gewgaw

…but Warren is catching up!

How time flies, when you are busy having adventures! My days in Australia were fantastic – and over too soon! I will really miss it – and especially the summer weather!

I have so many ideas and impressions swimming in my head at the moment that it’s hard to really put a nice frame around this visit – but I know that if I don’t try now, the details will slip and I’ll get too busy to post much of anything. This archival pressure/communication obligation was the source of many discussions over the week, as conference guests exchanged guilty confessions about lagging digital chores. It’s a strange time we live in!

But in a nutshell, what I liked most about this trip was meeting a variety of talented artists, film, music and game makers… cultural theorists, journalists, academics and students. When you spend all your time doing one thing, it is easy to forget about all the wonderful opinions, styles and practices that exist outside your own environment. You understand that art is made, films filmed, studies studied – but until you talk to someone who about their personal experiences in these venues – these are just concepts…. like so much type on a page.

I am grateful for the conversations I had there – and would especially like to thank Kat and Yusuf for encouraging me to make the trip. It was hard to pull myself away from the studio but it was worth the effort. Ten fold!

But don’t take my word for it – see for yourself! These photo galleries are part blog, to help describe the experience, as a whole.

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Things I learned about Australia on this trip:

• Australia is closer to the giant hole we have created in the Earth’s ozone – so the sun here is intensely strong. The “safe time” for being outside without sunscreen is 10-15 minutes, depending on how fair you are. My back tells me that I’m in the 10 minute or less range….
• Universities across Australia are dealing with funding cutbacks and consolidation within and across departments.This reduces differentiation/offerings across the board, and students tend to stay local for higher education. As a result, there is a lot less of the “coming of age via college move” culture here.
• Because the population of the country is so small compared to its geography, there isn’t a lot of business development in Australia *for* Australia. Many of their best and brightest leave for Asia or the US when it’s time to make a new idea profitable – which is referred to here as “brain drain”
• There is a conservative feel to the place at the moment. Whenever we discussed this, people were eager to point out that the new government here will be less conservative than the prior one. It will be intersting to see if support for conferences like the one I attended will continue
• There is a quality to the light there that makes everything magical. The food is delicious (great cafe culture in the cities I visited) and the wine is welcome. Sure – you can see kangaroos and climb rocks there – but a relaxing stay in one of the country’s costal getaways is sure to melt just about any cares away.

Things I learned about myself because of this trip:

• I enjoy travelling by myself – much more than I expected
• I sure am glad I hadn’t watched “Lost” before going!!!
• My camera generates more work for me than I can handle. I’ve barely logged half of the photos I’ve taken since Labor Day.
• It is getting quite difficult to manage my various activities – blogging, photos, cooking, life… work. I think about having a baby and wonder – what will give?
• I love espresso!!

Hrm. Maybe that last item will help with the ones directly above???

Last year, I gave a keynote at Microsoft’s Academic Gaming Days conference – affectionately dubbed the “nerd boat” in its inagural year. The talk, which I have now also given versions of at Columbia and UCLA was about “soft skills” – the kinds of day-to-day interpersonal challenges that new students will face when breaking into the industry.

My goal with this collection of slides, overall, has been to begin a dialog about what professors in game studies programs can do to help their students be prepared for the realities of collaborative, creative work. Things beyond the basic vocabulary of game design, project management and production pipeline awareness.

During the cruise I had a chance to catch up with an old schoolmate – Yusuf, who is now teaching games and CS. We got to talking, and eventually made plans for a follow-on lecture here in Australia. One thing led to another, and I ended up on the program for IE 2007, which will be hotsted by RMIT here in Melbourne.

This is my first trip to Australia – and it is the first real break I’ve had since … last Christmas. Other than a talk at the Byte Me festival in Perth, I will mostly be on my own – resting, recovering from recent creative and production pushes.

While it’s nice to have a break, it is hard to be away from my new team. Even after just a short time in LA, I find myself checking email compulsively, cheering them on from afar. As much as I am enjoying a little extra sleep and a chance to catch up on my (woefully lagging) email, I mostly want to get back and continue helping them move things along.

The tugging of these newfound ties has put me in a contemplative mood. I am not sure, but I feel that there is something in the experience that will work its way into my talks here and in the future. Also, You Can’t Win, an excellent book which has brought on unexpected thoughts about development, process, the “realities” of the games market, and work/life balance.

Melbourne itself is busy with visitors and holiday shoppers… so strange to see signs for “Christmas Sales” advertising floral frocks and sandals. I cannot imagine a life where I saw Santa and thought of beach holidays – and yet, here it is! Much like my talk prep in Japan, I am trying to absorb some of the culture here before speaking about design or development. By observing, taking photos and thinking through the pace and experience of life in this country, I hope to better connect with the audience.

All this reminds me that I have not actually posted a formal discussion of my Japan talk… or really much else since I began rolling on down to LA. In the next few days I will be retro-blogging a lot of that stuff, including some of my pix from the last few months travels.

In the meantime – here are just a few of the snaps I got while enjoying the sunshine here and decompressing for my upcoming presentation. Yes, this city is indeed exactly as clean, artistic, musical and fun as it looks. If I had even the slightest (guilt-free) excuse, I would come here and stay for a month!