by Jeff Tidball | Sep 20, 2018
In April I gave a mini-talk at the Minneapolis chapter of CreativeMornings, where I evangelized about the magnificence of tabletop gaming, talked about how gaming is inherently creative, and shared the idea that Ernie and Bert can help us understand what’s happening when we try to make games. Have a...
by Jeff Tidball | Sep 12, 2018
Gen Con, obviously. ¶ I’m an At-large Director of the Game Manufacturers Association, and GAMA business loomed large with a variety of substantial issues, including the board’s decision not to renew our Executive Director’s contract. I wrote some thoughts about GAMA’s...
by Jeff Tidball | Aug 29, 2018
I was elected to the board of directors of the Game Manufacturers Association about 14 months ago. I’ve been a fan of the organization for longer than that, and have been attending its conventions — the GAMA Trade Show and Origins — for the last 20 years. From time to time, I had been publicly critical of this or that bit of GAMA logistics or execution, and a few voices suggested that if these things concerned me, I should get involved. So, I ran for the board. What I Think GAMA Is For For many, GAMA is synonymous with the GAMA Trade Show and with Origins. For them, the organization maps directly and entirely to putting on those two shows. However, GAMA is much broader than that. GAMA has a clear and written mission, purpose, and vision. They’re publicly accessible on the front page of gama.org. All three were updated by a special committee in 2016, and those revisions ratified by a vote of the members, so these are not irrelevant, unexamined statements from the before-times. They reflect recent thought, and the organization’s active assent. GAMA’s purpose is its reason for being. It serves the hobby games industry in three ways: Advancing its members’ interests Providing educational programs and opportunities Promoting our unique form of quality social entertainment GAMA’s mission is its ambition for action. Under the umbrella of being an essential nexus for new and experienced game industry professionals, it aims to: Increase adoption of and engagement with hobby games Foster networking Foster sharing of best practices and innovations Pool resources toward common goals Host trade and consumer...
by Jeff Tidball | Jul 23, 2018
At Atlas Games, we launched the Kickstarter campaign for a new edition of Over the Edge, the classic RPG of weird urban danger. ¶ Friendly Local Game Store, which I edited, was nominated for an ENnie...
by Jeff Tidball | Jul 3, 2018
Origins happened! ¶ Our family bought a new house across the school district and moved into it, which made for a very busy month....
