The 8th Annual AI Programmer's Dinner
(2005 GDC)

Our Sponsors
Pics From the Dinner
Our Attendees and Where They Sat
Neil Kirby's Moderator Report
Other AI Dinner Links
Steven Woodcock's Moderator Report
The Eighth Annual Game AI Programmer's Dinner was held on March 11th at a new location, Jillian's, just across the street from Moscone West in San Francisco, the site of the 2005 GDC.

After gathering at the GDC's lobby bar we quickly marched across the street over to Jillian's and found ourselves in the event area over by the gardens. Very nice, really. Folks quickly settled out into the various tables and got to chatting. Everybody seemed to have a great time and we had a wonderful set of options for the dinner.

This dinner was a bit sadder than those in the past due to the passing of our dear friend Eric...all glasses were raised in a toast to missing friends and memories of him cropped up often in conversation.

As with the previous couple of years we elected to put a firm limit on attendees to the dinner at 50, partly due to space and partly so the whole thing didn't grow so large as to be unweildy. As before one got on the list by tracking down myself or Neil and handing us a "properly wrapped card"... a business card with a $20 bill (US) wrapped around it. That way you had already paid in your portion of the buffet and indicated that you were serious about attending. As before the system worked pretty well since we had filled all of our slots by mid-Wednesday (just after our first AI roundtable, in fact). There were ultimately a couple of cancellations that were immediately filled by other folks so it all worked out pretty well.

Following the success of having sponsors at the 2004 dinner we asked for support again and were overwhelmed with the response. Many thanks to these wonderful people and companies; if you get a chance you might want to think about checking the link above and perhaps sending a note to them--their contributions were why the dinner was only $20/head vs. $50/head!

As in years past it seemed like all attendees had an agreeable time. There was a lot of talk about the GDC, many spirited conversations about game AI, great companionship, and something for everybody food wise.

Here are some quick shots from the dinner. I tried to order them by table but folks moved around so allow for some obvious disconnects, please. As I noted earlier a few other folks took pics as well and as soon as I get copies I'll post them here too. Note that these are all thumbnails, so just click on them if you'd like a bigscreen version.

WARNING: This page is pretty graphically intense (as if you hadn't figured that out already.) I decided to post all of the pics raw so they would come out as good as possible (I'm an integrator and coder, not a photographer!). Be warned if you've got a slow connection....

Table 1

"And then he said...."
Table 2

A great shot of the Table 1 and Table 2 folks

Bruce and Stacey

Bruce and Stacey Part 2 -- love that shirt of Bruce's
Table 4

"If I can't see them they can't see me!"

Think'in about food.....

Folks laugh and chat while Neil checks the attendee list in the background

Pondering a point about Game AI

Boy, was I annoying with that camera...
Table 5

"Hey he's taking our picture!"

Much talking about Game AI

The dinner rolls did NOT last long...we were hungry!

Drew is sitting where I was sitting (since I was walking around taking pics)

Starting to wind down a bit at this point

Bruce wanders whilst conversations abound
Table 6

Laughing, talking, sharing

I have no idea what they were talking about but it looked fun!

Much conversation about the future of Game AI

Nose touching contest

Not sure I want to know what the conversation is at this point....
Table 7

Waiting for the food...

"If I carry the two and divide by six..."
Table 8

These guys were deep into conversation

"So I'm just say'in...."

If you wanted a job, this was your guy
Miscellaneous

Everybody in one pic (more or less)

Neil and his snazzy lab coat

Neil chortles about the possibility of running off to Bermuda with the cash

Clarinda chats while Bruce and Stacey look on in the background
Around Town

The Metreon in day...weird artwork

The Metreon at night...neat lights!

More pics coming soon!!!!!