IGDA Finland Seminars + December Gathering with InMobi

It’s pre-Christmas party season, folks! And we know it wouldn’t be the same without IGDA Finland December gathering, so worry not: ‘tis the time to get festive, end the fall season in style and prepare for a well-earned rest over the holidays.

This year’s pre-Christmas celebration is sponsored by InMobi, a global mobile advertising platform that reaches over 1 billion mobile devices every month. InMobi recently launched Miip, their user first discovery platform. Because users come first to them and they obsess about delivering the right user experience, we’re confident you’ll not be disappointed by the special treats and speeches they have prepared for the event. And not only are you in for epic fun times, there is also a seminar before the party.

The seminar this time is all about strategies for monetizing with ads and how to implement ads in a non-intrusive way. Our speakers come from Futureplay and Next Games, both studios that have succeeded in pulling off this “impossible” feat.

After all the special events this season and hopping all over Helsinki we’re also finally ready to announce our new gathering venue: IGDA Finland will be settling in at Maxine. Judging by the general feedback after our last invasion to this venue, we think quite many of you will approve of this.

Besides the seminar and party goodies, we have yet another special little something planned for the event: devs will have a chance to showcase their games during the evening. Read more here and sign up if you want your chance in the spotlight!

So prepare your party gear and join us on Dec 8 – it’ll be a blast!

IGDA Finland Seminars presents: Ad Monetization Strategies, Sponsored by InMobi
Time: 8.12.2015 at 17:30 – 18:30
Place: Maxine, Urho Kekkosen katu 1 A, 6th floor, 00100 Helsinki

- Jami Laes (Futureplay): View To Play Games - The Next $100B Market - Mitchell Smallman (Next Games): Rewarded Video Ads in Midcore Mobile: Blazing Trails Where We Were Told Not To Tread

IGDA Finland December Gathering with InMobi
Time: 8.12.2015 at 19:00
Place: Maxine, Urho Kekkosen katu 1 A, 6th floor, 00100 Helsinki

Please note that you need to be at least 18 years old to attend. The cloakroom service is offered free of charge.

Seminar agenda

Jami Laes was previously in charge of Angry Birds and everything else in games as the Executive Vice-President of Games at Rovio Entertainment. He has been leading global game studios at EA, Playfish and Digital Chocolate over the past 10 years. Laes first started in mobile games in 2000 as a game designer at Riot-E and his first games he developed on his Amiga 500 in 1988. He is currently the CEO and co-founder of Futureplay Games.

View To Play Games - The Next $100B Market The mobile ads market is estimated to top $100B in 2016. And no developers are focused on it. While everyone is still staring at the TOP-grossing chart, Futureplay Games is building a new generation of View-to-Play games. Jami will talk about Free-to-Play & View-to-Play and how in their debut game Farm Away! they have successfully leveraged ads in a rewarding, fun and non-intrusive way that make our games more fun, faster and cheaper for the players to play and the players love it.

Mitchell Smallman is a Senior Product Manager at Next Games. A six year Free to Play veteran (yes, including MySpace) has worked as Story Writer, Game Designer, Consultant, Pro Wrestling Referee and Product Manager throughout his career. He is a passionate advocate of free to play and casual gaming.

Rewarded Video Ads in Midcore Mobile: Blazing Trails Where We Were Told Not To Tread Rewarded ads have not been widely used as a central feature in mid-core titles due to fears of effecting IAP conversion and audience engagement. Mitchell will share lessons learned from Next Games' mid-core title Compass Point: West, along with practical examples from other developers. He will include how to tie rewarded ads into your core gameplay mechanic in a meaningful way, how rewarded ads can be regarded as a feature instead of an interruption, A/B testing to get the right value for advertisers vs IAP spending, balancing a game economy with heavy ad value, and analyzing player behavior to understand ad watching players.

IGDA Finland ry:n syyskokous 2015 / IGDA Finland ry Fall meeting 2015

Nykyiset ja tulevat IGDA Finland ry:n jäsenet, tervetuloa yhdistyksen sääntömääräiseen syyskokoukseen.

Aika: 25.11.2015
Kellonaika: 16:00-19:00
Paikka: Femman, Eerikinkatu 2, 00100 Helsinki

Tarjolla myös pientä purtavaa ja juotavaa. Tarjoilujen vuoksi pyydämme ystävällisesti ilmoittautumaan etukäteen 20.11.2015 mennessä suvi.latva@igda.fi

ESITYSLISTA

1. kokouksen avaus
2. valitaan kokouksen puheenjohtaja, sihteeri, kaksi pöytäkirjantarkastajaa ja tarvittaessa kaksi ääntenlaskijaa
3. todetaan kokouksen laillisuus ja päätösvaltaisuus
4. hyväksytään kokouksen työjärjestys
5. vahvistetaan toimintasuunnitelma, tulo- ja menoarvio sekä liittymis- ja jäsenmaksujen suuruudet seuraavalle kalenterivuodelle
6. valitaan hallituksen jäsenet erovuoroisten tilalle.
7. käsitellään muut kokouskutsussa mainitut asiat.

HUOM: Mikäli yhdistyksen jäsen haluaa saada jonkin asian IGDA Finland ry:n syyskokouksen käsiteltäväksi, on hänen ilmoitettava siitä kirjallisesti hallitukselle osoitteella igdafi-hallitus@igda.fi, jotta asia voidaan sisällyttää esityslistaan.

All current and new members, welcome to the statutory fall meeting of IGDA Finland association.

Date: 25.11.2015
Time: 16:00-19:00
Place: Femman, Eerikinkatu 2, 00100 Helsinki

There will be snacks and beverages available. To ensure catering is sufficient, please RSVP by 20.11.2015 to suvi.latva@igda.fi.

AGENDA

1. opening the meeting
2. appointing a chairman, a secretary, two minutes inspectors and, if necessary, two tellers
3. verifying the meeting is legal and decisions made are valid
4. confirming meeting agenda
5. confirming plan of operations, revenue estimate and budget as well as joining and membership fees for the next calendar year
6. appointing new board members to replace retiring members of the board
7. addressing other matters listed in the invite.

NOTE: If a member of the association wants to have an issue included in the agenda of IGDA Finland fall meeting, this needs to be communicated to the board in writing by email igdafi-hallitus@igda.fi.

IGDA Finland November Gathering with Omniata, Redlynx and Slush

IMPORTANT: Slush passes are NOT valid for entry, nor is one required to register to this party. To ensure a faster sign-in at the door, please either print your ticket or have it ready on your mobile device.

One of the biggest events of the year is approaching fast: Slush 2015 is almost here. For those not in the loop, Slush is a 2-day conference bringing together tech startups, investors and media. Last year there were over 14 000 attendees so you can expect quite a crowd!

IGDA Finland will be organizing the official game industry party – which doubles as our November gathering – on Wednesday, November 11, sponsored by Omniata and RedLynx. You can expect food, drinks and live music as well as something special on the side…

Note that registration is required for this event, so head on over to the event sign-up and secure your access right away to our biggest event yet!

IGDA Finland November Gathering with Omniata, Redlynx and Slush
Time: 11.11.2015 at 19:00
Place: Messukeskus, Messuaukio 1, 00521 Helsinki (Yellow Area in Slush)

Please note that you need to be at least 18 years old to attend. The cloakroom service is offered free of charge.

Northern Game Summit 1.-2.10.

This week we’ll see the return of Northern Game Summit, which is held now for the 4th time already. The action takes place in Bio Rex, Kajaani, on 1.-2.10. – only two days from now! The event will feature speakers from Finland and around the world, representing designers, producers, programmers, artists and more. Some of the speakers, like Colossal Order’s Karoliina Korppoo and Housemarque’s Ilari Kuittinen, definitely need no further introductions, but the foreign talent is not to be dismissed either: Hunter Grant (US) is an industry veteran currently working as Lead Cinematics Animator at Blizzard, Marek Rosa (CZ) and his team at Keen Software House are responsible for the hit sandbox game Space Engineers – and this is just the start of the impressive speaker list.

Besides talks, there will be partying, mingling and a game showcase on Thursday evening: the party, titled Bonus Stage, is hosted by Fingersoft and there will be an opportunity for companies and local students to show their games and meet other people in the industry.

Friday will be concluded in a panel discussion, “Everything there is to come”. The panel is hosted by Ste Curran and the panelists are Antti Seppänen, Mehdi Benkirane, Luke Savage and Tuija Lindén.

What makes this year’s event special is the NGS Mixer on Wednesday which is a chance for people in the games and film industries to get together and find opportunities for co-operation. The makers of Rendel, a Finnish action film to be released next year, will be attending. They will also take part in a panel discussion, “Games & Movies, Brothers & Sisters”, which is hosted by Kimmo Kari and other panelists including KP Hiltunen, Niklas Saari and representatives from Apollo Music.

You can get your tickets to the event from the NGS website.

IGDA Finland October Gathering with Remedy

October is almost upon us and you know what that means: it’s gathering time! Mark October 6th on your calendars and prepare yourself for a night of awesome: the gathering is sponsored by Remedy, taking a (well-deserved) break from developing Quantum Break and equipping their party hats to have a good time with fellow devs.

We’ve hopped places a lot during the past couple of months, and this time is no different: our venue for the event will be Virgin Oil Co. – so make sure not to default to our usual spot! Little birds have also sang their sweet songs of swag to be handed out…

See you all there!

IGDA Finland October Gathering with Remedy
Time: 06.10.2015 at 19:00
Place: Virgil Oil Co., Mannerheimintie 5, 00100 Helsinki

Please note that you need to be at least 18 years old to attend. The cloakroom service is offered free of charge.

We are also organizing something special in addition to the gathering: IGDA Finland is proud to take part in Pelit kiertoon, a campaign to donate games and gaming devices to charity. The games and consoles will find their way into such places as hospitals, sheltered homes, women's shelters and refugee centers.

October gathering will have a designated drop-off table where you can bring your unneeded games for any platform (board and card games are fine, too!) and any old consoles you want to pass on. All donations delivered to us will be forwarded to Hope ry, an association supporting poor and struggling families, giving the children and youth in these homes a chance to have hobbies.

Help us help others, and give your old gaming gear a new life! Any questions about the campaign can be sent to niina.pesonen@igda.fi (IGDA Finland) or mikko.merilainen@helsinki.fi (Pelit kiertoon, campaign coordinator).