<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">I found the career pavilion at GDC this year to be an absolute waste of time. It was extremely small, with several of the booths being used for extra media interview space and not career space. Someone had the great idea of handing out free beer to everyone who walked by, meaning that half the people jostling for space were drunk (including one particularly rude CA from Digipen who literally bumped me out of the way so she could gush to a THQ rep about how much she loved his games). There was a huge crowd of students jostling about, sitting around playing games at the Activision booth, making it harder for the rest of us to get around. Combined with the fact that some of the career booths weren't even taking resumes, I got the impression that the whole thing was just a waste of time.<div><br></div><div>Next year, GDC could definitely use a career pavilion that either has exclusive events, or separate areas,for: 1) members of the industry looking for work, and 2) graduate students, who don't want their resumes and the like to be lumped in with high schoolers, and given the same talkings-down that the rest of the industry.</div><div><br></div><div>-Dan<br><div><br><div><div>On Apr 1, 2009, at 1:50 PM, Tom Dowd wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple"><div class="Section1"><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); ">Our students returning from GDC also reported a smaller job fair, both in terms of scope (number of companies present) and the size of the team the companies that attend the show brought with them. I cannot say whether this was perception or reality as I was not there either. My not being there was a result of the economic troubles and the slashing of travel budgets across the college.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); "><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); ">As for the state of the industry, three things are happening – publishers are getting conservative on projects with higher levels of uncertainty (developmentally or in terms of marketability) and cancelling these “on the bubble” projects, developers are losing projects, throwing their financial situation into chaos (too many mid-sized and small developers run in a very risky financial state, and with the current credit crunch the bridge loans that they used to finance themselves during project transitions are not available), and lastly some developers are trimming the fat and running a leaner ship (to abound in metaphors) in case things continue to worsen.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); "><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); ">The big things students need to understand is that the competition for entry-level positions is intensifying. In addition to competing against their student peers, they are now competing against laid-off members of industry who are applying for those jobs. More than ever it is imperative they have a solid, appropriate, portfolio and strong interview skills when they step out into the field.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); "><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); ">Tom Dowd<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); "><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Courier New'; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); ">-----<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Courier New'; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); ">Tom Dowd<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Courier New'; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); ">Columbia College Chicago<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Courier New'; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); ">Faculty/Interactive Arts and Media (Game Design Major)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: 'Courier New'; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); "><a href="mailto:tdowd@colum.edu" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; ">tdowd@colum.edu</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); "><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div style="border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(181, 196, 223); border-top-width: 1pt; padding-top: 3pt; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; "><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; ">From:</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; "><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="mailto:game_edu-bounces@igda.org">game_edu-bounces@igda.org</a> [<a href="mailto:game_edu-bounces@igda.org" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; ">mailto:game_edu-bounces@igda.org</a>]<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>On Behalf Of<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>Scott Maddock<br><b>Sent:</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Wednesday, April 01, 2009 12:05 PM<br><b>To:</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>IGDA Game Education Listserv<br><b>Subject:</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Re: [game_edu] Game studies and the economy<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><o:p> </o:p></div><div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">Anecdotally...<o:p></o:p></div></div><div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "> <o:p></o:p></div></div><div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">I understand that the career fair at the GDC was considerably smaller than it was last year (I wasn't in attendance last year, but it's something I heard from multiple sources who were present then and now). I know of at least one school with a dedicated game development program that was supposed to see at least four new hires directly into the program faculty, but was then denied such because of the economic hardship.<o:p></o:p></div></div><div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "> <o:p></o:p></div></div><div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">A number of companies have had non-trivial layoffs in the last few months, or are threatening to go under. Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, developer of the Stargate Worlds MMO, all but<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em>did</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>go under, but has since managed to find some investors and appears to be on track again.<o:p></o:p></div></div><div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "> <o:p></o:p></div></div><div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">Midway, I think we all know about. Big Huge Games also seems to be in trouble. EA and Activision have both laid off large numbers.<o:p></o:p></div></div><div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "> <o:p></o:p></div></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">In short, I think the whole industry is feeling the pinch to some degree, in the professional and academic sectors.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">2009/4/1 Brena Smith <<a href="mailto:brena.smith@gmail.com" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; ">brena.smith@gmail.com</a>><o:p></o:p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">Hi all,<br>I have two questions: First, I know that all educational institutions are not untouched by the economy these days - but have any of you seen any specific impact on game studies departments? Second, any thoughts on how the economy has impacted the electronic game industry in general? Are game companies seeing a lot of layoffs? Are students still able to find jobs?<br><br>Many thanks!<br><span style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136); ">Brena<br><br><br></span><br>_______________________________________________<br>game_edu mailing list<br><a href="mailto:game_edu@igda.org" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; ">game_edu@igda.org</a><br><a href="http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_edu" target="_blank" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; ">http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_edu</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><o:p> </o:p></div></div>_______________________________________________<br>game_edu mailing list<br><a href="mailto:game_edu@igda.org" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; ">game_edu@igda.org</a><br><a href="http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_edu" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; ">http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_edu</a><br></div></span></blockquote></div><br></div></div></body></html>