Rules

No duplicate accounts please!
You can register in your own name as an individual as well as register your company. You can also register any number of groups that you organize. But please don't spam our directory with the same info. We reserve the right to clean it up as we see fit :-)
Be civil. No personal attacks.
We will ban anyone that doesn't behave in a civil, professional manner. It's OK to disagree but remember we're adults
Respect everyone's time. No spam.
We're aiming to be a helpful resource for our members and those wishing to do business with our members. We reserve the right to remove any content or block anyone that we consider to be abusing our community

———

Happy May Day! We hope that this update finds you in good health and that in your world, things are beginning to return to some kind of normality. This month, we share more information about the UDEN Discord server and some grants and more available to help with international business.

Read on!

This month, I wanted to bring two things to your attention: the first is the UDEN Discord server - this is a great way to connect with other members of the UDEN community; discover new contacts, potentially find contractors or employees, or just gather local industry intelligence. The Discord server arose as a result of a suggestion at #UDEN26 from Gordon Cooper, who went on to setup and moderate the service for us.

(welcome to UDEN discord image)

If you haven't used Discord before, well, now is the time to do it! Think of it as a combined text messaging application for PC and mobile, which also has video chat capabilities. Additionally, it has message board-type features, which include subject matter channels, so you can engage with the areas that interest you most, quickly, with other people in our community. It's still new but already people are starting to use it and it will build into a really useful resource for the community - so jump in now, the water is perfect!

The channels we have include an announcements area, where you can share your news with the community; an introductions area, where you get to say 'hi' to everyone; events, upcoming events; plus channels for paid and unpaid work; multiple channels for film and broadcast, streaming, podcasting and game development, as well as audio, legal and market data. If there is something missing that you would like to see, you should join us and kick-off that channel for us!

(image of channels)

The second thing is a reminder that the UDEN website has the ability to post on there your upcoming events and job openings - and we have some fresh job postings there right now! Please do use these FREE community resources or they will go away if not used!

Finally, I wanted to share that for the past few months, I have been attending a class run by SLCC called Global Business Management and it's a deep dive on how to export and trade internationally. Now, I realize that this may not be of interest to most UDEN members, but our company has made a VR-based entertainment product that contains both hardware and software, and exporting turned out to be extraordinarily complicated. The course has been incredibly valuable, and would have been doubly so had I known about it before we started down this path! So if any of you have physical products that need exporting, I can highly recommend this course, here. I believe it will be run again in the fall.

Perhaps of greater significance to everyone here, I learned that grants are available from the Utah World Trade Center to help with exporting - including attending trade shows and trade missions overseas, testing of products for exporting, right down to localization of websites and materials. You can find out more here.

Looking forward to seeing you all on Discord this month!

With very best regards,

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

Join Our Community:

Connections image

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Apr 21

UDEN Goes DISCORD

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on April 01, 2021Flag

This month, we look back at the first meeting in over a year with a recap of UDEN #26, and highlight one of the outcomes that arose - a new UDEN server on Discord for you to join! Plus our friends at Craft Lake City have a special invitation for you. Read on!

Happy April! I hope this note finds you in good health and that you have had the opportunity to have had at least one of your Covid vaccinations! Still hard to believe we have been living with this for over a year.

Last week, we held our first UDEN meeting since January 2020; it was a virtual meeting and you can read all about it here and also see the video at our YouTube page. It was great to see everyone again and to find out what members of the community have been up to, hearing how the past year treated them. The meeting turned to UDEN’s role; we were setup to be an umbrella organization for the digital entertainment community in Utah, but what does that community want? Everything we have learned from past surveys, meetings and other feedback has been tried - but we still don’t seem to get much traction from the community outside of our meetings or even much use of the things that were requested. Perhaps it is a by-product of not having any full-time staff and the inevitable limitations of being a volunteer run organization? From the discussion, it seems as though UDEN is needed and that it should continue to focus on providing educational and social events, even if virtual. The meeting conversation concluded that rather than aim for loftier goals for the community, focus instead on supporting the needs of those who show up and build out from there. So that is most likely what we will do in future. What do you think? We would welcome some more insights so if you have thoughts, please add them as comments at the bottom of the UDEN #26 meeting write up here.

UDEN DISCORD SERVER

Among the ideas proposed was from Gordon Cooper, who suggested that UDEN have a Discord channel as another venue where members could communicate and collaborate. We thought this would be a great idea and Gordon volunteered to own this. So we now have a Discord server where UDEN members are encouraged to meet and connect - here: https://discord.gg/UE286v2zAu - please join us there!

APPLY NOW FOR CRAFT LAKE CITY

Our friends at Craft Lake City will be holding the 13th Annual Craft Lake City DIY Festival, presented by Harmons, at the Utah State Fairpark from August 13-15. They are seeking locally-based companies, organizations, and individuals to participate in the Google Fiber STEM Building. It is a great opportunity to show off your latest invention, promote a new product, share an educational program or build awareness for your brand! Apply now at www.craftlakecity.com/apply. They are also interested to hear from anyone who might be interested in volunteering during the event. For more details you can email STEM@craftlakecity.com or call Mia Allen at (385)237-7676. Applications to participate are due by April 8.

Finally, a reminder that the UDEN homepage continues to host the latest news and updates for the community related to the pandemic, including where you can get vaccinated. The event pages are running low on content, so please don't forget to add details of any upcoming events that you know about that are of interest to the UDEN community, whether in-person or virtual.

With very best regards,

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

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March Newsletter

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on March 01, 2021Flag

This is our monthly newsletter which gets emailed to members. If you would like to receive it either become a member or email us at info@utahden.org and request to be added. If you are a member and don't receive it, you may have unsubscribe or opted out - just email us and we can reconnect you to the mailing list!

This is the March 21 update!

Happy March day! We're celebrating that the pandemic numbers are, at last, starting to trend in the right direction in Utah! While the most populous counties in the State still have very high rates of transmission - so we need to remain vigilant - it is good to see a small shimmer of light after a year of depressing news, and results from all of the sacrifices that have been made. None more so that our tremendous health care workers and others on the front line who put themselves at risk, including shop workers, delivery people, carers and teachers. It is thanks to them all that some kind of normalcy will return and we need to make sure we don't forget that. Let's be clear - we aren't there yet, and the UDEN homepage continues to have links to the latest information about transmission levels across the state, vaccines, eligibility, testing, financial aid and more.

UDEN MEETING #26

At the end of this month we're holding our first UDEN meeting for over a year. UDEN #26 kicks off at 6pm MT on March 25th, a virtual event for up to 100 people on video or call-in. RSVP here - https://www.utahden.org/uden_26. When you RSVP you will be sent the link to join.

We are thinking it will be helpful to hear from everyone about how the pandemic has affected the creators of entertainment content and technology. What changes has it meant for you? How have you adapted? What is working for you? What challenges do you still face? How have the various relief packages worked out for you? Are you vaccinated yet? Also, we would like to hear about any projects you worked on during the last year - what have we all been up to?

It should be fun catching up with everyone and just hearing how we have all coped!

We miss you guys and look forward to seeing you at UDEN #26!

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

—-

February Newsletter

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on February 01, 2021Flag

Big announcement from UDEN this month! Our first ever virtual meeting will be next month!

Read for more details!

Happy February to you!

We hope that this month finds you well. It's a year since our last UDEN meeting, which is quite remarkable. We went from our biggest event ever to... nothing! There wasn't much of an appetite from you all for virtual meetings, which is understandable if you spend so much of your day on them! But a year is a long time and we would like to get the membership together again for a social and check in with everyone. So... we are delighted to announce that UDEN #26 is coming! Mark your calendars! 6pm MT on March 25th, a virtual event for up to 200 people on video or call-in. RSVP here - https://www.utahden.org/uden_26 (We are still looking for the best way to connect everyone so the link will be posted on the webpage and social media next month).

Also, we would like to hear about any projects you worked on during the last year - what have we all been up to?

Plus there will be food and drink (you'll find it in your refrigerator or pantry, just bring it to the call :-))

Covid-19 Resources

Don't forget the UDEN homepage is coming up for its one-year anniversary as a home for updates and resources for our community during the pandemic. We'll keep it going for as long as its still useful for everyone. Please do visit and let us know of any additional sites or resources you think would be helpful for our community. http://www.utahden.org.

We miss you guys and look forward to seeing you at UDEN #26!

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

———

Let's Be A Better Community in 21

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on January 01, 2021Flag

Another year gone by, another year when I'm still pretty much the only person posting a blog on any kind of regular basis. And I was hopeless at it during the pandemic months in 2020!

Here is my New Year's message of hope and goodwill to you all!

Happy New Year everyone! Of course, we begin every new year with such high hopes as we turn the page on the calendar, perhaps momentarily inspired that maybe we can be better, happier, healthier or that our world will be a better, happier or healthy place in the coming 365 days.

2021 certainly has its work cut out. Not least, COVID-19 is perhaps worse now in our country than it has ever been. The resulting economic hardship, massive workplace upheavals, social restrictions and mental health challenges are going to remain a fact of our lives for much - if not all - of this new year ahead.

Yet we must be optimistic that things will change.

I would like to believe that if 2020 taught us anything, it is that we have lost the sense - the value - of community. We have become the Disunited States of America. We have allowed tribalism, extremism, populism and selfishness to work against our collective good as a society and we have lost so many lives - directly and indirectly - as a result. We must do better in 2021, and its starts with each of us. Individually, we can do something; each of us has the ability to help improve our collective lot, not least by being resilient and following the health guidelines and restrictions. This isn't a political point - it is for sure the fastest way to get our social and work lives back to what we used to call normal way back in 2019! Most of us will have access to a vaccine by the summer, which we should accept.

What has this got to do with Utah's digital entertainment community? Everything! We were struggling to care about our small community before COVID-19! Our livelihoods have been impacted and so has that of our audiences, the ones who provide us with a living. If you have been lucky enough to be able to work from home, that is great! But that isn't true for many in our community, so what can you do to help those in need now?

In 2021 we have the opportunity to come together in a better way than we had managed before last year. We would love to hear your ideas on how we re-invigorate the UDEN community, for ourselves and for the wider community we exist within.

Let's be better this New Year. Whatever reasons you had for not being part of this community before, let's put those behind us and make building a healthy professional community one of your goals for 2021. Tell us your ideas or what you think; email us at info@utahden.org.

COVID-19 Resources

Since March, we have turned the UDEN homepage over to updates and resources for our community during the pandemic. In our end-of-year update, we have included a summary about the financial help provided in the latest relief bill that Congress passed at the end of December. We are so pleased to have heard from many of you that these updates have been useful and we will keep them going as long as they are needed. Please do visit and let us know of any additional sites or resources you think would be helpful for our community. http://www.utahden.org.

Sending you positive thoughts and peace this New Year.

- Jon Dean

PS - I usually like to end the year and begin the next by looking back on the past year of UDEN events - but we only had one, our collaboration with Silicon Slopes at the Tech Summit in January. We didn't have any other meet-ups in 2020 for obvious reasons. I hope we'll get back to some in the New Year! In the meanwhile, here is one of my favorite reviews of Utah in 2020 thanks to the Salt Lake Tribune. I had forgotten the earthquake, winds and fires, not to mention a marvelous new airport opening and a monolith!

———

October Newsletter

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on October 01, 2020Flag

Can you believe it's October? What a bizarre year to have lived through and it's not over yet!

Not a great deal to update you on this month, just a quick check-in and hope that you are doing OK.

Read on!

We avoided any UDEN meetings since our first one this year way back in January at Silicon Slopes. We looked at a couple of virtual meetings but the consensus seemed to be that no-one needed an excuse for another Zoom session. But I'm putting it out there once more - if any of you would like a virtual UDEN meeting, even if just to say hi, please let us know. Virtual pizza isn't quite the same but perhaps it could be a useful exchange of how the pandemic is going for you!

We have continued to do what we can for the community behind the mask, as it were, and among other things were happy to help Intellivision decide upon Utah as their new global HQ. Welcome to our community!

Keep posting open jobs, whether contract or full time on the website https://www.utahden.org/jobs_board, as well as upcoming events, whether virtual or in person https://www.utahden.org/upevents

Covid-19 Resources

The UDEN website saw an extraordinary amount of traffic in recent months, which suggests that the UDEN homepage updates with resources for this community during the pandemic have proven useful to many people. Please do visit and let us know of any additional sites or resources you think would be helpful for our community. http://www.utahden.org.

We miss you guys. Hang in there and let us know if we can help in any way. ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

——

July Newsletter

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on July 01, 2020Flag

As you know, we haven't been able to hold any of our usual social, networking or educational gatherings this year, but we have been encouraging everyone in the community to help others wherever they can in whatever way they can to try and help.

Things Are Still Happening!

Read more in this month's newsletter, including how to help at Craft Lake City!

Oh yes! Even though we may not have had any UDEN meetings, we can't keep this community down. Many events, including biz dev, knowledge sharing and learning opportunities are available online and we continue to try and keep track of them at the UDEN events page: https://www.utahden.org/upevents. As always, please do feel free to add any events you are holding, or that you know of, directly at the page. It's free! There are also job openings here: https://www.utahden.org/jobs_board and again, you can add any open positions for full or part-time, including remote work opportunities, directly at the UDEN website.

With that in mind, we wanted to ask if anyone would be interested in participating in the first Virtual DIY Festival next month? It is being organized as part of the annual Craft Lake City event and it is a great opportunity for the UDEN community to show what they do.

Will You Help Create the Virtual Festival?

Craft Lake City would like to invite UDEN members to contribute to actually creating the virtual festival - a combination of a virtual online open source platform embedded into a website to create an animated, user-friendly gaming experience! Volunteers with web development or gaming skills can build a killer portfolio, utilize the Craft Lake City brand on their resume and contribute to Utah’s creative community using their tech skills. It's a great way to help the community! The goal is to design and build a superior and innovative online experience that is fun to use for the attendee and exhibitor.

By volunteering you would:

Collaborate with Craft Lake City and developers to produce a unique online experience;
Monitor user’s online experience and work closely with CLC developer team to fix bugs
Formulate program specifications and basic prototypes
Transform designs and specifications into high functioning code in the appropriate language
Test code periodically to ensure it produces the desirable results and perform debugging when necessary
Collaborate with technical writers to create documentation for user support

If you would like to help - or if you think you could contribute in other ways, please contact krystal@craftlakecity.com for more information.

Covid-19 Resources

We continue to maintain the UDEN homepage as a source of information for our community, including updates on loans and assistance. Please do visit and let us know of any additional sites or resources you think would be helpful for our community. http://www.utahden.org.

Wishing you all health and safety. If there is anything that team UDEN can do to help you through this crisis, please don't hesitate to reach out.

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

——

May Newsletter

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on July 01, 2020Flag

It's May? Surely we're ready for a New Year by now? I hope this note finds you, your loved ones and colleagues doing well under the circumstances. It's tough making history!

This month, we have a ton of suggestions for things we can all do to make a difference in these days of social distancing and isolation. Read on...

From today, Utah begins to move from 'red' to 'orange' phase, meaning that restrictions will begin to be lifted but may be reimposed on a regional basis depending on what the resulting data shows. Indeed, not all of the state will move to 'orange' at the same time, so check your local news or local government for latest in your region. Full details about the phases and what they mean can be found here: https://gomb.utah.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/UtahLeads-April2020-v20.pdf

For example, in 'orange' phase, restaurants will go from having no in-building dining allowed to resuming inside dining with tables spaced 6 feet apart. Gyms and hair and nail salons will also be allowed to reopen, as long as they follow the state's published public health guidelines (see link above). Gatherings expand from no more than 10 to no more than 20. Of course those in high-risk categories are still at high risk, and those advisories have not changed - essentially, stay isolated.

'Orange' doesn't mean we're 'good' in Utah; indeed if we are to get to 'green', we still need to keep washing those hands thoroughly and frequently, keep social distancing and... wear a mask in public. For me anyway, that's an improvement and no-one can tell I didn't shave today! More details about what all this means for our UDEN community can be found on the UDEN homepage, which we are attempting to keep up to date on a regular basis during the health crisis.

While some of us are still working and some are waiting for work to resume, spare a thought for those on the frontline of the pandemic. I thought that a good use for this month's newsletter might be to highlight ways you could help fellow Utahns during this health crisis.

Among the things to consider are:

- donate much needed personal protective equipment for healthcare workers (including N-95 masks, homemade masks, exam gloves and face shields)
- volunteering to sew masks
- donate to a local COVID-19 community response fund to help increase testing and provide medical supplies
- volunteering for healthcare support (if you have a background in healthcare)
- give blood
- donate to help feed our healthcare workers
- donate to help vulnerable populations in Utah
- donate to support impacted workers (such as food service, first responders) and local small businesses (such as local theaters, game stores etc)

You can find links to these and more below:

Of course this list is not exhaustive. If you want to suggest others or add any relevant causes of your own, please do add them as comments on the UDEN homepage.

For the past two months, we have been keeping the UDEN homepage up to date with the latest on resources to help those in the UDEN community during this time, including updates on loans and assistance. Please do visit and let us know of any additional sites or resources you think would be helpful for our community. http://www.utahden.org

I hope our next newsletter finds the world, our country, our state and our community in a better place. But until we're there, please do follow the latest medical advice, if not for your own sake, for others. I thought about listing the latest advice here, but honestly, WE ALL KNOW IT BY NOW! Perhaps the only one I might suggest:

Wear pants when video conferencing, just in case :-)

Wishing you all health and sanity. If there is anything that team UDEN can do to help you through this crisis, please don't hesitate to reach out.

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

——

April Newsletter

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on July 01, 2020Flag

This month's newsletter aka “Not another cornonavirus email”, or

“We know what you did during lockdown”, or

“Everything you ever wanted to know about COVID-19 but were afraid to ask”, or

“Mummy what did you do during the time of Coronavirus?”

Well, what a year these past three months have been! I do hope this note finds you healthy and managing to stay positive!

We are living through a remarkable moment of history, one that, rarely, affects most of the global populous at the same time. It is worrying, but, this too shall pass and at some point we will get back to something approaching the normality we knew just one month ago! If there is anything that team UDEN can do to help you through this crisis, please don't hesitate to reach out.

I know we all have Coronavirus overload at the moment, but at the risk of being redundant, we are repeating the contents of the UDEN website homepage here. We want to be helpful and perhaps the best way we can, is to bring together resources applicable to the entertainment sector that could be useful to members of our community during this time of crisis. Below are a series of links; if you have others that you have found to be useful, please do post them on the UDEN blogs here. If there is content you would like us to find out about and post online, again, please let us know.

Working from home

Our sector possibly has a higher proportion of people working from home than others given that so many are contractors or work for small businesses. Nevertheless, here are a couple of articles about successfully working from home and why it might become the new 'norm' for more people:

https://www.themuse.com/advice/coronavirus-work-from-home-tips

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-you-may-still-be-working-from-home-after-the-coronavirus-crisis-is-over-2020-03-26

How do I use videoconferencing for keeping in touch with family on my tablet or phone? https://www.cnet.com/news/10-free-video-chat-apps-to-use-if-youre-social-distancing/

Using Skype - https://www.wikihow.com/Do-a-Video-Conference-in-Skype

Different apps - https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/03/9564621/best-video-conferencing-services-apps

Tips on managing a meeting via videoconferencing - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/technology/personaltech/online-video-meetings-etiquette-virus.html and https://www.forbes.com/sites/adriandearnell/2020/03/23/coronavirus-how-to-succeed-at-video-conferencing/#62e4efdc60b5

Protect yourself

CDC - https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/prevention.html

Taxes

The deadlines to FILE and PAY federal income taxes are extended to July 15, 2020. More information here: https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus.

The same is true for individual Utah income taxes, also extended to July 15th. More information here: https://incometax.utah.gov/

Unemployment

You may be eligible to file for unemployment in a number of circumstances arising from the Coronavirus pandemic, such as:

your are furloughed from work but expect to return to your job at some point in the future;
you are self-quarantined without pay but expect to return to work;
you are still working but hours have been reduced;
your employer let you go as they reduce the workforce;

More details from Utah Workforce Services here: https://jobs.utah.gov/covid19/uifaqemployees.pdf

Stimulus payment checks

At the time of writing, there was no guidance on this from the IRS. It should appear here when the information is available: https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus

Temporary work

If you are an employer looking for temporary workers with skills that our highly creative and technical UDEN community posess, please post them on the UDEN jobs board, here. Please mark them "Short Term".

It follows that if you have lost a job, or are furloughed and would like temporary work, please check the UDEN jobs board to see who may be posting, here.

Industry resources

Utah Film Commission - local industry resources - https://film.utah.gov/blog/covid19-resources/

IGDA - videogame developer resources - https://igda.org/resources/covid-19-resources/

If you want to connect with local people that are in your industry - THINK LOCAL. Check out the Upcoming Events page on the UDEN website and support your fellow industry workers. If you are hosting an event - yes! Even a virtual one - that might be of interest to UDEN members, post it on the upcoming events page - it’s free!

If you are looking for a skilled contractor, whether that be a programmer, artist, producer, VFX editor, sound composer, or anything - HIRE LOCAL. Look at the UDEN Resources Directory of digital entertainment creators in Utah and see if you can find what you need there. It's organized by category to make it easier to find what you are looking for. If you are looking for new clients, make sure to add yourself to this UDEN resources directory. It’s free!

You can make a difference. Together we make the difference.

Staying healthy

Here are a couple of links that I found useful for physical and mental health:

https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-tips-stay-healthy-avoid-panic-2020-3#stay-healthy-more-generally-5

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-health-tips-working-from-home-stretching-stress-anxiety/

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/be-careful-where-you-get-your-news-about-coronavirus-2020020118801

Children and Coronavirus

CDC - https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/children.html

What to do regarding 'shelter-in-place' or 'lockdown'

President Trump has extended social distancing guidelines until the end of April, and all indications are that this is likely to extend further; indeed more drastic measures will become necessary at a national level as the exponential curves we have all become so familiar with, continue their vertical trend, until such times as they shown signs of flattening. So what do those more stringent measures look like?

Unfortunately, there is a lot of confusion about the different terms and restrictions. Essentially, these are measures intended to restrict movement and social contact of a community. Shelter-in-place is usually less restrictive than a lockdown, but these terms vary depending on who issued the order, so in the event that your county, or the Governor issue or update either, check the specific instructions and restrictions they order. It should be on all the local news channels as well as your local government websites.

For example, Summit County is under a shelter-in-place order already as it is one of the hardest hit per capita by the Coronavirus. This means residents are encouraged to stay in their homes; they can still go to work if it is open, shop at grocery stores, do yard work, exercise or drive - but to restrict these activities as much as practically possible to reduce the person-to-person infection rate.

The State of Utah declared a "level 1" state of emergency, following up on the "Stay Safe, Stay Home" directive through April 13th, applicable to everyone in Utah, encouraging everyone to stay and work at home as much as possible, limiting social interactions and travel, while adhering at all times to a strict hygiene standard (esp hand washing). High risk individuals (older, those with existing health issues) need to take extra caution and act with urgency.

A lockdown, by contrast, seeks to restrict residents to their homes - period - under penalty of law, such as the measures in force in California, with leaving the house allowable only for a very limited set of reasons, including specific job categories, food shopping or other essential activities.

Salt Lake City has issued a state of emergency and Salt Lake County issued a 'Stay at home' order, which is similar to that enacted by the State, but one that mandates many businesses close and directs us all to limit trips outside to "essential only"; County Mayor Jenny Wilson clarified, "Residents can still hike, walk their dogs and jog outside", but per the Salt Lake Tribune, "The mayor does not want people to play team sports or gather at parks. It comes, too, after the county already issued a health order restricting groups to no more than 10 individuals." Egregious violations of the order can result in a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or up to six months in jail. Tooele County and Wasatch County have also issued such orders.

Cornonavirus news and resources

CDC - https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

Utah - https://coronavirus.utah.gov/

University of Utah Healthcare - https://healthcare.utah.edu/coronavirus/

Intermountain Healthcare - https://intermountainhealthcare.org/covid19-coronavirus/

Silicon Slopes plan to have virtual Town Halls with the community every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 4 PM MDT to discuss needs, questions, and updates regarding the COVID-19 situation in Utah - more at https://siliconslopes.com/. Additionally, they have created a Slack workspace to make information and discussions as central and accessible to all as possible - here: https://siliconslopescomm.slack.com/join/shared_invite/zt-cu6eephy-QQKrDbv9Yu8RsQepa92NNA

How you can help

Silicon Slopes - donate money, volunteer, give supplies, stay informed - https://www.slopesserves.com/

Donate personal protective equipment - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdAANd552zdsx6Jkq4ZwP9qwAOj1Ez4s2h9XjtlNuKkFjoRLg/viewform?usp=sf_link

United Ways Response Fund - https://uw.org/covid19-community-fund/

Give blood - https://rdcrss.org/2QUZcxV?fbclid=IwAR2v5AKcNcxJ46knTzW1XIJl7Ff34IRQN6fE6bXC5GwYJ20HGZCORBBod9c and https://www.utahblood.org/

Ty Burrell Downtown Food Service Workers Fund - https://downtownslc.org/TipYourServer

More - https://coronavirus.utah.gov/help/

More Resources

The above is some of the content from the UDEN homepage, which we will attempt to keep up to date throughout this crisis - there is more detailed content being added every day http://www.utahden.org - please visit the site as you need, we hope its helpful. If there is content you would like to see please let us know info@utahden.org.

Until we meet again -- please be safe, stay 6-feet apart, wash your hands, think about others, help others; together we'll get through this and all enjoy the bright tomorrow.

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

——

March Newsletter

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on March 01, 2020Flag

First of all - how come I'm pretty much the only person posting anything on here? Why not write something to make it more interesting for our community? Go on, you know you want to.

Secondly - welcome to our March newsletter, which gets sent out by email to all registered members. This month we look at our campaign THINK LOCAL. HIRE LOCAL. SUPPORT LOCAL.

Our campaign, THINK LOCAL HIRE LOCAL. SUPPORT LOCAL, began because we frequently hear from Utah companies in the UDEN sector that they hired out of state contractors for a project, or recruited from out of state, because they couldn’t find what they were looking for here in Utah. At the same time, we know of too many instances where people in the UDEN community who would prefer to live and work here end up leaving the state because they can’t find work. Somehow these 'dots' aren’t connecting. For every 'dot' that does, it makes a difference to the economic growth of our sector and is a step forward. What can you do to help? I'm glad you asked! :-)

The UDEN website can be a useful resource. We have a Jobs Board - https://www.utahden.org/jobs_board as well as a Resource Directory, listing local UDEN service providers - https://www.utahden.org/dir. These pages are an attempt to help connect work with those that can do it, and to keep it within the state if possible. Plus we have an Events page - https://www.utahden.org/upevents - that lists events of interest to members of the UDEN community. Through these events we can share our respective sets of expertise and find fellow collaborators, as well as potential future employees.

Our pages are managed by some terrific volunteers who scour the internet for local jobs (Doug) and events (Joshua). Please make sure their work is not in vain by making use of these pages!

So, next time you are looking for a job - THINK LOCAL. Check out the UDEN Jobs Board. You may not find the job you need, but many people have been pleasantly surprised to find their next gig on there. It’s free!

Next time you are looking to hire new people - HIRE LOCAL. Post your job opening on the UDEN Jobs Board. If you don't do that for your company, please advocate for us and tell whoever recruits for you to start doing it. Again, it’s free!

If you want to connect with local people that are in your industry - THINK LOCAL. Check out the Upcoming Events page on the UDEN website and support your fellow industry workers. If you are hosting an event that might be of interest to UDEN members, post it on the upcoming events page - it’s free!

Thank you, as always, for your help and support. You can make a difference. Together we make the difference.

Have a great March!

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

—-

February Newsletter

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on February 03, 2020Flag

2020 got off to a great start for us with UDEN #25 at the Silicon Slopes Tech Summit. Read our recap in this post, as well as this month's latest news!

It was a delight to reconnect with so many of you in person at last week’s UDEN #25 meeting, at our booth In Slopes Arcade and during the entertainment track at the Silicon Slopes Tech Summit. Check-out our recap, here: UDEN#25.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and hopefully this will become an annual fixture on the UDEN calendar. It was also great to see so many of you during Sundance. We would like to say a special thanks to our organizing committee that helped us in the planning and to the volunteers that helped us during these events. And a big special thanks to Silicon Slopes for embracing our digital entertainment community so warmly!

At the Tech Summit, we were able to tell the wider tech community about UDEN's mission and the great work being done here in Utah by you, our fabulous members! We also welcomed a bunch of brand new members who weren't aware that we existed. Refreshingly, several people wanted to volunteer and help in some way, asking what they could do. It's a question we get a lot, so if you're wondering how you can help but you don't have much time, please read this.

As we look forward to the year ahead, our focus is going to be less on meetings and more about bigger initiatives. We will still hold meetings but these will be opportunistic based on getting speakers and sponsors. We really would like to see traction on the apprenticeship program in the coming year.

RESOURCES FOR UDEN MEMBERS

We had a terrific response to our request for UDEN members to add their details to our new directory listing on the website. It is part of our goal to beef up the website and make it a more useful resource for our members. The goal of the directory is to create a list of all of the digital entertainment companies operating in Utah, making it easier to connect with those companies, whether that be people outside Utah looking to do business here, investors looking for opportunities or people here looking for work. It's not just games and film making, it's everything between and around that make up the ecosystem, including audio providers, VFX, writers, educational establishments, VR/AR/XR, advertisers, investors etc. So, if you run a company, or if you work at a company in digital entertainment and you have not yet added yourselves to our directory, please complete this form and it will populate your business in the directory. Here: utahden.org/dir (I took the liberty of adding a few already to get us started, so if you're among them, please check its correct and add any additional info you would like. If you're not in the list, go ahead and fix that right now!).

As for the rest of the website, here is a quick reminder of what you can find up there, so be sure to check out these pages:-

- Blogs - have your say whenever you want about the digital entertainment biz here or elsewhere;
- Jobs Board - please post open jobs here, or look here if you're seeking a new challenge;
- Upcoming Events - our most popular page, digital entertainment events in the State
- Member directories - more than 1000 people have registered as a UDEN member!
- Join UDEN - you can register for free and include your bio here
- Startup Resources - a guide on how to start a digital entertainment business here in Utah

DON'T FORGET THE JOBS BOARD! HELP US HELP YOU!

Our appeal last month for more job listings has resulted in some fresh posts! Let's not let them get lonely! If you, or your company, has open positions, please post them on the jobs board. We can make this a useful resource for our community, but only with your help. Here: https://www.utahden.org/jobs_board

Have a great month!

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

——

Happy New Year and So Much More!

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on January 01, 2020Flag

Welcome to a new newsletter, start of a new year, start of a new decade, new opportunities ahead! This month, reminder to get your tickets for UDEN #25 and to help us create a comprehensive resource directory for our community. Read on!

The big question as we start this new decade is... um... is this actually the start of a new decade? Or is that still 12 months away? Do we really care? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the holidays and are as excited as we are about the prospects for this new year ahead. So much to look forward to and already January is off to a great start -- coming right up is the Sundance Film Festival, as well as the Silicon Slopes' Tech Summit, including Silicon Arcade, Gaming Night and, of course, the first UDEN meetup of 2020, UDEN #25. If you haven't gotten your tickets yet, you really should. We have some great member discounts for both #SSTS20 and UDEN #25 if you act quickly.

RESOURCES FOR UDEN MEMBERS

One of UDEN's goals for this year will be to beef up the website and make it a more useful resource for our members. And for this, we're going to ask for your help: We're creating a directory of all of the digital entertainment companies operating in Utah. This should make it easier to connect with those companies, whether that be people outside Utah looking to do business here, investors looking for opportunities or people here looking for work. It's not just games and film making, it's everything between and around that make up the eco-system, including audio providers, VFX, writers, educational establishments, VR/AR/XR, advertisers, investors etc.

Here is where you can help right now: If you run a company, or if you work at a company in digital entertainment, please complete this form and it will populate your business in the directory. Here: utahden.org/dir (I took the liberty of adding a few already to get us started, so if you're among them, please check its correct and add any additional info you would like. If you're not in the list, go ahead and fix that right now!).

As for the rest of the website, many of you may not even realize just what is already there, so here is a quick reminder; be sure to check out these pages:-

MAKE A PITCH FOR YOUR CHANCE TO EXHIBIT AT SLOPES ARCADE

Silicon Slopes is offering an incredible opportunity for a few UDEN members to show their products and services to the world for two days at Slopes Arcade. That's right - a free booth! You just need to turn up with your equipment, signage, handouts and you! To take advantage of this generous offer, you'll need to create a compelling pitch and submit it to Silicon Slopes as soon as possible! Here is what you need to do:

Create a short video for Silicon Slopes, explaining who you are, what your product is, what you would show and how you would present it at Slopes Arcade
Create a short written pitch as well, including links to relevant materials, as necessary
Include your name, address, website and phone number in your written pitch
Make sure to explain what the opportunity to showcase your work at Slopes Arcade would do for your business
Email your written pitch (including the link to your video), using this link

If you would otherwise like to exhibit as part of Slopes Arcade, you should email Silicon Slopes to discuss booth space or sponsorship opportunities for this great event!

As always, there are many more events coming up that are of interest to UDEN members and you can see details of them all right here: https://www.utahden.org/upevents I look forward to seeing you at a few of them!

DON'T FORGET THE JOBS BOARD! HELP US HELP YOU!

I'm looking forward to seeing you at UDEN #25 at the end of this month! HNY!

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

——

5 Years, UDEN #25 + Your Chance to Exhibit at Slopes Arcade

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on December 10, 2019Flag

In the final month of 2019, a brief look back on our 5 years in existence, and a look forward to UDEN #25 next month, plus details of exclusive discounts for UDEN members for the upcoming Tech Summit!

Read on!

Perhaps the most predictable statement heard at this time every year, is: "Can you believe the holidays are here already? Where did the year go?". Isn't that always how it feels? Next month marks five years since we first proposed starting a group that could help bring together Utah's creators of digital entertainment, who were continuing to complain about a lack of coordination, sufficient funding and generally visibility for the work they do. That group became "MIU" - Made In Utah - which, after a couple of meetings, was renamed UDEN - the Utah Digital Entertainment Network.

I have to admit, back then I hoped we would have achieved much more by the year 2020 than we have, but it transpired that people and things move slowly! There is no doubt that one of the most useful things UDEN has achieved is a series of regular networking and educational meetings, which have fostered some impressive new collaborations and begun a sharing of knowledge among the membership. We have averaged 5 meetings a year, quite an achievement for such a small non-profit organization with no money and staffed by volunteers! But we're not sitting on our hands, we still have a long way to go; in particular we have been working hard on an Apprenticeship Program, which this year inched forward another few steps, and when realized, we believe will help fill skill gaps, foster a more ambitious and active community, and deliver economic growth in our sector through new startups.

Yes, things take time. Two years ago, UDEN partnered with Silicon Slopes, building a relationship that is about to bear fruit: for much of this year we have been working to create an entertainment track for the enormously successful Silicon Slopes 'Tech Summit' next month; it's an important recognition that the entertainment sector plays a vital role in the wider tech community and that sector is vibrant right here in Utah. In addition to keynote speakers from the industry and topics related to our sector, there will also be an area set aside branded 'Slopes Arcade', a gaming-centric space which will feature exhibitors, interactive experiences and an exciting eSports tournament for local schools, companies and stars from the eSports world, in conjunction with our good friends at Game Tyrant. Plus, in celebration, there will be one night set aside as 'Gaming Night', where attendees from the Summit can kick back, relax, have some fun and experience the best of digital entertainment.

We're confident that the entertainment track is going to become a key part of the Tech Summit in coming years, creating an exciting opportunity for all UDEN members. Please join us in making sure our community embraces this and supports Tech Summit! How? Read on...

NEXT MEETING - UDEN #25 - Slopes Arcade + Networking

UDEN is delighted to announce that UDEN #25 will be held during Gaming Night at Slopes Arcade.

We want to start 2020 off in a chill, relaxing way so we're not planning any speeches or presentations, but this will be an awesome networking opportunity so come prepared with your business cards or portfolio links and find your next great collaborator, client or contractor!

Of course you should be part of it! But also, please help us spread the word about Slopes Arcade and Tech Summit through your own networks! Let's get everyone locally involved and really get this off to a great start!

To attend, you will need to buy a ticket for either Slopes Arcade or for the full Tech Summit to be part of UDEN #25 and Gaming Night -- passes for Slopes Arcade start at $25 and if you register quickly you can take advantage of some exclusive UDEN member discounts - full details at the webpage here: https://www.utahden.org/uden_25. Remember, our last meeting reached capacity in less than 48 hours, and while there is a lot more room this time, we only have a limited number of discounted tickets, so get on this! As usual these are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

MAKE A PITCH FOR YOUR CHANCE TO EXHIBIT AT SLOPES ARCADE

Create a short video for Silicon Slopes, explaining who you are, what your product is, what you would show and how you would present it at Slopes Arcade
Create a short written pitch as well, including links to relevant materials, as necessary
Include your name, address, website and phone number in your written pitch
Make sure to explain what the opportunity to showcase your work at Slopes Arcade would do for your business
Email your written pitch (including the link to your video), using this link

If you would otherwise like to exhibit as part of Slopes Arcade, you should email Silicon Slopes to discuss booth space or sponsorship opportunities for this great event!

DON'T FORGET THE JOBS BOARD! HELP US HELP YOU!

Our website has a page where you can post open job positions, also where people looking can go to find them. The problem is, it's not being used that often so in reality, it isn't that useful for those looking to hire or those seeking work. Come on! We can do better! If you, or your company, has open positions, please post them on the jobs board. We can make this a useful resource for our community, but only with your help. It just so happens we have a couple of new posts so please don't let them get lonely! Here: https://www.utahden.org/jobs_board

Thanks for your continued support, and don't forget to be #UTProud!

Wishing you all a peaceful, happy holiday!

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

—-

Newsletter - June

Here we are almost halfway through the year already! I hope this month's check-in finds you excited for what lies ahead.

One of our goals for this year was to hold more regular networking meetings and we're excited to be just a few weeks away from the next UDEN meeting.

UDEN #23 will be held on June 27th during the first night of the Salt Lake Gaming Convention. Find out more by reading this month's newsletter!

The line-up for UDEN #23 includes:

- PANEL DISCUSSION -- what can the film community learn from the videogame industry, and vice-versa;

- JAKE WILLIAMS -- the founder of Salt Lake Gaming Con tells us how this Utah convention is breaking all records;

- NETWORKING -- where you can meet and mingle with Utah's brightest and best creators of entertainment content and technology; plus

- UDEN UPDATE -- the latest news and views affecting our community.

Once again our meeting is a free event to attend, but to gain entrance you must have registered. You can register here: https://www.utahden.org/uden_23

We'll be announcing the panelists in the coming days so make sure to follow us on our social channels; keep an eye on our Twitter, Instagram and Facebook feeds for announcements!

UDEN MEMBER DISCOUNTS FOR SALT LAKE GAMING CON

The 5th annual Salt Lake Gaming Con returns this month and it's bigger and better than ever. Whether it involves larping, shopping, pinball, tabletop, demos, kart racing or video games, SLGC has something for everyone!

Better yet, if you're a UDEN member, you can get discounted tickets. Find the discount code at the UDEN website, here: https://www.utahden.org/2019_salt_lake_gaming_con

UDEN BENEFITS UPDATE

We are still gathering your feedback about the type of benefits that you might find useful in your careers (see our April Newsletter for dfetails). If you haven't yet completed it, you can find the link at the top of the UDEN website, or you can also access the survey directly here: https://forms.gle/HLtPevXTAJTu1SGN8.

Many thanks!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Many terrific events coming up in the month of June and you can find the best of them on the UDEN website events page! Please do check them out - here: http://utahden.org/upevents.

REMEMBER: if you have an upcoming event you would like to share with UDEN members, you can add it to our website for FREE on the same page!

From all of us at UDEN, our thanks for your continued support,

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

—-

May Newsletter

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on May 01, 2019Flag

Happy May Day! I hope this month's check-in finds you well and raring to go!

Last week we held another terrific UDEN meeting, which was well attended; there was energetic networking and for which we received some excellent, positive feedback. UDEN #22 was held at one of Utah's leading entertainment studios, WildWorks, a long-time sponsor and supporter of UDEN.

Whether you're a film maker, videogame maker or otherwise involved in interactive entertainment, I urge you to read Clark Stacey's fascinating keynote, which you can find here.

Read-on for more...

UDEN #22 REWIND

WildWorks' Animal Jam, built right here in Utah, is the most popular online playground for kids in the world with over 100 million registered users. Animal Jam is as much a social network as it is a videogame, boasting some incredible engagement numbers -- for example:

Daily play time is over 50 minutes. That rises to 70 minutes in the school holidays;
Animal Jam has 2x+ the engagement numbers of a Nickelodeon or Disney Channel;
The trading volume among kids exchanging virtual items is roughly equivalent to the Australian stock exchange everyday; about
650,000 trades!
Kids create tens of thousands of new avatars daily, alongside art submissions using the provided creativity tools.

Clark talked about how much they communicate and interact with their audience and use that data to inform future decision making. As an example, they realized that some of their original players are hungry for something more age appropriate as they have gotten older. The result will be a new game, Feral, which will launch later this year. It will be an online reality show for mythological animals, something that still has the Animal Jam filters, still has protections, still a walled garden but the walls are a little lower than Animal Jam. This is a place where WildWorks hope they can encourage some better net citizenship by having some guardrails on the online interaction as players get older, progressing from one realm to the next.

Among the advice Clark offered to aspiring game creators, was:

Know the law: if you're making online content and collecting data from someone that might be a child, get familiar with COPPA and GDPR as these are increasingly governing the online culture and will be doing so for at least the next decade. It's no joke: ignorance of the law is not an excuse and the fines you could receive for non-compliance could put you out of business. The meeting recap includes explanations and links, including Safe Habor Programs that can offer you protections;
Funding is not your first priority; building a credible, talented team should be your first concern;
Start by making games the team you've assembled can actually deliver; your first game is not going to be your only shot so work your way up to that magnum opus;
Find under-served audiences or fantasies. There are so many out there if you take the time to look.

Clark wrapped up by answering questions from the enthusiastic audience, on subjects including managing 'crunch' hours; lessons film makers can take from videogames; making physical toys based on games; working with National Geographic and Clark's hope for the future of digital entertainment in Utah.

As usual, we'll put the video of the whole meeting up onto our YouTube channel (just as soon as we get time to do the edit!). In the meanwhile, if you were there or if you missed the meeting, it's worthwhile to read the meeting recap.

HUGE thanks once again to Clark, Joy and the WildWorks team for their sponsorship, warm welcome and such a great meeting!

Watch our social media and website for details of UDEN #23, which we'll be announcing in the coming weeks! You won't want to miss it!

UDEN BENEFITS UPDATE

You may recall in our April Newsletter, we talked about the possibility of UDEN providing more useful benefits to our members - such as healthcare or pension plans - which we thought might be beneficial as you move from job to job through your career, or to provide some security if you're a freelance/contractor. During UDEN #22 I presented the results so far -- disappointingly, we only heard back from around 1% of you, which is not enough to help us make any decisions one way or another. So please, can I ask those of you that have not yet responded, to take a few minutes and send us your input? We included the link at the top of our website, but you can also access the survey directly here: https://forms.gle/HLtPevXTAJTu1SGN8.

Please? Pretty please?

Many thanks!

LAST CHANCE FOR SLGC!

If you are an indie game developer, streamer, film maker, podcaster, board game creator, if you create arts, crafts or other entertainment and you would like to get feedback from real consumers, why not take a booth at this year’s Salt Lake Gaming Con? It's now one of the top 10 in the nation; it’s huge and will be held at the end of next month at the Salt Palace, downtown Salt Lake City. Booths are almost sold out but if you move fast, perhaps they can get you on the showfloor at a great price.

Email them at exhibitors@saltlakegamingcon.com. Full details about the show here: https://saltlakegamingcon.com/. Let them know UDEN put you in touch!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Many terrific events coming up in the month of May and you can find the best of them on the UDEN website events page! Please do check them out - here: http://utahden.org/upevents.

REMEMBER: if you have an upcoming event you would like to share with UDEN members, you can add it to our website for FREE on the same page!

From all of us at UDEN, our thanks for your continued support,

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

—-

What I Learned from GDC

by Karina Pardus
2160pts
on April 03, 2019Flag

I went to the Game Developer's Conference (GDC) last month, and oh man was it an amazing experience! I wanted to share my top 3 takeaways that can be applied to anyone in the entertainment industry. Here we go!

The people are more important than the talks

So get to know them! The talks and events are always interesting, and can help you learn for sure. But the people you get to know will be there even when the talk is over. They'll be there when the event is over, and even when you are across state or country borders, they're still there. And they are working and creating just like you are. Imagine the amazing things you can create with them. Think of the support you can give and receive through your comraderie in this industry. And then picture the amazing time you'll have when you see each other in person again at the next event. Life is so much more fulfilling when we fill it with people who share our passions, struggles, and joys. So talk to the person next to you. It's worth it.

Listen

Everywhere you are, no matter who you're with, listen. Be an active listener, because that's how you learn. Not only is that how you learn the answers to any questions you have, but you can also learn the best questions to ask that you wouldn't have thought of before. Listening yeilds opportunities to progress. Take that opportunity seriously.

Get involved in the conversations

Not to overshadow the listening, it's also important to be a part of the conversation. Conversations create awareness, understanding, and change, both in you and in the industry. There are a lot of really exciting conversations that are happening right now. We need you to be a part of it! It doesn't matter how much experience you do or don't have in the industry. It doesn't matter who you do or don't know. What matters is that you have a different perspective than anyone else in the discussion, simply because no one else is you. And we need creators of every aspect, discipline, and background to participate in the conversations that are changing the culture of how we do what we do.

Take care of yourself

So I know I said 3, but this bonus one is super important because it's the only way you can do the other points mentioned. We need you to be in a position to create, to experiment, to explore, to discuss, to support. As mentioned before, you have something no one else has: your life experiences that can influence the rest of us for good. But don't take care of yourself for our sakes. You're worth it, too.

—-

Friends with Benefits!

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on April 01, 2019Flag

Happy April! This month we ask what else UDEN can do for you - how useful, for example, would a benefits package be? And would you be prepared to pay for such services? We also announce the details for UDEN #22 and have an offer of booth space at Salt Lake Gaming Con.

Read on!

Let me begin by asking the question – what do you want out of UDEN? Our goal, as you may recall, is to build a community of the creators of digital entertainment and technology in Utah, leading to economic growth for our sector. No doubt that’s a worthwhile and lofty goal, but what does that mean to you, today, and your needs, tomorrow? How is UDEN helping? We’re always trying to think of practical things we can do that will help our community.

Please take a minute to help us by competing this quick survey about additional UDEN benefits that might be of interest to you: https://forms.gle/HLtPevXTAJTu1SGN8.

Many of you are contractors, or ‘indies’ and so you don’t usually get the kind of benefits you might get if you were employed in a larger company and if you do, they’ll often be more expensive because you’re not part of a larger group.

For example, healthcare. Perhaps with a large enough group, UDEN could provide cost-effective healthcare options to UDEN members at better rates than they can get individually. This might be especially useful to sole-traders and small businesses, but it might also be useful for people who expect through the course of their career to work in different companies, and for whom a continuous healthcare plan might be preferable. Would this be something that you would be interested in UDEN investigating? Would you use such a benefit if we can provide one? Maybe you already have a healthcare plan that works for you, in which case, perhaps there is no need for a UDEN alternative. To be clear, this needs further research, but before we spend much more time we want to know how many of you would find that useful.

Pension plans. With so many of our group being contractors, planning for retirement might seem impractical, but with enough of us in a group, again, perhaps we have some leverage. Throughout the course of your career, perhaps having one plan, rather than multiple different ones through different companies might be beneficial for you. Would this interest you?

Discounts on goods and services. We manage to arrange these from time to time, but are these of any value to you? Are there any specific ideas you have in this regard that we could investigate?

Other services. Are there other things that you think UDEN should be focused on in addition to what we’re doing, or that might have more value to you than those we are already providing? Maybe a website feature? Some other service?

Membership fee. We’re a free service for the community run by volunteers, and we are happy that way! However, if that’s not providing what you need and there is demand for more valuable services, we may need to introduce a membership fee to fund a staff member. Would you be willing to pay such a fee for increased benefits?

I’m sure you have thoughts on all of the above and we would love to hear them, so please let us know what you think by completing the quick survey https://forms.gle/HLtPevXTAJTu1SGN8!

Also, if you are in the healthcare or pensions business and would like to help our research, please do get in touch info@utahden.org. Likewise, if you would be willing to offer services or products at a discount to UDEN members, we would like to hear from you too!

UDEN #22 DETAILS - Get Tickets ASAP!

We have been teasing recently about our plans for the next UDEN networking event – we can finally reveal that we’ll be holding the event at WildWorks in Draper, one of the oldest and most successful Utah video game studios. WildWorks are the creators of the massively popular, award-winning online playground Animal Jam and the 2017 winner of Google's Best App for Kids award: Animal Jam - Play Wild! With a focus on purposeful games that educate and delight, WildWorks has a proven track record of growing hyper-engaged and loyal young audiences where kids make new friends and learn about environmental science.

The keynote for the evening is from UDEN co-founder and WildWorks' CEO, Clark Stacey. He will share the remarkable journey that the company has been on, from small indie studio to taking on and beating Disney in this space; about collaborations with major partners such as National Geographic; creating and marketing a global brand; getting into the toy business; expanding with a studio in Europe - and so much more! It's a fascinating story about smart, passionate people, determination and drive.

Of course we'll have our usual terrific networking opportunities later in the evening, where you can mix and mingle with the best and brightest of Utah's creators of entertainment and technology. Be prepared to come with your business cards and find your next great collaborator, client or contractor!

Plus WildWorks will be happy to give you a tour of their new state-of-the-art Draper studio.

You really don't want to miss this! Register today as space is filling up fast! Full details here: http://www.utahden.org/uden_22

We're still looking for a food sponsor for the evening -- if you would like to help or know someone that can, please get in touch info@utahden.org.

GET YOUR BUSINESS OUT THERE at SLGC!

If you are an indie game developer, streamer, film maker, podcaster, board game creator, if you create arts, crafts or other entertainment and you would like to get feedback from real consumers, why not take a booth at this year’s Salt Lake Gaming Con? It's now one of the top 10 in the nation; it’s huge and will be held at the end of June at the Salt Palace, downtown Salt Lake City. They’re offering UDEN members a booth on the showfloor at cost, just $250.

Email them at exhibitors@saltlakegamingcon.com. Full details about the show here: https://saltlakegamingcon.com/. Let them know UDEN put you in touch!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Many terrific events coming up in the month of April and you can find the best of them on the UDEN website events page! Please do check them out - here: http://utahden.org/upevents.

REMEMBER: if you have an upcoming event you would like to share with UDEN members, you can add it to our website for FREE on the same page!

...and many more!

From all of us at UDEN, our thanks for your continued support,

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

—-

Check Out These Resources We Have For You!

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on March 01, 2019Flag

Welcome to March! In this month's newsletter, we share details of the treasure trove of resources available to you via our YouTube channel, introduce Niantic's developer contest with $1M prize pool, announce UDEN's next meeting and highlight upcoming events this month! Read on!

We really enjoyed UDEN #21 two days ago at the Game Tyrant Gaming Center and would like to thank everyone that attended for their support, as well as the exhibitors and, of course, our friends at Game Tyrant for hosting us. We'll post video of the event soon on our YouTube channel.

This makes for a timely reminder; you know, we have filmed almost all of our events since we began four years ago, and they are gradually becoming a useful treasure trove of information and contacts you can use as a resource for your work; a collection of panels, keynotes and presentations from local industry leaders and experts on a broad range of topics that are educational and informative about key skills, local service companies, international and local issues affecting our sector. Below are a few highlights for you - but do check out the complete channel for so much more:

Panels:

Think Local, Hire Local - Utah Resources and Talent You Can Work With:

Meet local creators (with contact info): Meet & Greet
Film Services: Redman Movies & Stories
Education: Master Game Studio at the University of Utah, Spy Hop and Digital Media at Utah Valley University
Games: Utah Chapter - International Game Developers Association
Visual Effects: Schaffer Studios, Adam Sidwell and Big Red Meteor
Documentary Film Making: Issac Goeckeritz
State: Governor's Office of Economic Development
Music and Composition: Chance Thomas and Josh Sohn
Indie Film: Avrec Art House
Indie Games: Utah Indie Games Group, Dub Wars, Step Pets, Rogue Invader and Reload 360

Keynotes:

Innovation and Creativity: Donald Mustard (Epic, ChAIR, Fortnite)
Film: Interview with Bo Landin, Director of Toxic Puzzle Documentary and Virginia Pearce, Utah Film Commission
Games: John Blackburn on Disney Infinity, Steve Taylor (Wahoo, Ninja Bee) on Indie Development, Octothorpe's Top 5 VR Learnings from The Irregular and Nick Laing (Microsoft, EA) on Game Production
Education: Master Game Studios at the University of Utah and Ask Arthur: Using YouTube to Teach Science
Storytelling: Dustin Hansen on The Facets, Fibs & Facts of Storytelling and Stuart Edge on Storytelling Through Magic and YouTube
Audio: Josh Sohn - 5 Ways To Become A Better Composer and Owen Peterson - A Beginner's Guide to Audio for VR
Media: Rhett Wilkinson - Digital Press
Finance: Jen Jen Francis (Tiered World Studios) - Investing in Games
Streaming: Chris Holifield (I Am Salt Lake) - Podcasting 101
Business Development: Anthony Ambriz - How To Develop Your Video Content Strategy & Scale It and Chad Mustard - Social Media Strategy
Industry Data: Greg Jeffs (GOED) - How Hollywood became the center of the film industry (and how Utah could be for digital entertainment)
Location Based Entertainment: The VOID

Awards and Competitions:

Games: IGDA Choice Awards 2018 and Games4Health
Film: The Aurora Awards and Salt Flats Film Festival

Business Development

BEYOND REALITY DEVELOPER CONTEST

As we discussed at UDEN #21 this week, Niantic contacted us to ask if any Utah creators would be interested in taking part in their Beyond Reality Developer Contest. If you are, there is a prize pool of more than $1M dollars! The goal is for you to create an impactful geospatial Augmented Reality play experience with the Niantic Real World Platform – meaning you would be using their engine to create an app that uses the player's location in the real-world and combining augmented reality elements.

To participate, you need to be a team of at least five developers with Unity and Java Server experience. You need to complete an application form, including your team members names and experience, plus you’ll need to include a 5 minute video introducing your team. Also a product design brief, including core geospatial loop – eg how you’ll use the tenants of their AR platform.

You have until the end of this month to enter -- March 2019 -- after which time Niantic will choose 10 semi-finalists. Some of the prize funds will then be available to those finalists to build a working demo of their project, up to $50K. You'll travel to meet with Niantic in San Francisco and begin work on your project. There are set milestones you have to deliver against, including a polished game demo by end of September 2019. After you submit your final demo, Niantic will choose 3 wining teams. The winning team get $300K, 2nd and 3rd place get $100K each.

This is a great example of how you might get a project funded, and potentially even a publishing contract. There are a lot of rules and conditions to be aware of, so if this is of interest to you, go to the Niantic link here https://niantic.dev and get started.

And good luck! Wouldn’t it be great if a team from Utah was a finalist? We definitely have the talent and the creativity.

SAVE THE DATE! - UDEN #22 - April 24th

In keeping with our plan to hold more meetings this year, we're already planning the next UDEN meeting. Full details are coming but for now, RSVP here and save the date! It will be the usual networking mixer with Utah's finest creators of entertainment content and technology as well as whatever else we can come up with between now and then!

If you would like to sponsor this event, or host UDEN, please do get in contact! Email info@utahden.org.

Keep an eye on our Twitter, Instagram and Facebook feeds for announcements!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Don't forget! The UDEN website contains links to lots of upcoming events that are of interest to the digital entertainment community here in Utah, so please do check them out - here: http://utahden.org/upevents.

REMEMBER: if you have an upcoming event you would like to share with UDEN members, you can add it to our website for FREE on the same page!

From all of us at UDEN, our thanks for your continued support,

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

—-

UDEN #21 is This Month!

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on February 01, 2019Flag

Get ready for UDEN's first event of this year! UDEN #21 will be held at the Game Tyrant Gaming Center in North Salt Lake, 6pm February 27th. Checkout the video here. Great networking plus there are a few exhibit tables remaining if you want to get your product or service in front of UDEN members.

Here is this month's newsletter with more!

Well, Sundance has already proven to be fun, as always, and yesterday's first day of the Silicon Slopes Summit was a triumph! I hope you were have been able to spend time at least at one of them; both great examples of major events that bring people from out of state and give us the opportunity to highlight the incredible talent and leadership Utah has in creative content and technology. We're hopeful that next year we can have UDEN events at both.

Until then, get ready for UDEN's first event of this year! UDEN #21 will be held at the Game Tyrant Gaming Center in North Salt Lake, 6pm February 27th. Checkout the video here.

As usual there be great networking opportunities, where you can mingle with your fellow creators. Plus you'll also hear how Game Tyrant want to help us grow the entertainment community here in Utah. Game Tyrant has some truly impressive resources and they'll make them available to you; services include marketing and branding, awareness and events.

Better yet, if you have a product you want to show, or a service to get in front of UDEN members, we still have a handful of exhibit spaces available. It's free and couldn't be easier to participate. Just drop us a line info@utahden.org. First come, first served.

RSVP now for UDEN #21 and make sure you don't miss out! utahden.org/uden_21

UPCOMING EVENTS

The Events page on the UDEN website is a great way for you to connect to other groups that meet regularly to progress areas of interest for the creators of digital entertainment and technology; it's a great way to meet others in our industry, give back by sharing your expertise as well as learn new skills.

REMEMBER: if you have an upcoming event you would like to share with UDEN members, you can add it at our website for free!

See you at UDEN #21!

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

—-

You Won't Believe What UDEN Has Planned for 2019!

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on January 01, 2019Flag

Happy New Year! In my first newsletter for 2019, I ask for your support - in fact, more support in order to get some growth in Utah's digital entertainment community. BTW - if you don't get our newsletter and would like it in your inbox, please email info@utahden.org.

Read on...

It's 2019!

I hope you had a peaceful and happy holiday and that your New Year's Eve celebration was joyous last night! I wonder if, like me, you find January 1st rather dull? The beginning of the new year is a bit like a Monday morning in that everything lies ahead and still has to be done. And like a Monday morning, January makes it hard to take those first few steps. But UDEN is here to help you kick it into high gear!

For UDEN, 2019 will be another year of helping forge our community for the creators of digital entertainment. It's a long road and both you and we need to step-up our pace this year. Bottom line, if you like living and working in digital entertainment in Utah, we have to grow this sector. It won't happen unless we work together, put in the effort, sacrifice whatever contribution you can afford (whether time or money). Together we can build an ecosystem that can be profitable and ensure jobs for all in the long term.

Many people in our sector don't think UDEN has anything to do with them. Why? We hear "I'm in a job and I don't need you". Or "I don't have time". We hear that UDEN is "just about business" or "just for the games industry" or "just for the film business". Yet these are the same people we see when their studio closes; they come to us for advice and contacts to help get their next job. After they get that job? Back to the excuses again. This is short-sighted; the truth is that a lack of growth makes it hard to find a new job when you need one, so great talent ends up leaving the state even though they would prefer to stay here. Less talent means smaller growth and so we end-up in a downward spiral.

We need YOU to help us change that mindset, dare I say, change the culture of this sector and thinking of our colleagues, to enable us to grow digital entertainment in Utah.

This year UDEN plans to:

encourage more collaborations (through more frequent networking events);
expand the community (we aim to take our meetings to more locations in the State);
continue to share knowledge and expertise (at our meetings and by supporting other related groups);
advocate for our community (including gathering more data about who we are and where we are);
start an ambitious apprenticeship program (we have our first partner company identified, now we just need funds);
fund at least one staff member (through donations, sponsorships and the apprenticeship program).

That's a lot and we'll need your help. Our ask of you, the UDEN community in 2019 is simple: do as many of the following as you can:

SUPPORT. Make sure to attend our meetings. Also, did you know there are more than 50 other groups specializing in digital entertainment in Utah? Find the one or two most useful to you personally and support them also! Most of them post on our events pages www.utahden.org/upevents
HELP YOUR FRIENDS. Encourage your colleagues and other people you know in the industry to join UDEN (at the website - www.utahden.org/join_here).
ADVOCATE. Bring other people to UDEN meetings, tell them why YOU believe and how this is in your collective interest.
SUPPORT LOCAL, HIRE LOCAL whenever you can. By insourcing in the state, we support each other and it will make a huge difference to our ecosystem. If this isn't your job, talk to whoever in your organization does. We can help make connections for their needs.
BE UTAH PROUD. If you talk to the media about your work, remember to also tell them you're a Utah digital entertainment company. (When was the last time you saw or heard that?). Tell them Utah is a great place to live and work. Tell the world about the great talent and digital entertainment community we have here. Make it personal - tell them why you're here. Share your passion. Again, if this isn't something you do directly, get your company to start doing this.
SHARE UDEN's social posts to YOUR networks, whether large or small, it all helps. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. Please also tag your posts #UDEN and @UtahDen
VOLUNTEER. If you can spare an hour or two a month, please get in contact. info@utahden.org
DONATE. We're a non-profit run by volunteers and every penny helps keep our activities FREE for members. www.utahden.org/donate

UDEN's directors, advisory board and volunteers are not giving up on digital entertainment in Utah and we're ready for another year of trying to build something meaningful. I hope you'll join us and make supporting UDEN one of your resolutions for 2019.

Let's do this!

UPCOMING EVENTS

The Events page on the UDEN website always has lists of upcoming events that are of interest to our community; it's a great way to meet others in our industry, give back by sharing your expertise as well as learn new skills. REMEMBER: if you have an upcoming event you would like to share with UDEN members, you can add it at our website for free!

Here is to a great start to a great New Year!

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

—-

2018, It's Been Real! UDEN's Update for December

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on December 01, 2018Flag

This month we look forward to 2019, some great events this month and look back on what we achieved this year.

Read on!

Hello again, and a very warm welcome to December!

How could UDEN be more valuable for you? We're planning our goals and activities for 2019, so if you have thoughts on this, we really would like to hear them. Drop us an email info@utahden.org. We are always trying to think of new ways we can provide value for everyone involved in the creation of digital entertainment content and technology in Utah. Our theme last year was AR and VR; we had a terrific response to all of those events, indeed a number of startups and projects arose as a result of those UDEN meetings.

Our theme for 2018 has been business development, which included the week-long HIVE IGNITE back in May and culminated in the TRADE MISSION TO PARIS last month. It's hard to say how much new business was generated for UDEN members, but the feedback we have received from members about these has been really positive. That said, participation for both of these events was, frankly, disappointing, especially as the goal was to help you with business development. They each took a significant effort on our part to organize and fund, so we conclude that these didn't have as much value to you as we had thought they might. As such, we aren't planning on repeating HIVE IGNITE WEEK or arranging any TRADE MISSIONS in 2019. If we're wrong about that and you would like to see them, please do let us know! info@utahden.org.

The initial thinking for next year is 'Back to basics'; hold more regular networking meetings than we did this year and see if we can hold them in more towns across the State, try and extend this community and resources more widely. We'll confirm as we move into 2019. Again, if you have thoughts or suggestions, we would love to hear them.

The Utah Film Commission announced the Next Level Grant Program providing support and funding for local directors and producers to take their projects to the next level. $2,000 grants will be awarded to five recipients in 2019. In addition to the funding, the recipients will receive a one-year membership at the Utah Film Center’s Artist Foundry, access to the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, as well as access to Sundance Institute’s Co//ab Artist Network. Applicants must be Utah residents, over the age of 18, and must be a director or producer on the project.

The round one deadline for grant submissions is December 31, 2018. More details about this, as well as PA Certification and Grip and Electric Training, here: https://film.utah.gov/nextlevel.

UPCOMING EVENTS

The Events page on the UDEN website always has lists of upcoming events that are of interest to our community; there are a few that I wanted to highlight for you that are coming up soon:

TONIGHT - GAME DEVELOPERS CHOICE AWARDS

The SLC chapter of the IGDA is delighted to invite you to a fun evening to celebrate the best of Utah's game development scene in 2018. The evening has two parts - the main event, followed by an after party at a different location!

Here are the categories:

Best Indie Game (Team size < 10)

Celebrity Host: Greg Squire

Never Split the Party

Unicycle Hero

Best Artistic Achievement

Celebrity Host: Raymond Crook

Pushing Boundaries

Celebrity Host: Marc Call

Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire

Fortnite: Battle Royale

Jurassic World VR Expedition

The Raft

Achievement in Music and Sound Design

Celebrity Host: Chad Lee

Dota 2 - TI8

The First Tree

Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire

Game of the Year

Celebrity Host: John Blackburn

Animal Jam: Play Wild
Fortnite: Battle Royale

The First Tree

Best New Gaming Startup

Celebrity Host: Laura Schumacher

Octothorpe
Strange Reptile
Parallel Plaid

Utah Lifetime Achievement Award

This award will recognize the significant contributions made to the game industry, especially in Utah, by Jeff Peters

Cost: free

More details and RSVP: https://www.utahden.org/vazor/utah_game_developers_choice_awards_2018

Tuesday Dec 4th - Utah Grad Showcase

Join the Utah Film Center for the annual screening event showcasing the work of graduating seniors from the three major film schools in Salt Lake and Utah County: University of Utah, Brigham Young University, and Utah Valley University. During this event, local industry professionals are invited to attend and rub shoulders with the emerging Utah talent. Likewise, recent graduates are encouraged to connect with each other and broaden their filmmaking network. And audiences get to enjoy a selection of the best new films created in the state of Utah!

Jury and Audience Award Prizes will be awarded.

More details: https://www.utahfilmcenter.org/event/utah-film-grad-showcase/

Jan 31st 2019 - Silicon Slopes Utah Tech Summit 2019

Letting you know about this early so you can SAVE THE DATE! With some of the most prominent and leading minds in the tech industry taking the stage, Silicon Slopes Tech Summit is one of the largest and most prominent annual tech events in the world. Silicon Slopes Tech Summit features prominent keynotes, premium breakout sessions, breathtaking entertainment, unbelievable parties, incredible networking opportunities, and an exclusive screening of a film as part of the Sundance Film Festival. The amount of talent and experience that's on display makes this a unique event that could only happen in Silicon Slopes!

Best of all, because UDEN is a Silicon Slopes Chapter we'll have a deal on tickets for UDEN members - they will be first come, first served, so make sure to watch our social media for the announcements - Twitter, Instagram, Facebook.

More details here.

REMEMBER: if you have an upcoming event you would like to share with UDEN members, you can add it to our website for FREE on the Events page!

From all of us at UDEN, our thanks for your continued support in 2018. Looking forward to working with you more in 2019 to grow this community and our shared success,

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

—-

November News

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on November 01, 2018Flag

Hard to believe we're almost at the end of another year - still so much to do and still so many amazing events coming up!

This month we recap our recent Trade Mission to Paris, UDEN #20 and preview some events this month that you do not want to miss!

Trade Mission Update

I just got back from UDEN's first ever Trade Mission at which we took a booth at the Game Connection Europe 18 event in Paris, France, last week. The days were long but it was fun spreading the word about the talent we have in Utah. I met companies looking to buy creative services, such as game development, film production, AR/VR, post production, VFX etc; showed promo and product video showreels; handed out our digital eBrochure and encouraged potential clients to get in contact with you, our members. I also posted some short video blog updates during each day of the event that you can see on our Twitter, Instagram and Facebook pages.

Time will tell how much business was generated, but we definitely raised the profile of Utah's digital entertainment creators; you couldn't miss UDEN at the show! You can read my recap, see pictures and videos from the Trade Mission here: https://www.guv1.com/jonblogs/trademission18. Our thanks once more to our generous sponsors GrowTix, WildWorks, Spark XR and the Utah Film Commission.

UPCOMING EVENTS

The Events page on the UDEN website always has lists of upcoming events that are of interest to our community; there are a few that I wanted to highlight for you that are coming up soon:

TOMORROW - Nov 2nd/3rd - EXTRA LIFE

UDEN is honored to sponsor Extra Life, a 24 hour charity event that unites thousands of gamers around the world to play games in support of their local Children's Miracle Network Hospital. Since its inception in 2008, Extra Life has raised more than $40 million for sick and injured kids. Sign up today and dedicate a day of play to benefit the Primary Children's Hospital! Multiple tournaments including Rocket League, Halo 5, League of Legends, Madden, FIFA and MTG. There will also be VR setups to try, food and a silent auction. Plus a blood drive on Saturday from 10am - 2pm.

Cost: free, but donations are highly recommended

More details here: https://www.utahden.org/extra_life_salt_lake_city

Tuesday - Nov 6th/7th - Virtual Identity Summit

Just what impact will VR and AR have on our futures? At v-ID Summit, the World's preeminent technologists, social scientists, hardware manufacturers, artists, investors and enthusiasts will explore the future of how virtual and mixed realities will shape the human experience and our identities.

Speakers include representatives from Stanford University, Viveport, Wired, VR Chat, The VOID, Columbia University, Survios, HTC, Lumo Labs, University of Southern California, the New York Times, Harvard University, Digi-Capital, J.P. Morgan, Benchmark, Silicon Valley Bank, Samsung and the creator of HBO's Westworld.

Cost: $199 - UDEN members can get a 50% discount (details at link below)

More details here: https://www.utahden.org/vid

Thursday - Nov 8th - PitchNic

The world premiere of four short films written, directed & produced by Utah teens. A yearlong intensive film class at SpyHop, PitchNic is an innovative way to immerse students in the filmmaking process. If you are a film lover, you don’t want to miss this extraordinary display of local, upcoming talent.

Conceived in 2003 as an innovative way of uniting talented and passionate young filmmakers with real production resources, PitchNic allows experienced student filmmakers access to the funds, equipment and professional mentorship needed to create top-caliber films. PitchNic films have screened at over 30 festivals internationally, including Sundance Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Festival and the San Mauro Film Festival in Italy to name a few.

Cost: $10

More details here: https://www.utahden.org/pitchnic_premiere

Saturday - Dec 1st - Game Developers Choice Awards and Final Burn After Party

The SLC chapter of the IGDA is delighted to invite you to a fun evening to celebrate the best of Utah's game development scene in 2018. The evening has two parts - the award ceremony, at which the best Utah games of 2018 will be recognized, followed by the annual Final Burn celebration of the awesome work done by all the talented individuals in Utah. This event is a terrific opportunity to make some new connections and do some networking, and catch up on the latest with your local video game industry.

Cost: $0

More details: click here

Don't forget! The UDEN website contains links to these and lots of other upcoming events that are of interest to the digital entertainment community here in Utah, so please do check them out - http://utahden.org/upevents.

REMEMBER: if you have an upcoming event you would like to share with UDEN members, you can add it to our website for FREE on the same page!

UDEN #20 update!

During our last meeting more than 100 people joined us at Redman Movies & Stories with more than half getting up on stage for the Meet & Greet, sharing details of who they are, what they do and what they need. A list of who spoke with their contact info is now available here, plus you can read a full event recap and watch video here: https://www.utahden.org/uden20recap. Don't forget that Bryan Clifton at Redman wants to hear from YOU as to what you would like to use the virtual studio for -- perhaps a film, TV show, VR/AR, stage play, game, mocap or other project. It's another great opportunity for UDEN members and you can contact Bryan here.

From all of us at UDEN, our thanks for your continued support,

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

—-

Trade Mission to Paris - Recap

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on October 28, 2018Flag

Read our "hot-off-the-press" report from Paris about how the UDEN Trade Mission turned out!

In continuing to undertake activities as part of its 2018 theme of business development, UDEN took a booth at Game Connection Europe in Paris, France at the end of October. The goal was to raise the profile of Utah as a place where quality digital entertainment was created and to introduce Utah's talented creators of entertainment content and technology to a global audience, with the hope of creating new opportunities for everyone.

Were we successful? Well, in terms of raising the profile, the phrase we heard most was “You do that in Utah?”, second only to “Where is Utah?”. As for business opportunities, time will tell how much was created (the show only ended two days ago at the time of writing) — but there was a lot of interest.

We weren't sure what to expect, but our hopes were high. Here is my report, filed a day after the event finished! https://www.guv1.com/jonblogs/trademission18

—-

UDEN 20 - Recap

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on October 05, 2018Flag

UDEN’s 20th membership meeting took place on September 5th, 2018. It was held at Redman Movies & Stories, Salt Lake City, Utah USA. The following are key notes and take-aways from the evening. It also includes video from the evening, including all of those who came and told us who they were, what they do, what they need, what they offer and their contact info! Make sure to read and watch!

As well as hearing from Redman Movies and Stories about their new 'virtual studio', we also talked a lot about how we can support each other in our community building -- THINK LOCAL. HIRE LOCAL. SUPPORT LOCAL. Click here to read my full recap: https://www.guv1.com/jonblogs/2018/uden20

—-

Can We Find New Business For You? For FREE?

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on October 01, 2018Flag

I wanted to make sure your October got off to a great start by offering to do something for you for FREE! No catch. It's another UDEN initiative to build and grow the digital entertainment sector in Utah. At the end of the month, UDEN will be in Paris, France, undertaking our first trade mission where we'll be putting Utah's talented creators of entertainment content and technology in front of a global audience, trying to open new opportunities for you.

BUT YOU NEED TO ACT FAST!

We're just 23 days away from the trade mission and we need to finish creating the materials in the next week! Just click this link here and follow the simple steps to be included.

Click to read more details of this GREAT, no catch offer, as well as an update on #UDEN20!

During the trade mission we'll be:

meeting companies looking to buy creative services, such as game development, film production, AR/VR, post production, VFX etc;
showing promo and product video showreels;
handing out a digital eBrochure - an interactive listing of entertainment companies and service providers in Utah
encouraging potential clients to get in contact with you - but that can't happen unless you're included in the eBrochure!

The big news is that thanks to generous support from our sponsors GrowTix, WildWorks, Spark XR and the Utah Film Commission, we can include you on our digital eBrochure for FREE!

Maybe you have a new project and you're looking for a partner, publisher or distributor?
Perhaps you need funding for a new interactive project?
Maybe you would like to get new contracts for new projects to work on?

The eBrochure looks like a shiny business card, but actually contains a 32Gb thumb drive onto which we are loading an interactive directory as well as links and digital content, to allow potential clients to see your work! If you're in Utah and offer a digital entertainment service, details of your service and what you can offer can be listed in the eBrochure at no cost!

TIME IS RUNNING OUT! Just click this link here and follow the simple steps to be included.

Then follow us on social media for live updates from the trade mission on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook!

UDEN #20 update!

More than 100 people joined us at Redman Movies & Stories last month for UDEN 20, with more than half getting up on stage for the Meet & Greet, sharing details of who they are, what they do and what they need. We'll be publishing a list of those folks as well as the video of the event on our YouTube channel soon.

The key message we gave during the evening was to implore everyone in this community to THINK LOCAL, SUPPORT LOCAL, HIRE LOCAL when you have a need. And to make use of the services we offer via the UDEN website, including the jobs board, blogging pages and event listings.

Almost everyone that attended got to see the terrific state-of-the-art virtual studio at Redman, and don't forget Bryan Clifton's message: he wants to hear from the UDEN community as to what you would like to use the virtual studio for. Whatever your idea, he wants to hear your pitches on what you might like to do; perhaps a film, TV show, VR/AR, stage play, game, mocap or other project that might make use of the virtual studio. It's another great opportunity. You can contact Bryan here.

UPCOMING EVENTS

REMEMBER: if you have an upcoming event you would like to share with UDEN members, you can add it to our website for FREE on the same page!

From all of us at UDEN, our thanks for your continued support,

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

—-

Where's My Incentive?

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on September 14, 2018Flag

The fact that Utah isn't known as a hub for game development frustrates many of the people that live and work here making games. I frequently hear people say "We should demand financial incentives from the state!" and it's a topic we have debated at many prior UDEN meetings. I found myself responding to am impassioned thread on this topic on Facebook this week, so I thought I would re-share my comments on that thread here for those who might be interested.

FWIW, my 2c is that incentives are not a magic solution. Nor should we hope to build an industry on handouts (because when they inevitably go away, so does the industry).

First, we need some bloody good answers to some tough questions...

The most important question is, why *should* taxpayers incent our industry? Because we will make the state lot of money in return, right? Surely if that were true we would have a thriving industry here already. We don't. Why did Disney leave? Microsoft? EA? Not a great track record on the surface. Local gov are very aware these companies left as are other big studios that might want to come here. What is our answer?

What is the justification for incentives? We might say, look at Texas. Look at Montreal, New York. But when you do study them, you find the game communities collaborated significantly and found economic success *first*. Incentives followed as a means to boost the growth already initiated, they were not handouts to create an industry.

This is why UDEN is trying to build a community, it's the foundational step towards getting an industry going. Truth is, its a long hard slog and despite a lot of talk, not many people are that interested in actually doing anything about the status quo.

And now it's my turn to vent!

Those developers in work are alright, thank you very much, no need to come to meetings or lift a finger, while those companies doing well are not championing this community. After all, whats in it for them? What's their incentive? (see what I did there?)

How many of you reading this are UDEN members? It costs nothing and yet very few people that say they want to do something have actually taken the trouble to click the button on a web page and join. How many meetings do you attend? Also free, we even feed you. Even if you dont like UDEN, how much time do you volunteer or how much collaboration have you instigated? How many of you have supported any UDEN or the local IGDA or Utah Indie Game Group initiatives? Until more of you care enough, don't expect things to change. But this is exactly what the devs in Austin, Montreal and NYC did do over many years, sharing expertise, doing biz dev, helping one another, working to promote the collective. Only when they showed economic success could they make the case for incentives. Until we can do that here and show economic success as an industry sector, there is no case for incentives.

We have a lot of data and outcomes of many meetings with local gov officials (incl. the ‘other’ Guv) which we're happy to share. Incentives are like gasoline: put it on dry sticks and you get... damp sticks. Put it on sparks and you get a boom. We need to be the spark. I encourage anyone who wants to make this happen to register with UDEN right now, be an active member and help us make this a reality as a coordinated, concerted effort. Http://Www.utahden.org If you want to come and meet to discuss, see the data, hear the plans, we have an office in the basement of Access Salt Lake, 175W 200S, SLC. We are all volunteers and are there most Tuesdays and Thursdays. Http://www.facebook.com/utahden

How about some solutions?

You will have noticed UDEN trying multiple different things in addition to our regular networking meetings, such as the upcoming Trade Mission to Paris. An important initiative we're trying to get off the ground is a UDEN sponsored apprenticeship program. It's not internship, it's inspired by the old 'journeyman' apprenticeships that were common in the days of trades and manufacturing, that prepared people for their chosen industry. We're thinking a structured program where the apprentices serve two years with a company, get to work on the company's projects and spend about 20% of the time there learning how the industry works, how to start a business, and getting them ready to start-up at the end of the apprenticeship. Ideally, UDEN would then invest in those startups and help them with biz dev, providing those startups also took on apprentices themselves, paying it forward. This does a number of things:

- provides a stipend in salary
- is a good alternative to outsourcing overseas
- kick starts the entertainment economy here and creates jobs
- instills the 'values' of being part of the community into all the apprentices

Better yet, this is the kind of program we believe we can get training grants to support as well as philanthropic donations.

This idea seems popular at state level, we just cant get an existing company to partner for the first cohort (we have been trying for a year). So Jeff Peters and I are starting a venture to be that first partner with UDEN, and assuming we can get funding for that, we hope to begin the program next year and use that as a blueprint to offer to all the local entertainment companies.

It's a long term plan, yes, but we arrived at it after years of banging heads against the very frustrations that this thread talks about. This would be a great initiative to get everyone to rally around, IMO. We're not giving up...yet!

Let us know what you think in the comments below...

—-

Networking Tips

by Karina Pardus
2160pts
on September 11, 2018Flag

Just last week, UDEN hosted their 20th networking event at Redman Movies and Stories in Salt Lake City. And they termed it the “best networking event ever,” and that was not titled lightly. It was incredible. Not only did they present the opportunity for people to have a VIP tour of the VR/AR capable studio, they gave everyone the chance to say who they are, what they do, what they need, and what they can give to the digital entertainment community here in Utah.

Read my take-aways and my thoughts on how to network with purpose!

After watching and listening to over 50 people give their brief presentation at UDEN #20, I was overwhelmed with all the information of all the cool things everyone did. But it all hit home when one of the presenters said, “What do I need? I need to know how to network better.”

I chuckled, but then thought about how it is so easy to go to a networking event and never meet a new person because you stick close to the people you already know. Meeting new people, especially to “network” and “pitch” what you do is intimidating. And though I am not perfect at it, I thought I'd share my top tips for how to get past the comfort zone and arrive at the next event confident and ready to network!

1. Don't think about networking.

Think instead about creating relationships. People don't want to be “sold to” every 3 minutes when they meet someone new. They want to share their ideas and find people who can understand why they are excited about what they do! Truly listening to someone, without having an agenda of what to say next or how to fix their problem will not only make them feel more comfortable around you, but it also takes the pressure off of you to say the “right” thing. All you need to do is listen, ask questions, find what you both have in common, and celebrate that. If what you do fits in with what they need, then that's fantastic. If not, then you still have made a connection with another human, and that can turn into beautiful things over time, so don't dismiss them.

2. Know what you can offer.

Having a good idea of the skills you have is important, and it's even better if you can talk about those skills in specific and succinct terms. People don't usually want to hear about how you are a team player, or that you have good leadership skills. Those aren't definable things. They are good things to be able to do, but it's better if you can talk about how you've worked with all different kinds of people (and even enjoyed it!) or led a team of 5 in a project that was successful. Make it specific, and keep what you do to a few short sentences. It's hard to build a conversation, and thus a relationship, if you give them your life story without an opportunity for them to discuss it with you.

3. Be willing to create connections for others.

Networking isn't just about you. It is wonderful when you can meet someone that is going to help propel you and your business to where you want to go. But sometimes you meet people who need something that you can't give, but you know someone who does. Introduce them, give them space to build what they need, and enjoy that happy feeling of being a connector in the industry. More often than not, those people won't forget your kindness, and they'll know who to go to next when they are at a crossroads.

4. Be organized.

This might just be personal preference for me, but I bring the same notebook to each event to write down the contacts I made, and personal notes about what we talked about. Because even though business cards are cool (and I refer to the box full often), at the end of the night it can be hard to look at a business card and remember a face, or the conversation that you had together. Keeping notes on people can help you remember them better, and can be a great help for the final tip:

5. Follow up.

Meeting a new person at an event isn't going to do much for you if you don't ever talk to that person again. Remember tip #1 – it's about creating a relationship with a human being, and relationships take time to build. So take the time and effort – follow up with an email or a phone call. Look at their website that was on their business card. Thank them for their interest in your work. Ask for more details about the project they talked to you about that you wrote down in your notebook. Look for ways that you can be helpful to them and then talk to them about your ideas.

As I've done these things, I have noticed that when I go to the next event, the room is filled with familiar faces and people that I have a stronger connection with. It's a comfortable situation. I always say hello and try to catch up a bit before things get started to keep building the relationship that started. But don't forget all the people you haven't met yet – that is the next frontier. Finding new people to connect with, learn from, and collaborate with – that is the true adventure of networking.

—-

When September Ends (but it's just started!)

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on September 01, 2018Flag

If we're going to improve the economic fortunes of our community, then we have to change the way we work. We need to think about business development, we must find more ways to collaborate and work together. Think local. Hire local. Support local. Whenever you can.

Read more about this, UDEN #20 and lots more in this September newsletter!

UDEN #20 will be our best networking event ever, not least because we will be asking you, and everyone else that attends, to say a few words — to share your story with the meeting, including:

what you do
what you need and
what you can offer
Perhaps you have a new project to pitch?
Perhaps you’re looking for collaborators or expert help?
Maybe you’re looking to invest in a worthwhile cause
Or want to give back to the community through some mentoring?
Something else we haven't thought of?

We want you to think local when you have a need and for you to support local whenever you can. This meeting will help facilitate that, plus we'll be recording it for our YouTube channel to help spread the word beyond the meeting. Whatever you need or have to offer, make connections at UDEN #20.

As if that weren't enough, we have scored VIP access for you to go behind the scenes and see the new virtual studio at Redman Movies. It's another great example of the state-of-the-art facilities we have on our doorstep, so whether you're making a film, TV show, videogame, streaming content -- you name it, you should get to know the team at Redman.

Plus, we'll feed you - thanks once again to our generous sponsor GrowTix, you can eat some delicious food from Square Kitchen.

UDEN #20 is next Wednesday, September 5th. If you already registered, yay! Please get there for 6pm as we have a packed program.

If you didn't register yet, we have a handful of tickets remaining as of this email, so jump to the website and grab them ASAP!

Registration, directions and parking at the website here: www.utahden.org/uden_20.

HAVE A NEED? THINK LOCAL, SUPPORT LOCAL, HIRE LOCAL. If you’re looking for help, come to UDEN #20 plus you can also post on our job board (here) and our blogs (here).

UDEN's TRADE MISSION to PARIS!

UDEN is taking space at GCE in Paris, France next month and you can be part of it for as little as $50! The idea is that we'll share details about your business and services and you don't even need to travel! How great is that?

We have designed a package of promotional options for you, find out more and sign-up here: utahden.org/trademission

UPCOMING EVENTS

Check out the UDEN website as it contains links to lots of upcoming events that are of interest to our digital entertainment community in Utah - here: http://utahden.org/upevents.

REMEMBER: if you have an upcoming event you would like to share with UDEN members, you can add it to our website for FREE on the same page!

From all of us at UDEN, our thanks for your continued support,

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

—-

Save The Date! UDEN #20 is Coming!

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on August 01, 2018Flag

Wow! It's 8-1-18 (same forward as backwards!). I can’t believe we are already in August, just one month from the next UDEN meeting. That’s right, UDEN #20 will take place September 5th at 6pm and we would love to see you there. In keeping with this years theme of business development, the focus of UDEN #20 will be... YOU!

Click to read the August newsletter for more about UDEN #20, the latest uploaded video sessions from HIVE IGNITE WEEK as well as the upcoming Trade Mission to Paris!

UDEN #20 is shaping up to be our best networking event ever, because we will be asking you, and everyone else that attends, to say a few words — to share their story with the meeting, including what you do, what you need and what you can offer. Our hope is to fast track the networking and help connections get made faster — perhaps you have a new project to pitch? Perhaps you’re looking for collaborators or expert help? Maybe you’re looking to invest in a worthwhile cause or want to give back to the community through some mentoring? Maybe something else? Whatever you need or have to offer, make connections at UDEN #20. More details coming soon but you can register right now here: www.utahden.org/uden_20. Many thanks to GrowTix for sponsoring UDEN once again!

The need for making connections was highlighted at the recent HIVE IGNITE WEEK, where a recurring theme seemed to be “I’m looking for help but I can’t find anyone local, so I contract out of state” - while at the same time we heard from others “No-one in Utah is hiring or looking for contractors”. Yet here these folks were in the same room! This is why we’re opening up the floor in UDEN #20. Remember, HAVE A NEED? HIRE LOCAL, HIRE UT. If you’re looking for help, come to UDEN #20 plus you can also post on our job board (here) and our blogs (here).

Just $50 gets you to Paris, France! That’s right! It’s the most cost effective way to get your company and services in front of an international audience - in other words, we will do some business development for you, and you don’t even need to travel. It's just 83 days away and we still have some open slots on our trade mission so sign up here.

Our goal is to raise the profile of Utah’s digital entertainment community on the global stage and to share details about you and the services you offer to potential future clients. Services of interest there include game development, art, audio, VFX, storytelling, design, post-production, back-end systems, networking, AR/VR and more.

Huge thanks already to GrowTix and WildWorks for sponsoring this trade mission. If any other organizations would like to help us promote Utah and UDEN on our trade mission, we would welcome additional sponsorship to help cover the costs and so make this as affordable as possible for as many UDEN members as we can.

For more details about UDEN’s first trade mission to Paris, please go to: utahden.org/trademission

In keeping with this year's theme of business development, social media strategy was the topic of an excellent, informative and highly entertaining keynote at UDEN #19 by Chad Mustard - in case you missed him live, we just posted it to our YouTube channel here. You don’t want to miss this! Also on our YouTube channel are the first two days of sessions from HIVE IGNITE WEEK, including panels on:

Issues: Women In The Media and
Technology: The state of VR and AR

plus sessions where expert presenters share their knowledge including:

Streaming: Podcasting 101
Business Development: How To Develop Your Video Content Strategy & Scale It and Social Media Strategy
Industry Data: How Hollywood became the center of the film industry (and how Utah could be for digital entertainment)
Audio: 5 Ways To Become A Better Composer and A Beginner's Guide to Audio for VR
Media: Digital Press
Film: Interview with Bo Landin, Director of Toxic Puzzle Documentary
Games: Top 5 VR Learnings from The Irregular

You can find the complete HIVE IGNITE WEEK video playlist here. We are still editing day three and the Interactive Jam, and will post these as soon as they are ready so keep an eye on our Twitter, Instagram and Facebook feeds for announcements!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Don't forget! The UDEN website contains links to lots of upcoming events that are of interest to the digital entertainment community here in Utah, so please do check them out - here: http://utahden.org/upevents. REMEMBER: if you have an upcoming event you would like to share with UDEN members, you can add it to our website for FREE on the same page!

It continues to be a busy summer with lots of events for the UDEN community to enjoy and learn from!

Throughout August - FILMS!

This month you can find terrific, engaging independent film showtimes all across the state. The wonderful Utah Film Center maintain a great list here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/UtahFilmCenter/events/

Also, the Salt Lake Film Society film event Summer Late Nights continues through August - details of the films and dates here.

Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays – Entrepreneur Launch Pad

The Entrepreneur Launch Pad (ELP) helps startups and small businesses on the Wasatch front. Free mentoring, education, resources for growth. These meetings in Sandy, Kaysville, and Orem. More info here:

INDUSTRY EVENTS:

GAME - GamesIndustry.biz maintain a comprehensive list of upcoming events for the gaming industry, here: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/network/events

FILM - Our partners at the Utah Film Commission have an events calendar, here: https://film.utah.gov/event-calendar/

TECH - You can find an interesting, wide variety of tech-related events at our good friends Silicon Slopes' events page here: https://nvite.com/community/siliconslopes

VR/AR - The VR/AR Association now has a Utah chapter! You can find their details as well as a solid list of events relevant for those involved in the creation of VR and AR, here: http://www.thevrara.com/events/

GAMES - the Utah Games Guild maintain a calendar of local events here: https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=v468q15oiiqtdu7dmfcs5l9ui8%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Denver

From all of us at UDEN, our thanks for your continued support,

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

—-

Do You Want To Receive Our Newsletter?

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on July 16, 2018Flag

We try and send a monthly newsletter to all registered UDEN members. Read on for details of how you can receive it, or to unsubscribe!

By registering as a UDEN member, you're automatically enrolled to receive occasional emails from us, including a monthly newsletter. Even if you're not a member, if you would like to be on our mailing list please drop us a line and we'll add you - info@utahden.org.

If you are a member and you're not getting emails but would like to, perhaps you opted out, or may have tapped 'unsubscribe' on a prior email? It's a setting in your account that you can change. If you would like us to reinstate your emails please just drop us a note at the above email address.

If you are a member and don't want to receive any emails from us, again, it's a setting in your UDEN account and you can opt out. Again, please email us if you need any help!

—-

Get Out of That Creative Funk

by Karina Pardus
2160pts
on July 05, 2018Flag

Every person in any creative endeavor has gotten into that creative funk. The one where you can't seem to think of new ideas, and the old ideas aren't working either, and since when did you feel so rusty in that skill? And in fact, why did you think you could create that in the first place?

Sound familiar?

Each situation is different, but I've found a few strategies that help me fairly consistently to get back up ready to rock! I hope these help spark the ignition in your work and process, or at least give you a ball that you can get rolling and continue creating.

We've all had this experience, and it is not a fun one. But the important thing is that we can all get out of it. Just like how it's not bad if you fall down, but it's terrible if you don't choose to get back up again and keep going – the thing to focus on is getting out of the funk rather than how awful it is that you got there in the first place. What holds your attention holds you. And refocusing and getting out of it are each choices within your control.

1. Check your health.
This is probably the first thing I do when the funky feelings start coming my way. Am I eating healthy? Am I drinking enough water? Am I getting enough sleep and exercise? Those things are often easy to forget when all you want to do is be in the creative flow. Sometimes they aren't possible during a deadline – ok that's mostly sleep. But as many of these should be in good standing as possible at all times to help you be in the best conditions to be creative. If sleep isn't possible, schedule your eating and exercise more definitively, and take naps when possible. Make your schedule smart and healthy for your body and brain.

2. Get out of the grind.
So often when we are creating and working we don't realize that we've had our nose to the grindstone for so long without any breaks or reprise. The creative funk is a sign that you need to snap out of it! Much like pain in our body is a sign that something is not right and needs to change, the funk is telling you that you need to take a break or things will get worse – like getting sick. Yikes!

Go outside for a walk, sit in nature to recharge, read a book, socialize if it energizes you (but if it depletes your energy, save it for when your energy is already at a high point), exercise, play games, be silly, go on vacation, or do anything that will give your brain and body a break and help you to recharge. Long or short break, when you are refreshed try jumping back into the game, but perhaps with moderation and of course with mindfulness so you can be in tune with what you need so as to not plummet down right after you get back up.

3. Try new things.
Creativity yearns for innovation. Often our craft requires the same skills we've been using for long periods of time without the acquisition of new knowledge and then the creativity gets confused and says, “hey! Aren't we supposed to be doing something new? I'm feeling stifled in here!” So get out of the box you've built and try new things. Something that stretches your brain a little bit, without being too hard to be frustrating.

Options: drawing or painting, learning how to play a new song on your instrument of choice, learn a new game, taking an online class about a subject that interests you (even if it's not work related), play paintball or go rock climbing, learn a new language, or how to cook something you've never tried. Whatever that thing is that you've “always wanted to do”, try it! Expand your horizons even further and find new things that you want to do. Remember, it's not about being good at it – your painting doesn't have to be a Van Gogh and your sourdough bread might collapse. All experiences can benefit your work if you let it.

4. Count your blessings.
This is probably my favorite thing to do when I get into a slump of any kind. Being grateful might sound like a weird thing to do when life isn't working right, but in my experience it is the best time for it. Gratitude is like a muscle, it needs to be worked often in order to be strengthened – if you're not using it, it will get weaker and won't be able to help you when you have some heavy lifting to do. (Creative funks can get pretty heavy.)

Gratitude has amazing effects on our brain. It is able to supply our brain with endorphins that are necessary for both joy and pleasure to take full effect, and it also helps our brains make connections between things easier. Think of it as lubricant in our brain grooves to help things flow smoother. Making a conscious effort to be grateful for things on a daily basis I think is one of the best habits you can get into as a creative artist in whatever realm your craft may be in, and has great health benefits to boot. So if you haven't done this before, here's some things to help you get started.

At the end of the day, write down at least one thing you were grateful for that day. If it made a light in your day, don't let it get lost in the humdrum of life. Write it down! Savor it. Remember it. Save it for the day when nothing is going right then remember that moment. Because remembering what you have been grateful for in the past is equally powerful to being grateful for something in the moment. Writing it down helps you remember when you need it.

Gratitude burpees. This is rapid fire gratitude bursts with a burst of energy added in. A burpee is as follows: Jump up, when you land plant your hands on your feet on the ground, jump your feet back to plank position, do a pushup, jump your feet back to your hands, then jump up. That's one. Say out loud something you're grateful for before that one is over, then do it again. See if you can get to 10, or 5, or build up to 20. No joke I've done this at times when my brain couldn't focus, and it works almost immediately – both at home and at events.

For something more meditative or low impact on your body, try gratitude sun salutations. Stand tall, go into a forward bend dropping your neck and relaxing the hands, place your hands on your knees and make your back flat parallel to the ground looking forward, then back to a forward bend, plant your hands and step your feet back to plank position, go into downward dog, then upward dog, then downward dog, bring your feet back to your hands, go into a forward bend, then stand up bringing your arms straight above your head looking up, then back to mountain pose arms down eyes looking forward standing tall. That's one. This allows you to not just say what you're grateful for, but reflect on it. Doing 20 of these first thing in the morning is a glorious thing to start your day and combat that funky block.

Remember that what holds your attention holds you. Don't let the creative funk hold you for ransom. Shift the focus to what you're grateful for, or to the way you are treating your body and brain with respect, or with a new activity that energizes and refreshes you. The most important thing to know is that you are still a creative force to be reckoned with, and this world needs you and your art. So learn to rest, not to quit, and get yourself back to where you can work as your best self, an (not sure why this is cut off?)

—-

Look Out Europe! Utah is Coming!

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on July 01, 2018Flag

We begin July with some exciting news - we have finalized plans to promote UDEN members and help develop business leads for you. Our first trade mission will be to Paris in October, where we are taking booth space at an entertainment trade show. Read on to find out more, as well as an update on #HiveIgniteWeek and the upcoming events for the summer!

As we head into the second half of the year with summer well underway, UDEN is excited to announce our first trade mission! We have been talking about this and researching it since the beginning of the year - and at last it's going to happen.

Our goal is to raise the profile of Utah’s digital entertainment community on the global stage and to share details about you and the services you offer to potential future clients. Services of interest there include game development, art, audio, VFX, storytelling, design, post-production, back-end systems, networking, AR/VR and more.

Best of all, we make it easy for you — we’ll do the traveling and the promoting, allowing you to get on with what you do. By sharing the expenses, it’s also very cost effective - only $50 to be included in the UDEN ebrochure digital directory that we'll be giving out at the event. You can also upgrade to add your showreel and logo for increased exposure.

Of course, if you would like to be part of the UDEN delegation and to pitch your services directly, we would be delighted for you to join us on this trip to Paris. Space is available on a first-come basis.

For more details about UDEN’s first trade mission to Paris, please go to: utahden.org/trademission

#HiveIgniteWeek was two months ago. You may recall that we had some really excellent sharing of knowledge and expertise during that week, which we videotaped for our YouTube channel. Well, we're gradually getting that material edited and posted so that those of you that didn't get the chance to see these sessions live can get the full benefit. Day 1 (Tuesday) of the Hive Ignite sessions are already posted on our YouTube channel, and we have just begun to post the day 2 (Wednesday) sessions; the first couple are live already. Checkout the playlist here. The rest of Wednesday, as well as Thursday and the Interactive Jam will be posted as we get them edited in the coming weeks, so please keep an eye on our Twitter, Instagram and Facebook feeds for announcements!

UPCOMING EVENTS

It looks like its going to be a busy summer with lots of events for the UDEN community to enjoy! Here are a few highlights:

July 2nd - UtahVR present the STYLY Contest

Whether you're a developer, designer or VR enthusiast, come learn about STYLY, eat pizza and have a great time! STYLY is excited to invite you to participate in a worldwide design competition with pretty amazing prizes including $20,000 as the top Gold Prize, three $5,000 winners for the Silver Prize, and even a premium Alienware gaming notebook! STYLY is calling for VR content works in the fields of fashion, culture and art that utilize STYLY's creative tools to make mind blowing content :) More details here.

July 6 - 8th - Salt Lake Gaming Con

Salt Lake Gaming Con is the 6th biggest gaming convention in the country. In the first year there were 15,000 gamers that attended over the three days making it one of the biggest first year gaming conventions ever! With over 88% of the US population playing games, there is something for everyone at SLGC. Among the activities are board games and videogames, cosplay, tournaments for consoles, PC, board games, tabletop, and card games. In addition you could try Live Action Roleplay (LARP)? Or maybe take part in a giant NERF war. Or perhaps a giant 30-person game of Twister? You can do all of these and so much more at Salt Lake Gaming Con! More details here.

July 6 - 8th - Utah Intercollegiate eSports Invitational 2018

Join us for a jam packed two day weekend for one of the largest collegiate invitational events within the state of Utah. Schools from within and around Utah will participate including, University of Utah, Arizona State University, University of Nevada - Las Vegas, University of Colorado - Boulder, Utah State University, Neumont University, Brigham Young University, Weber State University, Utah Valley University, Southern Utah University. More details here.

July 9th - Spy Hop Reel Stories Film Premiere

Join Spy Hop for the world premiere of a collection of new documentary films from Utah teens. After each film there will be a short Q&A with the filmmaker. A reception will follow with some light refreshments. This is a free event and open to the public, but space is limited. Come hear what the next generation of filmmakers have to say, we promise you won’t be disappointed. More details here.

July 13 - 15th - 48 Hour Film OUT Project

Filmmakers from all over the Salt Lake City, UT area will compete to see who can make the best LGBT+ film in only 48 hours. The winning film will screen at Filmapalooza 2019. Among the participants will be: No Sleep Till Broadway Jeff Twede, Samael Productions Christian Dives, Sassy Duck Pictures Kevin McDaniel, Squats Tatonka Jacob Winn and Tangy Deverien Todd Brown. More details here.

July 13 - 15th - Shovel Jam II

This game jam is focused around learning to publish and release a game. (Good chance to make some mistakes without suffering!) In order to have enough time to finish and release a game, we won't be making a game from scratch. Whoever wants to will bring in one of their unfinished game projects to show. We will all vote on one to work on and get it wrapped up. Simultaneously we will have a group working on the marketing/legal side. We will try to do all the important/difficult legal steps as one group rather than splitting it up so that everyone has a chance to learn that. This should be a good trial by fire way to learn the game release process. There's a big chance we'll mess up the first few times but the goal is to get better! More details here.

July 14th - IGDA Summer 2018 BBQ Potluck

Let's get together, share some food and catch up! This year, we're meeting at Spencer's House in Taylorsville. IGDA will have Hamburgers and Veggie Burgers with toppings. We'll need sides, desserts, and drinks. Sign up here and let us know what you can bring! See you there!

July 20 - 22nd - Damn These Heels Film Festival

The longest-running LGBTQ Film Festival in the Mountain West, the 15th annual Damn These Heels is a safe, supportive environment that celebrates our community’s diversity by sharing LGBTQ history, culture, ideas, struggles, and triumphs through film. Past Damn These Heels films are award-winners, audience favorites and films from around the world including Todrick Hall: Behind the Curtain, The Pearl, Strike a Pose, Kiki, Out Run, The Slippers, Boulevard, Beginners, Summer of Sangaile, Tangerine, and more. Details here.

Throughout July - FILMS!

Also, the Salt Lake Film Society are running their Summer Late Nights film events - details of the films and dates here.

Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays – Entrepreneur Launch Pad

INDUSTRY EVENTS:

GAME - GamesIndustry.biz maintain a comprehensive list of upcoming events for the gaming industry, here: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/network/events

FILM - Our partners at the Utah Film Commission have an events calendar, here: https://film.utah.gov/event-calendar/

TECH - You can find an interesting, wide variety of tech-related events at our good friends Silicon Slopes' events page here: https://nvite.com/community/siliconslopes

VR/AR - The VR/AR Association maintain a growing list of events relevant for those involved in the creation of VR and AR, here: http://www.thevrara.com/events/

GAMES - the Utah Games Guild maintain a calendar of local events here: https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=v468q15oiiqtdu7dmfcs5l9ui8%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Denver

REMEMBER: if you have an upcoming event you would like to share with UDEN members, you can add it to our website for FREE here: http://utahden.org/upevents

From all of us at UDEN, our thanks for your continued support,

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

—-

Looking Foward, Looking Backwards - June 2018

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on June 01, 2018Flag

In our monthly newsletter for June, we look back at our successful event HIVE IGNITE WEEK last month, and looking ahead we encourage you to get involved by writing a blog! If you don't get our newsletter and would like to, please email us at info@utahden.org

Happy June 1st! We do hope this monthly check-in note finds you well. We would love to hear about what you're up to. We have a page on our website dedicated to any announcements or news you may like to share with the community - check it out here.

We're grateful to UDEN member Karina Pardus for sharing her Top 10 Take-Aways from Hive Ignite Week, which took place a month ago. It's a fascinating recap of the event through the eyes of a UDEN member. Karina captures the things that resonated most for her during a fun, informative and refreshing week of panel discussions, presentations and screenings. Plus she was a participant in the Interactive Jam and won a prize! If you missed the event, do check it out. If you were there, what did you think? What were your take-aways? Please add your comments in our Member Blogs area. Perhaps you would prefer to share some of your expertise or other insights; have opinions on industry matters, or maybe you have seen a movie or played a game recently and want to share your review? Whether it's just a few lines or a short novella that you need to get off your chest, it's quick and easy, so go on, take a few minutes to contribute to our growing community. We'll love you forever!

We have had a few people reach out and mention that while they were unable to attend Hive Ignite Week, they nonetheless were waiting to watch it on YouTube... so when would it be ready? Well...(cough)... as great as it was to host more than 40 hours of events, we're then faced with the task of editing all of that material together - no small feat for our already stretched volunteer crew! The good news is that it is actively being worked on and will be published as soon as it is ready.... starting... today! Yes, day 1 of Hive Ignite (Tuesday) is now live on our YouTube channel for you to watch. Checkout the playlist here. The rest will follow in the coming weeks, so please keep an eye on our Twitter, Instagram and Facebook feeds for announcements!

Our thanks to everyone that supported Hive Ignite Week; to you if you attended, to our wonderful presenters, panelists and exhibitors that gave up their time and shared their expertise for the benefit of our growing community and to our excellent sponsors, without whose support none of this would be possible, The Utah Film Commission, IGDA SLC, Access Salt Lake, Watchmyamerica.com and GrowTix. Thank you all!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Here are a few more:

June 7th - Hereditary Screening

A24 and the Utah Film Commission are hosting a special screening of Hereditary on Thursday, June 7 at 7pm at the Megaplex Theaters at the Gateway. RSVP is required and seating is limited. Send an email to hereditaryutah@a24films.com to reserve your seat.

June 13th - Yellowstone Screening

There will be a special screening of the premiere episode of Yellowstone on June 13th at the Park City Library. Click HERE to RSVP and reserve a seat for you and a guest (thanks again UFC!)

Throughout June - FREE FILMS!

This month you can find terrific, engaging independent film showtimes all across the state. The wonderful Utah Film Center maintain a great list here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/UtahFilmCenter/events/

Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays – Entrepreneur Launch Pad

INDUSTRY EVENTS:

GAME - GamesIndustry.biz maintain a comprehensive list of upcoming events for the gaming industry, here: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/network/events

FILM - Our partners at the Utah Film Commission have an events calendar, here: https://film.utah.gov/event-calendar/

TECH - You can find an interesting, wide variety of tech-related events at our good friends Silicon Slopes' events page here: https://nvite.com/community/siliconslopes

VR/AR - The VR/AR Association maintain a growing list of events relevant for those involved in the creation of VR and AR, here: http://www.thevrara.com/events/

GAMES - the Utah Games Guild maintain a calendar of local events here: https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=v468q15oiiqtdu7dmfcs5l9ui8%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Denver

REMEMBER: if you have an upcoming event you would like to share with UDEN members, you can add it to our website for FREE here: http://utahden.org/upevents

From all of us at UDEN, our thanks for your continued support,

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

—-

Hive Ignite Thoughts #8 - 10

by Karina Pardus
2160pts
on May 30, 2018Flag

My final notes from Hive Ignite Week! #8 - #10

8. Design Responsibility

Design responsibility is thinking about the experience the audience members are going to have within whatever you are creating. If they expect something to happen within that environment, you have a responsibility to give that to them so they will feel safe and validated within that space. This will give them permission to keep coming back. Peter Jones and Anthony Ambriz both talked about this principle in the following terms: think about people, not product. Even though we are creating a product, we need to create it with the people we are making it for at the forefront of every decision. How are we treating our guests? Hopefully with as much respect and passion as we are the planning and project creation.

9. Conflict Drives Satisfaction

Dustin Hansen spoke about storytelling, and when asked what he feels is the most important part of a good story, he said it's conflict. The longer a conflict is drawn out with meaning – not just for the lols – the greater the satisfaction for the person who experienced it. So in video games it's the player. In books it's the reader. In music, it's the listener. In whatever you are doing, find the conflict, and figure out the best way you can highlight the meaning and thus the satisfaction behind it for all who are involved.

10. Growth can't Happen on Purpose Without a Plan

If you don't have a plan, you can't know how you're going to grow – as a person or as a business – and both are necessary for success. Jenjen Francis talked about the best practices to have when you create this plan. She related it specifically to seeking for investors, but even if you're not there yet a business plan will still benefit you now. It helps you to plan for predictability, and forces you to create clear expectations within your priorities. Start with writing out your core values if you haven't already. Write out your big dreams, and then break it down into manageable and measurable tasks. If you want a better idea how to do this, check out the UDEN page under the section Startup Resources. Or find a mentor to help you out with this! Or reach out to the network and community that you're building! Or find someone who wants to collaborate and you can work on a plan together!

All of these takeaways really fit together in a beautiful, harmonious way if you work for it. I can't wait to review all of the presentations on the UDEN YouTube channel when they are posted, because I know there is more to learn. But until then, each of us can start building up and reaching out wherever we are right now.

—-

Hive Ignite Thoughts #4 - 7

by Karina Pardus
2160pts
on May 30, 2018Flag

More of my thoughts arising from Hive Ignite Week! #4 - #7

4. Networking Isn't About Sales, It's About Relationships

This brings up a great point about relationships. People aren't sales, people are people. As we view them as such instead of just a ring on the ladder, our network will gain power and value. Greg Jeffs talked about this strength increase happening as we reinforce the value of personal connections and networks in the region, not just within the company/firm/event. So if you're a composer, don't just network with other composers. If you're a programmer, don't just hang out with other programmers. If you want to create a network of relationships that you can rely on as you progress in your field (and life in general!) then start meeting people no matter their background, and support them in what they're doing. You'll probably get sales and make money as you do this, but at that point money is just a welcome side effect to the community you're building in your life.

5. Communication is Always the Key

When we are building this network and community, communication is how that happens. You can't get to know people, learn from them, or collaborate with them without communication. Nick Laing taught us the best way to do this: communicate based on their needs, not your needs. If all you're doing is talking about what you need, you're not going to be able to accomplish anything within the growing community of experts. And that's what UDEN is all about – building a community that allows us to help each other accomplish more than we could do by ourselves. So practice how you communicate – this includes how you listen as well.

6. Expectations are the Foundation of Success

...Or disappointment. This is another wonderful nougat that comes from Nick Laing. Without expectations that are communicated clearly, progress can't be maximized and disappointments will ensue. Now Nick and Jon Dean had a slight difference of opinion about whether expectations should be established ruthlessly or relentlessly, but they both agreed that they need to be set. If no one is doing it, then you set your expectations and let others know about them in clear terms so that there is at least some form of foundation for the work that you are wanting to accomplish together. So set ruthlessly clear expectations, relentlessly.

7. Consistency Builds Trust

In whatever field we are in, we are striving to build an audience, which we then hope will become fans who are loyal to our brand. This is done best through consistency. In a mathematical equation it would look like this: Consistency = Accountability + Integrity. The accountability comes in as we realize that everything we do we are doing for our audience – the videos, the content, the value, it's for them. So own up to that. The integrity is similar – if you say you're going to have this ready on this date at this time, make it happen. Allow your fans to rely on you by knowing when and where you will be present for them to interact with you. Thank you Chad Mustard for this wonderfully clear info. Pick a date, pick a time, make it happen every time!

—-

Hive Ignite Thoughts #1 - 3

by Karina Pardus
2160pts
on May 30, 2018Flag

It's been a bit since Hive Ignite week, which was the first week-long event put on by UDEN in Salt Lake City. I'm happy to share my top 10 take-aways, starting with #1 - #3.

The week was filled with panels, presentations, seminars, networking, fireside chats, and even an interactive 24-hour jam as the finale. It was fantastic, though I know for those who did all of the planning it was exhausting.

But I wanted to share my takeaways so those wonderful volunteers can know that their efforts were not wasted, and to hopefully help those of you who weren't able to join us to learn a few things that can help you until the recordings are put out on the UDEN YouTube channel. So here are my top 10 takeaways from this fantastic event.

1. Build Yourself Somewhere

This fantastic phrase was said by Joshua Sohn who talked about some actionable ways to become a better composer. This resonates well with me as I am also a composer, but you don't have to write music to glean inspiration from this. No matter where we are in the entertainment or media field, and no matter how long we've been there, we need to start building. This could be building our business, our skills, or even our peers. As we build, we will be able to better serve our community and find greater satisfaction in what we do. It's also better to focus on the fact that we are in fact building as opposed to worrying about where to build. As Christ Holifield reminded us, “It's OK if others are doing what you are doing – they don't have your background, perspective, or history.” And we need what you have to give, so start building it.

2. Collaboration is a Choice

In the panel about women in the arts, Dana Ware, Dana Whitten, Becky Pennock, and Loren Micalizio had so many wonderful nougats of truth and practical action, but I think this one connects them all. If you are trying to increase diversity in your workplace, it's a choice to do so and can be done. If you want to show more gender and ethnic diversity in your films or games, do it. Make a conscious effort to be inclusive wherever you are and you will be helping others realize that they too can make this choice. You don't need to wait for others to do it in order for you to start acting on it. Change happens best when you are the one starting it. This also applies between companies and individuals. If you have a project where you need expertise, find someone who has that knowledge and experience, and start a relationship where collaboration can thrive. We have so much expertise here in Salt Lake and Utah. It would be a shame to keep it hiding away. Collaboration is always better to pursue over competition.

3. Mentor-ship

Another thing that came up a lot in that panel was about mentor-ship. This is one of the ways that we can begin connecting and starting those relationships that help collaboration thrive. This is especially true to those starting out in their industry, but it is definitely not limited to it. Find someone who has skills you want to learn. Acquaint yourself with their previous work. Do your research to have a reason for why this person will be able to help you better than anyone else, and then reach out. Offer to take them out for a coffee or dessert. Have specific questions outlined beforehand so they know what to expect of you, and what you expect from them. (More on clear expectations later.) Then don't just drop it after they give you good info. Send them a thank you card, or a small gift. Follow up with them how the things they suggested have helped you shape your decisions. Has it made a difference? Share it! They don't become your mentor just because you asked. A mentor-ship is just another way of saying you've made a best friend and you've each got each other's backs. This takes time, so start making time.

—-

May Gets Off To A Great Start!

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on May 01, 2018Flag

Here at UDEN, we continue to find ways to bring Utah's creators of digital entertainment and technology together, whether by sharing knowledge and expertise, networking or advocating for our growing community. Our membership meetings have proven to be really popular and valuable, so we're aiming to hold them quarterly. The next one? Funny you should ask, it's happening Wednesday, May 2nd at 6pm, downtown Salt Lake City as part of #HIVEIGNITEWEEK! Here is a preview:

UDEN's membership meetings are always great for meeting other people in the community -- perhaps you're looking for a collaborator for a new project, or maybe a new team member; perhaps you want some advice or maybe you need to find a talented digital contractor? We can't understate the importance and power of networking for you, your career, your business. We make it easy, with a friendly atmosphere and some great food (at UDEN #19 it will be from Argentina's Best Empanadas of Salt Lake City). Best of all, it's free, thanks to generous sponsors who want to help us grow this community.

UDEN #19 will kick-off with some knowledge sharing; an excellent keynote presentation about effective social media strategies from UDEN member and long-time supporter Chad Mustard of Blue Helm, sharing some of the best practices for using social media to help you and your business rise above the noise.

Many of you have already sent in your RSVPs - thank you - but if you didn't, now would be a good time before we close registration. Here: www.utahden.org/uden19

As creators ourselves, we like to try new ideas and test them to see what works. Last year we introduced a heavy focus on new technologies, including augmented and virtual reality and helped a handful of new companies startup. Tomorrow we're trying another new idea, an entire week of events to help our community connect, learn and grow, called #Hive Ignite Week.

Comprising film, gaming, VR/AR, audio, education, YouTube, digital journalism, eSports, storytelling and streaming, the week will showcase some of the best companies, creators and technologists in this space sharing their knowledge, showing their products and discussing how to grow the ecosystem for long-term economic success.

The free event line-up includes:

panel discussions
a documentary movie screening (voiced by Harrison Ford) with exclusive director Q&A to follow
hands-on product demos
presentations sharing knowledge and expert opinion
live eSports match between the University of Utah and BYU - the "digital Holy War"
vendors showcasing their services
hands-on interactive applications and
an Interactive Jam where creators come together to make something: perhaps a VR movie, an AR utility, a Livestream extension, a linear storybook animated comicbook app, a print and play tabletop game, or whatever else!

Maybe you can spare your lunch break to participate? Perhaps you'll spend a few hours with us at a couple of the sessions that especially interest you? Or maybe you'll spend the whole week with us, where we can offer free work-space at Access Salt Lake for you to work between sessions, complete with complimentary wi-fi and a coffee shop on site.

A handful of the sessions and exhibitors are illustrated in the attached images, but for the full line-up including times, please go to https://www.utahden.org/hiweek, where you can RSVP for the events you're interested in.

Please remember why we're doing all of this: it isn't a money making exercise, our aim is to promote the digital entertainment sector in Utah. That means you! It only works if you support what we're doing, so we ask that even if you can't attend, you can still help us by sharing details of our events in your own networks; tell colleagues, retweet our posts, add your voice to the dialog we start.

#HIVEIGNITE WEEK and UDEN #19 are only possible thanks to the speakers and exhibitors contributing their time for free, to our volunteers for organizing the events and to our sponsors for generously contributing resources: The Utah Film Commission, Blue Helm Communications, IGDA SLC, Access Salt Lake, Watchmyamerica.com and GrowTix. Thank you all!

WHAT ARE YOU UP TO? TELL US!

We're in the entertainment industry, right? So let's share news and updates about what we're all up to in our community! We have added a 'Product Announcements' page to the UDEN website, where you can go and add whatever news and announcements you would like to share with the community and the World! Maybe you have come across some interesting data about our industry - share it on this page too!

Jump right in here: http://utahden.org/prodann

UPCOMING EVENTS

Throughout May - FREE FILMS!

Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays – Entrepreneur Launch Pad

INDUSTRY EVENTS:

GAME - GamesIndustry.biz maintain a comprehensive list of upcoming events for the gaming industry, here: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/network/events

FILM - Our partners at the Utah Film Commission have an events calendar, here: https://film.utah.gov/event-calendar/

TECH - You can find an interesting, wide variety of tech-related events at our good friends Silicon Slopes' events page here: https://nvite.com/community/siliconslopes

VR/AR - The VR/AR Association maintain a growing list of events relevant for those involved in the creation of VR and AR, here: http://www.thevrara.com/events/

GAMES - the Utah Games Guild maintain a calendar of local events here: https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=v468q15oiiqtdu7dmfcs5l9ui8%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Denver

REMEMBER: if you have an upcoming event you would like to share with UDEN members, you can add it to our website for FREE here: http://utahden.org/upevents

From all of us at UDEN, our thanks for your continued support, we hope to see you next week!

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

—-

Let Your Voice Be Heard!

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on April 01, 2018Flag

No, it's no joke, it really is April already! So much coming up that you won't want to miss -- read on! This month I want to bring your attention to Hive Ignite Week which is happening later this month, as well as the next UDEN membership meeting. Plus a reminder to tell us if you think our proposed Trade Missions are a good idea!

Hive Ignite Week is a great opportunity for every member of UDEN to contribute; do you have something to say? Something to show? Want to shout about an issue you feel passionate about? Be an ACTIVE part of this growing community. Go on, sign-up NOW!

An ENTIRE WEEK dedicated to UTAH'S DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT community! Each day, there will be panel discussions, keynote speakers, screenings, exhibits and more. Experts sharing knowledge, members discussing topics of interest to the community, local creators letting you try their latest work. Plus the week will culminate in the 'Interactive Jam' where film makers and game developers can collaborate over 48 hours to create something new.

Better yet, UDEN members can work at Access Salt Lake for free during the week, so between sessions you'll have a place to work and meet with wi-fi!

If you would like to take part and contribute to Hive Ignite week, please drop us an email NOW as space is filling up fast -- hi@utahden.org -- and we will get you scheduled. Otherwise, please do come along and support your fellow creators of entertainment and technology in Utah -- RSVP for the event here: www.utahden.org/hiweek. It's going to be great!

Our next membership meeting will happen on May 2nd, right in the middle of Hive Ignite Week. Our focus this year is on business development and at UDEN #19 our keynote will be about effective use of social media channels. What's the difference between Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram etc? Should you care how many followers you have? UDEN member and long-time supporter Chad Mustard of Blue Helm will take us through the mysterious world of social media and how to use it to help grow your business. Plus there will be the usual networking afterwards, so make sure to RSVP: www.utahden.org/uden19

TRADE MISSION

As we announced earlier this year, we're looking to attend several trade shows under the UDEN banner this year to help promote our members' services as well as provide visibility to Utah's participation in the global digital entertainment industry -- because, let's face it, we're not on the map and so potential clients don't think to look here. We're all relying on our contact lists to create business.

The beauty of the trade missions are that we do all the work! You don't need to take any time away from your day-to-day work. Unless you want to come along, of course, which is also fine! So we want to hear from you - which trade shows should we attend, etc. So please, take a minute and help us out: if you hate the idea, tell us and we won't waste time on it. If you like the idea, at least help us know what would be useful to *you*. Click here to provide feedback: www.utahden.org/trademission

WHAT ARE YOU UP TO? TELL US!

Jump right in here: http://utahden.org/prodann

UPCOMING EVENTS

Throughout April - FREE FILMS!

Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays – Entrepreneur Launch Pad

INDUSTRY EVENTS:

GAME - GamesIndustry.biz maintain a comprehensive list of upcoming events for the gaming industry, here: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/network/events

FILM - Our partners at the Utah Film Commission have an events calendar, here: https://film.utah.gov/event-calendar/

TECH - You can find an interesting, wide variety of tech-related events at our good friends Silicon Slopes' events page here: https://nvite.com/community/siliconslopes

VR/AR - The VR/AR Association maintain a growing list of events relevant for those involved in the creation of VR and AR, here: http://www.thevrara.com/events/

GAMES - the Utah Games Guild maintain a calendar of local events here: https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=v468q15oiiqtdu7dmfcs5l9ui8%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Denver

REMEMBER: if you have an upcoming event you would like to share with UDEN members, you can add it to our website for FREE here: http://utahden.org/upevents

From all of us at UDEN, our thanks for your continued support,

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean
—-

Letter from the Chair - March

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on March 02, 2018Flag

Happy March! We hope this note finds you well! Lots to feel excited about this month: the Lightspark Media Summit starts in SLC today, the 90th Academy Awards is on Sunday and mid-month will be the annual Game Developers Conference as the digital entertainment sector gets into full swing.

We often talk about the film industry, or the games industry in Utah - but is there such a thing? Is it helpful to use that terminology? This month we discuss that, plus continue our theme of business development and our trade mission.

Are we an industry in Utah?

What we do have is a lot of very talented individuals and companies that provide services to industries that have their centers elsewhere. Indeed, Utah's role in film and games is so well hidden that it's almost a secret, which results in few people in the industry looking to Utah to find the very thing we can offer and do really well. So much of this is about business development: creative and technical people tend not to be the best at it, nor do they prioritize it. As a result, we wait for business to find us, or look to the taxpayer to provide a little buffer.

What can you do? Here are some suggestions; we would love to hear yours:

Hire local. So many digital entertainment projects rely on a flexible workforce - i.e. hiring contractors. You can help by hiring people who live in the state whenever you can. Perhaps you will pay a small premium for this - but you will be helping to build a healthily ecosystem here. Can’t find the right talent? Please get in contact with us. Info@utahden.org. Post job openings on our website. Perhaps you won't find what you want but at least make the effort each time you have a need
Promote your services to the globe, don’t wait for the work to find you. Consider attending trade shows, placing ads, getting attention via social media and similar channels. Promote your services and promote Utah digital entertainment at the same time. Don’t know how to? Collaborate with us on our trade missions this year (see below); we'll be attending trade shows, telling the world about our members and their services. We can make it easy for you - get in touch and we will tell you how Info@utahden.org
Join UDEN and support our initiatives. Come to our meetings and hear from the experts on a wide range of topics, including business development. Volunteer some time. Help shape the future of the digital entertainment sector in Utah

Next UDEN Meeting

We're planning an entire week of activities focused on digital entertainment, including our next membership meeting, at which we plan to have an expert presenter explain how to use social media effectively as part of your business development strategy.

FOLLOW US on Twitter and Facebook for updates on this and future events!

UDEN TRADE MISSION

UDEN plans to attend a handful of relevant trade shows this year outside the state, exhibiting under the UDEN umbrella. There are two reasons for this:

Put Utah digital entertainment on the map! Let the world (outside the state!) know that we have a vibrant community of creators of digital content and technology; and
Business development for our sector -- share details of the services offered by UDEN member companies and individuals

Now we need your feedback: we're looking for sponsors and participants. Which trade shows would be most valuable for you? Would you be prepared to pay a contribution towards the cost? Please let us know what you think by answering our poll, here: http://utahden.org/trademission. If we get enough support, we’ll figure out next steps and update you!

WHAT ARE YOU UP TO? TELL US!

Jump right in here: http://utahden.org/prodann

UPCOMING EVENTS

Today and tomorrow - Lightspark Media Summit

Last minute onsite registration available early today: Join fellow digital artists, musicians, directors, producers, actors, businesspeople, students, and attorneys to explore emerging trends in the film/TV, music, social media, AR/VR, and gaming industries.

Details: https://www.lightspark.media

Throughout March - FREE FILMS!

Sundance has you wanting to see even more movies, right? Well, this month you can find terrific, engaging independent film showtimes all across the state including Mr. Frog and Hidden Figures! The wonderful Utah Film Center maintain a great list here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/UtahFilmCenter/events/

Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays – Entrepreneur Launch Pad

INDUSTRY EVENTS:

GAME - GamesIndustry.biz maintain a comprehensive list of upcoming events for the gaming industry, here: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/network/events

FILM - Our partners at the Utah Film Commission have an events calendar, here: https://film.utah.gov/event-calendar/

TECH - You can find an interesting, wide variety of tech-related events at our good friends Silicon Slopes' events page here: https://nvite.com/community/siliconslopes

VR/AR - The VR/AR Association maintain a growing list of events relevant for those involved in the creation of VR and AR, here: http://www.thevrara.com/events/

GAMES - the Utah Games Guild maintain a calendar of local events here: https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=v468q15oiiqtdu7dmfcs5l9ui8%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Denver

REMEMBER: if you have an upcoming event you would like to share with UDEN members, you can add it to our website for FREE here: http://utahden.org/upevents

From all of us at UDEN, our thanks for your continued support,

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

—-

Happy Groundhog Day!

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on February 02, 2018Flag

Much like the movie, sometimes it can feel like nothing much changes even though the calendar has ticked on another digit! Looking back on 2017, it was a year of contraction for digital entertainment in Utah, especially in video games, as number of studios closed their doors which in turn accelerated the 'brain drain' of our talent to other states. But it’s not all bad news! Last year we also saw a rise in the number of startups as well as the number of AR/VR projects being created here.

So this month we make the case for business development as our theme for 2018; we launch our trade mission, a page where you can make product announcements and, of course, highlight upcoming events for the month.

As we look forward to this year of opportunity, UDEN welcomes a new Advisory Board and a handful of new volunteers to help us do more and better in the months ahead, for you, our community.

THE CASE FOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Looking at early results from our industry survey, it's increasingly clear that we are a community of creatives, less so business promoters. Much of the work we create here gets published by companies in other states and countries, with very little visibility that this work was actually made in Utah. At most of the major trade events outside the state last year, Utah digital entertainment companies were not present as exhibitors. The down side of this is that very few people in "the trade" realize what a vibrant community we have here, so it becomes harder to get investment or sponsorship for our largely invisible community. As a result Utah is way down the list of locations considered for building a new interactive studio, placing a new digital project, or to undertake post-production on a movie they might even shoot here.

This leads us to UDEN's focus for 2018 - business development. At our meetings this year we plan to help our community understand effective strategies that creative businesses can use to generate work. Initial ideas include understanding how to leverage social media, direct mail etc.

In addition, we are proposing a “trade mission” – we will attend a handful of relevant trade shows this year outside the state, exhibiting under the UDEN umbrella. There are two reasons for this:

Put Utah digital entertainment on the map! Let the world (outside the state!) know that we have a vibrant community of creators of digital content and technology; and
Business development for our sector -- share details of the services offered by UDEN member companies and individuals

This will cost money, of course, but whereas the cost for any one company to attend all these trade shows might be prohibitive, if many companies share those costs and let UDEN promote them, it should be much cheaper – and not take you away from what you do best – being creators!

Now we need your feedback: do you agree this is a good idea? If so, which trade shows would be most valuable for you? Would you be prepared to pay a contribution towards the cost? Please let us know what you think by answering our poll, here: http://utahden.org/trademission. If we get enough support, we’ll figure out next steps and update you!

Let's not get stuck in groundhog day!

FOLLOW US on Twitter and Facebook for updates on this and future events!

WHAT ARE YOU UP TO? TELL US!

Jump right in here: http://utahden.org/prodann

UDEN #18 - SUNDANCE Recap

Last week at Sundance UDEN held our latest membership meeting - and wow, was it fun! So many thanks to everyone that came and networked, and to our wonderful sponsors, the Utah Film Commission, SHATTERboom Studios and Guv1 Digital Consulting.

Here is a quick video recap for you: https://youtu.be/ndF77zzxns0

INDUSTRY SURVEY - Can You Spare Us 3 Minutes?

If you already completed our industry survey - many, many thanks! If you did not, please do so now. We're trying to get a good snapshot of just who we are as the digital entertainment community here in Utah, so we can better understand, plan and advocate. We're starting with a few simple questions, and over time we'll ask different questions as the picture becomes clearer.

We want to hear from everyone - groups, clubs, companies, individuals, schools etc.

If you could spare us just 3 minutes of your time to respond, it will be a huge help and another important step along the path to building a thriving community for the creators of content and technology in digital entertainment! (Hey! That's us!). We'll update you with the results.

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD! Click here to give us your responses.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Feb 6th - Pay the IRS Less Without Going To Jail

Do you want to know how Trump's tax changes affects the deductions you can take in your business? Have you wondered whether you are paying too much to the IRS? More than your fair share? Do you know which deductions you can take and which ones will get you in trouble? Well, if so, then this is the workshop for you. Join Merrill Taylor, an expert in the tax code, who has saved his clients hundreds of thousands of dollars each year!

Feb 8th - IGDA Production and Process Workshop

Join IGDA SLC for our first workshop series to demystify game development. Are you an experenced game dev and just need a little guidance in branching out on your own? Do you know what questions you need to be asking yourself before you start building your own game? Come learn best practices for Planning, Prototyping, and Process! There will be a short presentation, with Q & A to follow. After that there will be some workshopping time and networking! We'll be holding more workshops on other dev topics throughout the year.

Feb 14th - Film Day on the Hill

We are happy to announce that Film Day on the Hill will take place from 7:15 AM – 10:15 AM on February 14, 2018, that’s right Valentines day! It will be at the Utah State Capitol Rotunda.This is a great opportunity for local film professionals in production, post-production, digital entertainment, education and exhibition to network and tell the story about the breadth and depth of the Utah film industry to community leaders and elected officials. So come out and show your love for the Utah Film industry.

Feb 22nd - Employer Tax Withholding Workshop

Join us to learn the ins and outs of paying and complying with employee tax requirements. In this power-packed workshop, you will get to hear from a tax CPA expert, as well as relevant federal and state agencies, all in one place, all on ONE DAY! CPA firm (independent contractors versus employees); Utah State Tax Commission; Utah Labor Commission; S. Department of Labor; Workers Compensation Fund of Utah. After the workshop, you will come away with knowledge and confidence of how to navigate this complex area. Register: here

Mar 2 - 3rd - Lightspark Media Summit

Following the first successful Lightspark last year, UDEN is once more partnering for the 2018 Summit! Join fellow digital artists, musicians, directors, producers, actors, businesspeople, students, and attorneys to explore emerging trends in the film/TV, music, social media, AR/VR, and gaming industries.

Details: https://www.lightspark.media

Throughout February - Microsoft Store Events - Throughout each month, the Microsoft Store in City Creek holds a number of community events. This month they include use of Microsoft tools, such as LinkedIn, Powerpoint and Excel, as well as gaming tournaments. Full details of these and future events here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/locations/ut/salt-lake-city/city-creek-center/store-21#events

Throughout February - FREE FILMS!

Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays – Entrepreneur Launch Pad

INDUSTRY EVENTS:

GAME - GamesIndustry.biz maintain a comprehensive list of upcoming events for the gaming industry, here: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/network/events

FILM - Our partners at the Utah Film Commission have an events calendar, here: https://film.utah.gov/event-calendar/

TECH - You can find an interesting, wide variety of tech-related events at our good friends Silicon Slopes' events page here: https://nvite.com/community/siliconslopes

VR/AR - The VR/AR Association maintain a growing list of events relevant for those involved in the creation of VR and AR, here: http://www.thevrara.com/events/

GAMES - the Utah Games Guild maintain a calendar of local events here: https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=v468q15oiiqtdu7dmfcs5l9ui8%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Denver

REMEMBER: if you have an upcoming event you would like to share with UDEN members, you can add it to our website for FREE here: http://utahden.org/upevents

From all of us at UDEN, our thanks for your continued support,

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

—-

Happy New Year!

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on January 01, 2018Flag

We hope that you enjoyed a peaceful and enjoyable holiday period.

UDEN kicks off what promises to be an exciting New Year with UDEN #18, our now traditional networking mixer at Sundance. Best of all, you're on the VIP list!

Last year more than two hundred UDEN members and visitors to Sundance joined us for a drink, food and some quality catching up with friends or networking with new contacts. All this, plus our industry survey and upcoming events this month!

UDEN 18 will take place on 24th January 2018 5-7pm, at the Utah Film Commission event venue on Main Street, Park City.

PLEASE RSVP HERE to claim your VIP ticket (required for entry): http://utahden.org/sundance18

An opportunity to sponsor the food and drink at this exciting high profile event is still available - if interested please email us at info@utahden.org

Huge thanks once again to our valued supporter and partner the Utah Film Commission for hosting us at their Sundance venue.

Note: last month we mentioned we were hoping to have a second event this month to coincide with Sundance, however, we weren't able to pull together the logistics in time, so we're going to see if we can make that happen later in the year instead.

We hope to see you all on 24th in Park City!

FOLLOW US on Twitter and Facebook for updates on this and future events!

INDUSTRY SURVEY - Can You Spare Us 3 Minutes?

UPCOMING EVENTS

Jan 10th - Tony Robbins Research: Discover Your Next Level

Access Salt Lake hosts Justin Nelson from Tony Robbins Research International; come along and learn to improve your performance by integrating a three-step process for creating lasting change. Clearly identify what is holding you back from reaching your true potential by closing the gap between where you are and where you want to be!

Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tony-robbins-research-international-discover-your-next-level-wjustin-nelson-tickets-41849703590

Jan 11th - IGDA Chapter Meeting

The International Game Developers Association Utah chapter meeting will preview their plans for the year ahead and is also seeking feedback from the community. The meeting will take place in the Marmalade Library in Salt Lake City.

Jan 16th - 29th - VR/AR Association Online Conference

The VRARA have a number of webinars coming up relating to the application of VR and AR technologies in different areas, including education, training, marketing retail, location based entertainment and more. Checkout which webinars might be of interest to you and join in!

More details and registration: http://www.thevrara.com/webinars/

Jan 16th - Feb 1st - 3D Digital Art & Virtual Reality, Pro Tools and Documentary Film

Each month Spy Hop's Media Labs focus on a new skill in film, music, audio engineering and design. Students 13-19 years old get a chance to try their hand at a new skill, finish a short project that they can show off and get a small taste of what Spy Hop has to offer.

More details and registration: https://spyhop.org/medialabs/

Jan 18th - 19th - Silicon Slopes Tech Summit 2018

Silicon Slopes Tech Summit is a globally recognized two-day summit organized and hosted by the Silicon Slopes community. With some of the most prominent and leading minds in the tech industry taking the stage, Silicon Slopes Tech Summit 2018 is the largest and most prominent annual tech event in the state of Utah. Silicon Slopes Tech Summit 2018 features prominent keynotes, premium breakout sessions inside of six different tracks, a breathtaking concert by Neon Trees, and an exclusive screening of a film from the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. The amount of talent and experience that's on display makes this a unique event that could only happen in Silicon Slopes.

Details and tickets: https://www.siliconslopessummit.com/home

Jan 24th - UDEN #18 - Networking at Sundance

Details above. RSVP here for your VIP ticket (required for entry): http://utahden.org/sundance18

Jan 26th - Celebrate Utah Film @ Sundance Film Festival

To be held at the Festival Lounge at the Rose, SLC, this will be a special conversation about our made in Utah films that were part of the Festival this year. We will also be giving away a pair of tickets to screenings of Damsel at the Broadway, Friday January 26th (6:45 PM) and Hereditary at Redstone, Saturday, January 27th (noon). Both of these films utilized the Utah Motion Picture Incentive Program.

RSVP required: https://celebrateutahfilm.splashthat.com/

Throughout January - Microsoft Store Events - Throughout each month, the Microsoft Store in City Creek holds a number of community events. This month they include a number of events themed around Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., an Intro to Coding with MakeCode for Minecraft & Tumble Tournament, a Regional Tournament for the Madden 18 Community Series and a Halo 5 FFA Tournament. Full details of these and future events here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/locations/ut/salt-lake-city/city-creek-center/store-21#events

Throughout January - FREE FILMS!

As always this month you can find terrific, engaging independent film showtimes all across the state! The wonderful Utah Film Center maintain a great list here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/UtahFilmCenter/events/

Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays – Entrepreneur Launch Pad

INDUSTRY EVENTS:

GAME - GamesIndustry.biz maintain a comprehensive list of upcoming events for the gaming industry, here: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/network/events

FILM - Our partners at the Utah Film Commission have an events calendar, here: https://film.utah.gov/event-calendar/

TECH - You can find an interesting, wide variety of tech-related events at our good friends Silicon Slopes' events page here: https://nvite.com/community/siliconslopes

VR/AR - The VR/AR Association maintain a growing list of events relevant for those involved in the creation of VR and AR, here: http://www.thevrara.com/events/

GAMES - the Utah Games Guild maintain a calendar of local events here: https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=v468q15oiiqtdu7dmfcs5l9ui8%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Denver

REMEMBER: if you have an upcoming event you would like to share with UDEN members, you can add it to our website for FREE here: http://utahden.org/upevents

From all of us at UDEN, our thanks for your continued support and we look forward to an exciting year ahead with you!

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

—-

UDEN - 'Tis the Season

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on December 01, 2017Flag

Time to get in the festive mood: grab your favorite holiday sweater, grab an egg-nog, sit in front of a roaring fireplace and enjoy this month's news update! Includes a recap of UDEN #17 at Silicon Slopes, a call for volunteers and, as always, this month's upcoming events.

Can you believe that UDEN will be three years old next year? It feels like only yesterday that I sat on a panel at the Utah Breakfast Club, hearing the audience of creators complain about Utah's film and game sectors, and in a moment of madness asked "if we set up an action group, would you support it?".

Fast forward to last Wednesday when we held our 17th membership meeting, our last of 2017, at the impressive (and cool!) Silicon Slopes HQ in Lehi. UDEN #17 was a lot of fun and as usual involved some really great conversations with some terrific people. A great reminder of the talent and potential that Utah holds in digital entertainment. The evening was kindly sponsored by JP Morgan and included the chance to try Microsoft's mixed reality technology first-hand, as well as arcade VR from Virtualities. A recap of the evening can be found here: http://www.guv1.com/jonblogs/uden-17

The big announcement of the evening was a partnership between Silicon Slopes and UDEN, in which we will become their official chapter for digital entertainment. Through this partnership, UDEN and Silicon Slopes will work together to identify ways in which we might leverage the respective skill sets of our communities, fostering collaboration and mutually beneficial opportunities. This will include sharing of knowledge, capabilities and services in addition to the cross-promotion of events. Joining forces with Silicon Slopes will help UDEN toward its goal of building a strong ecosystem for digital entertainment across the entire state of Utah. It's a very exciting development for us.

Silicon Slopes began life when several technology companies in Utah decided to group together and market the tech sector, not just themselves. It has been a huge success and a great example for UDEN to follow. Their mission has grown to encompass growth and education for all tech business in the state. In January this year Silicon Slopes staged a huge event, their Tech Summit, which was slick, professional and very well attended. They will be holding it again in January - and we should all make a point of supporting it.

At UDEN #17 we reflected on the fact that Utah, despite having long, historical ties to both the film and gaming epicenters, have never become major forces in either industry -- despite our talent, occasional successes and leading educational programs in this sector. We took the opportunity of being at Silicon Slopes to highlight that it is possible for individuals and groups in Utah to collaborate for a common good, to build something larger for all to benefit from -- Silicon Slopes being the example. We noted that the strongest digital entertainment ecosystems in the country and overseas have all been created through just such efforts: communities are created where people work together, put the needs of the collective above the individual and achieve commercial success.

Film and games are creative and technical industries, both entertainment industries. Utah clearly like its tech businesses, as we see from Silicon Slopes, but could it be that entertainment has always been too frivolous to be taken seriously in Utah – despite the huge money that it makes? I really hope not.

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS!

We are a volunteer organization with, frankly, very few volunteers! So, if you can spare a few hours each month (unpaid) and would like to do something for UDEN, please let us know as we have some ideas that we think could be really helpful in building our ecosystem and be really useful to you! (To volunteer for UDEN please email us: info@utahDEN.org)

Specifically we're looking for:
- Jobs Board Curator: Someone to scout for open jobs in digital entertainment, post them on the website jobs board - make it a useful tool for the community
- Upcoming Events Curator: scout for all the great events related to digital entertainment in Utah, post them on our events page, keep it up to date and useful
- Advisory Board Members 2018: help guide our direction next year, help with fund-raising, getting sponsors, organizing our meetings
- Event volunteers: people to help us during our upcoming events

FOCUS IN 2018

Making things happen needs to continue to be our focus for 2018. For UDEN's part, we’ll continue to do what we're doing behind the scenes as well as organizing meetings.

Right now, we’re working on two events in January during Sundance – we’ll share more details soon but they include a social mixer event in Park City, with the Utah Film Commission, much like we had this year. We’re looking for a sponsor for this – so if you know anyone that wants some prominence during Sundance, please get in touch! info@utahDEN.org

The other event will be held in downtown Salt Lake City over three nights, intended to showcase to the public the best of Utah digital entertainment. Lots of hands-on interactive activities, live VR, music, film and performance art. We’re also looking for someone to write a simple AR app for use at the event in return for exposure. Interested? Get in touch. info@utahDEN.org

FOLLOW US on Twitter and Facebook for updates on these events!

INDUSTRY SURVEY - Can You Spare Us 3 Minutes?

UPCOMING EVENTS

TODAY - Gaming as a Career

Register for the Microsoft Store's event in Salt Lake City, for a full day of information about Gaming as a Career! We will have industry experts here to discuss different aspects of their respective specialties (including UDEN members!). Register: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/locations/ut/salt-lake-city/city-creek-center/store-21#eventid=1032948631

Dec 4 - 9th - Hour of Code Minecraft Workshop (ages 8+)

Join us any of these days for this free, 90-minute workshop to take part in the global Hour of Code movement. Go behind the scenes to learn how to code, program, and play in your own Minecraft world. You’ll use fun, interactive coding to learn how creativity and problem solving come together to make something all your own. No experience with Minecraft or coding is required. Register today! https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/locations/ut/salt-lake-city/city-creek-center/store-21#eventid=1032948594

Dec 5th - Legal Clinic

Come to get legal advice for your current or future business! More details here: https://utahsbdc.org/event/legal-clinic

Dec 7th - Small Business Tax Withholding Workshop

Join us to learn the ins and outs of paying and complying with employee tax requirements. In this power-packed workshop, you will get to hear from a tax CPA expert, as well as relevant federal and state agencies, all in one place. After the workshop, you will come away with knowledge and confidence of how to navigate this complex area. More here: https://utahsbdc.org/event/small-business-employer-tax-withholding-workshop

Dec 7th - Health Insurance Clinic

Learn what it takes to have health insurance for your employees and yourself. Attend our Avenue H, the State of Utah's answer to the small business group insurance marketplace. More here: https://utahsbdc.org/event/health-insurance-clinic

Dec 9th - Gamers Holiday VIP Shopping Event

Join us at The Microsoft Store at City Creek Center for a very special VIP Holiday shopping experience for members of our Awesome Gaming Community! This exclusive event features tasty refreshments, a personalized white glove shopping experience with our gift expert associates and exclusives offers including 10% off select products in the store. Details: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/locations/ut/salt-lake-city/city-creek-center/store-21#eventid=1032944793

Dec 13th - Raising Capital Through Equity Crowdfunding

Traditionally startups have had to rely on Angel Investors, Venture Capital and/or Private Equity in order to raise capital. Through the recently-enacted JOBS Act, companies are now allowed to use Equity Crowdfunding to raise up to $50 million, and in some instances, may solicit unaccredited investors. Come learn about the various ways to raise capital for your startup, whether it’s an initial raise or a later round of financing. Equity Track and the law firm of Kirton McConkie will be discussing both the practical and legal applications for a successful Crowdfunding round using Regulation A+, 506(c), and Regulation CF. More here: https://nvite.com/eb/39524281189

Dec 30th - Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses

Returning with an updated orchestral adventure, the show will feature an all new movement from Skyward Sword, a much-anticipated Breath of the Wild arrangement, and the return of a classic that might just make some wishes come true!

Celebrating 30 years of stirring virtual adventure and memorable soundtracks with live orchestral renditions directly approved by franchise producer Eiji Aonuma, The Symphony of the Goddesses is now in its fourth season. The two-hour concert comes to life with a 66-piece orchestra, 24-person choir, and a reimagined score that draws from recent and requested Zelda games, including A Link Between Worlds, Twilight Princess, and the remake of Majora’s Mask, while still paying homage to such classics as Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past. The concert’s five-movement symphony regales ears with Nintendo composer Koji Kondo’s original music, recalling moments of Link conquering dungeons, running through forests, and struggling to decide what color tunic to wear. Throughout the evening, a video collage syncs up with the adventurous tunes to spotlight exciting moments from the venerable franchise. Tickets: http://utahden.org/legend_of_zelda_symphony_of_the_goddesses

Throughout December - FREE FILMS!

Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays – Entrepreneur Launch Pad

INDUSTRY EVENTS:

GAME - GamesIndustry.biz maintain a comprehensive list of upcoming events for the gaming industry, here: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/network/events

FILM - Our partners at the Utah Film Commission have an events calendar, here: https://film.utah.gov/event-calendar/

TECH - You can find an interesting, wide variety of tech-related events at our good friends Silicon Slopes' events page here: https://nvite.com/community/siliconslopes

VR/AR - The VR/AR Association maintain a growing list of events relevant for those involved in the creation of VR and AR, here: http://www.thevrara.com/events/

GAMES - the Utah Games Guild maintain a calendar of local events here: https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=v468q15oiiqtdu7dmfcs5l9ui8%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Denver

REMEMBER: if you have an upcoming event you would like to share with UDEN members, you can add it to our website for FREE here: http://utahden.org/upevents

From all of us at UDEN, our thanks for your continued support in 2017. Wishing you the very best for the rest of 2017, and a very happy holiday!

ON BEHALF OF TEAM UDEN

- Jon Dean

—-

Looking Forward to November

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on November 01, 2017Flag

A look ahead to UDEN 17 and another industry partner for UDEN - Silicon Slopes. We're also looking for some new blood to join our advisory board, so if you're passionate to get some things moving in digital entertainment in Utah, we need you on our team! Plus another chance to complete our industry survey and a preview some of the events listed on the events page on the UDEN website!

Happy November! We hope you enjoyed the Halloween weekend!

We are thrilled to announce that the next UDEN meeting will be held at the HQ of Silicon Slopes at Thanksgiving Point. This will begin a period of closer alignment in 2018 for our creative entertainment community with the enterprise technology companies in Utah. There is much we can learn from the success of the wider tech sector and broaden the opportunities for collaborative partnerships between us. UDEN #17 will be our holiday party where we will keep the presentations to a minimum, prioritizing the networking opportunities afforded instead.

We have an exciting new sponsor and some fun activities planned, which we will be announcing in the run up to the event - so please watch our social media channels for more information. UDEN 17 will be held on November 29th, 6-8pm and will be our last meeting of 2017. Space is limited and free tickets are on a first-come first-served basis, so please RSVP here in advance to avoid disappointment.

Advisory Board Openings

Can you believe that UDEN is almost four years old? In that time we have been fortunate to have been led by a remarkable committee, which morphed into an advisory board as we grew. A few of those founding members are now standing down and we thank them for their time and service. This creates the opportunity for new members to join the advisory board. These are unpaid, volunteer positions with however much time you can spare, the responsibilities include:

attending quarterly advisory board meetings
helping organize UDEN membership meetings

...plus as many of these as your interests/skill set/time allows:

administration (such as helping at UDEN meetings, fund raising, finding sponsors, website, social media, marketing, editing videos etc)
contributing to industry related activities that interest you (web-site contributions, podcasts, representing UDEN members at occasional industry meetings and presentations etc)

If you are interested in joining the advisory board, please email us with a current resume, LinkedIn profile and statement of what you can offer UDEN as we grow, to info@utahden.org.

INDUSTRY SURVEY - Can You Spare Us 3 Minutes?

UPCOMING EVENTS

TOMORROW - #UseTech4Good Youth Extravaganza

This is a FREE EVENT (for ages 10 and up). Elementary, junior high, high school, and college students will showcase various ways that they #UseTech4Good. Enjoy our special guest performances by the Piano Gal, American Idol finalist Jenn Blosil, and SCERA Youth Theatre's national award-winning high school company, Acting UP! Giveaways will include Studio C swag! More here: https://digcitsummit2017.com/youth-extravaganza/

TOMORROW - PitchNic World Premiere

Join Spy Hop for the 2017 PitchNic World Premiere, a collection of four short films written, directed & produced by Utah teens. This year’s films cover topics ranging from skateboarding to huge imaginary friends to a murder mystery to life on a Native American reservation.

Since its beginning in 2001, more than 100 teens have produced over 50 films that have screened at festivals around the world including the Sundance Film Festival and the LA Film Festival. If you are a film lover, you don’t want to miss this extraordinary display of local, upcoming talent. Click here to purchase your tickets: https://artsaltlake.org/production/pitch-nic-world-premiere-2017/

TOMORROW - Tax Implications - LLC & S-Corporations Workshop

This course compares the pros and cons between LLCs and S Corporations. If you are deciding between these two types of business entities, you will not want to miss this workshop! We will cover the need-to-know data about LLCs and Corporations:

Formation of an LLC in Utah,
Advantages of the LLC structure,
Various tax reporting options for an LLC, including reporting as a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation or S corporation.

We'll also cover the advantages and disadvantages of each and when best to use each option. More information and other great events here: https://utahsbdc.org/trainings

Nov 3rd - Webinar for Utah Grants (TCIP)

The Technology Commercialization and Innovation Program, administered by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, provides competitive grants to small businesses and university teams to accelerate the commercialization of their innovative technologies. This program helps companies secure non-dilutive funding at critical points in their funding and commercialization lifecycles, resulting in long-term success and economic development in the state.

The deadline to apply is November 20th, with a webinar on November 3rd to help. Full details of the program here: http://business.utah.gov/programs/tcip/

Nov 3rd - Diversity Career Fair 2017

The Ethnic Chambers of Commerce of Utah are very excited to sponsor Salt Lake City’s first Diversity Career Fair. Dozens of local employers will be on hand to discuss their current openings and offer advice on how to apply. This event will also provide an interview skills work shop offering discussions on resume writing, interviewing and job search tips. More here: https://nvite.com/eb/37015756123

Nov 10th - Southern Utah Code Camp

Code Camp is a programming, design and entrepreneurship contest all rolled up into a ridiculously compressed 24-hour event. It's crazy fun! Teams ranging in size from one to four participants compete against other teams to build the best web or mobile app. This year's event features four divisions:

- Industry teams who compete to develop company ideas and claim bragging rights
- Collegiate teams who want to impress potential employers
- Novice teams who are exploring the industry and learning new techniques, but who want the autonomy to start from scratch
- Rookie Kit teams are also new to the industry, but are given a pre-defined game kit as a starting point to customize

If you are (or are aspiring to be) a programmer, designer, entrepreneur, project manager, mentor/advisor, or Leeroy Jenkins, Code Camp will provide you with tremendous opportunities. Aside from getting a rad Code Camp t-shirt, you'll have perhaps the best opportunity of the year to bring your skill-set to new heights. There is nothing as exhilarating (and perhaps humbling) as trying to build something meaningful (e.g. and something that works) in just a 24-hour window. More details here: https://nvite.com/eb/37946959377

Nov 14 - Final Burn 2017 Award Ceremony & After Party

In a tradition that stems from the days when videogames used to have to be finished in time for the holidays, the SLC IGDA holds an annual "show the game you just finished" party, aka Final Burn. Game maker or not, come along to mingle, play some games and celebrate this year's crop. You can find out more details as well as nominate your local game of the year here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/final-burn-2017-tickets-39464440203?ref=estwenivtefor001

November 29th - UDEN #17 Holiday Party + Networking

See notes above! This event is filling up fast and tickets are limited. RSVP for free tickets here: www.utahden.org/uden_17

Most Days in November - FREE FILMS!

Some really great movies this month including The Big Sick, The Mars Generation, Chasing Coral, Raising Zoey and more -- almost every day this month you can find terrific, engaging independent film showtimes all across the state! The wonderful Utah Film Center maintain a great list here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/UtahFilmCenter/events/

Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays – Entrepreneur Launch Pad

INDUSTRY EVENTS:

GAME - GamesIndustry.biz maintain a comprehensive list of upcoming events for the gaming industry, here: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/network/events

FILM - Our partners at the Utah Film Commission have an events calendar, here: https://film.utah.gov/event-calendar/

TECH - You can find an interesting, wide variety of tech-related events at our good friends Silicon Slopes' events page here: https://nvite.com/community/siliconslopes

VR/AR - The VR/AR Association maintain a growing list of events relevant for those involved in the creation of VR and AR, here: http://www.thevrara.com/events/

GAMES - the Utah Games Guild maintain a calendar of local events here: https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=v468q15oiiqtdu7dmfcs5l9ui8%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Denver

Finally, if you have an upcoming event you would like to share with UDEN members, you can add it to our website for FREE here: http://utahden.org/upevents

Our thanks, as always, for your support!

ON BEHALF OF THE UDEN COMMITTEE

- Jon Dean

—-

Is UDEN Dying

by Amelia Fairbourn
965pts
on October 26, 2017Flag

I surely hope not, since I just found put about this place. It can really be a great place to Network and find resources or just show off what you can do. I am not sure why the posts are so few and far between, with all the talent this state has there must be a way to get things really moving. So call the members into action and get others involved and collaborating. Let's make this place work because, I know, I need it. I was going to post about our movie screening but realized that there may not be anyone paying attention. So I am putting it out there.

—

91 Days Until The New Year: Time For Action!

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on October 01, 2017Flag

This month - we ask what have we achieved together in 2017 so far? What is stopping you from jumping into AR and VR? Film makers or game makers, we make the case for action, inspired in no small measure by the excellent presentations at UDEN 16 last month, especially the live AR demo from WildWorks' Pat Carver, of Animal Jam using Apple's ARKit. Don't know any developers? This is the community to ask! No more excuses!

Welcome to October, and with that, the beautiful colors of fall, the onset of darker evenings and pretty soon, snow will be back! That's one of the things we love about Utah, we get seasons! Let's not bemoan the need for a warm jacket, but celebrate and enjoy all that our diverse climate here offers. It's a pretty good analogy for the entertainment business here too -- it's easy to see how it might be 'better' elsewhere at any given time, but what we have also offers opportunities that, if we like living here, we can make the best of.

Through 2017, UDEN's goal has been to help immerse our community in the world of AR and VR, to see how we might embrace it and find opportunities therein. We have had some great meetings - not least UDEN #16 a few weeks ago, with over 200 attendees, was our best yet. However, the take up of the technology is still remarkably low among our film and gaming communities: anecdotally, many are waiting to see what happens with it, or taking the attitude they'll get on board when someone offers them some money to do so. But this thinking leads to missed opportunity - very much like staying indoors on a cold Utah winter's day, hoping for the return of sunshine.

Example: How Seattle is becoming a worldwide hub for virtual reality technology development. Isn't this the kind of headline we, in the entertainment community, want to see for Salt Lake? Or Park City? Or Provo? Somewhere in Utah? It's not about hardware: the big opportunity is with content: great, innovative, sexy content, because without that, the hardware is just black plastic technology. We, the creators, have the ability to bring it to life.

"Stop it!", you might say. "That's not the problem. We looked into it and we're not drinking the VR cool-aid, we heard it's a tech bubble that is about to burst"

Perhaps you're right. But at the XR Connects conference last month in Helsinki, investor Tipatat Chennavasin said "Don't listen to the analysts, they're reading the data wrong. All the major players in the tech and entertainment industries are investing in VR, AR and AI." I asked him what he looked for when investing in this 'XR' space -- he replied innovative use of the technology. "Don't make games for VR, make VR games". Same applies to films or any other content.

But if VR doesn't do it for you, take a good look at AR: it's likely to be a much bigger opportunity and is less mature than VR right now. Remember that VR and AR are different from one another; VR is a highly immersive technology best suited for very specific types of experiences. AR, on the other hand, does not require a headset (although smart glasses will be big in 2018) and (as we discussed and WildWorks brilliantly demonstrated at UDEN #16) thanks to Apple's ARKit and Google's ARCore, soon millions of mobile devices globally will be AR enabled*, representing a huge potential audience especially for innovative film and gaming projects.

* A bit like getting that free U2 album on iTunes -- it just appeared one day -- but this will be so much better!

Tipatat's TheVRFund maintain some really useful resources for anyone interested in this space such as ecosystem analysis for VR and AR, like this one:

We keep telling one another that we have the technical and creative chops here in Utah -- well, here is our chance -- in 91 days 2018 will be upon us. What will we be telling ourselves that we, the digital entertainment community, achieved in 2017 to build our ecosystem and improve our future prospects? No more excuses as to why we can't, we need to embrace what we have and figure out how we can. If anyone would like help getting started, or would like to volunteer time or money to the cause, please do get in touch.

November 29th - UDEN #17

We're busy planning the next UDEN. We were thinking it would be our last of the AR/VR deep-dives for this year, but we may have something even more special that we can put together for this, our last event of 2017. RSVP now and we'll keep you posted as we confirm! http://utahden.org/uden_17.

This will be a terrific opportunity for an organization to sponsor food and drinks for the evening - interested? Please email us info@utahden,org for details.

INDUSTRY SURVEY - Can You Spare Us 3 Minutes?

UPCOMING EVENTS

October 10 - 24th - Aurora Awards Fall Competition Deadlines

Utah-based international film awards company announces their 31st Competition’s Call for Entries for works by film and video creators. This is your chance to receive feedback of your creative efforts and be recognized for excellence. Don’t miss it!

Regular Deadline October 10, 2017, Final Deadline October 24, 2017

See https://www.AuroraAwards.com for categories and more details

October 20 - 22nd - Utah Indie Game Jam 2017

The fifth annual Utah Indie Game Jam will be held at the Business Resource Center of Utah Valley University. Check in time is from 6-7 pm with opening ceremonies and theme announcement starting right at 7 pm. This is a 48-hour game jam so we'll be going until about 8 pm on Sunday the 9th. This is a competitive game jam, but a spirit of community and sportsmanship is encouraged. This is a chance to make what you want and to polish your skills and take them to the next level.

To sign up for the event, go to http://itch.io/jam/utah-indie-game-jam-2017 and click the "Join Jam" link.

October Workshops & Events for Entrepreneurs - Salt Lake SBDC

This month's topics include dealing with the IRS, Utah grant and angel money for startups, cash flow management and IP; more at the SBDC events page here: https://utahsbdc.org/center/salt-lake-city/events-trainings

Most Days in October - FREE FILMS!

Call Me Dad, Unrest, Icarus, The Sound of Silents, Dying in Vein, 4 Days in France and many more -- almost every day this month you can find terrific, engaging independent film showtimes all across the state! The wonderful Utah Film Center maintain a great list here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/UtahFilmCenter/events/

Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays – Entrepreneur Launch Pad

INDUSTRY EVENTS:

GAME - GamesIndustry.biz maintain a comprehensive list of upcoming events for the gaming industry, here: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/network/events

FILM - Our partners at the Utah Film Commission have an events calendar, here: https://film.utah.gov/event-calendar/

TECH - You can find an interesting, wide variety of tech-related events at our good friends Silicon Slopes' events page here: https://nvite.com/community/siliconslopes

VR/AR - The VR/AR Association maintain a growing list of events relevant for those involved in the creation of VR and AR, here: http://www.thevrara.com/events/

GAMES - the Utah Games Guild maintain a calendar of local events here: https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=v468q15oiiqtdu7dmfcs5l9ui8%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Denver

Finally, if you have an upcoming event you would like to share with UDEN members, you can add it to our website for FREE here: http://utahden.org/upevents

Our thanks, as always, for your support!

ON BEHALF OF THE UDEN COMMITTEE

- Jon Dean

—-

Letter from the Chair - September

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on September 01, 2017Flag

This month we launch our Industry Survey (which you definitely need to complete if you didn't already) and preview UDEN 16 which promises to be our most popular event yet!

Hope you had a FANTASTIC Labor Day weekend. Just a quick update from your friends in the Utah Digital Entertainment Network as we head into a very busy September!

INDUSTRY SURVEY - Can You Spare Us 3 Minutes?

One of the things you need when you're trying to bring about change - such as growth in our industry locally - is data. How big is the digital entertainment industry in Utah? How many people? How much revenue? How diverse is it? Which areas are growing, which shrinking? We can all guess based on our own experiences, but the truth is, we don't have any good way of knowing. The State captured some data with the 2011 UCAP Report on Digital Media, and just last year the Utah Film Commission commissioned a study that was informative, not least because it helped us see we have a long way to go to really know for sure.

Digital entertainment tends to get lumped in with the generic "digital media" (which, let's face it, these days means anyone with QuickBooks!) or "technology", so within that, our little community gets lost.

As a result, we're introducing a survey to begin a process of figuring out the facts. We're starting with a few simple questions, and over time we'll ask different questions as the picture becomes clearer.

If you could spare us just 3 minutes of your time to respond, it will be a huge help and another important step along the path to building a thriving community for the creators of content and technology in digital entertainment! (Hey! That's us!). We'll update you with the results.

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD! Click the image above, or here to give us your responses.

UDEN 16 IS TOMORROW

We planned UDEN 16 to be our best event yet and it's certainly turned out that way. You really don't want to miss this!

We have a fantastic venue at The Leonardo Museum downtown Salt Lake City, who are generously hosting and sponsoring our event after hours, starting at 6pm. We have been announcing this incredible VR/AR/MR/XR line-up all through the past few weeks, which includes keynotes in the auditorium about Social VR from High Fidelity, Apple's ARKit from WildWorks, character and avatar creation from Morph 3D plus an overview of the VRWorks tools from NVIDIA.

In the VIP event space you can experience AR/VR tools and products for yourself on a range of different platforms from leading developers including Octothorpe, The GApp Lab, NVIDIA, 4thWallFX, Monkeytime Software, High Fidelity, UvU's Digital Media Dept, the Grace Foundry, Morph 3D and more!

Plus your chance to network with the brightest and the best creators of digital entertainment (that's you!)

Make sure to RSVP for your FREE ticket - be part of your local community by supporting UDEN! www.utahden.org/uden_16

UPCOMING EVENTS

September 6th - UDEN 16 (see above) www.utahden.org/uden_16

September 18 - 22 - FREE co-working space during Business Resource Week

Our good friends at Access Salt Lake kindly sponsored office space for UDEN and we moved in! So please make sure to come by and see us! Especially during business resource week when you can enjoy FREE co-working space (yes, that's FREE) and hear from leading experts every day!

September 29 - Oct 1 - Game Tyrant Expo

Geek Tyrant presents GTX 2017! It will take place at the Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City. More than 8,000 spectators and competitors are expected. Players from all over the world will come to compete is a variety of different games including: Super Smash Bros Melee, Street Fighter, Rocket League, Marvel -v- Capcom Infinite, League of Legends, Injustice 2, Hearthstone - and so much more! Opportunities for local vendors, artists and sponsors too! https://gt-x.gg/registration

Most Days in September - FREE FILMS!

Almost every day this month you can find terrific, engaging independent film showtimes all across the state! The wonderful Utah Film Center maintain a great list here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/UtahFilmCenter/events/

Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays – ENTREPRENEUR LAUNCH PAD

ELP helps startups and small businesses on the Wasatch front. Mentoring, education, resources for growth. These occur at five different locations including Orem, Kaysville, Sandy, Ogden and Brigham City.
More info here: http://elpnow.org

INDUSTRY EVENTS:

GAME - GamesIndustry.biz maintain a comprehensive list of upcoming events for the gaming industry, here: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/network/events

FILM - Our partners at the Utah Film Commission have an events calendar, here: https://film.utah.gov/calendar/

VR/AR - The VR/AR Association maintain a growing list of events relevant for those involved in the creation of VR and AR, here: http://www.thevrara.com/events/

Finally, if you have an upcoming event you would like to share with UDEN members, you can add it to our website for FREE here: http://utahden.org/upevents

Our thanks, as always, for your support!

ON BEHALF OF THE UDEN COMMITTEE

- Jon Dean

—-

Letter from the Chair August

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on August 01, 2017Flag

This month we look at the leading role that digital entertainment is increasingly playing around the world, and how this opportunity is ours for the taking here in Utah!

Plus more on UDEN 16 and a look at this month's upcoming events.

Hello again, happy August!

Here at UDEN, we continue to passionately advocate on behalf of the creators of digital entertainment and technology in Utah. We do so because we believe in the talent here and the idea that we're stronger together: smart, creative and technical people that as a community of collaborators can innovate and build a powerful industry. We also know that the digital entertainment industry is often at the forefront of technology innovations because we are early adopters, leading advances that are subsequently taken up by wider industry sectors. This is why we're encouraging everyone to jump in the AR/VR sector with us right now. #GetInvolved

Around the world, nations are advancing digital policy as a means of growth, looking to accelerate progress in innovation. For example, at the beginning of July, the UK Prime Minister announced a name change to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, adding the word 'Digital' as the first word to the department's name. Specifically called out for priority were the 'creative industries', because employment in this sector grew at four times the rate of the wider UK workforce, according to UK government statistics. Exporting £38.2 billion worth of services to the rest of the world certainly helped. Creative industry, especially digital, is gaining such recognition because of the growth it can bring. It is also notable that industry, working together, took the lead in creating this growth, it was not government led.

Also last month, The Hill ran a piece from the ESA stating "Many leaders in Washington recognize the amazing potential of this emerging field. Earlier this year, a bipartisan group of legislators in Congress came together to form the Reality Caucus, which now works to educate policymakers about enhanced reality technologies and their related economic, educational, social and health benefits."

It's not about teaching more people to use the tools of the trade, it's about innovation, adding value and delivering world-class content. We have the talent to do this. By pooling our resources, we have the ability to make huge economic impact, allowing more of us to stay in the state we love, doing what we love.

I hope you'll support UDEN and be part of this community. Which brings me to...

UDEN 16

Our next networking event will feature some excellent keynote presentations as well as hands-on exhibits. UDEN 16 next month will be a deep-dive into the tools & technologies used in AR and VR. It will be our biggest event yet. Watch for announcements in the coming weeks, but don't wait to RSVP for your free ticket before they're all gone at www.utahden.org/uden_16. You can also apply to be an exhibitor using this link.

If you could volunteer time to help us at the event, please get in touch. Finally, we're looking for a food sponsor so if you can help we would appreciate your feeding our community! Please email us at info@utahden.org for more info.

We Have An Office!

Our good friends at Access Salt Lake are kindly sponsoring office space for UDEN, so we'll have a home as of this month! We value their support and hope you'll join us by making Access Salt Lake your home too! It's a great place to collaborate so why not try it out with a day pass?

UPCOMING EVENTS

Most Days in August - FREE FILMS!

Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays – ENTREPRENEUR LAUNCH PAD

As previewed at UDEN #13, ELP helps startups and small businesses on the Wasatch front. Mentoring, education, resources for growth. These occur at five different locations including Orem, Kaysville, Sandy, Ogden and Brigham City.
More info here: http://elpnow.org/

INDUSTRY EVENTS:

GAME - GamesIndustry.biz maintain a comprehensive list of upcoming events for the gaming industry, here: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/network/events

Finally, if you have an upcoming event you would like to share with UDEN members, you can add it to our website for FREE here: http://utahden.org/upevents

Our thanks, as always, for your support!

ON BEHALF OF THE UDEN COMMITTEE

- Jon Dean

—-

Letter from the Chair July

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on July 03, 2017Flag

Halfway through 2017, we reflect on one of our best UDEN meetings yet, UDEN #15 last month, and look forward to our BIGGEST event yet, UDEN #16! Also a soapbox from me about why game companies leave Utah, plus a look at upcoming events.

Happy Independence Day! We hope you're enjoying this glorious Utah weather as much as we are.

We're half way through 2017, a year that UDEN chose to focus on AR and VR technologies, as we believe they might offer us a collective opportunity to put the entertainment creators of Utah "on the map". At the beginning of last month, we held UDEN #15 (recap here) in which we showcased local developers who are already active in this space. Many attendees afterwards expressed to me their surprise at the high quality of work being created as well as the diversity of content. I agree, it was impressive on both counts.

We're now heads-down planning UDEN #16, in which we'll go one step further, and dive deeper into the tools and technologies used in creating AR and VR projects. It's looking to be our biggest event ever; we're in talks with major companies about presenting their tools and hopeful that, in addition, we'll have an expo to allow you a hands-on of a wide range of products, tools and technologies. We're giving ourselves time to pull this together, so expect announcements of speakers, dates and locations throughout the summer.

We'll be following that up later in the year with UDEN #17, in which we will look at other aspects of working in AR/VR, including:

how you create AR and VR film projects
the process of making an AR or VR game
the state of the AR and VR market in 2018 - the players and how you make money

Of course, as with all UDEN meetings, networking will remain a key component of what we do. At every UDEN meeting, we have everyone you could ever want to be involved with a creative business: designers, developers, artists, writers, producers, financiers - you name it, they're at UDEN. So if you can get over your shyness and say 'hi', you may well find your next collaborators at the next UDEN meeting! RSVP as these meetings will fill up fast!

RSVP: UDEN 16
RSVP: UDEN 17

Are The Game Makers Leaving Utah?

At first you might think so, with the very sad news that CastAR is closing its Salt Lake City game studio, less than a year after opening it. This, on the heels of EA and Disney leaving. But each of these closures happened for a different reason. While some game companies may be leaving, the game makers are not - but we do need to change the way we work if we want to stop this cycle. It goes without saying that UDEN will do it can to help the employees affected by the CastAR shutdown to find a new job - and hopefully one here in Utah!
Read more of my soapbox on this here: http://utahden.org/leaving

Membership

If you haven't yet JOINED UDEN, please take this opportunity to do so. We're really getting traction now and it is helpful to be able to show the support we have. You're a member if you have your BIO listed on the website membership pages. Please #GetInvolved!

Donations

As you know, UDEN is a non-profit run by industry volunteers. We try to make membership and all UDEN events FREE for our members, which we can only do thanks to the generosity of our sponsors. We will soon be accepting donations to help us scale the work we're doing and help us keep the membership open and free. More on that soon!

Upcoming Events

NEXT TUESDAY July 11th - Spy Hop's HEATWAVE FESTIVAL

Spy Hop’s Heatwave Festival showcases the next generation of musical, radio and music business professionals from Spy Hop’s Loud & Clear Audio programs. The Loud & Clear Youth Radio DJ’s will emcee the night with music, radio plays and interviews. Closing the night is the Spy Hop Musicology band, Paper Planes, performing their new album. Bring a picnic and join music and radio industry professionals, students, friends and families to celebrate their accomplishments over the year.
More details here: http://utahden.org/spy_op_heatwave_festival

July 17th - MPAU and UFC SUMMER MEETUP

Join the Motion Picture Association of Utah and Utah Film Commission for the kick off of our quarterly networking events! This will be a great networking opportunity for those in the film industry or interested in getting started. We will have a raffle for summer gift baskets and Lake Effect will have a cash bar and serve film themed drink specials at a discounted price!
More details: http://utahden.org/mpau_ufc

July 25th - POWER UP, PARTY DOWN

Over the course of ten months, Spy Hop's design students create a fully functional game that is ready to be launched for everyone to enjoy! With Adobe’s Creative Suite, Unity’s game engine, and lots of brainpower and collaboration, our students have designed and developed a game about perseverance and self-discovery. The Power Up! Game Design Lab is sponsored by Google Fiber and made possible by a grant from Utah Department of Workforce Services STEMlink grant. Spy Hop programming is funded in part by the Salt Lake City Arts Council, ZAP (Zoo, Arts & Parks) and Utah Division of Arts & Museums.
More details: http://utahden.org/spy_hop_power_up_party_down

Most Days in July - FREE FILMS!

Weekly – SL CIRCLE

Our friends at SL Circle hold weekly lunch & learns and other events on different topics. They also have a monthly beer social last Friday of the month. Details of all these events: https://slcircle.com/events/

Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays – ENTREPRENEUR LAUNCH PAD

INDUSTRY EVENTS:
GAME - GamesIndustry.biz maintain a comprehensive list of upcoming events for the gaming industry, here: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/network/events

ADD YOUR EVENT TO OUR LISTING
Finally, if you have an upcoming event you would like to share with UDEN members, you can add it to our website for FREE here: http://utahden.org/upevents

Our thanks, as always, for your support!

ON BEHALF OF THE UDEN COMMITTEE

- J

Jon Dean

—-

Are The Game Makers Leaving Utah?

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on June 28, 2017Flag

You might think so, with the very sad news that CastAR is closing its Salt Lake City game studio, less than a year after opening it. This, on the heels of EA and Disney leaving. But each of these closures happened for a different reason. While some game companies may be leaving, the game makers are not - but we do need to change the way we work if we want to stop this cycle.

It goes without saying that UDEN will do it can to help the employees affected by the CastAR shutdown to find a new job - and hopefully one here in Utah! (https://www.polygon.com/2017/6/26/15877804/castar-shut-down). The timing is bad, following the closure of the State's two biggest game studios - Electronic Arts Salt Lake facility in March and Disney's studio last year. It's a familiar pattern over the past twenty years in Utah: in that time, other big names including Acclaim and Microsoft, have come for a while then left again.

Each of these studios closed for different reasons, and while it really isn't fair to say that Utah is a cause, it must be a factor.

FACTS:

there is a lot of game talent here and a lot of game development happening in Utah, even with these closures - WildWorks and Wahoo are good examples of home grown studios that continue
many developers choose to remain in Utah and startup something new - witness the continuation of Avalanche (formerly Disney), now with Warner Bros Games
The average salary in game development in Utah is 2 - 3x higher than the state average salary; it's an attractive payroll for tax revenue
Utah is home to some of the best sources for game talent - the University of Utah and BYU, for example
Utah is known as a place where game companies come "shopping" for their talent, luring away some of the brightest to other States or countries

UDEN has long argued that Utah hasn't yet attained a critical mass in game industry terms, for the eco-system to be self-sustaining. By this, we mean that we need multiple studios to have long term commercial and critical success, and we need to stop the brain drain. What we have seen where there has been success is an isolation; these companies keeping themselves unto themselves. Is this a Utah thing, because it appears to be the same in film here, as well.

UDEN was founded from a frustration at this cycle of events: we believe that in games and film, we need to come together as a community of entertainment creators, collaborating and helping each another, to move faster than we could solo, and gain competitive advantage. To build a stronger foundation for the longer term, a community that helps itself rise, not rely on the passing opportunistic whims of mega corporations from elsewhere. Austin, Montreal, New York, London - all examples of entertainment communities that have done just this. We can in Utah. We just need to want to.

Which brings us full circle to AR/VR technologies! They offer commercial opportunity and could be the catalyst for our entertainment community to rally behind. Hence our focus on them this year.

Which brings us to you: you need to help us build this community. Support us (see UDEN #16, for example). Be active. Help others. Change the way we work by working together.

—-

UDEN #15 - AR/VR Deep Dive: Work In Progress

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on June 09, 2017Flag

A recap of UDEN #15, our first hands-on meeting showcasing work in progress for AR and VR in Utah.

As part of UDEN's focus on virtual reality technologies this year, UDEN #15 gathered together some of the various virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality initiatives happening in our sector in our state. We planned it to be a great opportunity for our members to network, learn and find collaborators to help engage in this vital emerging technology.

NO PANELS, NO KEYNOTES, BUT HANDS-ON!

showcase of work in progress of yet-to-be-released products!
new software offerings
different types of hardware
opportunity to meet service providers

...and as always the opportunity to network with the best and brightest of Utah's digital entertainment community!

A meeting recap including video of the event is here: http://www.guv1.com/jonblogs/uden-15

Do you like this post?

—-

Letter from the Chair June

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on June 01, 2017Flag

June already? This month we preview the upcoming UDEN #15 meeting at which you can see work in progress on AR and VR projects locally, plus networking. Plus UDEN's future plans, an update on our social media, membership and donations as well as highlights of this month's upcoming events.

213 days - that's how long until 2018! Whoa! We're almost halfway through this year already? It's June! Where did the time go? These are the thoughts that go through my head each time a new month begins; it's a benchmark for the progress I'm making on my projects as well as for the other things I told myself I would do this year.

It's the same for UDEN: a chance to check the progress we are making as a community. This was the year we chose to focus on augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR) with the hope that we might encourage our community to come together, collaborate and become expert in this field, which in turn would lead to the commercial success and economic growth we long for in Utah.

As part of this, a reminder that your next opportunity to #GetInvolved will be at UDEN 15 on Wednesday June 7th (next week!). We're bringing together some of the leading VR and AR developers in Utah to show you what they are doing. You'll be able to see the many different innovative ways that our community is combining creativity and technology to create truly innovative virtual and augmented reality experiences. PLUS you can get to try them yourself, hands-on, many of them before they are released! UDEN 15 will be a great opportunity if you:

• Have never tried VR or AR but would like to
• Want to see and understand more about the different types of VR and AR equipment
• Are interested in a VR/AR project and would like to find a collaborator
• Are already developing for VR/AR and would like to see what other folks are doing
• Want to network with the top creative and technical minds in the State
• Would you like everything above for FREE
• Would like to get fed while you network the evening away!

Go to our event page at the website to see who will be showing their projects and RSVP to let us know you're attending! Click here: www.utahden.org/uden_15

To help you embrace the technology, we'll be diving even deeper into AR/VR at our meetings later in the year, explaining how AR/VR projects are designed and developed, the tools and the technologies used, as well as the opportunity in the market for creators of content - like us!

If you're also noticing the year passing by and still want to do something then do it now. Time is ticking away, other people are already embracing this opportunity and pretty soon, 2017 will be history. #GetInvolved. You won't be alone - UDEN will be here for you.

The Future

UDEN has some ambitious plans for the remainder of this year. In addition to the above, we hope to partner with Utah Valley University for their new VR class as a means of developing deeper expertise within the community. We also have ambitions to start and manage a two-year digital apprenticeship program as a means to enhance career pathing and create start-up content studios. More on that in coming months.

Facebook

For those that follow us on social media, you'll know that we made some changes this week: we closed our Facebook GROUP and will be communicating instead on our Facebook PAGE. In the coming weeks if you think we have suddenly gone quiet on Facebook, chances are you're following the group, so please LIKE and FOLLOW the Facebook page instead to keep in touch with us - here: https://www.facebook.com/UtahDEN

Membership

Donations

As you know, UDEN is a non-profit run by industry volunteers. We try to make membership and all of UDEN events FREE for our members, which we can only do thanks to the generosity of our sponsors. We will soon be accepting donations to help us scale the work we're doing and help us keep the membership open and free. More on that soon!

Upcoming Events

NEXT WEDNESDAY June 7th - UDEN #15 VR.AR.WIP.

As above. Come see and try-out a variety of different applications demonstrated on different VR and AR setups, including Microsoft's Hololens, Google Cardboard, Vive HTC, Samsung GearVR and Oculus Rift. RSVP now for your free ticket and see how VR is already being applied in film, games, education and commerce. UDEN 15 is sponsored by ACCESS SALT LAKE and The UTAH FILM COMMISSION - our thanks to them for making this event possible!

UDEN 15 starts 6pm, at Access Salt Lake. You can RSVP here: http://utahden.org/uden_15

TOMORROW June 3rd - UTAH GAME AUDIO

UGA's second meetup is tomorrow! Join us at Kafeneio Coffeehouse at 2pm. This time, we have the private West Wing all to ourselves! Feel free to bring whatever noise makin' stuff you've got! At the very least, I'll be bringing my musical floppy drive.
More details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/260074581133962/

TOMORROW June 3rd - DISTANT WORLDS: Music from Final Fantasy

** DISCOUNT CODE FOR UDEN MEMBERS at the website **
This international concert phenomenon features Nobuo Uematsu’s stirring music from one of the most popular video game series of all time, FINAL FANTASY! Conducted by Grammy Award®-winner Arnie Roth, the 94-musician Distant Worlds Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus plays alongside breathtaking HD video direct from SQUARE ENIX. This show is a multimedia feast for the eyes and ears! Concert includes the performance of FINAL FANTASY XV: Apocalypsis Noctis (just added!), FINAL FANTASY VII: Cosmo Canyon, FINAL FANTASY VIII: Don’t Be Afraid, FINAL FANTASY IX: Roses of May, FINAL FANTASY X: Zanarkand.
Tickets on-sale now! http://utahden.org/distant_worlds_music_from_final_fantasy

June 8th - SILICON SLOPES' SUMMER BASH

Join Silicon Slopes for some good BBQ and music while mingling with Utah's most prestigious Tech Companies! With food by Traeger and R&R Barbeque, drinks and fun by Peak Ventures, STACK Real Estate, and Silicon Slopes, you are sure to have a good time. The event will be held outside Silicon Slopes' new headquarters from 11:30am-1:30pm on June 8 at Thanksgiving Park in Lehi (3300 N Ashton Boulevard at the Commons/Pavilion).
RSVP here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/stack-n-silicon-slopes-summer-bash-tickets-33934230196#tickets

June 13 - 15th - E3: ELECTRONIC ENTERTAINMENT EXPO

E3 is the world's premier event for computer, video and mobile games and related products. At E3, the video game industry's top talent pack the Los Angeles Convention Center, connecting tens of thousands of the best, brightest, and most innovative in the interactive entertainment industry. For three exciting days, leading-edge companies, groundbreaking new technologies and never-before-seen products will be showcased. E3 connects you with both new and existing partners, industry executives, and the biggest fans of video games providing unprecedented exposure to emerging markets. E3 is where it all starts.
Details: https://www.e3expo.com/

Most Days in June - FREE FILMS!

Weekly – SL CIRCLE

Our friends at SL Circle hold weekly lunch & learns and other events on different topics. They also have a monthly beer social last Friday of the month. Details of all these events: https://slcircle.com/events/

Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays – ENTREPRENEUR LAUNCH PAD

As previewed at UDEN #13, ELP helps startups and small businesses on the Wasatch front. Mentoring, education, resources for growth. These occur every week: Tuesdays 1 – 3pm in Orem; Wednesdays 3 – 5pm in Kaysville and Fridays 1 – 3pm in Sandy.
More info here: http://www.facebook.com/elputah/

FILM EVENTS

Our partners at the Utah Film Commission have an events calendar - click on a date to see what is coming up this month!
https://film.utah.gov/calendar/

ADD YOUR EVENT TO OUR LISTING
Finally, if you have an upcoming event you would like to share with UDEN members, you can add it to our website for FREE here: http://utahden.org/upevents

Hope to see you at UDEN 15 next Wednesday!

ON BEHALF OF THE UDEN COMMITTEE

Cheers!

- J

—-

Letter from the Chair May

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on May 01, 2017Flag

On the heels of EA shutting its Salt Lake studio we ask what does Montreal have that Utah doesn't? We help connect the dots with a vibrant creative community and critical mass. We also look at this month's upcoming events.

Happy May Day and thank you for your continued support of UDEN!

CONNECTING THE DOTS WITH COMMUNITY AND CRITICAL MASS

Electronic Arts is the latest videogame company to shutter its studio in Utah after eleven years despite some great work from some great talent here. It's an all too familiar story that we have seen time and again in our creative tech businesses in Utah over the past twenty or so years. Meanwhile, Electronic Arts pledged to invest $500 million CAD into Québec’s video game industry over the next ten years. What do they have that we don't?

Critical mass.

About ten years ago, creatives (just like us!) in Montreal began coming together as a community, sharing and collaborating for the benefit of the greater good. They began to have commercial and critical success with their output. More creatives joined in and soon it was like a snowball: people went there for the jobs, companies followed because the people and capacity were there. They attained a critical mass. The economic benefit of the sector was recognized last fall by a $536.8 CAD million tax credit, because “As the Québec Taxation Review Committee clearly showed, the tax credit available to companies in this sector has significant economic spinoffs that benefit Québec society as a whole...” said Carlos Leitão, Québec’s Minister of Finance.

Not too shabby, right? They are not alone: most states and many nations have digital accelerator policies because they recognize the value of the creative application of technology; the role of the UK's creative industries, including film-making, music, advertising and video games was recognized when the government unveiled its industrial strategy Green Paper in January for boosting the post-Brexit economy.

In Utah our creative sector is not prioritized because the state has a successful economy. UDEN agrees that we cannot build an industry based on incentives nor should we expect to have livelihoods based on handouts. It is up to us in industry to demonstrate that we can deliver economic impact through the quality of the work we create and the value it brings. Not only will we create jobs, but we will be able to demonstrate the economic benefits to Utah and so targeted incentives will follow to accelerate our industry sector. Montreal, like New York and Austin, is an example of this happening in the past decade: communities creating their own futures.

OK, but how do we make it happen?

1. We need to become a community. Our regular UDEN meetings and the associated networking are intended to help these baby steps toward collaboration and familiarity with each other;
2. UDEN believes that VR and AR are a helpful technologies that all of us in our sector could focus upon and become expert in, thus providing a cause for the collaborative effort by which we become a community;
3. UDEN is working on some initiatives that will hopefully result in a digital apprenticeship program, supporting career pathways and fostering startups; the focus will be on value add (innovation) not tools (as these are already provided by the educational ecosystem) - more on this in the coming months!
4. Whatever other ideas and initiatives that UDEN, our members or partners would like to undertake toward this goal

If you believe what we are trying to achieve is worthwhile, please continue to support us: attend our meetings, sponsor our events, donate money and/or your time. Montreal is one of many case studies that indicate we're on the right path.

-- UDEN EVENTS -------------------------------------------------

May 6th -- we have partnered with the Microsoft Store at City Creek and the Utah Gamers Guild in order to provide a comprehensive workshop centered around different ways you can find a career in videogames. The first hour will be a panel of local (Utah!) industry professionals available to answer questions about what its like working in the video game industry and ways to get yourself into the industry. The second will be a showcase of local indie game development provided by Utah Gamers Guild, showing their games in-development. Food will be provided and registration will open for the in-store tournament for the game For Honor. RSVP here: http://utahden.org/gaming_career

June 7th -- Our next terrific networking event will be on June 7th! We'll be revealing more details in the coming weeks but for now SAVE THE DATE and RSVP here: http://utahden.org/uden_15.

Our thanks to one hundred of you that supported UDEN 14 last month! An excellent panel talked us through post-production and the opportunities that could lie ahead for this skillset in Utah, plus we heard three excellent Hive Ignite pitches, had some brilliant networking, plus a VIP tour of HUGEsound post production in SLC - a meeting recap is here: http://www.guv1.com/jonblogs/uden-14

-- UPCOMING EVENTS! -------------------------------------------------

May 2nd -- Spy Hop Annual Benefit
Spy Hop asks its students to reflect on their communities and the world, and then focus their interests and creative passion on digital media arts projects that redefine their worldviews and their lives. Join us at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center to celebrate the creative efforts of our students and support them in their work. RSVP ASAP: http://utahden.org/2017_spy_hop_annual_benefit

May 2nd - Harrison Ford narrates Utah Premiere of TOXIC PUZZLE
A scientist and his team begin a quest for a hidden killer: an environmental toxin that may be causing a rise in ALS and Alzheimer’s. As they study cyanobacteria created by pollution and climate change, the pieces begin to fall into place, and they move closer to an advance that would bring hope into the lives of those who suffer from these brain disorders and take them one step closer to gaining back their lucidity.

Official Selection: 2017 Newport Film Festival. Post-film discussion with director Bo Landin and Paul Cox, scientist featured in the film.

FREE - City Library 210 E. 400 S. Salt Lake City, UT, 84111 7pm

May 4th -- Utah Crowdfunding Summit 2017
May the 4th be with you for Utah's largest training and networking event for crowdfunding as well as the&nbspCrowdfund Hero Competition. The Utah Crowdfunding Summit was created for tech and social entrepreneurs, as well as for non-profits who are raising money. We will have some of the country's best crowdfunders, experts on Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Regulation Crowdfunding (Investment-Equity), and much more! PLUS there is a 20% DISCOUNT CODE FOR UDEN MEMBERS at the website: http://utahden.org/bhans/utah_crowdfunding_summit_2017

May 12th - VR Night

UDEN keeps on saying this is what we should all be focused upon (see commentary above!) - well, this is your chance to find out why! Whether you’re interested in VR for retail, medical, business, gaming or creative applications, or you just want to find out what all the excitement is about, this show is the place for you to explore the incredible power of Virtual Reality technologies. There will be hands-on demos, information, talks and so much more! RSVP: utahden.org/vrnight

June 3rd - Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy

This international concert phenomenon features Nobuo Uematsu’s stirring music from one of the most popular video game series of all time, FINAL FANTASY! Conducted by Grammy Award®-winner Arnie Roth, the 94-musician Distant Worlds Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus plays alongside breathtaking HD video direct from SQUARE ENIX. This show is a multimedia feast for the eyes and ears! Concert includes the performance of FINAL FANTASY XV: Apocalypsis Noctis (just added!), FINAL FANTASY VII: Cosmo Canyon, FINAL FANTASY VIII: Don’t Be Afraid, FINAL FANTASY IX: Roses of May, FINAL FANTASY X: Zanarkand. Tickets on-sale now! http://utahden.org/distant_worlds_music_from_final_fantasy

FREE FILMS
- almost every day this month you can find terrific, engaging independent film showtimes all across the state! The wonderful Utah Film Center maintain a great list here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/UtahFilmCenter/events/

WEEKLY – SL Circle

Our friends at SL Circle hold weekly lunch & learns and other events on different topics. They also have a monthly beer social last Friday of the month. Details of all these events: https://slcircle.com/events/

Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays – Entrepreneur Launch Pad

As previewed during Hive Ignite at UDEN #13, ELP helps startups and small businesses on the Wasatch front. Mentoring, education, resources for growth. These occur every week: Tuesdays 1 – 3pm in Orem; Wednesdays 3 – 5pm in Kaysville and Fridays 1 – 3pm in Sandy. More info here: http://www.facebook.com/elputah/

Finally, if you have an upcoming event you would like to share with UDEN members, you can add it FREE here: http://utahden.org/upevents

Looking forward to catching up with you soon!
ON BEHALF OF THE UDEN COMMITTEE

Cheers!

- J

—

UDEN #14 - Post Production

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on April 20, 2017Flag

A recap of UDEN #14, an expert panel discussing post-production in Utah.

Tonight’s keynote discussion centered around post-production, a critical phase of the film making process. An expert panel kicked-off this topic off for us and then it was opened to the floor for questions and opinions. Later in the networking hour, there was a VIP tour of HUGEsound a few blocks away for those who wanted to see a world-class post-production facility.

Full meeting recap including slides shown and pictures from the event: http://www.guv1.com/jonblogs/uden-14

Utah VR/AR : digital Hollywood?

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on April 07, 2017Flag

The case for our community to focus on AR and VR technologies for economic success.

Utah has always been home to some excellent creative talent, whether film makers, videogame creators or YouTube innovators, as well as graduating increasing numbers of students every year from creative programs at our universities who go on to get great jobs at the leading entertainment companies on the planet, whether that be Google, Pixar, Activision, Electronic Arts, Microsoft etc.

What we don’t seem to have been quite so great at is building an entertainment industry here: we have had pockets of success (such as Disney Infinity which was a ~$4Bn business for Disney, created and managed right here in Utah but closed last year so the corporation could profit maximize); but where we end up is having great creative and technical talent but no sustainable entertainment industry. No doubt that the best creatives on the planet can choose to live wherever they like – many choose Utah because of the lifestyle that is possible here: not as crowded as California or London, friendlier than New York or Montreal, closer than Singapore, Wellington or Hyderabad.

UDEN was founded after we realized that part of the problem is isolation: we’re not a community of creators helping build a sustainable eco-system, rather small pockets of people looking after themselves. So UDEN has been holding regular meetings to bring the entertainment community together, to network, encourage collaboration, to educate and share with the goal of building a community.

Why? In places like Montreal and Austin, solid creative entertainment industries have sprung up in the past decade. Each began as a community that collaborated to create high quality output, which gained commercial and critical success. Once money started to pour in, incentives were applied to fuel the fire and economic growth occurred (current example: http://mobilesyrup.com/2017/04/06/electronic-arts-pledges-invest-500-million-montreals-game-industry-next-10-years/ - meanwhile EA is in the process of closing its Utah studio after a decade here).

One of UDEN’s proposals is that, as a means of coming together as a community and building something sustainable, we focus on VR/AR, make it our collective core competency. The skills needed are transferable across the different sectors – if you can make a VR film, you have the technical skills you would need to make a VR game and vice-versa. By sharing the innovation and creativity, you can do both.

But it doesn’t stop there: in the next 10 years, pretty much all industry in Utah will have some kind of VR/AR in their workflow or workplace – and these same skills are further transferable from entertainment into banking, healthcare, data visualization, training, simulation, military etc. Film makers can bring their storytelling and visual mastery to bear; game makers their understanding of interactivity and user experience; the educational establishments collaborating with industry to create a new workforce.

Most market estimations put the VR/AR market value at around $22Bn globally by 2020
Of that, around $15Bn will be content ($6Bn head-mounted displays, $1Bn accessories)
Not a bad business to be in - and we can start by servicing the existing 'Silicon Slopes' tech firms in our back yard

Crazy? No, it’s entirely possible if we’re prepared to work at it – Utah the new 'digital Hollywood'; a world-class entertainment hub specializing in interactive entertainment in Utah precisely because of what we have here today, one that fuels economic growth across the state, not just in entertainment. One thing is for sure: nothing will change unless we try to change! UDEN is holding the party and we’re inviting anyone who wants to come along.

SUPPORTING DATA:

Research firm Tractica anticipates that combined revenue for head-mounted displays (HMDs), VR accessories, and VR content will increase to $21.8 billion worldwide by 2020, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 142%
As adoption begins to reach a critical mass, the market intelligence firm forecasts that the industry’s revenue mix will quickly shift from hardware sales to content
Content sales will represent more than one-third of total VR revenue by 2017, and will quickly grow to nearly two-thirds of all VR revenue by 2020
The market intelligence firm forecasts that the highest-potential application markets are virtual prototyping, 3D modeling, training, and simulation. Other key markets will include medical, academia, research & development, and marketing and advertising

Ref: https://www.tractica.com/newsroom/press-releases/consumer-virtual-reality-hardware-and-content-revenue-to-reach-21-8-billion-by-2020/

https://www.tractica.com/newsroom/press-releases/virtual-reality-adoption-in-enterprise-and-industrial-markets-will-be-driven-by-training-simulation-virtual-prototyping-and-3d-modeling-applications/

—

Letter from the Chair April 2017

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on April 01, 2017Flag

This month we reflect on why we don't have a sustainable eco-system for the entertainment industry in Utah - is it cultural? Also, who does UDEN represent, can you help sponsor us plus a preview of this month's upcoming events.

Welcome to April. I guarantee there are no ‘April Fool’ pranks in this email update 😊

If you’re in a hurry, skip ahead and see what the month ahead holds, further down the page. But if you have a couple of minutes, I would like to ask if you could think about the following this month...

Economic Growth

Many thanks to those of you that came out to UDEN #13 at Access Salt Lake downtown SLC last month (recap and pictures here). More than 120 people showed up which was excellent, but perhaps most encouragingly in the current political climate, there was some spirited discussion on a range of topics without any name calling! The catalyst was our keynote discussion, “Should we all focus on VR?”, which resulted in an overwhelming response of “yes” – with a few concerns duly noted for the journey!

Among many excellent points raised in the discussion at UDEN #13, was Roger Altizer’s commentary (and here I paraphrase), that we can talk all we want about economic growth but the only way we’re truly going to get traction is if we start up a lot more companies; if that comes from adopting VR, great! Roger’s point (articulated much better from his red Hawai’ian shirt during the panel than here!) was that we don’t have a critical mass yet; we have talent, we have education turning out even more talent, we just don’t have enough jobs for the talent. Until we do, it isn’t a sustainable eco-system.

Which leads me to wonder, is this cultural? Are we focusing too much on the skills and not enough on innovation that might lead to new projects and so new start-ups? Or are there barriers to starting up in UT that might not be as prevalent elsewhere? Are the incubators we have locally effective? Is this unique to our entertainment sector – as opposed to, say, the wider tech sector here in the state? We’re hoping for some insights from you, such that we might be able to increase our chances of success.

A few people told me they were planning to collaborate on some new projects following the networking at UDEN #13, including some inspired to try their hand in VR – which would be great! Perhaps you could all keep us in the loop as to what you’re up to, and perhaps share in a Hive Ignite at a future UDEN meeting?

Who Does UDEN Represent?

UDEN has tried to be an umbrella for all the entertainment sectors in the state over the past two years that we have been in existence. We know we get more traction in some areas than others; maybe we’re not focusing on all the right things for all sectors – if that is the case, please let us know. Most likely, what you’ll hear from me in response is “how can you help?”. We’re all volunteers trying to do something for the greater good, we all have day jobs and if we’re missing something important, are you willing to give up a few hours each month to help us fill those gaps? If so, please get in contact info@utahden.org, let’s talk. If it’s that we can do something better, we would like to. Let us know.

Can you help sponsor UDEN?

UDEN is a non-profit and thus far we have provided our regular meetings for two years with no entry fee. We like this! To achieve it, we rely on UDEN volunteers to organize, for venues to provide the space and facilities and someone else to provide the food. All for free in the name of the greater good of our growing community. We're not talking huge amounts of either money or time, so if you or your company can help by providing space and/or food for an upcoming meeting, we gladly promote both in return to our members. Please contact us at info@utahden.org

UPCOMING EVENTS!

Apr 7th - Startup Conversation – Silicon Slopes

Silicon Slopes’ Startup Conversation Series brings Utah's startup community together once a month to participate in a casual conversation between Utah's most prominent entrepreneurs to educate and inspire, as well as learn about their successes, failures, and founding stories. This month's event features Canopy CEO Kurt Avarell and Pelion Venture Partners Managing Director Blake Modersitzki. They'll talk about Canopy's recent $20M Series B round and what it takes to raise money in Utah. The event is free and will be held at Salt Mine in Sandy at 12:00pm on April 7th. Lunch will be provided. Register here: https://nvite.com/SiliconSlopes/eo8n6l

Apr 17th – Craft Lake City 2017 – Applications Close

We believe that showcasing Digital entertainment from Utah would be an amazing feature in our Google Fiber STEM building! You must act by 17th if you want to take part! Craft Lake City is an annual do-it-yourself festival by locals, for locals, celebrating all things local. The Festival encompasses do-it-yourself culture as a whole, featuring artists and craftspeople, DIY engineers and tinkerers, foodies, singers and dancers, collectors and upcyclers. It celebrates the best in all of us—our desire to make greatness from the mundane and share it with our friends. We strive to keep building upon our vision—to make our community a more beautiful, self-sufficient, and harmonious place through our shared love of creating. Pricing, process and full details here: http://craftlakecity.com/application/

Apr 19th - UDEN #14 – Redefining Post Production in a Digital Age

‘Post’ is perhaps best known as the ‘assembly line’ of the film industry; the phase that occurs after the actual ‘shooting’ of the film; it’s editing, visual effects, color correction, music, sound, audio dubbing etc. With the advent of digital media, post production processes now exist in many forms, including games, TV, YouTube etc, as the skill-sets are somewhat transferable. It is also highly accessible: at the low end you can make a movie and edit it on your phone, something unthinkable ten years ago. There is no doubt that ‘post’ has – and is – being disrupted, so we ask the question: does this create an opportunity for Utah? Not just in film? We have an expert panel to dive deep plus the opportunity for you to join in the discussion. Free to attend, as always. Food, as usual. RSVP here: http://www.utahden.org/uden_14

April 21st – Aurora Awards – Deadline for Entries

The prestigious Aurora Awards honor commercials, cable programming, documentaries, industrial, instructional, and corporate films. If you were at UDEN #13 last month, you heard about them as part of Hive Ignite and even got to see one of the exquisite statues. If you want to enter, April 21st is your deadline. Full info here: https://www.auroraawards.com/

FREE FILMS - almost every day this month you can find terrific, engaging independent film showtimes all across the state! The wonderful Utah Film Center maintain a great list here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/UtahFilmCenter/events/

WEEKLY – SL Circle

Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays – Entrepreneur Launch Pad

As seen last month at UDEN #13, ELP helps startups and small businesses on the Wasatch front. Mentoring, education, resources for growth. These occur every week: Tuesdays 1 – 3pm in Orem; Wednesdays 3 – 5pm in Kaysville and Fridays 1 – 3pm in Sandy. More info here: http://www.facebook.com/elputah/

Finally, if you have an upcoming event you would like to share with UDEN members, you can add it FREE here: http://utahden.org/upevents

Looking forward to catching up with you soon!
ON BEHALF OF THE UDEN COMMITTEE

Cheers!

- J

——

UDEN #13 - VR or Bust?

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on March 08, 2017Flag

In order to generate economic growth and a sustainable digital entertainment sector, perhaps we should all focus on VR and become world-leading experts at it? That was the excellent panel discussion at UDEN #13.

Full meeting recap: http://www.guv1.com/jonblogs/2017/uden-13

—

Letter from the Chair - March

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on March 01, 2017Flag

This month's letter was so impassioned, it became the basis of our 'About' page! The controversial post argues that if we want to ignite the fire of change, then we need to create the sparks by working together and becoming a community. It has worked in Montreal, New York, Austin and other creative hubs like ours.

Only 9 more months until 2018 - we need to make the rest of this year count. The digital entertainment industry is changing faster than ever, led by new innovations and increasingly, new players; more States are developing competitive educational programs today, while entire countries are taking aggressive steps to secure the digital jobs of tomorrow. If we like living in Utah and working in digital entertainment, we're going to need to stay ahead of the field.

We're not competing. Despite boasting a wealth of creative talent here, we only have a small number of entertainment businesses that make enough money to sustain and compete on the world stage. Despite our State being ranked as one of the best places in tech to do business, in entertainment we don't even make the list.

This is not a whine. It's a call to action for YOU.

This is not a cry for a handout. We can't build a future based on incentives - think of them like gasoline: if you have a fire, they can make it boom. But if you just have a pile of wood then adding gasoline just makes that pile of wood damp!

WE need to be the sparks that make the flame.

UDEN is two years old. Our goal is to create a community of the creators of digital entertainment. We are making progress but it is slow and time is not our friend. We can't do this alone. We need ideas, plans and volunteers to deliver on those plans. And while we truly believe that our network meetings are important, we don't just want to be meeting organizers!

SUPPORT US. BE ACTIVE IN OUR COMMUNITY. ADVOCATE. BE A VOICE.

Here is a perfect opportunity! At next week's UDEN meeting, we pose the question "Should we all be working in VR?" The idea being that we, the UT digital entertainment community, could all focus in the same technical area and become the world's best in it. Our filmmakers can help us all understand storytelling and narrative, our game developers can help us understand interactivity and user interface, our artists and special effects creators can help us deliver powerful visuals, our YouTubers can help us understand audience, while our educational institutions can help produce the future workforce, ready to hit the (virtual) ground running.

In fact, so powerful are these cross-overs. that our sector can also collaborate with the wider tech businesses in the State, almost all of whom will have VR or AR-related parts of their business in future. A panel discussion will lead the topic which will then be opened to the floor for thoughts, pros and cons. What do you think? Good idea? Terrible? Unsure? Please attend, listen and join the discussion.

Above all, if we decide that VR is a good direction - then we need to DO something about it, not just feel good that we had a nice evening. If not, then what CAN we do to build a sustainable sector for the future?

This is the year we make it count! Let's do this. Together.

UPCOMING EVENTS!

Mar 3rd - LIGHTSPARK Media Summit (yes - this Friday!)

S.J. Quinney College of Law, University of Utah. Now only $50 for UDEN creative professionals and $10 for students. Keynote from Maria Bello, the day is focused on digital entertainment with contributions from The VOID, Kaskade, Sundance Institute, Imagine Dragons, Sony, Turner, Bonneville International, Neon Trees and UDEN's very own Jeff Peters. Online tickets now closed, so get yours at the door if you don't already have yours! More details: https://www.lightspark.media/

Mar 8th - UDEN 13 (next Wednesday)

Access Salt Lake - Networking plus Hive Ignite featuring the Entrepreneur Launch Pad and Aurora Awards, plus the aforementioned panel on "Should We All Be Working in VR?" Be there! FREE tickets: www.utahden.org/uden_13

Mar 14th - IGDA Chapter Meeting + Kelly Harper

Impact Salt Lake. This time we will be hearing from Kelly Harper from Projectile Entertainment who released Momentum, which won last year's Utah Game Dev Choice Award for Best In Show. Come catch up with fellow developers in your area! https://www.facebook.com/events/1426497384089083/

Mar 17th - 18th - Salt Lake Comic Con FAN X

Salt Palace Convention Center. Where else can you dress up as your favorite characters - and meet people who created or play them? Among those in attendance will be the legendary Stan Lee, Verne Troyer, Jason Momoa, Bonnie Wright, John Rhys-Davies, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Dule Hill, Judge Reinhold and Sean Maguire. Tickets: http://saltlakecomiccon.com/

NOW - Call for Submission; you have until March 25th to submit your films shot using drones! The Leonardo's 1st Annual Drone Film Festival takes place April 7th - 9th and includes a photography showcase and film screenings with both amateur and pro sections for each category. Details: http://utahden.org/the_leonardo_drone_film_festival_call_for_submissions

FREE FILMS - almost every day this month you can find terrific, engaging independent film showtimes. The wonderful Utah Film Center maintain a great list here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/UtahFilmCenter/events/

WEEKLY - Our friends at SL Circle hold weekly lunch & learns and other events on different topics. Last month it was VR! They also have a monthly beer social. Details of all these events: https://slcircle.com/events/

Finally, if you have an upcoming event you would like to share with UDEN members, you can add it FREE here: http://utahden.org/upevents

Looking forward to catching up with you soon!

Cheers!

- J

—

Letter from the Chair - February

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on February 03, 2017Flag

We reflect on the achievements of the first month of the year including the gathering at Access Salt Lake. Plus a preview of this month's upcoming events.

Can it really be February already? Then again, in some ways I feel like I aged a lot more than a month these past few weeks!

January was quite the month of activity on many fronts, not least in the follow-up to the UCDA Summit way back in December!

Our good friends at Access Salt Lake hosted a Summit follow-up meeting at Zion’s Bank on January 17th. A lot of great discussion ensued and some action teams were formed to see if we can make progress in specific areas. These included:
- Film & media – Jeff Johnson is leading this initiative
- Games – Jeff Peters volunteered to lead this one
- Infrastructure – Spencer Viernes is leading this team
- Education & workforce – Nick Baguley leads this one

The hope is that these teams can work on initiatives they feel most passionate about and report back to the wider community at the regular UDEN meetings. If you would like to volunteer for any of these teams, please get in contact with us! Info@utahden.org

It was fantastic to see more than 200 of your smiling faces at UDEN’s Sundance meeting on January 25th. Lots of terrific networking, catching up with old friends, making new ones, discussing latest news and possible collaborations. Many, many thanks to the Utah Film Commission for hosting us at their cool venue on Main Street in Park City, and also to ChAIR Entertainment and Epic Games for providing the scrummy food! We’ll be posting pictures soon!

UPCOMING EVENTS!

Feb 18th – 20th DRONE Film Activity

Join the Leonardo for a youth film challenge during President's Day Weekend, part of the Drones and Droids fest. Amateur teams or families are encouraged to compete for a chance to win a prize from the Leo and Spyhop.

More details: http://utahden.org/48_hour_drone_film_activity

March 3rd – Lightspark Media Summit

Hosted by the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah, join digital artists, musicians, directors, producers, actors, businesspeople, students and attorneys for this day-long symposium to explore emerging trends in the ﬁlm, TV and music industries.

Designed to maximize both learning and networking, the Summit is an engaging blend of presentations, interactive panel discussions, performances, live demonstrations, and an unforgettable lunchtime keynote. The day is also infused with the Stewards of Story theme, guiding conversations about what taking responsibility for ethical storytelling means today.

More details: www.lightspark.media/summit

March 8th – UDEN #13: VR or BUST?

Continuing the discussion and ideas from the UCDA summit, we’ll be exploring the notion that VR could finally give Utah’s creators of content and technology the recognition and financial rewards they have for so long deserved... but only if we all get behind it and work together – film, gaming, education, advertising etc. We’ll have an expert panel to present the pros, cons, steps and implications of such an idea before opening to the floor for discussion and to hear what you think!

Plus – we’ll have a Hive Ignite featuring the Entrepreneur Launch Pad and details of the Aurora Awards, plus an update on what the action teams are doing

UDEN #13 will be at our new home from home at Access Salt Lake, downtown SLC. We're looking for a food sponsor so if anyone is interested in helping us with the cause please get in touch!

FREE tickets: http://utahden.org/uden_13

Lots of other events coming up that might be of interest to you – we have captured them here: http://utahden.org/upevents. If you know of more, please feel free to add them via that link – its free!

Looking forward to catching up with you soon!

Many thanks for your continued support,

Cheers!

- J

—

UDEN #12 - Sundance

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on January 25, 2017Flag

UDEN's first meeting of 2017 was held during the Sundance Film Festival on January 25th. We were graciously hosted by our terrific partners the Utah Film Commission at their event space in Park City, UT.

Despite the snow and the cold (well, Park City in January - it's what you expect!) , more than 200 people came to network, share ideas, share a beverage and partake in some delicious snacks, courtesy of our other sponsor, ChAIR Entertainment. KCPR broadcast live during the event and interviewed many of the luminaries gathered, including UDEN co-founder Clark Stacey. Plus we showed some of the new signage that was donated to us and some cool info cards demonstrating a more professional image for the group.

Pictures here: http://www.guv1.com/jonblogs/2017/uden-12

—

Letter from the Chair - January

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on January 01, 2017Flag

In the first of a new monthly email letter, our Chair looks forward to the opportunities of the new year and the upcoming events for January. If you would like to be added to our mailing list please email info@utahden.org.

It's 2017 and we really want this to be the year that our fledgling group truly becomes a community of creators of digital content and technology. This means not only meeting, but actually working together towards some common goals for our collective benefit. If this sounds like something you're interested in, read on as there is a lot already planned for January!

Some highlights:

Our good friends at Access Salt Lake are hosting a follow-up to the UCDA Digital Summit (http://utahden.org/ucdarecap) at Zion’s Bank on January 17th. At the meeting, we’ll recap the key take-aways from the summit (for those that weren’t able to make it) and ask for volunteers to begin to work on initiatives we care about.
You can register here: http://accesssaltlake.com/. Tickets are limited so get yours ASAP!

UDEN plans to hold a monthly meeting thereafter to progress these actions and provide traction, as well as create a regular networking opportunity for the community. Keep an eye on the UDEN website for the dates – www.utahden.org
On January 18th, Access Salt Lake will host a party bringing together all the movers and shakers in Utah tech – it will be THE networking event. You can register for here: http://accesssaltlake.com/. Free drink for first 200 to RSVP!
January 25th is the UDEN networking event at Sundance, kindly sponsored by our friends at the Utah Film Commission and ChAIR Entertainment. Tickets almost gone so grab yours now! http://utahden.org/sundance17

We have captured these and several other really interesting events here: http://utahden.org/upevents. If you know of others, please feel free to add them via that link – its free!

Hope to see you at some of these meetings!

- Jon Dean

—

UCDA Digital Summit Recap

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on December 03, 2016Flag

UDEN was a sponsor of the UCDA Digital Summit held at the superb Park City Film Studios; this is my recap of what happened there which I want to share with the wider community. Overall I came away re-energized about the potential of this sector and truly impressed by the quality and talent of the people we have here in the state.

The purpose of the summit was to invite a handful of leaders from the film, TV, media, gaming, educational, finance and government to come together and discuss digital entertainment in Utah. I know, I know, feels like we’ve been here before, right? What was different about this Summit was the focus: how might we prepare ourselves for the future – to be ready for where the industry is going, as opposed to playing catch-up with where it is today? Plus, the Summit was interactive, with the participants working together in groups to problem solve, as well as in the larger group for discussions. Unfortunately, there was no time for my karaoke session!

Detailed recap and pix here: UCDA Recap

—

Loans for Startups

by JenJen Francis
1080pts
on August 23, 2016Flag

Traditional banks want to be a part of your business’ growth strategy but a small part. They tend to be conservative in their lending practices. It’s standard, for example, for banks to offer traditional commercial loans only to companies that have been in business for at least two years. Preferred SBA lenders, however, may assist startups at various stages.

SBA Loans: Fundamentals of the Lending Process

Zions Bank (zionsbank.com), for example, does the most Small Business Administration (SBA) loans in Utah for businesses that are starting up. From the information you provide, Zions can tell you within the first week what works, what doesn't and what you’ll need before you even start the application process. For example, startups typically have no income to show so they’re asked to provide a projected income statement for two years: “As a startup, we expect to make X and here’s the reason why….” There are a lot of resources here locally to assist applicants with document preparation. Zions Bank Brigham City Financial Center, for instance, directs their applicants to USU-Brigham City to help in doing financial projections. The government requires an applicant to put in 20 percent of the Ask. If the total request is $100,000, SBA will give $80,000 and you put in $20,000 of your own money. Collateral assets like a house or a car may be used in lieu of cash to secure the loan.

Zions Bank has an SBA department that underwrites the loan. This department makes sure every ‘i’ is dotted, every ‘t’ is crossed on the forms and documentations. Their thoroughness ensures a smoother process when they send the application to the government. It takes the government a month to process the loan. Remember, however, it's not the review time that takes so long as getting everything set to turn in and proving everything you have to prove.

While the government approves the loan, it’s the bank that houses the loan since the government is not a lending entity. Although the loan is under the business, you become the guarantor on it basically saying, “I’ll make sure the business can pay.”

You make payments through Zions Bank one month after approval. Using the above figures, if the relatively small loan amount is $80,000 and its adjusted for seven years with an interest rate based on LIBOR (the standard rate the nation uses for commercial lending), now six percent, then your monthly payment is around one thousand dollars.

Very few businesses are approved for SBA loans. Only three percent of small business owners nationwide used SBA loans as a source of financing within the past year, according to the National Small Business Association’s (NSBA) 2015 Year-End Economic Report. The report explains that more than one-in-four small businesses cannot access adequate financing. Alternative sources, therefore, are crucial to small business lending.

Family & Friends

One funding alternative is to borrow from those you know. NSBA cites that 14 percent of business owners last year reported asking friends and family for loans to cover their costs. Entrepreneurs can structure the borrowed money into a contractual loan administered through a peer-to-peer lending service like Able Lending (ablelending.com); details as follows:

Loan Structure I: Friends-and-Family Lending Model called Able Start. This model also includes other business owners, people involved with your business, etc. Their Start loans are for businesses not yet six months old and below the $50,000 in threshold mark. Able will help set up the profile, handle the loan agreements, and the monthly payments on your behalf. You get to design this loan for exactly the terms and rate that make the most sense for your business.

Borrow any amount.
Rates from zero to 18 percent.
You and lender mutually agree upon the repayment terms.
Able manages the loan repayment for a fee.
Their fee for a Start loan is three percent. This is the only fee and there are no others. It's subtracted at the time that they fund the loan.
No credit check is required.

Loan Structure II: Low-interest term loans called Able Growth. Able underwrites your business and can generally lend up to about 50 percent of your historical revenue. So if you've made $300,000 to date and been operating for a year they can lend you $150,000 with a portion being funded by people you know. Unlike Start loans, Able puts part of the capital into that deal.

You fund as low as 10 percent coming from people you know on some of their loans. The more people or backers you bring to the table, the lower your overall cost of the loan will be.
Loan amount ranges from $25,000 to $1,000,000.
Typically a three-year term with 12 percent interest.
This is offered to businesses that have made $50,000 the past year, not including grants since this is not considered recurring income.
They will do a soft credit check on you at the beginning that does not affect your credit. A full credit check is done before they can finalize the loan offer.
Their fee is five percent and it is capitalized over the life of the loan. This is so that they can fund the full amount to the business rather than subtracting it.

Loan Structure III is a straight up loan refinance. They let the owner or people they know pay about 10 percent of that loan.

—

UDEN #11 - Financing a Creative Business

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on July 29, 2016Flag

A panel discussion that addressed:

Lessons learned from startup accelerators like Tech Stars and Boom Startup;
What VC’s are really looking for and their specific issues with funding digital entertainment innovations;
Tips and advice for tapping into a range of resources including angel investors, venture debt, venture capital and strategic partnerships;
How to present a compelling pitch;
Resources in Utah that can help.

Read the full blog here: http://www.guv1.com/jonblogs/uden11

—

UDEN #Startup Meeting Recap

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on June 10, 2016Flag

A business incubator was the ideal setting for this special UDEN meeting, which was held primarily to help the Salt Lake Disney/Avalanche employees whose studio will be closing next month. While we know them to be highly talented individuals who will have options in what they do next, we thought that perhaps some of them might use this opportunity to start something of their own. With that in mind, we want them to be as prepared as they can be. But our Disney friends weren't the only ones we had in mind: we opened the meeting to anyone interested in starting up on their own. Around 110 people attended, and by show of hands, more than half said they were interested in starting up or joining with others who wanted to startup. 5 people showed their hands when asked if only along for the food :-)

Read my full account of the meeting - including pix! - here: http://www.guv1.com/jonblogs/2016/6/10/uden-startup-meeting

—

Avalanche Resources

by Josh Sutphin
910pts
on May 17, 2016Flag

This post collects resources from the community to (hopefully!) help the several-hundred recently laid-off Avalanche employees find new positions, start new studios, or go indie.

Our hope is that these talented folks can stay in the industry and stay in Utah, and not have to uproot their families and move cross-country just to find work.

This outreach is an initiative of the Utah Games Guild in the interest of preserving, and hopefully strengthening, the Utah game dev community. (Here’s Utah Games Guild co-founder Josh Sutphin on why local still matters.)

A "living document" version of this information is available here for anyone to contribute to.

Communities

Utah Games Guild – A local indie game dev support network
Utah Game Devs Slack Channel – Semi-public Slack channel run by Utah Games Guild, with 100+ local game devs from the indie, studio, and student sectors
Utah Indie Game Night – Discussion group and bi-monthly in-person meetups for local indies and hobbyists
Salt Lake/Provo IGDA Chapter – Official IGDA chapter for the Salt Lake/Provo area
Utah Digital Entertainment Network (UDEN) – Building a community of everyone involved in film, games, YouTube, VR etc. Regular networking meetings, guest speakers etc. (You are here!)
Utah Unity Users Group – Official Unity users group for the Utah area; organizes quarterly meetups for technical presentations and discussion
Hack Night SLC – group of programmers (mostly web programmers), often talking about job openings, good networking opportunity

Job Openings

UDEN has a jobs board with several specific local openings
Small startup is looking for a gameplay programmer with design experience to work on a multiplayer unity game - email pete@weeatpeople.com for info.
Sam Nielson is collecting artist portfolios here: https://www.facebook.com/sam.nielson.3/posts/10209400516839406
Indie dev project looking to add a senior engineer to a talented core team. We’re acquiring funding for a project to start in June. Email tyler@revolvstudios.com for details.

Local Game Companies

Don’t hesitate to send these companies your resume/portfolio, even if their current job listings don’t include your position. The Disney layoff may represent an opportunity for them to hire hard-to-find talent that isn’t explicitly on their roadmap yet.

Games Made In Utah

https://trello.com/b/XTX7zXlz/utah-games-guild-database - All encompassing database of indie studios and games made or being made right now in Utah.
Animal Jam and Animal Jam - Play Wild! - WildWorks - One of the most popular online kids social games on the planet. Been running since 2010 and still growing!
A Kingdom For Keflings and A World Of Keflings - NinjaBee
Infinity Blade - ChAIR
Twisted Metal
SAGA - Silverlode Interactive (defunct) - The world’s first and longest running Persistent Online Strategy Game from 2008 ongoing. Currently being maintained by @AyrikX.

Going indie

Going Indie Full-Time – May 2014 Utah Indie Night presentation by Josh Sutphin
Utah Games Guild’s Learn page – Links to various game dev resources, tools, communities, and education options
Adapting to Unity – November 2015 Utah Unity Users Group presentation by Josh Sutphin, oriented toward experienced programmers looking to jump in to Unity
How to Survive Your First Indie Game – Control Conference 2015 talk by Rami Ismail about the nitty-gritty of indie dev survival
Gaming PR & Marketing - March 2013 Utah Indie Night presentation by Adam Ames, owner of True PC Gaming

Pixel Prospector - The Indie Goldmine. All-in-one site containing links to tons of other resources useful for going indie and game development in general.

Starting a studio

The best possible silver lining to the closure of Avalanche would be the formation of some exciting new indie startups in Utah. Starting a company seems daunting to many people, and there are some developers who simply prefer the security of working for a large established company. That security is illusory anywhere in the entertainment industries, however, as we’ve unfortunately just seen demonstrated.

Consider this: the hardest part of starting the next Valve or SuperCell isn’t the logistics, legal work, or fundraising — it’s assembling a great team. This usually takes years, because each new hire requires finding the right combination of talent, personality, and ambition to fit your vision for the company. So if you have a team of Disney co-workers with whom you already gel, whose talents you trust and admire, you have already accomplished the biggest hurdle to building the next great game company.

Legal

One of your first steps will be to actually create a legal entity for the company. You can register your company in Utah using this website:

http://www.corporations.utah.gov

and this guide:

http://tax.utah.gov/forms/pubs/pub-38.pdf

…however, there are some significant advantages to incorporating in Delaware, even if the business will be located in Utah. Those advantages are outlined here:

http://corplaw.delaware.gov/eng/why_delaware.shtml

This is a helpful resource, particularly if you’re unfamiliar with the legal terms that tend to swirl around new startups:

http://startuplawyer.com/startup-issues/if-i-launched-a-startup

You’ll need to consider practical things, like healthcare and making sure you have business insurance.

Office Space

Working from home can be great to get started, but it isn’t ideal for teamwork or collaboration. Most landlords require big commitments for office space - multiple year leases and security deposits. You’re probably not ready for that right away, so consider an incubator (if you’ve seen Silicon Valley on HBO, this is the idea, but not someone’s house!).

There are a few local incubators where you can rent desks and facilities by the month, secured by a credit card. It’s a really cheap and effective way to get started. Other advantages include professional meeting rooms where you can meet investors or clients, high-speed internet, a real street address, business services plus there are other startups just like you with whom you can share or even collaborate.

Here are a few to consider; each has a slightly different mission and vibe, so check them all out to see who has space and which will be the best fit for your needs:

Downtown SLC

Holodeck: https://www.holodeckslc.com/
Church & State: http://www.cs1893.com/
Impact Hub: http://saltlake.impacthub.net/
Sustainable Startups: http://www.sustainablestartups.org/
Work Hive: http://workhiveslc.com/

Sandy

Miller Business Resource Center: https://www.mbrcslcc.com
Sandy/Cottonwood Heights/Midvale:
Salt Mine: https://www.meetatsaltmine.com/

Grow Utah has also put together a useful directory of resources for startups, here:

http://growutahventures.com/elink

Local Seminars

Startup Ignition: “Financing Your Venture”
May 24 @ 7pm
SoJo Dojo
10235 S. Jordan Gateway
South Jordan, UT
https://startupignition.com/
RSVP: http://us10.campaign-archive2.com/?u=3ae72d2f23f6d65d3d2c4f18b&id=043c935003&e=15eb6e1e38

Advice From Local Experts

There are a lot of decisions you and your business partners will need to make at the outset. How will the company be funded? What roles should each of the founders play? Are we going to create a new original game, or focus on contract work for other companies? What are the major strengths of the team, and how do we best leverage them?

Unless you’ve done this before, it can be very helpful to have the advice of people who have. UDEN is a great resource for this. Here are a few UDEN members with experience founding companies in Utah that are willing to advise new startups:

Clark Stacey
clarkstacey at me.com

Jeff Peters
TapStar Interactive, Inc. / iEntertainment Inc.
UDEN.org
Bluff Street
Email: Robotron4@gmail.com
Email: jeff@tapstargames.com
Skype: jeff.b.peters

Jon Dean
j@guv1.com
www.guv1.com

Coping When You Are Let Go

It’s tough being let go, and you will feel a range of emotions. You will worry. You will feel sad. You will think that maybe you will never get a job again! This is all quite normal. But you will be OK. Be prepared, know what you will be going through, stay active and sooner than you know you're starting your next job. That might be a week, a month, six months, maybe more. So it is important to get a plan together really quickly.

Here is a blog post that talks about how to cope during the time between jobs. http://www.guv1.com/jonblogs/2015/12/9/being-let-go-part-ii-the-employees-perspective (scroll down to ‘Being Let Go’.)

—

UDEN #10 - Meeting Recap - Prof. Roger Altizer

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on April 20, 2016Flag

UDEN's 10th membership meeting kicked off at the incredible surrounding of Utah's Natural History Museum.

The evening was generously sponsored by the Entertainment Arts & Engineering Master Game Studio at the University of Utah (big thanks to Prof. Bob Kessler and Corrinne Lewis!), including some terrific food supplied by Le Croissant.

My full report is at my website as I haven'y yet figured out how to add a photo gallery here! http://www.guv1.com/jonblogs/2016/4/21/uden-10-meeting-recap

Also remember that we have our own YT channel that has a bunch of the prior meetings on there - we'll get the last couple added as soon as we have some time to finish the edits! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-XWK4K26AcqLclt458E9xw

—

UDEN - 1 Year On

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on January 27, 2016Flag

It's hard to believe that the foundations for today's UDEN were sown one year ago! On January 15th 2015, Drew Clark held the first Utah Breakfast Club meeting at the State Capital at the crazy hour of 7am! A distinguished panel was set to speak that included:

Virginia Pearce, Director, Utah Film Commission
Clark Stacey, CEO, Wildworks
Marshall N. Wright, Director, Business Development, Governor's Office of Economic Development
Craig Caldwell, USTAR Senior Research Professor, Digital Media Cluster; and Arts Director, Engineering Arts and Entertainment, University of Utah
Drew Clark, Moderator, Founder, Utah Breakfast Club; Of Counsel, Kirton McConkie

...as well as myself. The theme for panel discussion was:

"Well-known as a high-tech haven, Utah also has a supporting role in independent film production, which is showcased each January at the Sundance Film Festival. Less well-publicized is the key role that Salt Lake City has played in computer graphics and digital animation, helping to build a digital entertainment nexus on the Wasatch Front. This panel discussion will assemble key leaders in film and video entertainment to explore questions about Utah’s accomplishments and its promise, about incentives for production, about cultivating talent and about the state’s branding. What do these important industries need to take the next step?"

Highlights from that meeting here: http://www.utahbreakfast.com/news/2015/1/16/the-video-of-the-utah-breakfast-club-on-hollywood-on-the-wasatch-front

The meeting was very well attended by those involved with digital media in the State of Utah (despite the freezing temps and early hour!) and a lively panel discussion ensued with some great and pointed questions being asked. A few familiar themes emerged, which I'll paraphrase, including "Why isn't the State doing more to promote digital media?" and "There is no industry voice to represent the varied needs of this sector". So I asked the room who would join an industry group, and what should it do? Most of the participants were from the entertainment sectors of digital media, especially film and gaming. Virginia posed the interesting idea of a group much like "Made in New York", a successful trade group representing the entertainment sectors of that State. So I offered to start such a group here in Utah if everyone in the room would support it.

Made in Utah was born!

First up was a Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/MIUMadeInUtah which was created that very same day (visit to see how we started!).

Then I formed a committee - many of the panel members became committee members and most of them still serve one year later.

We held our first meeting in March which was very well attended. Soon afterwards the collective decided we needed a better name, not least because 'Made in Utah' is also used to promote other sectors in the State, not least cheese! Hence we transitioned to become the Utah Digital Entertainment Network.

Full meeting video here: http://www.utahbreakfast.com/news/2015/1/19/video-of-the-premiere-utah-breakfast-club-event-hollywood-on-the-wasatch-front

Happy birthday UDEN - and thank you to everyone that has and who continue to support this fledgling effort at becoming a community, the voice called out for at that Breakfast Club meeting!

—

Being “Let Go” – Part III: The Manager’s Perspective

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on December 24, 2015Flag

It is a fact of commerce in the 21st Century that if you are a manager, you are probably going to need to let some people go at some point. It’s not pleasant and is the least enviable part of your job (hopefully!) There are two ways this can come about – one, you fire them, or two you let them go because your company imposes some kind of reduction in force, layoff, downsizing, streamlining, skill realignment etc. (it gets justified in so many ways!) However unpleasant, this is something that you, as a manager, need to be prepared to do. The way you handle yourself at the time you tell someone it’s time to move on makes a big difference to them. I’m not suggesting it will make you lifelong friends, but showing them courtesy and respect – and not making it about how bad you feel! – will go a long way.

You’re Fired!

First, let’s address if you have to fire someone. To my mind, this is different than being let go, because the employee has brought it on him/her self, and (I hope!) you have genuinely afforded them every opportunity to improve and so avoid this moment. As a good manager, you should want to remove from your team any employee that isn’t performing, because it affects the whole team. If your solid performers see someone “getting away” with doing less, then that sets a low standard for the whole team. It's unfair. It also tells them you don’t care, or perhaps that you are ineffective – both are a poor reflection on you as a leader and manager. Plus, if your team isn’t getting the results it could do, then your superiors will hold you accountable – and you could get fired! Imagine the reverse - what if everyone on your team were performing at the rate of your best performers! That would make the whole team feel great, look better and of course make you look better as their leader! That should be your goal – a high performing team, which means you have standards and if people fall below them, you take action as a responsible leader. It doesn’t make firing someone easier but it does mean you have a logical, rational, professional framework within which to be doing it – ultimately for the greater good of the wider workforce. You shouldn't be held hostage by poor workers.

Now – before you get to thinking I want you to start firing people for the sake of it -- no, that's the opposite of what I'm saying. Any manager that does this indiscriminately or can let someone go and not feel bad about it deserves to be let go themselves. The goal should be to help your employees attain the standards you need, and moving them on should really be a last resort having afforded them every opportunity. Your goal should be to help under-performers become acceptable performers, then improve from there. Firing people and having to replace them is wasteful of time and money – plus it creates a disturbance in the workforce!

IDENTIFY UNDER-PERFORMANCE, COMMUNICATE

The first step is to establish some performance standards - this means knowing what you expect out of your employees for each position and each grade or level. Write them down. Agree them with your HR lead, if you have one. If you can state what acceptable performance is, it means you can make sure your team members know your expectations upfront.

You know when someone isn't pulling their weight, so having expectations clearly stated allows you to identify the shortfall in a tangible way. Then you have a serious, private conversation with that individual, make it clear what you want to talk about and discuss the under-performance. Make sure you prepare for this meeting and again, consult your HR person if you have one.

Don’t accuse.
Ask questions.
Does the employee agree? You may learn some things!
Are there are reasons why performance may be below expectation?
Maybe the process is broken. Maybe your information is wrong!

Describe the improvements you need to see and agree to meet to discuss again after a short time period – maybe a couple of weeks or a month. Your goal should be to retain this person if at all possible and only fire them if they cannot improve having been afforded every opportunity to do so by you.

The Exit Meeting

Whatever the circumstances that one or more people will be leaving, let’s think about what happens when you actually have to tell someone. I always believe that the direct supervisor should be the one to let a person go, where possible. As I said earlier, this isn’t easy and managers need to know what this feels like so they only recommend this as a last resort. See this movie clip from “Up In The Air”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjVyrWdUy0c

You must prepare for this meeting. You should be working with your HR lead, if you have one or consulting with your boss or legal adviser before having this meeting. They will help you ensure that all of the legal, financial and logistical obligations you have to your employee have been met – e.g. you have agreed what you will say (and what you won’t esp. in the event of a corporate action), the questions you might get asked, that the right paperwork has been prepared (health benefits, 401Ks, etc), any checks that might be due, plans to recover company property, keys, badges, a plan for how you will help the person leave after you have told them, scenarios in the event the person turns violent, or collapses etc. – you need to have thought this through as much as you can.

Remember this is your meeting, not HR’s; the message will come from you and you need to be calm, professional, humble and above all, human.

Don’t talk too much, say what you need to.
Don’t waffle.
Never say how hard this is on you (it is irrelevant and why should they care?).
Be open to questions and answer them briefly, don’t lecture.
Do not get into arguments whatever the other person may say to you.
Be prepared for a range of emotions, but remain calm yourself at all times.

As I mentioned earlier, this is not easy, nor should it be. The more prepared you are, the more you have thought through what to say and scenarios, the better it will be for the person (or people) you are letting go. And you.

Now help the person to leave. Remain calm with them, follow your company protocol on letting them collect their things. Always ask them to go now, however. No matter who they are or how much you trust them, to have them in the workplace for any length of time after you have let them go is not appropriate; it’s not fair to them or to the employees who remain. Avoid creating a situation that could turn bad.

A Disturbance in the Workforce

Where you have to let people go due to an action of the company, you need to be prepared not only to handle the process, but also what you’re going to do afterwards. Your team will be smaller, you’ll have morale issues for a while and perhaps, you’ll have some of those same feelings as your employees. It is important not just to think about those you are letting go, but those who will remain; they’ll feel bad about this too and here you have an opportunity to be a real leader – to help your team through a period of crisis. With the exit complete, now be ready for the employees who remain.

FIRING

In the case of a firing, I always think it best to say very little. Never discuss why someone was fired;

If an employee asks, tell them it is a private matter between the company and the individual, and that you’ll hope they understand the company respects the privacy of its employees. This is a tough position, but stick to it.
Reassure anyone who asks that their former colleague was treated with care and respect, and that you’re sorry to see them go.
Never gloat or bad-mouth the affected person.

You will be relieved its over but no-one is going to think you a hero or the tough guy. Remember that employees will assume you will treat them the way you are treating the exited employee. If you bad-mouth them, they’ll assume you’ll do the same to them the moment they are gone. If you show respect and are sorry it came to this, you’re showing that you’re human.

REDUCTION IN FORCE

In the case of many people being let go at once, such as a company 'action' or RIF (reduction in force), follow corporate protocol. Some companies will issue internal emails with an official explanation, some will hold town halls, and others may not want anything in writing and ask managers to relay key messages in departmental meetings. Whatever the company message, remember to be human – it’s always a loss when people are let go. Their lives that have just been shattered. This morning’s colleagues and teammates are now unemployed. This is a great opportunity to be a leader, so once the official messaging is done, sit with your team and discuss how you want them to regroup now.

Don’t dwell on the action – don’t suppress commentary, but equally move the conversation to what we all can do now.
Seek ideas and encourage people to see that they still have a job and that the team still has a job to do.
You have a setback but together you can rise above it.

I find that I remember the people that helped me through worrying or stressful times – so be there for your people. Not to pander, but to focus. Your focus will help them reengage and get back to work.

It's Over

I hope these three blogs have been useful, Please add comments about your experiences or if you have any questions about this subject. My thoughts are based on my experiences on both sides of this.

In conclusion, you should be prepared for the day that you will be let go from your job. It won’t be easy but the more you have thought this through, the better you and your loved ones will cope. You will be OK.

If you’re a manager, be prepared that one day you may have to terminate someone’s employment. Being human – firm but fair – is always the best policy. Remember the impact this will have not only on the person (or people) being let go, but also on those who remain. You need to demonstrate leadership and help the team focus on the positive -- what comes next.

Original post on Guv1.com

UDEN #9 - Meeting Recap, YouTube Panel

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on March 12, 2016Flag

I'm going to try and get around to adding a recap of all of our membership meetings over these past 12 months... but don't hold your breath (sorry!).

Here is a recap of our last meeting - feel free to add any additional notes that you took away in the comments!

Its at my website as I haven'y yet figured out how to add a photo gallery here! http://www.guv1.com/jonblogs/2016/3/12/uden-

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Being “Let Go” – Part II: The Employee’s Perspective

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on December 17, 2015Flag

Being "fired" or being "let go" both end up in the same place -- you out of work. In this blog, I look at this from the employee's perspective and offer thoughts on coping strategies now that you're "in the beach club"...

You’re Fired!

I hate the term “being fired” for so many reasons, not least the fact it has become hackneyed thanks to Donald Trump and Sir Alan Sugar’s TV shows! But we all know what it means – your employment is being terminated by the employer for something you did (or did not) do.

As an employee, if you’re being fired you have managed to convince your employer that they no longer need you. First lesson - this was avoidable. Maybe your work rate isn't as fast as your colleagues; perhaps your timekeeping leaves a lot to be desired; maybe you're not listening to instructions and therefore not doing what you are being asked to do; perhaps your personal hygiene is not acceptable; maybe you are too disruptive and vocal? Whatever it is, being fired should never be a surprise to you, almost always you will have been warned in advance - sometimes it is formal and in writing, other times it's verbal. But you can avoid being fired by not being complacent in the workplace.

You may think your boss is a dick (and they may be!), but they are still your boss!
You may think yourself the star performer and that rules don't apply to you -- let me tell you, I would rather have someone who was reliable all the time than a genius when they chose to be.

Second lesson - when your boss or HR sit you down to discuss your performance, takes notes and listen carefully - hidden somewhere in these words are the things they need you to improve at. If it has gotten to this point, they are already considering firing you but giving you the opportunity to change that outcome.

Unsure about what they’re telling you? Ask questions for clarity. Even if you don't feel your job is on the line, it is always a good idea to regularly ask your boss two questions: "what can I be doing better?" and "what do you need me to do differently?” These are two different questions, and should allow even the most timid manager the opportunity to tell it to you straight. The outcome will either be confirmation that you are doing well and are valued, or maybe you'll discover some things you didn't know - armed with this knowledge you can set about fixing them and avoid "being fired".

Being Let Go

Being “Let Go” is hard as it is typically unexpected, is not a result of some failing on your part and it has the effect of turning your world upside down. The situation typically arises because a company needs to quickly reduce cost and as people are often its biggest outlay, then spending less on payroll has the effect of reducing burn rate or freeing up funds that can be used in other areas that might be more valuable (for example in recent years you may have seen a company close a console studio but be hiring in their mobile studio in another location).

When you are let go, what you get told – “the messaging” - is as soft as possible, as the company walks the fine line between telling you what they need to legally so they don't open themselves to any counterclaims and a genuine effort to help you move on. You'll have many questions, many you won't even think about until after the shock has passed, and the people letting you go will often be nervous too; most likely they will be following a script and know they must say as little as possible and move on to the next person. Inevitably you'll be given a packet stuffed full of legal documents and brochures that will be explained to you but you won't be able to comprehend for a while.

Where I think many companies fall down is focusing too much on the separation meeting e.g. when you’re actually let go – and not enough on what happens next. Employees rarely get any follow up calls, and often the placement services that are offered aren’t that useful. Sure, the company doesn’t have a legal obligation to you any longer, but a moral duty perhaps? A human duty to at least check in from time to time?

After You Leave

By whichever method you and the company separate, afterwards you will feel a range of emotions. Maybe anger. Maybe sadness. Maybe relief. Maybe you'll find yourself laughing uncontrollably, or perhaps crying. It's hard to know how you'll feel until it happens to you. But you will be OK. Trust me on this.

What you do after you leave is the challenge - you could be out of work for some time. So it is important to get a plan together really quickly. It’s tough being let go - but you will be OK. You will worry. You will feel sad. You will think that maybe you will never get a job again! This is all quite normal. And you will be OK. Be prepared, know what you will be going through, stay active and sooner than you know you're starting your next job. That might be a week, a month, six months, maybe more.

Be practical. If you have a partner, kids etc. - the pressures will be huge on you all. You need to stay strong and positive for their sake too; again know this is a process that could take time. So think about ways to cut back on non-essential spending. You will be OK.

Of course you'll need to get a resume together:

If you don't already have a LinkedIn page, make one. www.LinkedIn.com.
Spend time on this, don’t rush it.
Look at other people's pages (here is mine for reference: https://www.linkedin.com/in/guvner)
Check spelling!

It’s really quite easy!

Whilst it tries to replicate both Facebook and Twitter functionality, LinkedIn is neither - it's your online resume and professional contact database - so don't share holiday pictures or anything you wouldn't want your next boss to see. Present the best face of you on here, including a good professional profile pic. Make a note of the URL (web-page address) of your LinkedIn profile (like my one, above), and be sure to include that on any job applications you apply for (...yours, not mine :-))

Ask for online recommendations and endorsements through LinkedIn from former colleagues
Search for people you know and connect to them – it’s through these connections that possible future employers will find you.

PAPER RESUME

Now create a separate resume (e.g. in Microsoft Word, or Google Docs etc.) that you can attach to online applications (as a PDF doc if you can). Think of this as a summary - a very high-level one-page sales pitch about your career - not your first novel!

Start with your LinkedIn profile and summarize
Take your time here, pay attention to detail.
Make sure your resume and your LinkedIn profile don’t conflict on anything.
Check the spelling.
Aim to get your resume to one or pages in size, and include your LinkedIn URL so that if should people want more information, they can go get it easily.

Be ready to include a cover letter with your online resume as that is the way to "sell" your skills specifically to each position. Don't be fooled in thinking that every job for a designer, animator, producer, engineer etc. is the same - they aren't. Terminology changes by company, expectations change by grade - so study the job description - Google for more info about the company if necessary - and use your cover letter to connect the dots between the stated requirements and your resume.

Spread the Word

Sign up with a bunch of recruiters. They'll all want you on their books, but in reality it's a meat market - they can sell what the market is buying, so don't think that working with them means you no longer need to be actively hunting yourself. You do! A recruiter is additive to your own job search. Recruiters tend to work with specific employers and between several of them you should be able to gain an insight into the current state of the job market in your field. They will also give you feedback about your resume.

Here are a few that I have worked with over the years and have found them helpful and reliable; this is hardly an exhaustive list but it’s a starting point:

Maria Barton - http://www.linkedin.com/in/executivegamerecruiter
Pat Bigley - http://www.primecandidateinc.com/
Grant Stanton - http://www.tscsearch.com/
Also check out the Utah Digital Entertainment Network job board (see top menu on this page!)

Get Ready for the Beauty Pageant

Soon you will be interviewing - again, know this is a process and don't get your hopes too high. Think of each job that you apply for like the Miss World contest.

You will need to go through all the stages, keeping up that smile and perky confidence all the way (even though you may not feel like it!)...
…then come the eliminations, the short lists where you're so close to the crown you can smell it!...
…and you have to keep smiling (these people really don't care what you have been through, they just want to see the most ideal candidate).

Then be ready for the rejection. You thought you did brilliantly in the swim suit stage, the evening gown, your special talent was outstanding, the judges laughed along with you - but now it's "With great regret to inform you....?". Remember there can only be one Miss World, and just because you didn't win, it doesn't mean you're not beautiful. This wasn’t your time. Maybe you'll win Miss Universe, so get ready to start this process all over again. OK, enough of the analogies!

The key here is, be ready to do a lot of interviews and get a lot of rejections. Think of them as preparing you for the right job that just hasn't opened up yet. It’s the process.If you get the first job you apply for, well done! But if you're on your twentieth application and struggling to stay positive, just do your best to keep smiling and know this is part of being in games. No-one wants to hire someone who is depressed or seems like they need a lot of support - companies want strong, independent, happy, confident employees - so present yourself that way, however hard. Have a coffee, take a deep breath, slap on some lipstick and get back out there baby! OK – really done with the beauty contest analogies now!

Use Your Time Wisely

Other than applying for jobs, you need to keep busy. Future employers will want to know what you have been doing with your time. They want people with character, strong in the face of adversity blah blah blah. It is really important for you to establish a routine very early on - you had one at work, so think of this time as work time too, just that you get to do it at home for a while.

Think of the week days as your work days - they're not time off or the same as weekends. Because finding another job IS your job right now.
Set yourself working hours.
Don't stay in bed late, as tempting as it may seem.
Get up, get showered.
Don't sit at home waiting for the phone to ring - jobs opportunities will come up at various times, and once you are on mailing lists etc. then start everyday with emails, checking out latest job listings.
Be proactive. Read up on industry developments and news.
Comment on things you find interesting.
Write your thoughts on industry events as your LinkedIn summary.
Fill your day with useful things, not TV binge watching.

So – what to do? The two hardest interview questions you will get are "what have you done with your time out of work" and "why would company X have let you go if you were so talented"? So - be arming yourself with answers by staying busy.

Are there any freelance or consulting opportunities you can pick up? Onsite at local game studios or remotely from your home?
If nothing paid, can you work for free part-time somewhere, just so you keep your hand in (and maybe show a company why you would be a great employee)?
Maybe a local startup?
Maybe not in games?
Maybe a local non-profit as a volunteer?
Education - is there a new skill you can learn? Online classes (many free)?
Think about writing a blog and contributing knowledge to your field of expertise (a good way to show your skills)?
Maybe write a book? (no-one says it has to get published but writing a book is a worthwhile endeavor – and you may just get published!)
Perhaps offer to teach a games class or a guest lecture at your local university or high school?
If money is tight (what am I saying? Of course money is tight) don't be afraid to take another job outside of games to make ends meet; the money may not be as great but it will help pay the bills and keeps you busy and productive while you wait for the right job to open up
Maybe you always told yourself you would get fit if you weren't so busy - well, make that part of your routine now. Work out for an hour.
Can't afford the gym? Ok, walk around your neighborhood. Gradually increase your distance. Pretty soon you'll be in better shape mentally as well as physically. Sure you'll need to push yourself, but if it's part of your routine it's what you do now.

But you will be OK.

Watch out for the next post - Part III: The Manager's Perspective

Original post on Guv1.com

—

Being “Let Go” – Part II: The Employee’s Perspective

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on December 17, 2015Flag

You’re Fired!

You may think your boss is a dick (and they may be!), but they are still your boss!
You may think yourself the star performer and that rules don't apply to you -- let me tell you, I would rather have someone who was reliable all the time than a genius when they chose to be.

Being Let Go

After You Leave

Of course you'll need to get a resume together:

If you don't already have a LinkedIn page, make one. www.LinkedIn.com.
Spend time on this, don’t rush it.
Look at other people's pages (here is mine for reference: https://www.linkedin.com/in/guvner)
Check spelling!

It’s really quite easy!

Ask for online recommendations and endorsements through LinkedIn from former colleagues
Search for people you know and connect to them – it’s through these connections that possible future employers will find you.

PAPER RESUME

Start with your LinkedIn profile and summarize
Take your time here, pay attention to detail.
Make sure your resume and your LinkedIn profile don’t conflict on anything.
Check the spelling.
Aim to get your resume to one or pages in size, and include your LinkedIn URL so that if should people want more information, they can go get it easily.

Spread the Word

Here are a few that I have worked with over the years and have found them helpful and reliable; this is hardly an exhaustive list but it’s a starting point:

Maria Barton - http://www.linkedin.com/in/executivegamerecruiter
Pat Bigley - http://www.primecandidateinc.com/
Grant Stanton - http://www.tscsearch.com/
Also check out the Utah Digital Entertainment Network job board (see top menu on this page!)

Get Ready for the Beauty Pageant

Soon you will be interviewing - again, know this is a process and don't get your hopes too high. Think of each job that you apply for like the Miss World contest.

You will need to go through all the stages, keeping up that smile and perky confidence all the way (even though you may not feel like it!)...
…then come the eliminations, the short lists where you're so close to the crown you can smell it!...
…and you have to keep smiling (these people really don't care what you have been through, they just want to see the most ideal candidate).

Use Your Time Wisely

Think of the week days as your work days - they're not time off or the same as weekends. Because finding another job IS your job right now.
Set yourself working hours.
Don't stay in bed late, as tempting as it may seem.
Get up, get showered.
Don't sit at home waiting for the phone to ring - jobs opportunities will come up at various times, and once you are on mailing lists etc. then start everyday with emails, checking out latest job listings.
Be proactive. Read up on industry developments and news.
Comment on things you find interesting.
Write your thoughts on industry events as your LinkedIn summary.
Fill your day with useful things, not TV binge watching.

Are there any freelance or consulting opportunities you can pick up? Onsite at local game studios or remotely from your home?
If nothing paid, can you work for free part-time somewhere, just so you keep your hand in (and maybe show a company why you would be a great employee)?
Maybe a local startup?
Maybe not in games?
Maybe a local non-profit as a volunteer?
Education - is there a new skill you can learn? Online classes (many free)?
Think about writing a blog and contributing knowledge to your field of expertise (a good way to show your skills)?
Maybe write a book? (no-one says it has to get published but writing a book is a worthwhile endeavor – and you may just get published!)
Perhaps offer to teach a games class or a guest lecture at your local university or high school?
If money is tight (what am I saying? Of course money is tight) don't be afraid to take another job outside of games to make ends meet; the money may not be as great but it will help pay the bills and keeps you busy and productive while you wait for the right job to open up
Maybe you always told yourself you would get fit if you weren't so busy - well, make that part of your routine now. Work out for an hour.
Can't afford the gym? Ok, walk around your neighborhood. Gradually increase your distance. Pretty soon you'll be in better shape mentally as well as physically. Sure you'll need to push yourself, but if it's part of your routine it's what you do now.

But you will be OK.

Watch out for the next post - Part III: The Manager's Perspective

Original post on Guv1.com

—

Being “Let Go” – Part I: Overview

by Jon Dean
8760pts
on December 11, 2015Flag

In a series of three posts, I’m going to discuss what happens when employment is terminated, both from an employee’s perspective and from the manager that has to do the termination. Neither are easy but both can be valuable if you are prepared. This first post is an outline.

If you are “let go” -- this is a familiar scene in the games industry and you should be prepared for the day that you might be let go from your job. It won’t be easy but the more you have thought this through, the more you understand this is part of the process, the better you and your loved ones will cope. You will be OK. In these blogs I’ll describe coping strategies.

If you are a manager -- be prepared that one day you may have to terminate someone’s employment. In a competitive age, you may have to as a means to weed out low performers, it’s part of the job. Or maybe you have no choice because “corporate” tell you to. In either situation, you need to have prepared for this and be in a position to control… you. It’s never easy (and if it is, you are officially a heartless bastard that should not be allowed near people!) Remember the impact this will have not only on the person (or people) being let go, but also on those who remain. You need to demonstrate leadership and help the team focus. In these blogs, I’ll describe how you can pour one out for the lost and manage through these difficult times.

While I use the games industry as reference, it’s because this is the industry I know, however, I am sure the sentiments I describe apply could apply to most forms of entertainment industry, if not all jobs.

I wrote this series of blogs because over the years I have seen so many people struggle with employment loss – either post job-loss trauma through being under-prepared when it happens to them, or managers who simply make the whole thing worse by not being able to control themselves. I hope this helps you in some way – please do add comments, would love to hear your thoughts and insights if you have experienced either side of this.

Let It Go

Working in games can be a rewarding experience in every sense, but understand too that it's an entertainment industry that reflects consumer tastes and frequently, just like fashion, those change. And like all modern technology industries, the games business is changing faster than ever. The hot studio you joined with the franchise printing money that felt secure when you joined becomes anything but that. And one day they let you go.

Get used to the idea that you will get let go in your career, perhaps several times. That's not to say that there aren't people that can work at the same place in games for 5, 10, 20 years - but mostly these are exceptions, their jobs have changed and almost certainly those people will have seen former colleagues at their studio let go at some point.

If you manage people, know that at some point you will probably end up being asked to “let go” some of the people you are responsible for. It doesn't matter if you disagree, you'll need to do it anyway because it's part of your job.

There are two types of being “let go”, and I'll address this from both the employee and the manager's perspective. I have had to do both in my career as a manager at different companies and I have been on the receiving end too. Neither is easy. It is especially not easy on the manager, nor should it be.

To my mind, being "fired" is not the same as being "let go". While the end result is the same – termination of employment – being “fired” usually only affects one person and usually means there was some kind of performance issue (someone not doing their job as expected).

Being “let go” typically affects a group of people and is a form of downsizing the workforce or restructuring. Unfortunately, these two ideas have become blurred as it's easier to tell someone they are being "let go" instead of “fired” - it’s softer and therefore we assume less damaging emotionally than telling them "you're fired for (whatever the actual reason is)". Plus, if we blame “downsizing” we can avoid a difficult conversation and pretend it’s nothing to do with us, blame “corporate/management/them”. In reality, if someone is losing their job for performance reasons, they should know the details as it can help them become a better employee in future. If that means having a difficult conversation, then so be it – it’s part of a manager’s skillset to be able to do that.

Next post - Part II: The Employee Perspective

Original post on Guv1.com

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Create a jobs board - like the creators directory but allow people to post the link in there

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Get Ready for the Beauty Pageant

Use Your Time Wisely

You’re Fired!

Being Let Go

After You Leave

LINKEDIN

PAPER RESUME

Spread the Word

Get Ready for the Beauty Pageant

Use Your Time Wisely