On May 20th attendees at this year’s Games:EDU event at the University of Abertay in Dundee are in for a treat as Carol Clarke from Realtime Worlds (developers of the enjoyable Crackdown and the MMO’s answer to cops and robbers, APB (All Points Bullentin) is set to deliver a keynote speech.Clarke’s presentation will be looking at how the Dundee studios look at the ways to narrow the distance between graduation and industry work via best-practice student training.
This is a good opportunity for the Train2Game students to get some advice which, on the surface, may not apply to them but if they think about it, it’s knowledge they can use to pass onto future students or even use it if they form their own studio and hire designers, developers and artists.
However, advice isn’t the only benefit from attending the event; just as important if not more is the potential of making contacts to be made as joining Carol Clarke is TIGA’s Richard Wilson,Skillset’s Saint John Walker, SCEE’s Maria Stukoff and EdExcel’s David Brockbank.
This is a good company to mingle with and get your name out there, discuss the ideas you’ve had and how you could improve their services, games, etc. The fact you’re making an impression (as long as it’s positive) is a great way of opening that gaming industry door and looks great on your resume.
Gaining advice on find the best possible methods to ensure that students are prepared for core industry work through effective learning environments is information that will serve anyone in the games industry well.
Another event that Train2Game students should try and attend is the TIGJam UK 3 (run by The Independent Gaming Source). It’s a two day event where you: "Bring your projects to work on in the company of your fellow indie developers, or start new ones!...A great time to get some feedback. For everyone else, just be ready to have fun, make friends, and create some cool stuff. Sleep is totally optional."
A couple of Train2Game students have shown interest and if you think it’s an ideal event for you to attend, you can get the details of the event from the forums - http://forum.train2game.com/showthread.php/3224-TIGJam-UK-3-A-convention-that-may-be-of-some-interest-for-T2G-Students
You can read up on the full details on the Games:EDU event - http://www.develop-online.net/news/34718/RTWs-Carol-Clarke-to-deliver-GamesEDU-lecture
