GAMA, the Game Manufacturers Association, to restructure beyond game manufacturers

GAMA is a non-profit organisation with a remit to help the hobby games industry.

The group has had a tough year, in addition to the crisis the lockdown, logistics freeze and lack of physical conventions has brought to 2020 Origins Online, organised by GAMA, was cancelled after a failure to support Black Lives Matter.

In June, GAMA appointed Chris Spivey of Darker Hue Studios to a Vice President Role, Gary Alka as Treasurer and Julie Ahern and Jeff Pinsker as Directors at Large. The election had some last-minute changes to the lineup.

In a new announcement from the Association on Friday, the board of directors have said GAMA will restructure to allow a broader range of contributors.

Over the past four months GAMA has been working on how we can best serve the needs of the tabletop industry. During this time, we have heard from many people, both inside and outside the organization, that our current membership structure limits input, involvement and decision making authority and is a barrier to being reflective of the diversity in the industry. As such the GAMA board of directors and the Bylaw Committee are working on a series of proposed amendments to our governing documents that will allow us to live up to our vision that everyone has a place and a voice at our table.

The Association also published the following principles which will guide the proposed changes;

• GAMA will be an organization that is reflective of a diverse and growing industry
• All members of the association will have a voice regardless of the type of business they are engaged in
• Business in every membership category will have a vote, with the exception of Communicating Members
• There will be equality of representation on the board of directors from all membership categories
• We will have an open and transparent dialogue on why these changes are necessary to ensure that GAMA is relevant to the tabletop industry of today

All these changes are in draft, members will be able to provide feedback before a vote. GAMA suggest the changes will be challenging, but necessary.