[DiGRA UK] Report from First DiGRA event at Salford, Uk.

[Esther MacCallum-Stewart]

The first DiGRA UK conference was held at Salford University on Friday 5th
May 2017. 22 papers, panels and abstracts were presented to approx 60
attendees.

The event also held a DiGRA UK meeting in which the following people were
elected (via voting on site and via a survey monkey)

Chair: Assoc. Prof. Esther MacCallum-Stewart, Staffordshire University
Vice Chair: Matthew Barr, University of Glasgow

Secretary: Nia Wearn, Staffordshire University

Treasurer: Dr Mark Eyles, University of Portsmouth (see below)

Board:
Marco Benoît Carbone, University College London
Dr Sonia Fizek, Abertay University
Dr Paolo Ruffino, University of Lincoln

Student Officer : Carina Assunção, University of Edinburgh

Congratulations to all of those elected.

Minutes from DiGRA meeting:

1. Election of Board Members
(as above)

Since the board is relatively small, the meeting agreed to keep
applications open for the moment. Please contact the group if you wish to
apply to become a board member.

The meeting also agreed to approach Mark Eyles (University of Portsmouth),
who had previously offered to fill the position of Treasurer. Subsequent to
this, he has accepted the post.

2. Name of Group
The group decided to rebrand the group in line with the other DiGRA
organisations and propose the following two options:

British Digital Games Research Association (British DiGRA)
United Kingdom Digital Games Research Association (UK / United Kingdom
DiGRA)

A vote was taken at the meeting and will also be extended to non attendees
until May 31st. Please use the link below to vote (if you voted in the
meeting, please don't vote again!)

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/PZVVC6K

3. Future Events

- DiGRA conference

The organisers reported that the first conference was much more successful
that they anticipated, and wish to continue this in future years. Annual
events are proposed as a result.
Interested groups should put forward preliminary expressions of interest
and bids for events.

Staffordshire University have expressed an interest in 2018, however it was
also noted that UK/GB DiGRA should strive to keep the venue varied
geographically.

- International Conference

Staffordshire University also announced an intention to provisionally bid
for an international DiGRA in 2021 (subject to interest and for the
completion of a proposed Hilton Hotel.
It is hoped that this will also coincide with Stoke-on-Trent being named
City of Culture in 2021 (to support funding).

- Costs

The DiGRA conference was free to attend, but this did result in some
unforeseen charges for the organisers.
Conversely, charging a fee to attendees would also have resulted in a
matching charge by the University of Salford for the rooms used.
Therefore discussion of how to manage this should be a part of any bids for
future events.

All other interested parties are encouraged to put forwards bid or join the
discussion about a potential UK DiGRA in 2021.

4. Social Media
Some discussion about the current social media and offers to manage this
further.
Matt Barr and Carina Assunção have been added to the social media sites,
and we have also done some housekeeping to remove old admins.

5. Meeting close.

With thanks to all who attended.

-- 


Esther MacCallum-Stewart

Associate Professor in Games Studies, Staffordshire University.
Secretary, Dublin 2019 Worldcon Bid.
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