Meh, no big deal. The hardest bit in Colombia is surviving all the shots of Aguardiente (aka “fire water”). Like any big city, I’m sure if I went looking for trouble in Bogota, I would have found it. Instead, I had a great trip down for the second edition of the AniGames conference and expo.
AniGames was hosted at a science/exploratorium style venue, with a huge domed auditorium (see photos below) that made for an interesting speaker experience - and really cozy semi-reclined chairs ;) The program was packed with great international speakers, thanks to the fact that Susan Gold is their program chair. I actually got roped into three sessions: one on game business trends, another on regional industry cluster/ecosystem development, and the final closing panel.
It was nice to see the local IGDA chapter was scaling up, and that there were many small/mid-sized developers starting up and doing well. It was a relatively short trip, so didn’t get to see too much. Hope to make it back.
Here are some photos from the trip:
Entering Maloka, the exploratorium style event venue.
Bustling expo floor.
Common game franchises were prominent, like FIFA, of course.
Promotional efforts of IGDA-Colombia.
Conference director Sandra Rozo gives the welcoming speech in the dome, along side Susan Gold.
Susan O’Connor digs deep into stories.
Living legend Ian Livingstone (Eidos) chronicles the evolution of games.
Nick Fortugno (Playmatics) leads a design workshop.
Juan Gril (Joju Games) welcomes speakers onto the Chiva (also known as a “party bus”).
Late night snacking for the Chiva survivors.
I big platter of meat to soak up all the Aguardiente!
Tranquil garden at the base on Monserrate.
Taking the cable car up Monserrate (which is ~10,000 feet above see level!).
Lush peaks of Monserrate.
Church at the top of Monserrate.
…which was hosting an actual live wedding.
Jeremy Gibson (USC) explores the sprawl of gift shops and food stands behind the church.
Bogota at night.
I wish I could tell you more, but the “Vegas Clause” was in effect from the start. Rightly so, as the conference room was full with game studio heads and other exec types ready and willing to discuss all the gritty details of their successes and failures. Given the tight format, the signal-to-noise ratio was extremely high. My session was a mixture of meta level ways to look at innovation, room-wide discussion and a hands-on exercise: I ran a slightly modified version of The Marshmallow Challenge to great effect.
Despite the fact that the summit was held at a resort on the Spanish island of Mallorca, the event was far from a boondoggle. Seriously. All the participants were engaged from morning to evening. Though, sure, we did enjoy a few waterside cocktails.
Thankfully, I got in a bit early so was able to quickly check out some of the sites on the island. Unlike the tiny island of Malta, which I was able to mostly see in a single day, Mallorca is about 10x the size, so barely scratched the surface…
Here are some photos from the conference and quick bit of sightseeing:
Shot of the bay of the main city of Palma.
One of the few round castles in Europe, Castell de Bellver.
You know the fish is fresh when the nets are laid out by the restaurant!
Just your friendly neighborhood swans.
The “Le Seu” Cathedral finished in 1601. The washed out colors made it look like a massive sand castle.
Front of Le Seu Cathedral.
Felt like I was walking around a medieval city…
This door just screamed Guillermo del Toro to me. I didn’t stick around to see what was behind it…
Mandatory obelisk with fountain.
…held up by these poor little turtles.
Fisherman boats as art to celebrate the restoration of La Llotja, a building dating from the 15th century.
Snazzy logo for the European Game Executive’s Summit.
Marshmallow Challenge: Sketching spaghetti options.
Marshmallow Challenge: Testing various structures.
Marshmallow Challenge: Taping sticks together.
Marshmallow Challenge: Checking the weight balance.
Marshmallow Challenge: The eventual winning structure, which hit ~77cm.
Lifestyles of the rich and famous: Snazzy cliff/water side villa.
…and their yacht just across.
The Roxy. A little shack/bar on the side of a hill touching the water. Only access is via a treacherous hillside path or sea-doo dispatched from your yacht.
View of the setting sun from the Roxy.
Sunset afterglow.
Appropriately blazing toilet dude and the Diablito restaurant.
Eating on the rooftop terrace, overlooking the Portals Nous bay.
A cool bull painting in the hotel lobby.
…and Alexander Fernandez (Streamline Media) suitably titled presentation.
