is healthy.
and behavior!
in fact, straight out teach it
mexico was the only case where WE went to help them start it.
then they send ambassadors to new events
nothing beats in-person knowledge sharing!
meetup.com kinda. all you need is a wiki. dojo started wiki, then google group.
acts as a way to gather momentum.
useful for massive things like dojo, but really you should just...