https://www.meetup.com/TheGameDevGroup/
While you're here though, here is what we stand for, and what our plan is going forward. We want to be open and transparent every step of the way.
Primary Missions:
-To build the most skilled and collaborative community of game developers, designers, artists, musicians, storytellers, marketers, leaders, testers, and visionaries in the games industry.
-Give every member of our community the best chance to break into or progress within the games industry.
-Be an open, welcoming community where every member feels safe and supported, and where friendships are forged for life.
Strategy: 5 Phases
Phase 1 - Build the foundations
Focus: Reaching out to industry expert speakers to share their knowledge, and making the in person events as great as they can be. Make every member feel welcome and supported, providing them with an incredible and valuable experience ( and maintaining this throughout subsequent phases).
Key initiatives:
-Host engaging events with engaging speakers.
-Take an active role in matching people together and encouraging collaboration
-Facilitate learning through signposting articles, podcasts, videos etc.
-Host GameJams to facilitate collaboration and consolidate learning
Phase 2 - Growth
Focus: Increasing the size of the community in order to encourage more speakers to join, as well as increasing the depth of the talent pool in order to further enhance collaboration. Maintaining the level of support and welcoming culture that has been established, as well as ensuring the events stay accessible with the growth.
Key Initiatives:
-Evangelise, and make the community so strong that members do the same
-Increase the number of speaker events and GameJams to allow everyone who wants to to join in
-Begin building the online presence through website, social, Discord etc. providing value in the
form of guest articles, videos, interviews etc.
Phase 3 - Expansion
Focus: Building the online aspect of the community as well as branching out to more physical locations, to reach as many people as possible in order to enrich the community with a deeper level of knowledge-share and collaboration.
Key Initiatives:
-Host speaker events and GameJams across the UK
-Provide remote access to events to enable a global audience
-Grow the online offering, free courses, webinars, jobs boards, skills boards
Phase 4 - Lift Off
Focus: Using the size and strength of the community to attract publishers, investors, recruiters and other commercial entities in order to uplift community members with opportunities to pitch games, receive funding, land dream roles, and progress however they want in the industry.
Key initiatives:
-Invite publishers, investors, etc. to speak and meet with members as well as to judge and reward GameJams
-Set up relationships with ancillary support to ensure members are informed and prepared when going after opportunities. Ie. Lawyers, accountants, business support, etc.
-Set up a mentoring system where more experienced members of the industry can support and guide junior members.
Phase 5 - Moon Landing
Focus: Consolidating all of the learning that has been achieved over the previous phases, providing a valuable foundation for community members to launch from. Investing into individuals and teams from the community, giving them the opportunity to pursue their dreams within the industry.
Key Initiative:
-Set up a fund and provide advice to teams wanting to launch their own games, in addition to a fund and advice for individuals trying to break into new roles (ie. education fees, moving or travel costs to get to a new company, etc.)
We will fairly quickly look for sponsorships and ways to generate cash-flow, in order to fund the growth and enable the highest level of support to the community.
The foundational principle of the commercialisation though, will be that it always has to be in the best interest of the community. Sponsors will be relevant and vetted to ensure they only ever enrich the community.
Events will always be free.