[arg_discuss] ARG SIG Conference

[Andrea Phillips]

You're right, Burcu, that there is a risk of cannibalizing ARGfest.
We're aware of that, and we actively want to avoid it. To that end, I
spoke to several of the ARGfest organizers during the fest this year,
and not one of them said, "You know, I'd rather you not do this." If
I'd received that sort of response, then I would have had second
thoughts, and we wouldn't be having this conversation right now.

If we do get massive public outcry at the idea of a conference, then
of course we'll reconsider the whole thing. I'd really love it if
everyone else could weigh in on the matter. Think it's a great idea? A
terrible one? Can't be bothered either way? Let us know. Planning a
conference is an awful lot of time, energy and money to spend if it's
widely considered to be a bad plan.

I see ARGfest as being like PAX; it's by the fans and of the fans, and
because that's your audience, there will always, always be companies
with an interest in having a presence there. But I think we have room
for a GDC for our community, too. They both serve a purpose.


On Thu, Aug 6, 2009 at 6:30 PM, Burcu Bakioglu<bbakiogl at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hey thanks for your response. If you guys thought about this and made some

> decisions, fair enough. Here's my input into what has been said here:

>

> 1) You're right, the unfiction community is a very closed "clique," and

> having been there this year, I see that this has also influenced the

> festival (which is created by unfiction). There are almost rules to what you

> should think... or how you should respond to panels/speakers. I almost had

> to stop myself from commenting once or twice. The clues to this are very

> subtle, mind you.

> 2) But this attitude is not fruitful for them or for ARGFest if they hope to

> get a larger pool of funding and increase participation. People were already

> talking about how to fund next year's event. Mike Monello gave them great

> ideas within the context of unfiction.

> 3) Since there is not alternative convention at this point, anyone who is

> remotely interested in ARGs will show up there, i.e. me and others who are

> not active in unfiction. Some of the panelist later told me "I didn't even

> think that our project was an ARG." And, to tell you the truth, neither did

> I. But it was great being exposed to them! And I hope unfiction people got a

> lot out of it too, or they thought about it and saw some alternatives.

> 4) Creating an alternative that sounds like a legitimate conference will

> steal all these people away from ARGFest, i.e. people who are broke or have

> limited funding (such as myself who is running on negative balances these

> months) will prefer to attend one of them. If they wanna hang out with

> friends they go to ARGFest or if they want a broader range of people

> including researchers/educators/industry people they'll go to ARG sig. But

> it will make it harder to cross-polinate.

>

> Where does this leave ARGFest?

> 1) Well, most people won't have money or desire to participate in both

> 2) The unfiction community will lose their chance of interacting with ARG

> people who are not entrenched with the ideas of unfiction forums.

> 3) I am almost certain the participation to ARGFest will decrease, funding

> opportunities will decrease for them. Who is Microsoft going to fund, a

> group of unfiction players or the ARG sig?

> 4) So in a way (and I am sure without meaning to), by presenting a more

> "serious" looking conference as an alternative, we are imposing a very

> elitist approach and being just as "dismissive" as the unfiction community

> who are being labeled as a closely knit, almost exclusive. And I know this

> statement is about to get me in a bag of trouble, but let's call a spade a

> spade. Let's put our hats in front of us and be honest with each other.

>

> If i were to be forced to make the "hard" choice between the community and

> research/industry/education, guess where my loyalties lie? Although I love

> hanging out with the community, my career depends on the research end of the

> spectrum. Let me tell you about one of the most rewarding moments of my

> research in Second Life... I presented my three-year research on griefers

> (who are basically the trouble makers of the virtual worlds who like to

> crash sims and plaster penises all over the place) twice in SLCC through the

> Education track to a group of educators, who, in all honesty (like

> "researchers"), can get a bit boring and uptight at times. And recognizing

> that a group of griefers were sitting among the educators listening silently

> why the hell their activities were so important to be published/researched,

> giving me subtle winks and hi-fives, and later inviting me to a Griefer

> Appreciation Gala in some obscure room on the 8th floor where there is free

> booze and food, and telling me even more stories of their misdeeds... now

> that was priceless... You separate the community from the research end, or

> make it harder for each side to participate, you lose that moment. It is

> like removing the icing from the cake for me. Sure, the carrot cake is most

> nutrious, but damn that icing... that makes it all the more worthwhile...

>

> Again, my point of view...

>

> b.

>

>

>

> On Thu, Aug 6, 2009 at 4:52 PM, Wendy Despain <wendeth at wendydespain.com>wrote:

>

>> Hey Burcu,

>>

>> We're definitely excited about this idea and hoping for input from

>> everybody. We spent a lot of time thinking about how this idea impacts

>> ARGfest, and whether we should try to combine, or not.

>>

>> Our conclusion (and one of the people on the SIG leadership council is

>> an ARGfest organizer as well) was that these really should remain two

>> different conferences.

>>

>> Unfiction is really a tight-knit community, and ARGfest is really

>> their opportunity to get together in real life and cement those online

>> relationships and celebrate ARGs. I've been to ARGfest (sadly, only

>> once) and it's a great conference, very focused and unique.

>>

>> But this conference run by the ARG SIG is really reaching for a

>> broader audience. Everyone from Unfiction is certainly included in

>> that audience, and we hope they'll attend, for sure. But we're also

>> hoping to include everyone who is vaguely interested in anything

>> ARG-like - not just people who have been building relationships on

>> Unfiction.

>>

>> We're hoping to make it a meeting between the creative side of ARGs

>> and the business side. While this may be fascinating to a lot of

>> Unfiction members - others at Unfiction prefer to remain as players,

>> not peeking behind the curtain so much. And we want to allow Unfiction

>> to go on celebrating and growing ARGfest without trying to get too

>> many cooks in the kitchen and diluting their focus.

>>

>> Does that make sense? I really think we're talking about two very

>> different events. ARGfest has a great homey, community vibe. I'm

>> hoping our SIG conference (whatever it's called) has more of a

>> professional, business,

>> my-employer-paid-for-this-trip-so-it-better-be-valuable vibe.

>>

>> I think ARGfest would lose something if we tried to shoe-horn it into

>> a conference like that.

>>

>> And I think our large ARG-related community could really use a meeting

>> of the minds between television producers, book publishers, ARG

>> creators, advertising studios, etc. All the people and businesses ARGs

>> touch, but who may not be as invested in ARGs as the Unfiction

>> community is.

>>

>> Does that make sense? I hope so! Like I said, we definitely want to

>> hear everyone's thoughts on this, but we've already looked at it from

>> quite a few angles, and we've come to the conclusion that this is the

>> way to go. If we're wrong, we definitely want to know! But I hope

>> laying out our reasoning helps to explain where we're coming from on

>> this.

>>

>> Wendy Despain

>> ARG SIG Leadership Council

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> On Thu, August 6, 2009 12:40 pm, Burcu Bakioglu wrote:

>> >  Andrea, what a great idea! From my extensive experience in Second

>> > Life Community Conventions, I recommend that we combine ARGFest and

>> > the ARG sig conference under one roof so the participation would

>> > increase on both events. Otherwise people would choose one over the

>> > other and neither would be too well-atended. It would needlessly

>> > introduce a separation between acadeic topics and community related

>> > topics and weaken both events. Right now I am in ohio going back to

>> > Indiana, but I can write a more extensive email on this upon my

>> > return tonight. We don't want to weaken ARGFest and undermine

>> > unfiction. Also this joint venture would bring in more investors and

>> > make financing easier...

>> >

>> > Two cents...

>> >

>> > *hugs* to all missed you already :)

>> >

>> > -----Original Message-----

>> > From: Andrea Phillips <andrhia at gmail.com>

>> > Sent: Thursday, August 06, 2009 2:48 PM

>> > To: Discussion list of the IGDA ARG SIG <arg_discuss at igda.org>

>> > Subject: [arg_discuss] ARG SIG Conference

>> >

>> > Behind the scenes, your SIG leadership has been hard at work scheming

>> > up new schemes and plotting new plots for the benefit of all ARGkind.

>> > Our newest brainwave is this: Let's hold a conference! But we need

>> > your help in establishing what would be a good time and place for such

>> > an event.

>> >

>> > To that end, could you please spend one minute answering two simple

>> > questions on this teeny-tiny survey?

>> >

>> > http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=YXlKrEov0jt_2bHyY8ZVpuCg_3d_3d

>> >

>> > Thanks bunches!

>> >

>> > --

>> > Andrea Phillips

>> > http://www.aaphillips.com

>> > AIM: Andrh1a * Skype: Andrhia

>> > Words * Culture * Interaction

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>> >

>>

>>

>> Wendy Despain

>> quantumcontent.com

>>

>> _______________________________________________

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>>

>

>

>

> --

> Thanks,</burcu>

>

> Burcu S. Bakioglu, Ph.D.

>

> http://www.palefirer.com

> http://palefirer.com/blog/

> Skype: PaleFireR

> AIM: PaleFireR

>

> --

> "Congratulations! You're the first human to fail the Turing test."

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-- 
Andrea Phillips
http://www.aaphillips.com
AIM: Andrh1a * Skype: Andrhia
Words * Culture * Interaction