NASSCOM Animation & Gaming India 2007: Session Wise Coverage
POST EVENT
Organising Committee Members & Volunteers share their comments
Over 488 delegates attended the event. The large turnout, two separate tracks, super pitch, world class facilities at the venue and extremely favorable feedback from the delegates made everything worth the effort. We are very pleased with the appreciation that we received from the delegates about the speakers, the content that was dished out and the professional manner in which the entire event was organized.
We are at an inflection with the domestic market offering great opportunities. Simultaneously, global opportunities are also available. We need to implement strategies to ensure that these do not pass by due to inaction on our side.
The conference was bigger, better. There was a tremendous amount of interest in the gaming space, even though the common complaint was that animation and gaming were parallel tracks and hence those who wanted to attend both, obviously could not do so. The first gaming session had 200+ delegates and that I think is clearly the sign of the times. The whole thing about the emerging opportunities in gaming in the Indian market in terms of the Zapaks, Kreedas, Microsoft, EA, Dhruva, Indiagames and Jump talking about the Indian market. The articulation of the opportunity for Indian companies providing outsourcing services was provided in a great way by Shiraz Akmal and Paul Steed.
There was a lot of energy in the conference and a lot of people were clearly excited by the opportunity. The success of the conference will be measured by how the takeaways from the conference help people strategize better and how they impact their work plans in a positive manner. We hope that the people who have attended get a sense of the details, nuances and facets of how one converts opportunity into successful businesses. This would apply to people looking to start animation / gaming companies, to companies looking at IP creation.
The conference was a primer to the business with a lot of beginner, intermediate kind of sessions aimed at putting people on the right path of thinking, to help them avoid making mistakes and pitfalls by making assumptions about the industry.
“It was nice to see the response to the event. Just four years ago we had a humble beginning with 150 participants. This was the 4th event and its grown multi fold. The Animation and gaming tracks were very well attended and interesting. We had a lot of interest in VFX session also. The man of the match was the “Super Pitch”. We have a modest begging of the long awaited animation pitch culture in India. I feel quite a lot of things will evolve in next event. This was a very focused event on animation and gaming. We feel that this will soon find place in the annual events calendar of global animation and gaming professional. The location made a lot a difference this time. The convention centre gave it a grand look and feel. The only short coming was that we needed few more budget hotels near the venue”
The NASSCOM event has served to become the common platform for animation and gaming professionals to converge and discuss issues and opportunities in this space. In 2007, over and above the b2b discussions and networking which serve as to provide guidance to new entrants and service providers, the conference also pioneered a forum for the creative professionals by starting India�s first Animation super pitch. The most heartening retrospective is the increasing number of international players as participants, reflecting that this forum is now firmly on the International Calendar.
I am deeply thankful to the industry that has selflessly given off their time and direction in helping NASSCOM and my colleagues in the organizing committee in advancing the India brand and the industry�s interest at large. We clearly see the momentum on the gaming front and have announced that the event in 2008 shall additionally feature the games super pitch.
Every time the industry gets together, there are a lot of positive developments. Some are instantly visible; some are visible over a longer period of time. The brainstorming, the getting together of minds with a selfish yet common objective is vital to growth. Interaction and communication will take the industry to the next level and each and every stakeholder in the ecosystem benefits.
Rising Tide raises all boats.
First hand feedback tells that every time we have an industry or artistic get together in India, our International clients, partners and consumers take us all that more seriously, for these are signs of market evolution in a big way.
Keeping that in mind, the NASSCOM 2007 conference was great where more topics were discussed, where gaming was given its due, where the animation super pitch evolved, where companies and individuals were brought closer through a live ARG!
While a fabulous turnout such as this with 488 delegates is truly remarkable achievement. Hopefully at the next Industry get-together, some of the sterling professionals from the industry whose busy schedules kept them from attending, or those that attended just their sessions, as well as the skeptics and naysayer, will hopefully attend the event in its full entirety. The insights and experiences that they would naturally share in the panel discussions, audience interactions and networking over the full two days would positively impact growth and the benefit will be mutual.
Also looking forward to the inclusion of Animation Film Makers and Artists Panels!