GDC 2011 Celebrates 25th Anniversary, Calls For Papers, Adds Board Members

Author: by Staff

GDC organizers have announced the opening of the call for submissions for the show, to be held in San Francisco on February 28th to March 4th 2011. The call for submissions to present lectures, roundtables and panel sessions for the 2011 Game Developers Conference -- the historic 25th anniversary show -- is now open through Wednesday, August 25th. The main GDC advisory board is looking for submissions in the following game-related areas/tracks: Audio, Business and Management, Game Design, Production, Programming and Visual Arts, to be showcased on the prestigious Wednesday to Friday main conference of Game Developers Conference 2011. (Submissions for the GDC Summits will open later in the year.) A talk abstract is required alongside a more detailed description and speaker information, and the GDC Call For Papers page has multiple annotated examples of previous submissions, giving detailed, precise instructions on speaker criteria and the selection process. Alongside this year's call for submissions, the GDC 2011 advisory board has been expanded, adding several leading industry figures in the social and independent gaming spaces. In particular, new board members include Media Molecule studio director Siobhan Reddy (LittleBigPlanet 2), EA2D designer/programmer Soren Johnson (Civilization IV, Spore), independent developer Adam Saltsman (Canabalt, Flixel), and Playfish San Francisco GM Dan Fiden. Also added for their art and audio expertise respectively are Undead Labs' Steve Theodore and Microsoft's Scott Selfon. These new members join industry veterans such as Julien Merceron (Square Enix), Mark Cerny (Cerny Games), Rob Pardo (Blizzard Entertainment), Chris Hecker (Spy Party), Chris Butcher (Bungie), Mike Capps (Epic), Laura Fryer (Warner Bros.), Lou Castle (InstantAction), Clint Hocking, and Dave Perry (Gaikai) on the active advisory board. The Board as a whole consists of leading industry notables who rate and discuss every submitted lecture for the show, and participate in multiple in-person meetings regarding the content. "We pride ourselves on providing best practices for game developers of all genres and GDC 2011 will continue this tradition as the gaming space grows and adapts to the evolving market," said Meggan Scavio, director, Game Developers Conference. "We’re excited to welcome our newest advisory board members and expect them to bring a healthy balance of their past experiences along with a fresh approach to the conference program. The forward-facing content, inspired sessions, and especially the insightful advisory board are what has kept the event thriving for 25 years, and will sustain it for the next 25." Organized by the UBM TechWeb Game Network, which also runs this website, GDC 2011 marks the quarter-century anniversary of the game industry’s most comprehensive professionals-only event -- where game developers converge for a week of learning, networking and inspiration. As well as its flagship San Francisco event, the GDC series of conferences also now include GDC Europe (August 16th-18th, Cologne), GDC Online (October 5th-8th, Austin), and GDC China (December 5th-7th, Shanghai) in the remainder of 2010. For more information on the call for papers for GDC 2011 in San Francisco, please visit the official GDC website.