[arg_discuss] ARG SIG Conference

[Brooke Thompson]

Oh, yeah, I got what you were saying and I do share your worry about  
what a second conference could do to ARGFest. The strange mix of an  
audience that it attracts is part of it's charm, for m. It's an  
environment that I'm very keen to nurture. Which is why I'm so  
sensitive to the "closed" and "exclusive" talk - but also why l really  
appreciate the feedback :)

I think that's why I lean towards the ARG SIG conference being about  
reaching out to a more professional audience. Not that I'd want it to  
be stodgy or anything, but it seems to fit the "mission" of the SIG  
while also making it more distinct from ARGFest. But that does raise  
the concern over what it would do to the professional & acadmic sorts  
that would go to ARGFest but can't quite justify two ARG-centric  
conferences.








On Aug 6, 2009, at 8:06 PM, Burcu Bakioglu wrote:


> Oh Brooke, I totally understand why you got defensive. I was  

> referring to

> the characterizations, hence i put it in quotation marks... Even  

> Wendy kinda

> mentioned in her email that ARGFest is a tight-knit community.  I  

> heard this

> remark and those like others from other people as well. But even so,  

> you're

> right, in that there was a great eclectic group there in Portland  

> this year.

> I guess my worry is that creating an alternative conference would  

> erode this

> just beginning eclectic environment. Does this make sense?

>

> Now having said that, I have to admit, that suspecting a certain  

> kind of a

> reaction from the audience, I did refrain from voicing some opinions  

> I had

> as least publicly. Because I knew that those opinions would not have

> perceived positively within the unfiction community, because they have

> certain rules of engagement. They know what is acceptable and not  

> accepable

> in their community. So I didn't muddy the waters...

>

> So your point is well taken and we should not be eager to categorize  

> a group

> that easily. But even as we throw these labels around, we don't  

> realize that

> we are falling into similar traps. That was main point.

>

> b.

>

> On Thu, Aug 6, 2009 at 7:54 PM, Brooke Thompson  

> <brooke at giantmice.com>wrote:

>

>> I'm sure y'all are expecting this seeing as I'm not all that quiet  

>> and have

>> somehow found myself on the organizational committees of ARGFest  

>> and the ARG

>> SIG conference (hows does this happen?! i just wanted to help  

>> moderate a

>> couple threads, that is all)

>>

>> I, too, wonder how the conferences would effect each other - would  

>> one pull

>> from the other? would they enhance each other? is there room for  

>> two? is

>> there something to be gained or lost by the influence of the player

>> enthusiast types? etc etc. So this discussion is really great. But...

>>

>> I've got to get a bit defensive over the bit about ARGFest being  

>> labelled

>> as closed and exclusive.

>>

>> Unfiction started one night in a chat channel when two friends said  

>> "hey!

>> we should meet for beers!" and a couple more said "oh hey! what  

>> about me!" -

>> and a couple weeks later, 15 people showed up in Vegas. A couple  

>> months

>> later, we met up again in Orlando and like 10 more people showed up  

>> - whoa.

>> Two years later, we thought it'd be cool to see if we could meet  

>> the guys

>> who did AotH & PerplexCity but "hey, they probably won't know about  

>> this, so

>> let's invite them and give them a reason to come". The conference  

>> was born.

>> (ok, it wasn't exactly like that, but pretty darn close... it was  

>> born out

>> of a desire to be anything but exclusive, it was about being  

>> inclusive and

>> meeting new people!)

>>

>> It is still run by the community leaders at unfiction (the  

>> organizing team

>> this year was the admins and a few portland locals) and, yes, our  

>> first

>> thoughts always go to the community that we are a part of - but we  

>> do look

>> beyond that and try to be quite welcoming. Not only because we're  

>> friendly

>> folk, but because we want to get to know others and we want them to  

>> get to

>> know us. We don't want to be this exclusive little club; we want to  

>> meet and

>> get to know the Brian Clarks and Mike Monellos and Yomi Ayenis and  

>> Jeromy

>> Barbers and Non Chalances of the world. It doesn't matter if  

>> they're on

>> unfiction or, even, if they've ever heard of it. We think it's  

>> kinda cool

>> that some have gone on to become fairly active on the UF forums,  

>> but the ARG

>> Community is so much more than that and relationships made at  

>> ARGFest have

>> continued to bloom on twitter and facebook and some have even grown  

>> into

>> collaborations. Which is really kinda cool when you think that a  

>> lot of

>> these people didn't know each other before ARGFest and many people  

>> were

>> fairly unaware of and/or unknown by unfiction just a couple months  

>> before

>> ARGFest.

>>

>> There may be a lot of traditions and cultural mores and whatnot,  

>> but I

>> think that's just as true of any conference of this size no matter  

>> if it

>> comes out of a online message board or a professional organization.  

>> And, you

>> might be surprised by just how un-unfiction the conference really  

>> is. We

>> haven't gotten the survey out there yet (small and exhausted  

>> volunteer

>> team...  it's coming) but my guess is that it was about 60/40 on the

>> attendees who would self-identify as being a part of the UF  

>> community.

>>

>> I think it's just at a funny size with a strange mix of players and

>> designers, hobbyists and professionals - which makes it quite hard to

>> describe and/or provide focus for. But it also makes for a great  

>> and unique

>> event filled with all sorts of new (and old) perspectives.

>>

>> Defensive bit over... I'm absolutely loving this feedback (even if I

>> disagree with the premise). It is awesome! I would very much like  

>> to see a

>> lot more of it :)

>>

>> _______________________________________________

>> 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