LF GDC 2018 Panel Candidates for a "I just graduated, what now?" Discussion Panel
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Fielding candidates for a GDC Panel 2018 regarding navigating post-graduate (or something similar, like military service) careers in Game Development. I'm going to be leading charge on the proposal. Already talked with Becca Rose Hallstedt about this.
Email me at b.choi117@gmail.com if you're interested. Subject line MUST include "THE LANNISTERS ARE GOOD PEOPLE."
You don't need to have a job to be on this panel. What we would prefer is that you recently graduated, or recently transitioned from something similar (military service, Peacecorps, thug lifing, drug running, baby making, etc.)
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It's good that you want to make a panel for post-graduates - especially the career track needs more useful content. A point of feedback, as someone who does have a panel geared towards the same category, I would really suggest you do favor those with working experience. The main reason being that, if your panel is about navigating post-graduation and the road to getting a job in the games industry, having someone who has actually done that brings credibility to whatever message you're sending.
Without knowing exactly what you have planned, and only basing this off of the title, I would be really cautious of it becoming a support group - so to speak - where you're essentially giving advice from a point of inexperience. If the question is "What now?" the answers should be coming from people who weathered that storm. This is more from the perspective of someone who deals with the chemical waste that is misdirection given to students. Having an event where students who, lets face it, are still full of misconceptions then tell other students this same information, you're just spreading more of the bad advice that doesn't get these students hired in the first place. Basically, if you are fielding candidates, I would be especially choosy about what experience they bring to the table and would set the bar higher than graduating or trying to get a job from a different career if you intend to speak from a place of authority or credibility.
What exactly are you trying to get out of this?
From what I'm understanding, you want opinions and discussions from recent graduates who couldn't get jobs?
Why?
My intention is to get a panel of professionals who have recently come from university, military, or career-switch to come answer questions specifically about that interim period and what got them over the jump, instead of a bigger picture advice thing. Mostly people with jobs, or some equivalent.
It's a very specific window of time I'm trying to tallk about. For me personally, it was the 2 and a half years between my graduation at USC to my first full time job with InXile.
Intended audience would be people who are clearly at a point where their work is strong, but for whatever reason they haven't gotten their bodies through the door yet. And are struggling to understand what else they can or should do in their precarious moment. And I know several artists who are there already where their work is there(ish), but they just haven't been able to find purchase yet for one reason or another.
This is NOT meant for the people where the general advice of "work on your anatomy. Learn your fundamaentals. Make a game." applies in full force.
I'm trying to build up a body of public speaking work and experience from this. I've been meaning to do a GDC panel for a while ever since I went to GDC as a freshman.
I feel like as general advice, that definitely helps. I think for a panel, the hope is that we can zero in on specific solutions people attempted to keep that fire stoked on portfolio development, making their own games, etc. This definitely isn't just for visual artists, but programmers, designers, etc.
Like what baby steps to take when networking can't happen in a traditional sense. Do you go find Slack or Discord channels? Do you organize your own Hangouts? Are there things as a shy person that you can do to peacock effectively?
What to do when portfolio work doesn't explicitly pay back? What sort of interim jobs are best for what you need to do in the long term, etc.