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BOSTON AREA GAME INDUSTRY
NETWORKING EVENTS |
| [MONTHLY EVENTS] (Dates can vary-- check the sites!) |
WOMEN IN GAMES (WiG):
wigboston.wordpress.com/
Game industry speakers in a setting designed to be a safe space, open to all.
1st Monday of the month, Cambridge.
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BOSTON UNITY GROUP (B.U.G.):
meetup.com/B-U-G-Boston-Unity-Group/
Discussions of projects and best practices for the Unity game engine. Variable day of the month, Cambridge, at Akamai in Kedal square (150 Broadway, Cambridge, MA).
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BOSTON POST MORTEM (BPM): bostonpostmortem.org/
The original monthly gathering of Game Devs! Great speakers.
Usually 2nd week of the month, alternating Mon/ Tues/ Wed/ Thursdays, starting 7pm, in Cambridge.
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BOSTON INDIES:
bostonindies.com/
Independent Game Devs meet to discuss their work.
3rd Monday of the month in Boston or Cambridge. Game Development on the edge, and a friendly community! Also listed under Boston Game Dev
Note also the Serious Games Meetup
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BOSTON VIRTUAL REALITY (VR):
meetup.com/Boston-Virtual-Reality/
Discuss software and hardware for the new wave of virtual reality!
Usually
3rd Weds or Thurs of the month,
Cambridge
Innovation Center - Venture Cafe, fifth floor.
Check out the summer Boston VR Bender
and VR jams at the Brookline Interactive Group
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BOSTON AUGMENTED / MIXED REALITY (AR):
meetup.com/BostonAR/
Discuss hardware and dev for the new wave of augmented reality, like the Hololens! Variable day of the month,
Cambridge
Akamai (150 Broadway, Cambridge, MA).
Check out the summer Hololens Hackathon.
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Game Audio Boston (GAB)
GameAudioBoston.com
Monthly meetings for those interested in game audio! Twitter
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ANIMATIC BOSTON:
facebook.com/animaticboston
Monthly Animation meetup, including talks by 2D and 3D New England Animators. Some Tues/Wed/Thur of the month in Somerville, at Arts At The Armory.
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BOSTON UNREAL:
meetup site
Discussions of projects and best practices for the Unreal game engine. Usually last Tues or Thurs of the month, downtown Boston
at Jacob Wirth restaurant.
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OTHER SOFTWARE/ TECH GROUPS
Adobe Creative Cloud Users
Autodesk Users Group
3D Printing Meetup
Imaging and Vision
MEDIA SPEAKER SERIES
MIT CMS
Harvard Book Store
Brookline Booksmith
Porter Square Books
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WORCESTER GAME PILE: http://gamepile.org/
Central MA's finest game creators meet to talk development.
Typically
3rd week of the month at Running Start: 95 Prescott Street, Worcester.
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HTML5 GAME DEVELOPMENT:
meetup.com/Boston-HTML5-Game-Development/
3rd Wednesday of the month, downtown Boston.
UX BOSTON:
meetup site
Held every 2-3 months. Speakers on user interface design.
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PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF INTERACTIVE FICTION:
pr-if.org
Interactive Fiction creators gather monthly in the Cambridge MIT Trope Tank, room 14N-233.
New to IF? Check out the array of games available on the site!
Want to start making text games?
Try the free text engine Twine
or Choice of Games.
Check out the annual November:
IF Game Jam at MIT.
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| [WEEKLY-ISH EVENTS] |
GAME MAKERS GUILD:
gamemakersguild.com
Developers of Board, Card, and other non-digital games meet to hear speakers abnd playtest games! Monday evenings, Boston or Cambridge.
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BOSTON COMICS ROUNDTABLE (BCR): bostoncomics.com
Weekly meeting of local indie comics artists and writers! Thursday evenings, Cambridge Library.
BCR Workspace: 561 Windsor St, Studio 306 Somerville, MA 02143
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DRAWING IN THE GALLERIES:
Museum of Fine Arts
(suspended)
Free models and supplies, Wednesday evenings, 6pm.
OTHER DRAWING EVENTS
Drawing and Digital Art
Artists/Models Group
Drawing in the Artist's Studio
Figurative Art Center
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DRAWING MEETUPS:
Big List of Boston Area Figure Drawing.
Also see the Comicazi and Hub Comics events in Somerville
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LEARN LAUNCH:
learnlaunch.org/
"Connecting and supporting Boston's edtech community." Some free meetups, some charged, Boston.
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PLAYCRAFTING BOSTON
(formerly Boston Games Forum):
playcrafting.com
Variety of events like demo nights, panel discussions, evening and full-day classes. Some events free.
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| [ANNUAL EVENTS] |
PAX EAST:
east.paxsite.com/
Ticketed Event: Huge gamer conference in Boston by Penny-Arcade.com. March or April, tickets sell out in December. See website for volunteering (great for networking, though less chance to see the show).
Be sure to attend the Made in MA party and showcase of Boston Games, the Thursday before PAX East
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BOSTON FESTIVAL OF INDIE GAMES (BFIG):
bostonfig.com/
Ticketed Event: Gamer conference, twice a year: September: Play digital and board games, at MIT.
January: attend a day of game dev talks!
Nominal fee, or volunteer!
Click here to learn the history.
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GAME LOOP:
bostongameloop.com/
Ticketed Event: Gamer "Unconference" in Cambridge by local developers. August. See website for volunteering.
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MASS DIGI - DIGITAL GAMES INSTITUTE:
massdigi.org
An annual game dev competition and summer institute, promoting game development in MA.
Competition submisions open January for the event in February. Summer internship applications in March.
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CONNECTICUT FESTIVAL
OF INDIE GAMES:
www.ct-fig.com
Ticketed Event: Annual gamer conference. Play digital and board games in June.
Newington, CT.
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MA INDEPENDANT COMICS EXPO (MICE): micexpo.org/
Indie comics artists showcase with inspiring original works.
October.
Free for attendees.
See also: Boston Comics Roundtable
and 24 Hour Comics Day. Also, in the Fall, LadiesCon in Somerville!
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GAME JAMS:
Create a complete game prototype in only 24 or 48 hours!
The Boston community holds jams nearly every month.
Most require you bring your own supplies, including a laptop loaded with your prefered software.
Monthly VR Jams at Brookline Interactive Group (BIG)
Public VR Lab
January is Global Game Jam,
with sites at
MIT,
Northeastern, and
WPI.
Summer: Boston VR Bender |
OCT: Purple Monkey Game Jam
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NOV: IF Game Jam at MIT
The old Boston Game Jams site offers some more leads bostongamejams.com/.
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ANIME BOSTON:
www.animeboston.com
Ticketed Event: Annual Anime media event, at Hynes Convention Center, March.
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ARISIA:
www.arisia.org
Ticketed Event: Annual arts and media festival in Boston with robust tabletop and Role Playing Game tracks. Includes strong children's programming. Westin on the Waterfront hotel, January.
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BOSTON COMIC CON
BostonComicCon.com
Annual comics, celebrities, costumes, and shopping expo, Boston Conventuion Center, August.
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| [NEIGHBORING COMMUNITY EVENTS] |
NEW HAMPSHIRE IGDA:
http://igdanh.org/
Like Boston Post Mortem, but an hour North!
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PIONEER VALLEY GAME DEVELOPERS:
pvgamedevs.com/
Western Massachussets Game Devs unite!
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INDIE GAME DEVELOPER ASSOCIATION OF RHODE ISLAND (IGDA-RI):
meetup.com site
Rhode Island Game Dev monthly meetup.
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| [OLD EVENTS] |
MIT GAME LAB:
gamelab.mit.edu/
Friday afternoon game rants, discussions, and game play theory, in Kendall Square, Cambridge. During the school year, used to be weeekly, now rare.
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AUTODESK ANIMATERS USER GROUP ASSOCIATION (AAUGA):
aaugaboston.com/
Presenters discuss exciting new advances in 3d art, animation, and visual effects. Typically 3rd Thursday of the month at Neoscape in Boston. Last event Fall 2014.
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GREAT EASTERN TECHNOLOGY (GET):
http://www.greateasterntech.com/
Wonderful group of people at a 3D software and hardware reseller, ran 1-3 events a year and suppored many others!
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BOSTON UNIVERSITY DAY OF THE DEVS
Facebook Page
A free, 1-day event hosted by the BU Video Game Society, celebrating Boston's local game dev scene.
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SANDBOX SUMMIT:
sandboxsummit.org/
Ticketed Event: An annual children's game development institute, formerly on the MIT campus in March or April, now in NYC.
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NEiA SIGGRAPH:
Our chapter of the national Special Interest Group in Graphics. Monthly speakers hosted at The New England Institute of Art in Brookline.
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