[arg_discuss] ARG SIG Conference

[Andrea Phillips]

Hah! Consider it a working title. We'd definitely want to put
something snappier on the invitations. ^_^

On Thu, Aug 6, 2009 at 7:56 PM, Burcu Bakioglu<bbakiogl at gmail.com> wrote:

> Andrea, fair enough then. All our basis should be covered. But, one more

> thing to consider... If we are planning on attracting the "community" as

> well, can we come up with a more accessible conference title? ARG sig

> conference sounds too... well you know, obtuse. I mean, how many players

> would come to a conferences that bears that title? Not really sexy, if you

> know what i mean...

>

> On Thu, Aug 6, 2009 at 7:38 PM, Andrea Phillips

> <deusexmachinatio at gmail.com>wrote:

>

>> 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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>> >> ARG_Discuss at igda.org

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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

>> _______________________________________________

>> ARG_Discuss mailing list

>> ARG_Discuss at igda.org

>> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/arg_discuss

>>

>

>

>

> --

> 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."

> _______________________________________________

> ARG_Discuss mailing list

> ARG_Discuss at igda.org

> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/arg_discuss

>




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