When I desired to create a “home” for game localization professionals back in 2007, I chose the IGDA because I believe in its mission and its critical purpose. The cross-functional collaboration was appealing as an ideal forum in which to cultivate the localization community among other industry professionals. With its responsibility for the GDC Localization Summits, its numerous meetings at industry events, its creation of a Best Practices document, and its Translation Force to provide crowd-sourced translation for the Global Game Jam (and eventually the IGDA website), the Localization SIG has thrived under my leadership.
We all realize that the IGDA has seen a lot of churn with leadership transitions, website frustrations and so forth. We also know that the industry faces both internal and external challenges, to which the organization has sometimes been slow to respond. While I know that faith in the organization has been shaken among some members, I and most members fervently believe the IGDA’s best days lie ahead. However, in order to move forward, we must revisit the fundamentals:
1. Reassert the IGDA’s relevance: The IGDA needs to be more proactive and visionary. We must reassert a thought leadership position for issues affecting game developers; we can start by better leveraging SIG expertise in key areas.
2. Restate the IGDA’s value proposition: We can demonstrate the value of our dues through stronger partnerships and incentives internationally, nationally and locally; an IGDA membership shouldn’t only equate to a GDC discount.
3. Reemphasize the “I” in IGDA: We must improve our inclusion of people, inspirations and best practices from international chapters by better managing the communication and execution of ideas to/from IGDA leadership.
4. Reestablish the IGDA’s platform(s) for collaboration: Through volunteerism, we can empower our tech-savvy membership to help the IGDA overcome its ongoing technical weaknesses (e.g., the website).
The bottom line is that I’m a doer, I proactively see needs and I collaboratively make things happen. This has included creating a whole new type of “geopolitical” team and process at Microsoft, launching a unique culturalization consultancy, founding a localization community within the IGDA and helping the IGDA succeed at representing game developer interests.
I believe my 20-year career passion for games and global cultures will strongly complement the IGDA leadership. I humbly ask for your support for my election to the board and for your commitment to help the IGDA succeed in its mission.
IGDA-related Credits:
- Founder & Chair, IGDA Game Localization SIG, 2007-present
- Founder & Coordinator, IGDA Translation Force, 2010-present
- Contributor, Loc SIG’s “Best Practices for Game Localization” guidelines
- Co-organizer, Game Localization Summit @ GDC, 2008-present
- Member, Board of Directors, IGDA Seattle Chapter, 2010-present
- Member, IGDA Board of Directors Special Interest Group Committee, 2010
- Member, IGDA LGBT SIG Steering Committee, 2011-present
- Panel Speaker, IGDA Session at PAX East, March 2011
- Panel Speaker, Inaugural IGDA Summit, July 2011
- Recipient of the annual IGDA MVP Award, 2011
We all realize that the IGDA has seen a lot of churn with leadership transitions, website frustrations and so forth. We also know that the industry faces both internal and external challenges, to which the organization has sometimes been slow to respond. While I know that faith in the organization has been shaken among some members, I and most members fervently believe the IGDA’s best days lie ahead. However, in order to move forward, we must revisit the fundamentals:
1. Reassert the IGDA’s relevance: The IGDA needs to be more proactive and visionary. We must reassert a thought leadership position for issues affecting game developers; we can start by better leveraging SIG expertise in key areas.
2. Restate the IGDA’s value proposition: We can demonstrate the value of our dues through stronger partnerships and incentives internationally, nationally and locally; an IGDA membership shouldn’t only equate to a GDC discount.
3. Reemphasize the “I” in IGDA: We must improve our inclusion of people, inspirations and best practices from international chapters by better managing the communication and execution of ideas to/from IGDA leadership.
4. Reestablish the IGDA’s platform(s) for collaboration: Through volunteerism, we can empower our tech-savvy membership to help the IGDA overcome its ongoing technical weaknesses (e.g., the website).
The bottom line is that I’m a doer, I proactively see needs and I collaboratively make things happen. This has included creating a whole new type of “geopolitical” team and process at Microsoft, launching a unique culturalization consultancy, founding a localization community within the IGDA and helping the IGDA succeed at representing game developer interests.
I believe my 20-year career passion for games and global cultures will strongly complement the IGDA leadership. I humbly ask for your support for my election to the board and for your commitment to help the IGDA succeed in its mission.
IGDA-related Credits:
- Founder & Chair, IGDA Game Localization SIG, 2007-present
- Founder & Coordinator, IGDA Translation Force, 2010-present
- Contributor, Loc SIG’s “Best Practices for Game Localization” guidelines
- Co-organizer, Game Localization Summit @ GDC, 2008-present
- Member, Board of Directors, IGDA Seattle Chapter, 2010-present
- Member, IGDA Board of Directors Special Interest Group Committee, 2010
- Member, IGDA LGBT SIG Steering Committee, 2011-present
- Panel Speaker, IGDA Session at PAX East, March 2011
- Panel Speaker, Inaugural IGDA Summit, July 2011
- Recipient of the annual IGDA MVP Award, 2011
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