CALL FOR submissions
Introduction | Tracks & Topics | Formats | Speaker FAQ
The call for speaker submissions closed June 8. If you submitted a proposal, you will be notified of the status of your
submission early August 2006. If you do not hear from us, please contact Evelyn Donis.
Introduction
The Serious Games Summit D.C. 2006 (SGS D.C.) is the premier professional conference for the creators of serious games. Join the world's leading serious game developers to exchange ideas and advance the state of the art of serious games.
SGS D.C. 2006 prefers speakers who have deep expertise, fresh perspective, and can connect with an international audience. If you have an idea, issue, or problem you'd like to share with your colleagues, we would like to hear from you by Monday, June 5, 2006.
Submissions will be evaluated based on a set of criteria designed to ensure that all presentations meet the needs/interests of our audience. SGS D.C. 2006 is not a forum to pitch your company's products or offerings. Conversely, the Advisory Board looks for submissions that have real world implications, such as case studies.
Tracks & Topic Descriptions
Assesment & Results
All games must perform through commercial sales or critical reviews. Serious games, however, are challenged with performance that must be measured by more than user popularity. Whether it is meeting the learning objectives, satisfying the project mission goals, or enabling a less quantitative objective, we must define, measure, and provide results. This track combines case reports with overall sessions about providing assessment within games, and showcasing emerging results from successful projects.
- What to track and how to track it
- Proving ROI
- Adjusting gameplay based on player achievement
Behind the Game
Understanding the subtle tradeoffs that developers deal with daily, how projects are budgeted and scheduled, and which technologies are most relevant are critical needs that can't be taken for granted. At the same time the game industry is one of the most dynamic industries around and even those who have mastered the basics must constantly keep up. This track includes presentations that demystify and debate the game development process, industry, talent, and technologies for non-entertainment oriented customers and projects.
- How to do alternative distribution
- Learning community design
Business & Deals
Most serious games don't sit on the shelf at the local game store. Instead, this market requires the user to buy in prior to the development. The result is a unique business environment for game developers that requires customers to go from 0 to 60 in short order to be able to properly define a project, recruit the right talent, and set up the correct relationship that will enable a project's success. This track informs customers and developers about the critical business models and methods that have enabled the current market to emerge, while also setting the stage for actual deals to take place.
- Selling serious games to a world of non-gamers
- Case studies of deals and business models
- Budgeting
- Sales practices
- Fund raising
Learning & Instructional Theory
At the heart of any serious game is a combination of exciting new ideas about learning and well-defined existing instructional methodologies. This track illustrates how the worlds of cognitive science, instructional design, and game development can work in unison to build better learning environments, applications, and methods. It also analyzes the inherent learning in games and the many meta-game aspects to learning that inhabit the field.
- How do games teach?
- New models for learning design
- Methodologies for teaching with games
- Use of COTS games in classrooms and informal learning situations
- Commercial game development tactics
- Game testing methods
- Human resource management
- Next generation technology evaluation
- Learning market research
Products Within Projects
Serious games are rarely standalone products. They are a combination of projects and products, with the game being only one part of a major effort. The success of any serious game itself may reside in part or even whole in how the entire project operates. This track provides an exploration of the delta and relationship that exist between the core serious game product and its parent project.
- Instilling usage
- Interacting with subject matter experts
- Project management
Serious Game Design
Designing serious games requires that developers think about new issues related to learning, instruction, assessment, usability, and much more. This track focuses on the unique design issues related to serious games, and on tried and true game design methods that fuel interest in games as learning environments.
- Building games for non government
- Mixing learning needs with game mechanics and fun
Presentation Formats
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45-minute Panel
Panels take many different viewpoints on a topic or issue and combine them in one venue. Debate among panelists is welcome and audience participation should be accounted for.
- 45-minute Roundtable
Roundtables are small peer discussion groups led by one or two moderators and limited to a maximum of 50 attendees. Moderators should facilitate conversation and keep the flow of discussion moving. Do not lecture or dictate. Constructive controversy and debate are welcome in roundtables. Topics that are open-ended in nature and promote an exchange of ideas generally work best in this format.
- 45-minute Poster Session
Poster sessions are presented on a one meter sized poster that the presenter is responsible for creating and bringing to the event. This is similar to a traditional lecture, however, it is presented in front of the poster (a slide presentation is not needed) to a smaller group of attendees. This type of format gives presenters one-on-one interactions with the attendees.
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