What is IGDA?
The International Game Developers Association is a non-profit professional society that is committed to advancing the careers and enhancing the lives of game developers by connecting members with their peers, promoting professional development, and advocating on issues that affect the developer community. Go to www.igda.org to learn more.
What is IGDA Finland?
IGDA Finland is the local Finnish chapter of the IGDA. Our chapter has been recognized as one of the most vibrant and fastest growing chapters by the IGDA when they awarded us with the IGDA MVP Award in 2007.
Our Mission
The mission of IGDA Finland is to promote the development of careers and professional skills of individual game developers based in Finland, and to further develop the international recognition of the Finnish game developer community.
The following goals serve IGDA Finland’s overall mission:
- Make it easy for local developers to meet other professionals and to build social networks. Our monthly Gatherings are one example.
- Facilitate the exchange of ideas and best practices both domestically and internationally. Presentations by professional developers are one example.
- Attract and help new talent get into the local industry. We want to raise the general awareness of games as an attractive and realistic career choice, and help potential talented people to meet senior developers. The IGDA Finland Volunteer Program is one example.
- Attract foreign talent to Finland, and make them feel welcome and a valuable part of the local development community. For example, we accommodate foreigners by using English as the only language in all our chapter communications and encourage the use of English in our discussion forum.
- Make working in the local industry more fun by creating a strong sense of community. Our monthly Gatherings are one example.
Mini-FAQ
Q: Does IGDA Finland represent the Finnish game developer companies?
No. We promote the development of individual developers’ careers and professional skills. Many Finnish game companies are represented by Suomen Pelinkehittäjät Ry.
Q: Is IGDA Finland a labor union?
No. We are a chapter of the International Game Developers Association.
IGDA Finland Chapter Team
For each season, the coordinator team is re-organized to match the needs of the chapter and the time and energy individuals have available for the chapter work.
Chapter Coordinators
Lead Coordinator – Sonja Kangas (sonja kangas [at] igda fi)
Operations coordinator – Teemu Haila
Volunteer Coordinator – Vesa-Matti ‘Vesku’ Raudasoja
Volunteer HR: Samuli Ulmanen
Projects Co-coordinator – Mats Diktonius
Projects Co-coordinator – Juho Hartikainen
Tech wizard – Joona Pulliainen
Webmaster – Juhani Hujala
Editor-in-Chief: Aki Raula
This group of brave souls is the heart of IGDA Finland. They are the folks who keep the wheels turning and do most of the heavy lifting, with the help of the volunteers or course. Over the years the coordinator team has grown from one person to a well-organized group where each person has their own clear area of responsibilities.
Advisory Board
These are some of the senior industry professionals of the Finnish game industry who appreciate our work and are available to give us guidance, help and advice when needed. The group includes several founding members of IGDA Finland and chapter’s first-ever coordinator Lasse Seppänen who ran all the daily activities pretty much single-handedly for the first 2 years before passing on the torch.
Aki Järvilehto, Nokia
Miikka Lyytikäinen, Aniway
Jouni Mannonen, Anyfun Games
Wili Miettinen, Lots
Jyri ‘Jay’ Ranki, Remedy Entertainment
Juha Vanhanen, Adulta
Rest of the Volunteers
Click image for bigger size
(Features Lasse from Advisory Board and Coordinators Jyri and Liz)
Anne Dahlgren
Juho Hartikainen
Tommi Hartikainen
Jenni Järvinen
Tuomas Karmakallio
Teemu Kivikangas
Sami Marsch
Juho Niittyniemi
Anne Parkkali
Kari Perho (organizer of IGDA Game League)
Hannu-Pekka Rajaniemi
Mika Rantanen
Marko Saaresto
Markku Strandman
Antti Tuppurainen
Antti Wilenius
Send feedback to the webmaster
Want to send feedback to the webmaster? Here´s the email-link: webmaster(add at symbol here)igda.fi
