Get into the games industry workshop

Submitted by levelup on
Forum
General Chat

I'm organising a workshop on getting into the games industry. This workshop will be run in Canberra, Sydney, and Melbourne in November 2008. It will be hosted by three senior games industry professionals, giving tips on applying for jobs, creating resumes and portfolios, and presenting yourself as best you can to potential employers. Online registration will be available for the workshop in the next few days.

Please visit the website for more information on the workshop and to register your interest if you would like to come along: www.levelup.com.au

Submitted by StephenWade on Sun, 14/09/08 - 2:42 PMPermalink

Sounds great - I can't make it to any of them though :( I suppose it's unavoidable that this is the case, but it does seem pricey ? A lot of people wanting to get into the games industry, by definition, haven't got jobs in the game industry (not to say that they don't have money or other jobs)...

Have you run any workshops like this before ? feedback from anyone who has attended would be good too ?

Submitted by compactjerry on Sun, 14/09/08 - 7:52 PMPermalink

It's a great idea but it does seem awfully pricey. I wouldn't consider attending such an expensive workshop unless you provided a fairly detailed run down on who the industry professionals are and what specifically each has to offer.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 14/09/08 - 9:38 PMPermalink

It may just be me, but wouldn't it be more pragmatic to set the Brisbane date closer to GCAP, where out-of-towners may be considering coming for the same reason?

There may be overlap, so like others have said - you would want to detail more specifically the benefits of coming to this course in the most honest way possible. Overinflation will ensure there's no year 2.

Submitted by OzGamesInsider on Mon, 15/09/08 - 9:57 AMPermalink

If this workshop does what it claims I don't think it's overpriced, it's good value if anything as it includes lunch and refreshments (personally I'd let people bring or find their own meal to keep the price down for students, and places like ACMI might give you free venue hire). Just an honest review of your portfolio from someone who knows what they are talking about is worth the price of entry, there are far too many grads/students out there who think they are God's gift because they have never heard a word of honest criticism in their life. However I am always very skeptical when people talk about their "experienced teams" but don't mention a single person by name. The web site talks about "a variety of workshops and seminar" but this seems to be the first and only one, so it really doesn't look very reputable... WhoIs says the site was registered by Penny Sweetser, and LinkedIn will tell you that a Penny Sweetser is (or was?) a Senior Game Designer at 2K as well as having a games-related PhD. I understand that you can't announce speakers until they confirm their availability but you really couldn't make this look more dodgy if you tried. Just bad timing on the announcement?

Submitted by OzGamesInsider on Mon, 15/09/08 - 10:01 AMPermalink

And, as I just noticed, Penny does say who she is if you look at her Tsumea profile - so I retract some of my comments! It would have been good to include that information in the post though, for unobservant people like me ;)

Submitted by levelup on Tue, 16/09/08 - 2:26 PMPermalink

Hi Guys!

Thanks for your feedback and questions. This is the first time we have run this workshop, so my apologies for not providing more specific details up-front. The workshop will be run by:

Penny Sweetser (Senior Designer)
Martin Slater (Lead Programmer)
Lorne Brooks (Senior Animator)

Unfortunately, the Brisbane workshop will not run this year, but we hope to run it early next year. The Melbourne workshop will run as part of IDEF and E-Games Expo, so hopefully that will make it more accessible to some of you.

I will post more details to the website soon and put up a post here to let you know that it is updated.

Thanks!
Penny.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 16/09/08 - 9:06 PMPermalink

Hi Penny.

I've haven't heard of the people you have listed I'm sorry. Could you please give a little bit more information on their background, the games they have worked on and the companies they have worked at and are currently working for. I'm sure they are talented people but that kind of information will help me in deciding whether or not I sacrifice food for the next month and live on MiGoreng noodles to hear what they have to teach me.

Cheers

Submitted by Murcho on Tue, 16/09/08 - 9:58 PMPermalink

Popping those names into google will tell you exactly where all the speakers are from, 2K Australia.

Penny has a book out called "Emergence in Games" which is all about designing games with emergent gameplay, and I've been to a talk of her's at AIE, so I can say on her count alone it's worth going to. From memory of her talk, she also used to work at "The Creative Assembly", where she worked on Medieval Total War 2, doing a wide range of things.

http://www.kotaku.com.au/games/2007/11/21/2k_australias_martin_slater_d…

Here's a good article about the Bioshock Post-Mortem done by Martin Slater.

Oh and Lorne Brooks has his name all over the Bioshock credits, so I think all in all a solid team to give a talk on anything game related. :)

Submitted by levelup on Sun, 12/10/08 - 11:26 AMPermalink

Registrations for the Get in the Game! Workshops to be held at Canberra and Sydney will be closing this Friday, October 17.

Registrations for the Melbourne workshop will close on Friday, October 31.

Please visit the website to register: www.levelup.com.au

Submitted by levelup on Sat, 18/10/08 - 3:23 PMPermalink

The closing date for registering for the Get in the Game! workshop to be held at AIE Canberra on November 1 has been extended until October 27. Please visit the website for online registration: www.levelup.com.au

The Get in the Game! workshop to be held at AIE Sydney on November 8 has been cancelled.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 19/10/08 - 8:58 AMPermalink

Depends on the event I imagine.

On the right hand side is a list of different events, under a blue background section. Click on the event and it'll show you more info.

For example for the melbourne event the costs are :
* $125 for AIE students
* $175 for all other students
* $250 for everyone else

Posted by levelup on
Forum
General Chat

I'm organising a workshop on getting into the games industry. This workshop will be run in Canberra, Sydney, and Melbourne in November 2008. It will be hosted by three senior games industry professionals, giving tips on applying for jobs, creating resumes and portfolios, and presenting yourself as best you can to potential employers. Online registration will be available for the workshop in the next few days.

Please visit the website for more information on the workshop and to register your interest if you would like to come along: www.levelup.com.au

Submitted by StephenWade on Sun, 14/09/08 - 2:42 PMPermalink

Sounds great - I can't make it to any of them though :( I suppose it's unavoidable that this is the case, but it does seem pricey ? A lot of people wanting to get into the games industry, by definition, haven't got jobs in the game industry (not to say that they don't have money or other jobs)...

Have you run any workshops like this before ? feedback from anyone who has attended would be good too ?

Submitted by compactjerry on Sun, 14/09/08 - 7:52 PMPermalink

It's a great idea but it does seem awfully pricey. I wouldn't consider attending such an expensive workshop unless you provided a fairly detailed run down on who the industry professionals are and what specifically each has to offer.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 14/09/08 - 9:38 PMPermalink

It may just be me, but wouldn't it be more pragmatic to set the Brisbane date closer to GCAP, where out-of-towners may be considering coming for the same reason?

There may be overlap, so like others have said - you would want to detail more specifically the benefits of coming to this course in the most honest way possible. Overinflation will ensure there's no year 2.

Submitted by OzGamesInsider on Mon, 15/09/08 - 9:57 AMPermalink

If this workshop does what it claims I don't think it's overpriced, it's good value if anything as it includes lunch and refreshments (personally I'd let people bring or find their own meal to keep the price down for students, and places like ACMI might give you free venue hire). Just an honest review of your portfolio from someone who knows what they are talking about is worth the price of entry, there are far too many grads/students out there who think they are God's gift because they have never heard a word of honest criticism in their life. However I am always very skeptical when people talk about their "experienced teams" but don't mention a single person by name. The web site talks about "a variety of workshops and seminar" but this seems to be the first and only one, so it really doesn't look very reputable... WhoIs says the site was registered by Penny Sweetser, and LinkedIn will tell you that a Penny Sweetser is (or was?) a Senior Game Designer at 2K as well as having a games-related PhD. I understand that you can't announce speakers until they confirm their availability but you really couldn't make this look more dodgy if you tried. Just bad timing on the announcement?

Submitted by OzGamesInsider on Mon, 15/09/08 - 10:01 AMPermalink

And, as I just noticed, Penny does say who she is if you look at her Tsumea profile - so I retract some of my comments! It would have been good to include that information in the post though, for unobservant people like me ;)

Submitted by levelup on Tue, 16/09/08 - 2:26 PMPermalink

Hi Guys!

Thanks for your feedback and questions. This is the first time we have run this workshop, so my apologies for not providing more specific details up-front. The workshop will be run by:

Penny Sweetser (Senior Designer)
Martin Slater (Lead Programmer)
Lorne Brooks (Senior Animator)

Unfortunately, the Brisbane workshop will not run this year, but we hope to run it early next year. The Melbourne workshop will run as part of IDEF and E-Games Expo, so hopefully that will make it more accessible to some of you.

I will post more details to the website soon and put up a post here to let you know that it is updated.

Thanks!
Penny.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 16/09/08 - 9:06 PMPermalink

Hi Penny.

I've haven't heard of the people you have listed I'm sorry. Could you please give a little bit more information on their background, the games they have worked on and the companies they have worked at and are currently working for. I'm sure they are talented people but that kind of information will help me in deciding whether or not I sacrifice food for the next month and live on MiGoreng noodles to hear what they have to teach me.

Cheers

Submitted by Murcho on Tue, 16/09/08 - 9:58 PMPermalink

Popping those names into google will tell you exactly where all the speakers are from, 2K Australia.

Penny has a book out called "Emergence in Games" which is all about designing games with emergent gameplay, and I've been to a talk of her's at AIE, so I can say on her count alone it's worth going to. From memory of her talk, she also used to work at "The Creative Assembly", where she worked on Medieval Total War 2, doing a wide range of things.

http://www.kotaku.com.au/games/2007/11/21/2k_australias_martin_slater_d…

Here's a good article about the Bioshock Post-Mortem done by Martin Slater.

Oh and Lorne Brooks has his name all over the Bioshock credits, so I think all in all a solid team to give a talk on anything game related. :)

Submitted by levelup on Sun, 12/10/08 - 11:26 AMPermalink

Registrations for the Get in the Game! Workshops to be held at Canberra and Sydney will be closing this Friday, October 17.

Registrations for the Melbourne workshop will close on Friday, October 31.

Please visit the website to register: www.levelup.com.au

Submitted by levelup on Sat, 18/10/08 - 3:23 PMPermalink

The closing date for registering for the Get in the Game! workshop to be held at AIE Canberra on November 1 has been extended until October 27. Please visit the website for online registration: www.levelup.com.au

The Get in the Game! workshop to be held at AIE Sydney on November 8 has been cancelled.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 19/10/08 - 8:58 AMPermalink

Depends on the event I imagine.

On the right hand side is a list of different events, under a blue background section. Click on the event and it'll show you more info.

For example for the melbourne event the costs are :
* $125 for AIE students
* $175 for all other students
* $250 for everyone else