The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) and Plan C Ventures, LLC today announced the 2018 IGDA Game Leadership Summit will be held in Austin, TX on Thursday – Friday, Sept. 13 - 14.
Featuring a diverse slate of executives who exemplify the best leadership practices in the industry, the global summit is the first-ever event focused on helping individual leaders at all levels within the industry maximize business performance and professional success as they navigate the rapidly changing interactive entertainment field.
The announcement follows the release of IGDA’s highly publicized 2017 Developer Satisfaction Survey, citing diversity and job stability concerns across the industry. Informed by the survey’s results, the IGDA is developing a robust agenda designed to help leaders strengthen their individual leadership abilities and keep talent engaged in long-term careers.
Summit Tracks
1. Management Excellence: Managers, executives, business owners and entrepreneurs will learn competencies essential to running smart, effective game businesses, at scales from small team to thousand-plus person studio. From planning ahead for success to navigating risk and positioning for growth, topics include Building Sustainable Teams, What to Consider Before Starting a Studio and Building Strong Partnerships
2. Professional Leadership: Game professionals at all stages of their careers and across all disciplines who seek to better manage their careers and acquire leadership skills will learn to improve their decision making, planning and problem solving. Topics include What I’ve Learned in 25 Years in Game Development, Negotiating Fundamentals and Adapting to Change in an Industry Driven by Change.
“Strong, broad-based business management and professional leadership skills are the cornerstones of a healthy career and an essential foundation of high performance for companies in the interactive entertainment industry,” said Jen MacLean, executive director, IGDA. “With the re-launch of IGDA’s mission to support and empower game developers around the world in achieving fulfilling and sustainable careers, we’re excited to partner with Plan C Ventures to bring this one-of-a-kind program to our members and the worldwide game-development community.”
(See GameDev.net's interview with Jen MacLean here.)
Registration is now open. Early bird registration before July 13 is $125 for IGDA members and $200 for non-members.
The IGDA Game Leadership Summit is guided by an expert advisory board. While most of the speakers and program content will be hand-selected by the board, a call for speakers is also now open. This comprehensive effort will insure a diverse field of innovation and experience for attendees. As a rolling call, speaker submissions are reviewed upon receipt, with the first deadline on April 30, 2018.
