I'm back home from The Player Advisory Committee and now it's time to get back to work. I thank my guest bloggers for giving you something to read this weekend and I'll do my best to capture what exactly happened while I was away. The number one question I've been asked is what was the purpose of this event. I believe this answer still needs to be defined. I do know that Zynga took this event very seriously and a lot of organization and time was put into it. The players who attended also took it seriously and we worked for over 10 hours on Saturday. We listened to what Zynga wanted to tell us and they listened to us. I was amazed at how well the players all worked together and got along. Every single person who was there was special and brought something unique to the table. The weekend also had a social aspect to it which I feel was important to the main goal of the PAC. We plan to work as a team while representing the Mafia Wars community as we walk through the door that Zynga has opened to us. Here are some images from this weekend and look for a series of posts during the next few days that will be more in-depth of what was addressed this past weekend.
The first player that I got to meet was Jana Gucci, one of my co-hosts on the Informant Podcast. We met early at the airport and had time to do a little sight seeing.
Some players weren't so lucky and had horrible airport problems due to weather and "broken" planes. Bill was one of the last to arrive but made the best of his situation.
Once more players started arriving at the hotel we partied like rock stars in the hotel lobby which became the hot spot of the weekend. Really, what did you expect?
Nate from Zynga greeted us in the lobby and we went to dinner at a restaurant called Gulliver's.
Some don't like to have their picture taken while they are eating!
After dinner, the partying continued into the wee hours of the morning.
Saturday was the big day and there was much anticipation and excitement on the bus ride over to Zynga Headquarters. Pistol Pete could not wipe the smile off his face and professed he hadn't been this excited since he was a kid during Christmas Eve.
Once the troops were off the bus, it was time to see Zyngaland.
We filled out our name tags and waited the grand tour. Most were class clowns and couldn't resist an opportunity to have some fun with the name tags.
For security purposes, we were not allowed to enter any of the Studios within the Headquarters building. Nate did the best he could to show us around anyways.
From the Headquarters building, we walked over to the building that is across the street and it was a cool break/lunch/conference area. This would be our home for the next 8 hours. We had a very structured day of classes and workshops and learned a lot about Zynga. I liked the lecture room because it had couches and bean bag chairs and was really comfortable. There was also all the food and drinks we could ever want. I found out that this is where all the Zynga employees eat lunch everyday and nobody goes hungry. We had classes in the areas of feedback, security, communication, upcoming features, game additions and a workshop called design a feature where 7 groups were formed and each one got to create a feature and present it to Zynga. I'll address all of these issues in future posts.
When the formal part was finished, we had dinner and posed for a group photo. It wasn't as easy as you would think. After 15 minutes of getting it just right, 3 stragglers emerged from outside and we had to start all over!
It was back to the hotel and the real partying started! Of course this entailed everyone hanging out in the lobby with their electronic devices. We even taped the next episode of the Informant Podcast and a good time was had by all.
Here is a picture we never thought would be possible. All 5 of us were in the same room instead of 5 different states like we usually are.
The next day we all flew home with the memories and hopes of what will come for our game and the player/Zynga relationship.
Thanks to all the PAC members who took lots of pictures. There are many more. If you want to see more, please comment and I'll make more posts like this one. I also ask that you provide constructive input rather than criticism if you are one of those who like to comment under anonymous profiles and say bad things about me, the other PAC members and Zynga.
