UDEN #26 - This Time Its Virtual

Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, it has been over a year since the last in-person UDEN meeting. The urge to meet by videoconference was resisted, at first because it was felt that we would meet when this was all over, then as the months went by, everyone was fed up with virtual meetings.

When the one year anniversary of UDEN #25 came around and the pandemic was still in full swing, it was decided that yes, UDEN would hold a virtual meeting so we could remember what everyone looked like!

UDEN found a virtual conference option that was free for 100 people, called Ring Central, and decided to give it a go. March 25th was set as the date and invites went out. As is usual for UDEN meetings, we had more than 100 RSVPs.

The meeting started with hardly any glitches, and members seemed to be able to connect by computer and phone just fine. A handful of topics were suggested for discussion, but otherwise this was very much a social and a catch-up for those who participated.

Well, 10 people joined. While that was disappointing given the RSVP count, it did make for a more informal conversation and everyone on the call got to tell us what they have been up to, how the last year has been for them and what they’re doing now. A few had caught COVID-19, others knew people that had. Almost everyone had received their vaccines or were in the process of getting them, which was good to hear.

You can see a video of the meeting here. Unfortunately, the chat that was concurrent with the meeting was not recorded - that’s my bad, I assumed it would be! So you may hear some references to links that were shared during the call. A note to those who participated - if you shared a link during the call, please feel free to add it as a comment, below!

A few highlights from the conversation:

Jeff: working virtually wasn’t a huge disruption as many people have been working this way for some time. What surprised him were the consequences of the pandemic - buying equipment for the PCs needed for the product he makes. Parts became scarce and super high cost if you needed them urgently. Lead times for plastic got delayed as the manufacturers switched to PPE production. Wood also became expensive.

Karina: scariest thing last March was watching all her friends in the performance industry not have jobs. Her work as a freelance composer became affected and she had to look after kids remote learning from home. She was fortunate that her husband’s job continued throughout. Finding time to be creative was a challenge with everyone home all the time. The positive was that the family got to enjoy more time together and treated it as a blessing. Karina is also training to be an administrator for the Female Composer Safety League, which is a non-profit that helps women who are marginalized in the entertainment industry

Mia: shared with the group details about the upcoming Craft Lake City, that she would invite UDEN members to participate in. She is also President at Make Salt Lake and believes that there could be many opportunities for UDEN members and these organizations to collaborate.

Kelsy and Sam: working on a game for Xbox which they showcased last year at UDEN #25 Silicon Arcade. They were working remotely for several years so the past year hasn’t been that disruptive.

Josh: programmer by day for WildWorks and also runs the local chapter of the International Game Developer Association by night. In the past year he transitioned Game Jams to be online events, which was a challenge but thy seemed to be well received. Plan is for the indie game jam to be in person again this year. WildWorks has been doing well and launched a new game during the pandemic, which is doing well. Most of the office is working remotely, and for those still at the office, such as Josh, it has been rearranged for social distancing and airflow, making it possibly one of the safest places to be! As a local game community leader, Josh thinks the outlook looks about the same going forward and remains optimistic. There are still a lot of people making great videogames in the state.

Ashley - student at BYU studying computer science. Past year has been online schooling and this has worked out OK online.

Roy - was a programmer/technical director as part of the first cohort at the University of Utah’s Master Game Programs/EAE; he tinkers with game development on the side. Both he and his wife, who is a nurse, have had to go to their jobs every day during the pandemic.

Carl - because of the pandemic, he was able to participate in a month long game jam last year. As a UDEN member, he is an actor in an escape room and has started to do audio work - voice-overs etc. .

Gordon - a former EAE student, now works for vSpatial as a programmer in VR working on productivity and collaboration. The pandemic has accelerated their business as people want more virtual office work.

Reflecting on the poor attendance for the meeting, the group discussed what UDEN’s role should be. We are an umbrella organization for the digital entertainment community in Utah, but what does that community want? Everything we have learned from past surveys, meetings, other feedback, we have used and figured out a way to deliver - but we don’t seem to get much traction from the community outside of our meetings or even much use of the things that were requested. Perhaps it is a by-product of not having any full-time staff and the inevitable limitations of being a volunteer run organization? From the discussion, it seems as though UDEN is needed and that it should continue to focus on providing educational and social events, even if virtual. Perhaps rather than aim for loftier goals for the community, focus instead on supporting the needs of those who show up and build out from there.

Among the ideas proposed was from Gordon, who suggested that UDEN have a Discord channel as another venue where members could communicate and collaborate. We thought this would be a great idea so long as someone volunteered to own this - and Gordon did. So we now have a Discord server where UDEN members are encouraged to meet and connect - here: https://discord.gg/UE286v2zAu

Everyone loved seeing Jeff’s basement and decided that we should definitely have a get together there one day, and that he should write a monthly blog on the UDEN website about his pinball restoration work - with pictures - as everyone was fascinated by what he is doing.

The meeting ended with a conclusion that we will look to host another virtual UDEN meeting in future, and that getting back to a regular cadence of meetings, even if just social with a small attendance, is still worthwhile.

UDEN #25 - Silicon Slopes Tech Summit & Slopes Arcade

UDEN’s first networking event of 2020 was held as part of the 2020 Silicon Slopes Tech Summit, a huge annual fixture for the massive tech community in Utah, held on January 30th-31st at the Salt Palace Convention Center, downtown Salt Lake City. UDEN helped organize the first ever digital entertainment track at the event, as well as a new area within the Summit dedicated to digital entertainment called Slopes Arcade.

Slopes Arcade

A new feature for the Tech Summit was Slopes Arcade, a large hall that focused on entertainment. In the center was a huge stage with massive overhead screens. Throughout the space were pinballs and arcade games you could play for free, and around the sides were booths where you could, among other activities, play classic videogames thanks to our friends at Salt Lake Gaming Con. Plenty of seating in here too!

The UDEN booth was also there, where we chatted with our members and introduced our community to the wider tech world attending the Tech Summit.

On the main stage for most of the time were the final stages of the esports tournaments for local high-schools, companies and professionals, which had been organized by our friends at Game Tyrant.

Entertainment Track

On the second day, UDEN was proud to be able to introduce a new track at the Summit highlighting the digital entertainment sector.

While we only had three sessions, each was very well attended with more than 250 people and standing room only.

Digital kids: what every parent and media company should know

This was our first session. Wildworks have found a niche in kid tech, products aimed at children 13 and under. Animal Jam is the worlds #1 online playground for kids, a safe and secure space loved by over 120 million registered users. Clark Stacey, CEO, been making games in Utah since 1995, previously focused on games where you, and I quote him here, “blow shit up”, now focused on worthwhile games for kids.

Clark led the session through the current state of the market for children’s products, including the opportunities and pitfalls for both parents and providers alike, addressing issues such as privacy and data collection. This built upon the topics Clark first introduced at UDEN #22 last year.

Building community and making an impact through mobile gaming

The Global Gaming Initiative in collaboration with developers around the world, are a publisher of games that have a social impact. Elizabeth Sarkees recently relocated this business to Utah. Her background is in human physiology, political science including a masters degree in adolescent and child psychology. Elizabeth started coding when her oldest son was 2 years old (I assume she was bored :-)).

Elizabeth described how videogames could and are being used to bring people together, with developers finding ways to give back to their communities. Through such efforts, Elizabeth argued that far from being detrimental to health, games could help shape the future of humanity!

A super bowl every day: the global rise of esports

More than 70 million people will watch a single esports final this year – that’s higher than the US viewership of the MLB, NBA, NHL or MLS. This year consumers will watch 3 billion hours of esports, accounting for 10 percent of all sports viewing.  If you thought esports was just a passing fad of young people wasting their time, know that the global esports economy topped $1 Billion for the first time in 2019, with a reach of more than 450 million viewers. That’s no passing fad or a waste of time.

AJ Dimick is an alumni of the world leading Entertainment Arts and Engineering (EAE) program at the University of Utah; he went on to become a faculty member and then a champion of creating one of the first varsity esports teams, which he now leads. AJ spoke passionately about this topic, arguing why esports was just like traditional athletic sports but also how it differentiated from them in very important ways. He described the esports team at the U, how it is supported by sports psychologists, nutrition and wellness coaches, as well as cognitive and behavioral trainers. With strong support from EAE, the U is leading the nation in collegiate esports, fielding an initial roster competing across four established games.

UDEN #25 Meeting

At the end of the first night it was time for UDEN #25 in Slopes Arcade. No speeches from anyone, this was designed to be a mixer just like we have held up at Sundance in Park City at this time in previous years. It didn’t go quite as we had hoped, however. The doors to the space weren’t opened until around 8.30pm, prior to which brave souls needed the courage to open closed doors to find us. Even then, many UDEN members reported being turned away by event staff at the doors who seemed unaware there was a UDEN event or where it might be. This was quite frustrating for us as we weren’t the organizers, but we did what we could to run interference when we realized the problems, and eventually it got sorted out. For those who did make it inside, a DJ happily played music as the soundtrack to some excellent socializing, and UDEN’s video eventually got played on the big screens around 9.30pm.

Overall, we were happy to have contributed to Tech Summit and we want to thank our friends at Silicon Slopes for allowing our entertainment community to be part of this major event.