IGDA Elections See Four New Board Members, One Reelection

Four new members joined the board of directors of the International Game Developers Association during the group's most recent election, and one incumbent retained his seat, organizers announced today. Incoming board members Wendy Despain, David Edery, Darius Kazemi, and Jane Pinckard will now serve as directors for three-year terms. Coray Seifert successfully defended his seat for another three years. Seven other existing board members are still partially through their own three-year terms that began in 2008 and 2009, while another three -- Erin Hoffman, Rodney Gibbs, and Brian Robbins -- received their seats through special appointments, and will serve through September 2011. Of the new board members, Despain is a writer and designer with the consultancy firm International Hobo, and was recently credited on the MMO Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall. Edery formerly served as worldwide games portfolio manager for Xbox Live Arcade, and currently runs the design consultancy Fuzbi. In addition, Kazemi is a former metrics analyst for developer Turbine, and now operates metrics firm Orbus Gameworks. Pinckard works in business development for Foundation 9 Entertainment, and is also known for her former career in game journalism. Finally, Seifert is a game designer at THQ subsidiary Kaos Studios, developer of Frontlines: Fuel of War, and has previously held numerous other design roles. According to the IGDA, this latest election drew a membership voter turnout of more than 10 percent, and the slate of candidates was the largest in the organization's history. This year's elections drew an uncommon amount of attention, in part due to highly-publicized affairs involving the resignation of board member Tim Langdell, who was embroiled in litigation-fueled controversy, and debate over the role of the IGDA in industry quality of life concerns.