Chris Swain, the director of the University of Southern California Games Institute, will deliver a keynote address at the upcoming Independent Game Conference West. In a talk lengthily entitled "Rise of the Indie - Why Today is a Golden Time to be an Independent Developer and Strategies for Maximizing the Impact of Your Work through Gameplay Innovation and Creative Distribution," Swain plans to deliver his optimistic view on the state of game development, a potential contrast to ongoing doom-and-gloom reports. The co-author of Game Design Workshop, Swain co-founded USC's Electronic Arts Game Innovation Lab, which opened in 2004. At USC, he has advised student projects that went on to become well-received games released by major publishers, including thatgamecompany's fl0w, The Odd Gentlemen's The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom, and Intrinsic Games' Reflection. The indie-focused conference takes place in the Marina del Rey Marriott Hotel in Los Angeles from November 5 to 6. Swain's keynote occurs on the second day.