Hello, and welcome to the summer.

It's been almost 2 years since I, Todd Barchok, became an organizer of this group, and started posting events. Since then, the group has grown almost constantly, and changed from being heavy on discussions and specific, set topics to more of a social gathering of game developers in Columbus and other areas of Ohio. Hopefully, the group will continue to grow, and in the interest of facilitating that growth, there's a few things I want to bring to your attention.

The first thing is that though the next meetup is listed as being in August, there's a suggested event for July here: http://www.meetup.com/The-Cogg/events/70518282/ by tstmlone. While I can't be sure if I'll be able to make it, that doesn't mean other members can't have fun. If you're interested, and you can make the date, then RSVP and it'll become an official event, the same as if I had posted it.

Second, one thing that was requested at the most recent meetup was an easier way to get in touch with other members for collaboration, job offers, job searches, etc. My initial solution was to post a catch-all topic for such things on the discussion section of the site. That topic is here: http://www.meetup.com/The-Cogg/messages/boards/thread/24530552 But it was later suggested that we break the discussion section into individual forums. Before I make a decision one way or another, I'd love to hear what the members think, so weigh in on that topic here: http://www.meetup.com/The-Cogg/messages/boards/thread/24631282

Last, but not least, at the suggestion of Seth, a co-founder of Detour Games, I'd like to start planning a COGG Games Conference. The idea behind this is pretty simple: give members a chance to present their game in a more formal setting, with lights, cameras, projectors, and audience members hanging onto your every word (or at least some words). This would be a free all day event, with formal presentations taking place alongside "booths" (basically computers where people can play individual games one-on-one with the developers). Now, this is still just the germ of an idea at the moment, and we need your help to make it grow into a real event. The current thought is that this will take place in the fall (probably October), but first we need people to present their games, and we need an audience. So, contact me at [address removed] (don't reply to this announcement email, it'll go out to everyone) if you have a game you'd like to present, or if you can help to bring in an audience.

Thank you,

Todd Barchok