Creation Year: March

I have not been terribly faithful about updating the blog this year so far.  However, my Creation Year experiment is, so far at least, a moderate success.  The next few posts will be exploring the projects and ideas that I've been trying to tackle in this process

March was (and always is) a horribly busy month.  Midterms are in full swing at work.  The Game Developer's Conference runs.  And, this year, I visited the University of California at Santa Cruz to follow up on my application to their MFA program.  Needless to say, not a lot of things were created.

However, my visit to the Digital Arts and New Media program at UCSC gave me something quite tangible to bring back home.  While I was there, I had the opportunity to sit in on their graduate student pod meetings.  These were bi-weekly meetings where small groups of graduate students (both PhD and MFA candidates) get together for challenge, inspiration, and accountability.  At the beginning of each meeting, each member spends no more than three minutes 1) explaining what they've accomplished since the last meeting, 2) what they plan to have accomplished by their next meeting, 3) what current obstacles their facing, and 4) any topics for discussion among the group.

I was enthralled.  The meeting I sat in on, we discussed topics as disparate as one of the students' potential job prospects post-graduation, procedurally generated facial animation and its effect on player interpretation of text, and the #1reasonwhy/#1reasontobe situation at GDC this year.  These students pushed each other on, gave each other ideas, and discussed fascinating topics within their specialties.  Very cool and very inspiring. 

So I wanted to do it here in Grand Rapids.  The last several weeks, two friends and I have been gathering for our own pod meetings.  It has been, at times, difficult to schedule with our busy lives, but it's been worth it.  Already, they've helped me (in motivation and brainstorming) in my new project for the summer and, I think it's been helpful for them, as well. 

So, though no concrete thing was developed in March, I consider pod meetings an important step in the ongoing development of Creation Year. 

Also, if you're local to Grand Rapids, MI and interested in games, story, interactivity, and media work (in general), and want to join, drop me a line @thekemp on Twitter.  Or something.