Thank you for ten years of TVGS!

Executive DirectorLeave a comment

The first meeting of TVGS was ten years ago today. Our community began as a meetup to help indie game devs in the Capital Region (myself included) connect, support each other, and hopefully feel a bit less isolated.

Within a few short months, the enthusiastic response from local creators had already enabled us to host our first communal project showcase, start teaching free game making lessons, open a game dev coworking office, host our first game jam, and collaborate on various creative projects – including a game that warned players about the perils of doing too much laundry.

I genuinely could not have imagined all of the wonderful things that have happened since that first gathering. I’m so grateful to have been able to work with all of you to build this community together, one day at a time. Organizing a group like TVGS comes with a lot of emotional highs and lows – but looking back over the past ten years, I find myself filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude for everyone who has contributed to making our community thrive. ❤️

Keep watching this space and the TVGS Discord in the coming weeks as we celebrate our ten-year milestone together, give thanks to our community members, discuss some upcoming plans for future in-person meetups, and more. Here’s to another ten years together, Space Cadets!

TVGS Interactive Showcase @ Level Upstate Pitch Day

Executive DirectorLeave a comment

We’re excited to announce that our first in-person event in two and a half years will happen Friday, August 19th from 12-8pm at TVGS. This is a one time only event, so be sure not to miss it!

We’ll be returning in style with a revival of our Interactive Showcase event, presented alongside the closing ceremony and pitch day for RPI’s Level Upstate game dev incubator.The event will feature game demos from local creators, pitches from Level Upstate participants, an interactive panel from TVGS and OpenHub, and major announcements about 1UpState and Lift Off.

Read on for more info about the event, including the complete schedule and important details about our health and safety protocols.

Event Details

Date: Friday, August 19th
Hours: 12-8pm
Location: Tech Valley Game Space
Address: 30 3rd St, Troy, NY 12180

Level Upstate Pitch Day Schedule

Get ready for a full day extravaganza of game demos, panels, and pitches from local creators! The event kicks off at noon on Friday the 19th, and you can stop by any time during the next eight hours. The daytime portion will feature demo booths where you can wander freely and playtest a variety of creative projects from Level Upstate teams and TVGS community members.

From 3:30-4:30pm, we’ll be hosting a special interactive panel on the topic of “Breaking Out of the Indie Bubble and Connecting with Supportive Communities.” With support from OpenHub, we’ll be mixing up the traditional panel format via a fishbowl-style setup that combines elements of a roundtable discussion and informal fireside chat. Stop by in person or tune in via the Level Upstate livestream for a lively conversation featuring special guests from Blizzard Albany, Armor Games, RPI, UAlbany, Tech Valley Game Space, and the IGDA Albany chapter.

Not able to stop by during the day? Not a problem! Join us from 6-8pm for the grand finale: a parade of pitches from all of the Level Upstate teams. We also have some exciting announcements in store from TVGS and 1UpState. We’re keeping those announcements top secret until the 19th, so be sure to stop by on Friday night (or tune into the livestream) so you don’t miss the big reveal!

Event Schedule:

  • 12-3pm: Open Playtesting & Game Demos
  • 3:30-4:30pm: “Breaking Out of the Indie Bubble and Connecting with Supportive Communities” Panel feat. TVGS + OpenHub
  • 4:30-6pm: Networking & Game Demos
  • 6-8pm: Level Upstate Team Pitches & Special Announcements from TVGS + 1UpState

health and safety protocols – Very Important!

We’re excited to be hosting an in-person TVGS event, but we also want to do everything possible to help protect our attendees. With that in mind, we’re playing it extra safe! Please review our COVID protocols below and make sure to plan accordingly.

Level Upstate Pitch Day COVID Protocols:

Proof of vaccination (physical card or photo of card) will be required for entry into the venue. Masks are also required for all event attendees. Please note that because of these protocols, we will not be serving food at the event; however, we will provide a list of local restaurants that will be open during the event.

Livestream Info

We hope you’ll be able to join us in person, but we also understand that it won’t be possible for everyone to attend. Even if you’re unable to join us on-site at TVGS, you can still participate! RPI will be livestreaming the panel discussion (3:30-4:30pm) and the final pitches (6-8pm) via the RPI Game Hub YouTube channel.

Unfortunately, we will not be able to stream the open playtesting period earlier in the afternoon. However, you can still follow along with some of the action by joining the TVGS Discord and following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Additional Questions About The Event?

For more information and event updates, be sure to keep an eye on the RPI Game Hub and Tech Valley Game Space Twitter accounts. If you have any questions prior to Pitch Day, please feel free to reach out to Darian Shump at shumpd@rpi.edu. For TVGS-related questions, you can use our contact form to reach out to us.

Join The TVGS Crew!

Executive Director

With the Fourth of July coming up this weekend, we figured now would be the perfect time to celebrate our Dependence Day by sharing a lovingly curated assortment of open calls for enthusiastic community members to join our fabulous TVGS crew.

Sam Sez: Happy Dependence Day!

As a small and scrappy nonprofit, we depend on our active crew of volunteers to help us keep our grassroots charitable efforts humming. Since the inception of TVGS in late 2014, we have achieved amazing things by working together!

If you’re curious to learn about just a few of the many benefits we have provided to the local game development ecosystem here in the Capital Region over the past six years, check out this TVGS overview flyer we recently created. There was far too much good stuff to fit onto a single page, so we ended up needing to make the flyer double-sided to fit more of the TVGS crew’s collective highlights.

If you share our belief that games and game development are for everyone, then please take a look at the opportunities outlined below to learn more about how you can make a difference by becoming an active member of the TVGS crew.

Volunteer Coordinator Nominations Now Open

Are you passionate about supporting a more diverse range of creative voices in game development? Do you want to collaborate with an enthusiastic team of local creators to help foster a more inclusive, approachable, and thriving community for game makers in the Capital Region? If so, now is your chance to get involved by signing up as a TVGS Volunteer Coordinator!

Tech Valley Game Space is currently seeking volunteers for our next six-month Coordinator term, which will begin in mid-July. The deadline to submit your nomination for the upcoming term is July 6th. Visit the sign up form to learn more: https://bit.ly/3msezuk

Since the early days of TVGS, our dedicated team of Coordinators have played a pivotal role in helping to grow and strengthen the community. We have accomplished incredible things as a group, and there are even more exciting opportunities coming up in the latter half of 2021. Sign up today to get involved and become a part of Team TVGS!

View VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR NOMINATION FORM

Calling All Game Developers and Educators!

Improving access to game development education is a major component of our efforts at TVGS. We believe that enabling indie game makers to provide diversity-focused skill training for aspiring creators is the key to a “virtuous cycle” that will serve as a vital foundation for strengthening our regional ecosystem.

Our educational programs help provide much-needed financial stability for local indies, freelancers, and entrepreneurs, enabling them to freely allocate their time between paid teaching opportunities and their own creative endeavors based on their current goals and economic needs. At the same time, these mentorship programs also help open up the pipeline to a wider array of aspiring creators, providing essential support and nurturing the next generation of talent who will continue to push our region forward in the future.

With that in mind, we are always looking to connect with local game developers and educators who are interested in adding themselves to our pool of potential candidates for future teaching, mentoring, and guest speaking opportunities. Visit the candidate sign up form to learn more: bit.ly/3625KBL

Signing up as a candidate does not commit you to participating in any specific TVGS classes or programs. It simply means you will be notified when we send out info about available openings for instructors, guest speakers, curriculum developers, mentors, and more!

VIEW EDUCATOR, MENTOR, AND GUEST SPEAKER CANDIDATE SIGN UP FORM

Come teach with us this summer! TVGS is actively seeking paid instructors for upcoming classes in July and August. We are also looking for volunteer lab assistants and guest speakers with industry/academic experience. Learn more and sign up here: bit.ly/35GcsgD

VIEW SUMMER CLASS INSTRUCTOR, LAB ASSISTANT, AND GUEST SPEAKER SIGN UP FORM

HELP US COUNT OUR COINS

Are you a stat master with an abiding interest in treasure? If so, now is the perfect time to join Team TVGS and put those accounting talents into play as our new Treasurer! We are currently seeking an organized and reliable collaborator who is ready, willing, and able to help us keep track of our coins (or pocket moths, as the case may be).

If you fit the bill, please email TVGS Board Chair Taro Omiya at board-chair@techvalleygamespace.com.

Meet the New TVGS Event Schedule!

Web Coordinator

This post outlines a series of improvements that Tech Valley Game Space is making to our recurring event schedule. These changes will take effect on June 1st, 2020.

Updated Event Schedule

Updated Event Info

Community Night

Community Night will be hosted as a monthly gathering on the TVGS Discord every third Wednesday of the month from 6:30pm-9pm. The event format will be updated to focus on fostering connections among community members and encouraging more interaction between attendees. This will be our primary monthly social event for community members and newcomers.

Social Night

Social Night will be hosted as a weekly gathering on the TVGS Discord every Wednesday from 6:30pm-9pm (except for the third Wednesday of each month, when it will be replaced by Community Night). The main purpose of these gatherings is to provide weekly opportunities for local game makers to interact and stay connected.

Transmissions

Transmissions will be livestreamed via the TVGS Twitch and YouTube channels every Friday from 6:30pm-9:30pm. Streams will typically focus on community members playing games together, and chatting via the TVGS Discord.

Orbit

Orbit discussion and mentorship groups will be hosted as monthly gatherings on the TVGS Discord, with different group meetups occurring on each Saturday of the month. Beginner Game Design will occur every second Saturday of the month from 11am-12:30pm. The rest of the groups will occur from 1pm-2:30pm on the first, third, and fourth Saturday of each month. The format of recurring Orbit meetups will be more freeform, with an emphasis on group discussions rather than formal presentations.

New Event Evaluation Process

When TVGS was first formed in 2014, our event schedule consisted of informal social gatherings every week and a larger communal event approximately every 1-2 months. In more recent years, our number of community events has expanded into the range of 200-300 per year. Most of these are free public events that rely on volunteer organizers to keep them running.

This increase in event frequency happened gradually, as a direct result of our vibrant and enthusiastic community. Unfortunately, this expanding event schedule eventually began to strain the capacity of our volunteers and event organizers. The more intensive schedule has also spread out our community across a much wider array of events.

To address these challenges, TVGS is introducing a new process for establishing, evaluating, and discontinuing events. This will enable us to manage our event schedule more effectively in the future.

Event Proposals

Our event proposal system empowers community members to pitch new event ideas and take the lead on organizing them with support from TVGS. Want to pitch an event? If so, simply fill out the event proposal form.

Proposed events will be evaluated by the Events Coordinator, who will follow up with the person proposing the event to discuss logistics. The Events Coordinator will work with the event organizer to establish the key metrics used to determine each event’s success, as well as target values for these metrics.

Alongside these target metrics, the Events Coordinator will also work with the event organizer to create a set of criteria that can be used to determine when the event should be discontinued. Typical discontinuation criteria will include falling below a minimum level of event attendance, and a lack of sufficient availability on the part of the event organizers.

Once these details have been finalized, they will be sent to the Executive Director for final approval.

Event Maintenance

The Events Coordinator will meet with the organizers of each recurring event on at least a quarterly basis to check on the status of that event, evaluate the metrics, and discuss potential improvements. Topics of discussion may include format adjustments, plans for increasing event promotion, and proposals for how TVGS can provide additional support.

Event Discontinuation

If a recurring event falls within its established criteria for discontinuation, the Event Coordinator will meet with the organizers to discuss next steps. Based on this discussion, the Event Coordinator will make a recommendation to the Executive Director. The Executive Director will then make a final decision about whether or not to continue the event.

Why Are We Making These Changes?

Since the inception of TVGS, we have hosted a variety of recurring events as a way of growing our community and connecting local game makers. We are always striving to improve these events by adjusting their frequency and format based on your feedback.

Incremental refinements are helpful, but we occasionally need to make larger updates to our event calendar to account for the evolving needs of our community and our region. Now is one of those times.

How Did We Determine These Changes?

Since early 2020, the TVGS Events Team has been working on a plan for improving our recurring event schedule. This plan incorporates feedback from our community members and volunteers, as well as format adjustments resulting from our recent shift to online-only events in response to COVID.

The improvement plan centers on a few key areas of focus that arose during these planning discussions: sustainability, variety, and impact.

Sustainability

One of our major goals is to ensure that all of our recurring events are sustainable, both in terms of the effort they require and the number of attendees they attract. Achieving this goal requires us to decrease the overall workload associated with event organization, and ensure that the frequency of events is appropriately scaled to demand.

In order to improve event sustainability, we have:

  • Simplified the format for frequently recurring events to reduce the amount of organizational work required
  • Established a process for discontinuing events that do not garner an audience
  • Limited the maximum number of separate events run by an individual volunteer

Variety

Another important goal is to keep events fresh and interesting for repeat attendees. Achieving this goal entails varying the format of recurring events to increase engagement and spice things up a bit.

In order to improve event variety, we have:

  • Adjusted the format of Community Night to include a unique group activity each month
  • Added a featured developer for monthly showcase events
  • Established a process for evaluating new event proposals from community members

Impact

Last but not least, a key goal is to ensure that our approach to events has a positive impact on our organization, our community, and our region as a whole. This means ensuring that we focus our efforts on addressing regional needs, and that we secure the resources needed to run our major events and programs.

In order to improve event impact, we have:

  • Streamlined the recurring event schedule to free up volunteer time and energy for larger initiatives
  • Focused our online events around ongoing needs like community-building, skill development, and providing visibility for local developers
  • Improved the consistency of our recurring event schedule to make events easier to attend

Updated Notice from TVGS regarding Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Web Coordinator

Updated Notice from Tech Valley Game Space regarding Coronavirus (COVID-19):

In accordance with the recent mandate from Governor Cuomo’s office to limit the spread of Coronavirus/COVID-19, our venue will be locking its doors as of 8pm on Sunday, March 22, 2020. No one will be able to enter the facility after this time. Venue staff will not be on-site.

If you need to retrieve personal items from the facility, please do so by 8pm Sunday March 22, 2020.

If you are expecting mail at TVGS, you may want to consider having your mail forwarded to you. We are not permitted to remain onsite to receive orders or mail deliveries. usps.com/manage/forward.htm

Although our physical venue will be temporarily closed, our community will remain active via online events, classes, and activities. Most of these online interactions will be hosted via our TVGS Discord Server. If you haven’t already, please join our Discord and invite others to do the same.

For additional details, please review the Governor’s Executive Order mandating 100% Closure of Non-Essential Businesses Statewide, as well as the latest update from the Tech Valley Center of Gravity.

Keep up-to-date with what’s happening with COVID-19 around New York State:

Rensselaer County Department of Health

Troy City Hall

Rensselaer County Regional Chamber of Commerce

New York State Department of Health

Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Tech Valley Game Space will continue to do its absolute best to serve and communicate to our membership throughout this pandemic national emergency. Our cancellations and additional rules for usage are based on compliance with state and national mandates, which are being updated regularly. We encourage members to maintain their memberships if possible; your support is always critical to our existence, but especially needed through this very difficult time.

Thank you for your continued support. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out and let us know at info@techvalleygamespace.com.

Best,

TVGS Team

Notice from TVGS regarding Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Web Coordinator

Notice from Tech Valley Game Space regarding Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19):

Tech Valley Game Space is a hub for game makers throughout the Capital Region, and our top priority is to ensure the health and safety of everyone in our community. With this in mind, we are taking the following precautionary measures to safeguard the welfare of all community members:

1. We are temporarily suspending all in-person TVGS events and meetings.
Where possible, we will aim to either reschedule these activities or conduct them as online-only gatherings. We will continue monitoring the situation around COVID-19, and we will provide updates regarding our event schedule as circumstances change.

2. Our venue will be temporarily closed to the general public.
Until further notice, only paying TVGS coworking members (and their supervised guests) will be permitted to access the venue.

3. We are instituting additional sanitization measures for those using shared facilities and equipment.
All community members are responsible for washing down and sanitizing communal tables and equipment before and after using them. This applies to all hands-on tools, hardware, and peripherals. Examples include (but are not limited to) mice, keyboards, game controllers, touchscreen devices, and VR headsets.

Additionally, TVGS members must ensure that they abide by all venue guidelines and regulations outlined by the Tech Valley Center of Gravity. Before utilizing the facility, members are required to review the following essential information about TVCOG’s protocols regarding COVID-19: tvcog.net/about/whats-news

You can help protect yourself and others by sanitizing diligently, washing your hands regularly (for at least 20 seconds), and staying home if you feel sick. That last item bears repeating: If you are not feeling well, or have been in contact with a person with COVID-19 symptoms, or if you have been at a public event that is correlated with a known case of COVID-19, please err on the side of caution by staying home and getting tested.

To help us maintain a safe and healthy community, please take the time to educate yourself on the preventative measures you can take to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. This information is readily available via public health agencies such as the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control, and the Rensselaer County Health Department.

We are continuing to track the situation around COVID-19 closely, and we will share information as new details become available. To help ensure that you don’t miss any relevant updates, we encourage you to follow us on social media, subscribe to our email newsletter, and join our online chat groups on Facebook and Discord.

We are all in this together, and we appreciate your understanding and cooperation. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out and let us know at info@techvalleygamespace.com.

Best,

TVGS Team