Anyone can be a host and organize a Quantum Game Jam site. You can organize your site quite freely, and the only obligatory requirements are to have a physical location and at least one person on the site for us to contact during the whole event. In order to get there, you need to apply as a satellite site, provide your participant list once your jame is up and running and ask your jammers to upload their games at the end of the event on the Quantum Game Jam website.
Satellite site application form: https://goo.gl/forms/mU2Pvl4MZxGwHKUw1
SPONSORS AND COSTS
You are free to find a sponsor for your site to provide free coffee, meals, facilities etc. for the participants but please inform Tatu Laine (tatu@finnishgamejam.com) on your deals. As an organizer of your site, you are responsible on the negotiations, the legal matters and all the running costs. You can also set a participant fee for your event to cover the costs.
REGISTRATION METHODS
You can choose how to register your participants (setting up an Eventbrite event is recommended). However you choose to register your participants, we will ask you to send the details of your participants (name, email address, nationality, gender and age) during the Saturday of the event weekend. We will also ask you to send us information on how many teams are working on the projects.
WEBSITES / FACEBOOK EVENTS
You should create your own website or Facebook event page for the local jam for us to link. This way you provide the basic information of the practicalities (address, schedule, etc.). There is a shared Facebook event created for the global event that we ask you to advertise to your participants. The main source for information will be the quantumgamejam.com website.
POSTERS, FLYERS, T-SHIRTS ETC.
We will provide you the official visuals and logos to use for the event page, flyers, t-shirts etc. You can use the visuals as you wish. The package is available by request or at the organizers’ Facebook group.
THEMES
The themes are provided in the form of keynote videos (to your contact email) that you can download a few days prior to the event. We recommend that you test the videos on your presentation computer well in advance.
UPLOAD
All the games, no matter if they work or not, are uploaded to the Quantum Game Jam’s Itch.io page. The games are released under a Creative Commons license (Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike). A gameplay video (up to 2 min.) is required on the upload page.
SCHEDULE
You are free to construct your own schedule for the event as long as the development time for the teams is less than 48 hours and your event starts on the 25th of November and ends on the 27th of November at your local time. We recommend that you book a show-and-tell time for the Saturday and an end ceremony spot on the Sunday so that the participants can see (and playtest) the local projects.
ORGANIZER COMMUNICATIONS
The main communication channels for the organizer are our Facebook group (link will be provided to you once you have registered) and emails. During the event, we will also have a Slack channel open for the organizers. We expect your main contact to be available during the whole event and either check your email regularly or be present in the Facebook group.
ORGANIZING TIPS
The amount of work load for organizing a game jam site is up to you. You can create a very simplistic event or you can provide lots of bells and whistles for the participants.
Here are couple of tips for a successful event:
- The most important thing for a game jam organizer is to stay friendly and cheerful during the whole event. Usually participants are super excited on working with their projects so all you need to do is to support that spirit and make sure that there are no external problems. Jammers are generally a happy crowd.
- Group forming exercises are important. Some might want to work with people that they already know and some might have come completely alone. Try to provide support for those who do not yet have a team and help them in finding collaborators. Unless you really believe in your method – don’t force anyone to work with a team they do not want to work with. You can try to make sure that the teams have enough manpower to work with their proposed idea, but don’t be afraid to let them fail on their own if they insist on working on a team of five graphic artists (for instance).
- If the location allows people to stay for the full weekend including the nights, it is good to have some beanbags or mattresses for people to sleep on. If you do not have anything to offer, please inform your participants prior to the event.
- Make sure that you inform your participants on the practical issues well in advance. For instance whether there is a place to sleep, whether there is sponsored coffee or meals, if they need to bring their own extension cords, if you are not open during the night, and so on.
- Make sure you have time to check on the projects. Some games might not be possible to play later on, so this is your chance to indulge yourself with some interesting gameplay! Enjoy!