HowDoI: Build an Indie Collective

Speakers

• Alvin Phu
  

  Alvin Phu

  I’m Alvin Phu, originally from Boston, MA and moved to Japan about 8 years ago. I’ve been in the games industry about 10 years now, most of it in the Indie game industry. I started Tokyo Indies over 5 years ago with just a few people but it has since grown to usually over 70-80 people every month. Using some of what I learned attending events in Boston I created the event to bring together Indie and Doujin game developers together in a casual setting to share ideas and as a safe and regular space where we could show off what we’ve been working on. Recently since last year a new incubator space purely devoted to Indie Game Developers in Japan called Asobu opened in Shibuya here in Japan. I’ve been brought on as an advisor and we hope we can bring our resources together to further the indie game scene here as well as be a lighthouse to attract other serious Indies in Japan. I’ve never actually been to Indiecade but I have one friend who has participated in the festival many years ago. I have also known and worked with Akira Thompson over a number of years here in Japan.
  Twitter: @datponpon, @tokyo_indies, @asobudev, @hanaji

• Giselle Rosman
  

  Giselle Rosman

  “Giselle has been involved with the games industry since 2007. In 2009 she rebooted the International Game Developers’ Association Melbourne (IGDAM) Chapter, and has been running monthly events since. IGDAM aims to assist with learning and networking for game developers and usually has well over 100 people attending the monthly meet ups.

  She has been involved in Global Game Jam (GGJ) in many ways, including as global Executive Producer for 2016 and 2017. She’s run the Melbourne, Australia site since 2011, and has served as a regional organiser, executive committee member and a board member.

  Giselle was awarded MCV Pacific’s inaugural ‘Woman of the Year’ accolade as voted by her peers in 2015 and 2016. In 2017 she was the recipient of the XBox ANZ Shining Star award.
  While Giselle’s coding skills don’t extend much past basic html, she is passionate about increasing the diversity of people in games and digital industries, and supporting emerging local games practitioners and developing safe and supportive communities.”

• Rachel Sala
  

  Rachel Sala

  “Rachel Sala is a Los Angeles based artist and independent game developer. She was a lead on the much anticipated Frog Fractions 2, which launched December 2016, and since then has worked on numerous other titles, including the 2017 summer hit Dream Daddy and Super Meat Boy Forever. Many of her projects have been nominated for awards, such as IGF Nuovo Honorable mention for Frog Fractions and an Indiecade nomination for Frog Fractions 2. Currently, she is working on a multiplayer game with a late 60s psychedelic rock art style.

  She is excited about the possibilities and future of games, and loves working with others to make immersive experiences. She’s worked out of the indie dev collective Glitch City since 2015, and has helped manage the space since 2016. She has a commitment to making unusual, humorous, fun experiences and can’t imagine working in any other field. Contrary to popular belief, she is not a lizard.”

• Will Lewis
  

  Will Lewis

  I love hosting game jams & tabletop RPGs, trying new games, procgen storytelling, voice acting, lil buddies, and sending postcards. Happy to be back at IndieCade after my participation in the Collectives and Development Communities panel and Community Building in PDX award in 2014!

  I’m a community organizer, game designer, and studio producer. In 2011, I founded the Portland Indie Game Squad (PIGSquad) to create a gamedev-centric, community nonprofit to help developers meet and make games together in the Portland area. Since then, I’ve continued as the president of the nonprofit, co-founded Pixel Arts Game Education to provide games learning resources to underserved youth, and co-founded Rose City Games – my current studio endeavor. My most impressive stats include hosting 48 game jams, voicing 23 Dicey Dungeons characters, and completing 17 Resident Evil 4 casual runs.
  https://www.twitch.tv/pigsquad