[casual_games] IMPORTANT: Upcoming changes

[Rob C]

Dave, 
Thank you for all the hard and often thankless work you have done, the SIG and the IGDA in general are better due to your contributions. 
Rob  
Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:02:57 -0800
From: universedave at gmail.com
To: casual_games at igda.org
CC: gordon at igda.org; brian at dubane.com; ryan at igda.org
Subject: [casual_games] IMPORTANT: Upcoming changes

Hi all,

I'm sending out this email to let you know about some important changes that are coming up for the IGDA Casual Games SIG and to get the community talking about how to manage these transitions.

The FIRST big change is that the IGDA Board has asked all SIG's to move off our current pairlist email servers.  The ISP that is currently managing these listservs charges the IGDA a monthly fee for each mailing list, and - given the great free alternatives that are out there - it's not a place the IGDA really wants to put money at this time.  


The IGDA Board is recommending that SIG's establish Facebook groups to allow their members to communicate, schedule events, etc.  The Steering Committee debated this; some members were in favor of migrating to Facebook, but some other members of the Steering Committee felt that a LinkedIn group would be a better home for the SIG's communications given LinkedIn's more professional bent.  The Steering Committee is willing to go either way based on the preferences of the SIG membership but we need to here from you.  Which leads to discussion question #1: GIVEN THAT THE CURRENT SIG MAILING LIST WILL BE GOING AWAY FOR COST REASONS, WOULD YOU PREFER TO SEE TI REPLACED BY A FACEBOOK GROUP OR A LINKEDIN GROUP?


The SECOND big change involves my own role in the SIG.  I've been associated with the Casual Games SIG (paradoxically) since before it existed.  In 2002-2003, I edited the Production & Design section of the Online Games SIG White Paper and served on the Steering Committee 2003-2004, before the Casual Games SIG split out of the Online Games SIG.  I took a break then rejoined the Steering Committee in 2007 and have been chairing it since late 2008.  For those of you keeping score at home, that's a long time.


The SIG has changed a lot over that time, as have a variety of things in my life.  After giving it a good deal of thought and some long discussions with IGDA Board Chair Brian Robbins, I've decided to resign as the Chair of the Steering Committee.  I would like to make transition effective in February 2012.


As part of this transition, the Steering Committee wants to call for an election for new Committee members and a new Chair.  Unlike the elections of the last few years, we would like to see the new Steering Committee members elected by the membership at large rather than by the outgoing members of the Committee.  Alfredo Chaves and Joel Johnson of the current Steering Committee will be heading up an Elections Committee.  They will be working to recruit new Committee candidates, circulating statements, counting ballots, and announcing results.  Expect to hear from them before the end of the year. This leads to big discussion questions #2 and #3: ARE YOU WILLING TO CONSIDER SERVING AS A MEMBER OF THE SIG STEERING COMMITTEE? and WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS THE SIG SHOULD BE DOING IN 2012 AND BEYOND?


I hope we'll see a great wave of new candidates bringing fresh energy and vision to the SIG.  The SIG has a long history of cool, interesting, and relevant initiatives that have contributed a lot to the community.  Being on the Steering Committee is a great way to give back to the community and make a lot of really valuable contacts.  I know it's been great for me over the years.


I will stand as a candidate for the Committee this year, but will not stand for election as Chair.  If elected, I will remain on the board for one more year to advise the new Chair and do what I can to sustain the podcast and question of the week initiatives.  Over the course of that year I will look for new leaders to transition those initiatives to.


I would like to thank the SIG and the Steering Committee for the opportunity to serve in this role.  It's been a fun and productive time for me, and I look forward to seeing the SIG continuing to do great things under new leadership.


Sincerely,
Dave Rohrl


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