Spring is here, which means we kick off another meaningful year of connecting through games online and in live events. The Accelerate Program is joining the fun as its second season unfolds, with fellows working hard on their capstones and learning about the intersection of games and mental health. We’ve pivoted to the professional development segment of our seminars as we prepare for Game Developer’s Conference (GDC) in a few short weeks. It’s unbelievable we’re already approaching March and this game-changing live event for our program.
We are so thrilled to bring our Accelerate fellows to GDC for the second year in a row through GDC’s partnership program. Their festival passes help the fellows to access all the learning, networking, and fun the conference has to offer. Our pilot season showed that GDC was the most impactful part of the program, with our first class of fellows sharing an appreciation for being able to deepen their community in such an exciting environment. GDC’s partnership program is a big reason we’re able to bring them – covering the cost of their passes so we can focus our efforts on financing their travel and amenities through the program. We also participated last year, and here’s what a few of our fellows had to say after the trip:
GDC was something I wouldn’t have imagined was in the cards for me and seemed beyond feasibility for me. Getting to go as a part of the Accelerate Program opened my eyes and my mind immensely to the vastness of the industry and provided me with a lot of insight moving forward. I truly think this experience was life-changing for me and would be for any future fellows as well.
GDC helped me build a network of collaborators I’m now actively developing research projects with—something that would’ve been much harder without this opportunity. Throughout the week, I learned how to engage with industry as an academic in a way that opened doors for meaningful collaboration. As a researcher, my ability to identify and pursue new opportunities is essential, and GDC played a key role in making that possible. I left feeling more empowered that I can contribute meaningfully to player safety research.
The first time I attended GDC, I attended alone as a student and found it difficult to network in any meaningful way. By attending this GDC with such an amazing group of people and organization supporting me, I was provided with more opportunities to engage with other industry professionals and entered each interaction with far more confidence.
If you’re going to GDC this year, please find us! We’ll be wearing our Accelerate Program lanyards. Kelli and I also get to talk about the program onstage at the conference during the Educator’s Soapbox on Tuesday in Moscone’s west hall in room 2014 from 4:40 – 5:40 pm local time – please stop by to learn more about our pilot season and meet some of our current and past fellows!
If you’d like to learn more about our pilot season and the program’s first trip to GDC, check out the reports here:
For future fellows and applicants, we are currently fundraising for our third season and will announce more information soon – stay tuned!
