It seems that I have been elected to serve as Chair for the IGDA ARG SIG. I must admit to a few mixed emotions over it all. I hate to see Andrea Phillips step down as I have a great deal of respect for her and she’s done some wonderful things (ARGology & the ARG Demographic & Salary Survey, come immediately to mind).  I’m also a bit worried about how much time I’ll be able to devote pre-ARGFest and I’ve already committed to the White Paper. Mostly, though, I am excited and it’s always an honor to be recognized by your peers as a leader (thanks guys!). It should be a crazy few months, that’s for sure!

Part of the election process included a candidate statement. That meant making promises. I am posting mine here to serve as a reminder and a bit of accountability. Also, it’s not a bad way to let those of you who aren’t familiar with the SIG to see some of the goals that I have for it – perhaps it will encourage you to join… please do!

Since its inception, the ARG SIG has suffered from a lack of focus and mission. As Chair, I will make rectifying this my first concern. The recent interest in “transmedia entertainment” has been centered around film and television. While those working in film & television are great storytellers and can create for those mediums, they lack experience and understanding of the playful game-like elements often required in transmedia projects and, more specifically, alternate reality games. Likewise, game designers have much to learn about working in a transmedia environment. I believe that the ARG SIG, with IGDA being its parent organization and many of its members coming from film, television, and marketing, is in a great position to facilitate the sharing of knowledge between those of different backgrounds. The SIG can also serve as promoter of the need and opportunities for experienced game designers, developers, and writers in the field. Essentially, we are a bridge between games and more passive media types. This is where we will find our focus.

My other goals, as Chair, will be to see an increase in activity and value of membership. Both of which will be easier to develop and maintain once we have a solid focus.  In order to support those goals, I will encourage participation and provide opportunities for people to get involved that may or may not require significant commitments of time and responsibility.  The recently proposed White Paper will become a priority and that includes discussions on the same topics that will be covered in the white paper. This will not only help the writers & editors which should improve the quality of content in the White Paper, but will help bring the list to life.

Finally, it will be a priority of mine to identify and support potential leaders within the SIG. I have no desire of making this a long-term thing.  In fact, the only reason that I am throwing my hat into the ring is that the appointment will end come December.  I will only be able to exit with a clean conscience by making sure that other goals have been met and we have future leaders ready and wanting to step up. This means that, for the first time in a long while, we will have a proactive leadership in the ARG SIG. A change, I’ll admit, we may not want.*

Obviously, as we are a part of IGDA, a major focus is on the “game” in Alternate Reality Games. But ARGs sit somewhere in the middle of this crazy convergence and there are applications for all sorts of people working in the field. So whether you’re a game designer who has always thought of ARGs as these crazy not really game things or an independent film producer looking towards transmedia for your next project, there’s knowledge to be shared and relationships to be formed… and the SIG mailing list is a great place to reach out and do just that. I encourage you to join, if you haven’t already. And if you’re already a member, think about posting something – surely there’s something about ARGs that has you scratching your head!

* It’s always difficult rereading words that you knew weren’t right as soon as you sent them off… when referring to “proactive leadership”, my intentions were not to dismiss the leadership of the past but to reiterate my desire to find and encourage leadership. As a group, we’ve been content with our relative inactivity and doing little more than communicating on a mailing list. Andrea has shouldered much of the burden of “doing” by, for example, taking on the survey. I’m not sure how I could have stated it better, but it still reads funny to me.