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Teens in Chicago have the opportunity to apply for paid internships with the Chicago Teen Gamer’s Guild (CTGG), a group responsible for organizing Gamer’s Universe, a free gaming convention held at the Harold Washington Library Center. CTGG interns will collaborate within sub-guilds to plan programs, design the event’s atmosphere, host preliminary events, and promote the convention through social media and community outreach.
According to organizers, “Each CTGG member will work their sub-guild weekly schedule and set-up day and event day of Gamer’s Universe (Jun 12 + 13, 9am-5pm). In addition to this, we will have All-Guild meetings from 10am-1pm at Harold Washington Library Center semi-monthly on Saturdays (Feb. 7, Mar. 7, May 2, June 6), as well as two Field Trips to Uchi-Con (Jan. 24) and C2E2 (Mar 28).”
The internship program runs from January through June. Interns receive a stipend of $2,158 paid monthly and are provided with Ventra day passes for transportation to meetings.
Sub-guilds offer different areas of focus and meet at various Chicago Public Library locations across the city. Options include Cosplay at Chinatown branch; Esports and Convention Planning at Harold Washington Library Center; and Game Design available at ten branches including Humboldt Park, Bezazian, Canaryville, Chicago Lawn, Legler Regional, Rogers Park, Vodak-East Side, West Englewood, West Pullman, and Woodson Regional.
Cosplay sub-guild members will plan related programming such as contests and workshops while learning costume-making techniques. The Esports group is tasked with organizing tournaments both during Gamer’s Universe and in advance through a series called Showdown Series on scheduled dates throughout the spring.
Convention Planning participants handle logistics such as vendor coordination, artist alley setup, marketing strategies including graphics development and swag selection. Game Design sub-guild members are responsible for creating original low-tech or no-tech games that will be played during the convention.
The program is designed for teens interested in gaining experience in event planning and game-related fields while contributing to one of Chicago's major youth gaming events.
