Blog 7 - Second Interview Preparation

1.  Who is your mentor and where do they work?  If their workplace does not reflect their expertise, what makes them an expert?

There are actually currently three mentors I have along with Clerisse, all of whom are prospective interviewees for this upcoming session:

As mentioned multiple times in my previous posts, my foremost established mentor is Tracy Fullerton, a seasoned experimental game designer, director of the USC Game Innovation Lab, author of the textbook Game Design Workshop, and Associate Professor of the Interactive Media Division. By description alone, she should have proven herself several times over to be a credible source of expertise for my topic, game design. Her primary work space is in the USC Game Innovation Lab, where she coordinates with multiple teams in designing multiple projects. She teaches several courses for game design students at the university. Her past developments include flOw, and she is currently working on The Night Journey as well as Walden.

Elizabeth Swenson and Sean Bouchard have been our go-to mentors on days where Tracy isn't around, but at this point, they have earned the right to be deemed mentors, full stop. Both are also staff of the Game Innovation Lab in USC who love designing educational games, but their talents are not limited to those genres. Both Swensen and Bouchard have received Masters of Fine Arts (MFAs) in Interactive Media, and are currently working on a game that simulates the field work of researching primitive life forms beneath the earth. Swensen and Bouchard have their own websites with information of their game productions, respectively here and here.

2.  What five questions will you ask them about their background?

- In brief, what college courses/internships/etc. did you take when you were first entering this field of work?

- In your opinion, what traits are most indispensable for a game designer to be well-off in what they do?

- What would you change about the journey you had taken to where you are now? 

- What were the biggest obstacles did you come across when you were still in training and/or academics? What are the biggest obstacles now?

- Who/what do you feel helped you the most to guide/motivate you to your current position in career?