This was recent posted by myself on the IGDA story, found here. I am reposting it here as a way to garner more attention in the hopes that other may find my ideas useful. Thanks
While attending my first GDC this year, I had an opportunity to attend this party. I did see the women that made the headline, however, my experience did not leave me to believe that the whole ordeal was as bad as it was claimed to be. My biggest complaint was that the blame was mostly thrown upon IGDA and that they were not the only ones running the show. The biggest problem was you had to scream to talk, and it was far too crowded. This may have been better as a members only party with a quieter setting.
While I know the IGDA tries to promote to those not currently members, I think some focus should be on bringing current members together to network and to embrace their membership to the IGDA. I live in a city where there is no chapter and the closest one is an hour drive. Coming to GDC and having a chance to meet with other members outside my area was a nice idea, in theory. There is a lot more that the IGDA could do to enhance its image. People should want to join because it is prestigious and currently I know some game developers that are barely aware of its existence. Could we come up with a way to have college chapters and not just city chapters? I currently go to Michigan State University, which has one of the top rated game design programs in the country, yet there is a lack of IGDA presence. In fact I think I may be the only member in the program, with the exception of instructors, and only they can promote so much.
So networking is a definite must; a bigger push to make current members feel that they belong to an organization worth while and finally helping to make non-members know that this is an organization they want to be a part of.
-Nathaniel