USC Games Expo

Overview

The USC Games Expo is an annual showcase event hosted by the USC Games program. This expo brings together students, educators, industry professionals, and the general public to celebrate the amazing games our student and alumni have produced throughout the previous year. This year we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of the USC Games Expo and are poised to have the most attendees and submissions in the expo's history.

My Role

As Project Manager, I am responsible for the overall success of the USC Games Expo by assisting the Expo Director. Together we have successfully built and maintained a thriving expo that has been the culmination of a year's worth of student games.

Responsibilities

Scheduling and coordination — managed, assigned, and assisted a group of 50+ jury members in judging student submissions for this expo
Expo layout design — created layouts of the expo grounds which incorporated over 80 booths from varying parties all within site regulations
Managed showcases — directly oversaw the successful showcase of our games in a sneak preview to potential new university students, industry personnel, and educators
Direct support — supported the Expo Director with any additional tasks that are required to ensure a successful event

Challenges

An expo of this magnitude is not without some obstacles. There are three key obstacles that I have experienced while working as its project manager.

Delegation of Resources

Although USC is incredibly fortunate to have the resources to put on an event of this size, we must work within a budget as well as work with a finite amount of resources.

Juror Feedback and Deliberation

We are proud to have alumni of the USC Games act as jurors for what student games are able to showcase at expo, but having many jurors also presents challenges.

Collaboration and Innovation

Each year brings new opportunities for us to seek out new ideas that may turn out to be out of reach. Nevertheless, we never stop looking for a viable improvement to this expo.

Results

The USC Games Expo has seen steady growth in submitted projects, participating jury members, and number of attendees. I believe this is a result of the hard work and dedication that my team has to this amazing showcase of our student's work. Having this consistent expo allows our students to look forward to participating in a day dedicated to the community they belong to, alumni an event to bookmark to see how their alma mater is growing, and industry professionals a chance to see the amazing talent of our students in action.