The IGDA changed the format of this year's annual meeting away from the normal panel-like session in a bid to attract more members. How did they do it? Why, offer free food and drink of course! (Of course). For some reason they must have thought this still wouldn't work so well because they hosted the event in this mediocre-sized room rather than the large ballroom where they have their VIP luncheon. Of course it worked all too well and the room ended up packed full of so many game developers they were spilling out into the adjacent lobby. Even worse was the fact that we had to stay standing the entire time, at least in the old format we were sitting down and eating some lunch.

Developers pack into the smallish room

But the cons are not without pros, however. Having a packed-to-the-max room of developers standing around and waiting to lay hands on food and drink certainly expedited matters in general. Jason Dell Rocca, IGDA's Executive Director, sped rather quickly through the annual report. In total the IGDA lost $49k last year. This was mainly due to the fact that last year the IGDA went fully independent, leaving the somewhat safe confines of CMP much like a child leaves their parents for the real world. In addition, a growth in membership led to greater attendance at the E3 and GDC Europe parties, which skyrocketed the booze and food budget. Luckily the IGDA had built up a substantial net asset of $136K so they were able to eat the loss for the better of the organization (i.e. not shirking the parties).

IGDA Executive Director Jason Della Rocca talk about the year gone by

Speaking of member growth, thanks in large part to some recent Affiliate Studio memberships the total IGDA membership population has risen very close to 10,000 strong, growing nearly 50% in the last three months alone. A recap of the year highlighted some 150+ chapter meetings, new Special Interest Groups such as Sex, Mobile, Casual and the installation of a Wiki on the IGDA page. Bob Bates, Chairperson of the IGDA's Board of Directors, stepped up to talk about the new vision of the IGDA, lead by the new mission statement:

In addition to the new mission statement, Bob talked about other topics such as the member survey that was sent out to all IGDA members as a means to help the IGDA learn what needed to be done for it's members. He also highlighted a first-ever 2-day Board retreat where the board members gathered to discuss key topics of the IGDA, which helped lead to all these new advancements in the organization.

Chairperson Bob Bates talks about the IGDA's new vision

Jason took the podium back to briefly go over some new initiatives by the IGDA, including

• More robust SIG and chapter support
• Employment contract certification (led by Tom Buscaglia)
• Credit standards (led by John Feil)
• Professional Code of Ethics
• Research projects (QoL Index, "census")
• Restructured board (2 new seats added)

Following these initiatives Jason called up to the stage the 13 people who applied for a nomination onto the Board of Directors. That's thirteen people vying for four seats. Not all were present at the conference, but all who were came up onto the stage to rounds of applause from supporters in the audience. Unlike previous years, none of the nominees gave a statement of candidacy speech, to read them follow the links attached to the names of the candidates listed below:

• Michael Capps
• Dustin Clingman
• Christopher Crowell
• Rodney Gibbs
• Michelle Hinn
• Stephen Jacobs (withdrawn)
• Joe Kreiner
• Gaurav Mathur
• Mitzi McGilvray
• Marc Mencher
• Clarinda Merripen
• Tobi Saulnier
• Coray Seifert
• Mark Warner

The Board candidates line the stage

After the candidates all stepped down Jason opened the floor for Q&A, of which there was pretty much none. Again, unlike years previous where a lot of people have come forth with questions at this time, the audience was silent, save for Charlie Cleveland, who came up to ask John Feil more about his Credit Standards initiative. Charlie asked whether the standards were going to reflect movie studios more than coming up with titles distinct to the industry. John replied that he had a friend in the movie industry, and was going to base some of the standards there, but realized that the games industry would require unique positions as well. After that, the bar was opened, the food was served, and the schmoozing began!

Joh Feil fields a question on credit standards