Dallas Snell, Co-Founder, Origin Systems Austin and Founder, The Happy Cooperative; and Vladimir Starzhevsky, Co-founder and CEO, Creat Studios, Boston, will keynote sessions at Independent Game Conference East (IGCEAST) in Boston, May 7 – 8 at the Northeastern University campus.
The IGCEAST conference, which will include both a Business Track and a Technical track, has been designed to give game developers a leg up in the competitive video game market. Publishers who want to see the hottest games currently in development at Indie studios should also attend.
Starzhevsky will talk on "The Challenges of Independence." Snell will speak to the subject: "There's Nothing Casual about Social Games."
Both keynote presenters have a long history in the game industry.
Currently head of Creat's Boston-based studio, Starzhevsky is responsible for all aspects of operation and product development. Prior to Creat, Starzhevsky was executive producer at Turbine, supervising Middle-Earth Online and Cartoon Network projects. Before that, Starzhevsky was a producer at Vicarious Visions, where he managed numerous titles for multiple platforms, including Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 and Spiderman 2. In addition to his production experience, Starzhevsky holds a master's degree in business administration from Harvard University.
Snell will draw on more than two decades of game industry experience. Snell first developed a graphic adventure, The Quest, in 1983. Two years later, he joined Richard and Robert Garriott at Origin Systems as a programmer/designer. In 1986, Richard Garriott and Snell jumped ship from Origin's chilly New Hampshire offices and founded Origin's product development division in Austin, Texas. During 10 years at Origin, Snell managed, produced, or executive produced, over 30 original game titles, including such best-sellers as the Ultima and Wing Commander series.
After Origin's acquisition by Electronic Arts in 1992, Snell became the first General Manager of the Origin division. He took an extended leave-of-absence from the gaming industry in 1996 to explore interests in social/relational psychology. However, the lure of online social games proved more than he could resist, and Snell rejoined his ex-Origin partners at NCsoft in 2006 as Director of Business Development. In late 2008, Snell co-founded The Happy Cooperative, to provide social games and publishing services that foster community and people playing together.
IGCEAST will provide business guidance for the independent developer as well as the technology direction for programmers and artists engaged in game development. With our multi track approach the IGC is the place to be no matter what stage of development your company has reached.
The business track will give studios information on how best to construct a successful business plan, leverage original IP and market games.
The technical track focuses on the latest programming tools, as well as advice on the integration of graphics and music technologies.
In addition to educational sessions, IGCEAST will feature Game Demo Night, a time for Indie developers to show their game off to game publishers and career guidance sessions for professionals interested in getting into or moving up the ladder in the industry.
Anyone looking for jobs, hires or career guidance can also attend the Job Fair, sponsored by Mary-Margaret Network, the premier recruiting and career guidance firm in the industry. Despite the recession, there are still plenty of opportunities out there with dozens of brand-new studios starting up work on the next-generation of video games.
The conference will be held at Northeastern University. Early Registration is $250 per attendee. At the door registration is $300. Nearby hotels are listed at the website.
For more information, visit IGCEAST.com.