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2009/Aug
Not Just Games, but Dreams A Record of the Gamania Cheer Up Foundation
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Gamania View Not Just Games, but Dreams An increasing number of Taiwanese enterprises are embracing social responsibility in their business philosophy and giving back to society in tangible ways. Though the Gamania Cheer Up Foundation was set up just two years ago, it has already made its presence felt in the community. Why did Gamania set up the Foundation? What results have the Foundation produced? What actions has it taken? This issue of the G!Voice will take you behind the scenes at the "Gamania Cheer Up Foundation" to find out about its philosophy and the many touching stories.
Editorial Department
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● Publisher: Albert Liu ● Editorial Desk: Eric Chen ● Directing Supervisor: Jean Chang ● Editor-in-chief: Yoyo Dai ● Text Editor: Tomas Wang ● Creative Desk: Kiwi Chang Betty Wang ● Art Editor: Michael Wu ● Web Planner: Kenji Lin ● Web Designer: Snow Yang ● Publishing: Gamania Brand Center
Contents GAMANIA
Features
06 12 24
Gamania's Cheer Up Dream Don't just dream, Do! Eric Chen x Ping-huang Liao
A 2.0 Foundation That Listens to Dreams
GAMANIA
Love to Play
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Gamanians Really Care!
GAMANIA
Events
32 34 36
2009 Gamania Cup Report Gamania Hall of Fame: Winner of the "Gamania Medal of Bravery" for May
the Maple Story Live Team SPACE 17 Special Report:
T-Shirts: A Simple Way to Communicate
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The Power of Dreams Dreams are like the stars. They might always be out of reach but they show us the way. Dreams have no weight, but they become a lever that easily pushes aside giant boulders blocking our paths. Without dreams, how will you know where to go? Without dreams, how will you have the strength to go on?
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GAMANIA
Features
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Gamania's Cheer Up Dream Gamania has always been a dream. Not just Albert's dream, but a dream created by everyone working together. If happiness is realizing your dream, then helping or encouraging other people to realize their own dreams is a form of "inspiration". In January 2008 the "Gamania Cheer Up Foundation" was officially set up by Gamania. The purpose of the Foundation was for the Gamania Group to begin doing our part for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) after all the help and support we received from society and other people over the years. The CSR concept has gradually spread among enterprises around the world in the past few years. As an enterprise with the power to influence thousands or even tens of thousands of consumers and employees, there is an obligation and responsibility to society. An enterprise must be aware of its responsibilities in order to be accepted by society and achieve sustainability. What is Gamania's CSR? What can we do for our consumers or society? After much internal discussion within the Group, we decided to make the creation of the "Gamania Cheer Up Foundation" our starting point in CSR. As the first online game company to set up a charitable foundation, great care had to be taken with defining the role and targets of the "Gamania Cheer Up Foundation".
Gamania's main consumer market is youths, so they are naturally the group we want to help and support first. We also thought long and hard about what young people mean to society as a whole: they aren't just dreamers, they are also the people building the future. It is therefore Gamania's responsibility and obligation to help them and encourage them to live more healthily, more energetically, and more ready to pursue their dreams. Some people might think a game company is only good for providing youths with games and entertainment. This is now how Gamania defines itself however. We want to change society's perception of the game industry and let society know that youths do more than just play around. We want to offer youths a chance to embrace their dreams; We want to use our collective strength to care about society; We want to use the "Cheer Up Foundation" to fulfill our CSR. These are the reasons why the "Gamania Cheer Up Foundation" was something we had to create.
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GAMANIA
Features
This is a different kind of Foundation! 08
Once the decision was made, the planning team spent a lot of time discussing the concept and direction for the new Foundation. They all agreed that they didn't want an "ordinary" foundation however. What they wanted was to create a different kind of Foundation, and transform the Gamania Cheer Up Foundation into a place filled with passion and interaction!
Dare to Dream Generally speaking, charitable foundations focus on social charity. Sadness tended to become a dominant theme when they reached out to the disadvantaged groups in society. This was an impression that the Gamania Cheer Up Foundation wanted to avoid right from the very start.
Jean, a Foundation planner, said: "The CEO told me that Gamania's genes are passion and playfulness. He wanted a positive organization that can help people explore their hopes and dreams." This became how they approached the creation of the Foundation. "We felt that caring about society "can be" a happy endeavor. Helping youths can be very passionate too." said Eric Chen.
Listen To Their Voices Before the Foundation was officially set up, the Cheer Up Foundation planning team commissioned "iSurvey" to conduct a "Census of Young People's Dreams of Tomorrow" with 1,818 effective samples. Up to 92% of youths said they had a dream, with 88% feeling that having a dream made them feel happy, and 75% were confident that they could realize their dream. In the "Reasons why dream makers were able to succeed" section, the majority of people felt that they worked hard (17%) followed by they were experts in their field. Jean arrived at the following conclusion: "We can say that youths not only have dreams but they are also quite realistic about them." They know that no matter what kind of dream it is, it takes hard work to make the dream come true.
All these "different" ideas went into the creation of the Foundation. If someone should ask: "What kind of foundation is the Gamania Cheer Up Foundation?", you can tell them: "This is a different kind of foundation. They are about being positive and passionate rather than sad; differences are accepted because they are willing to listen." For youths, the Foundation will always whisper into their ears: "Dream Hard, Be Yourself!"
Director of the Taipei County Government Social Affairs Bureau:
The Gamania Cheer Up Foundation has been of great help to us
When asked about the Gamania Cheer Up Foundation, Director Li-chun Li of the Taipei County Social Affairs Bureau smiled and sad: "Well, the Cheer Up Foundation has really been of great help to the Social Affairs Bureau." The Foundation's presence was particularly well felt among youths since Gamania has a longstanding relationship with this age group. For youths, the Gamania Cheer Foundation is more interesting than the Social Affairs Bureau when it comes to promoting certain activities and issues. "I must admit that among youths, government agency advice come across as ‘lecturing’. If the message comes from Gamania though, they are like "buddies" and "fun". This perception makes them more attractive to youths and makes them more willing to do the right thing!" said Director Li.
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Features The Power of Dreams can be seen in the Foundation Members
To find out what a foundation is like, we first look at its philosophy and mission. The role played by each board director must not be ignored however as well as the message each person conveys.
Foundation CEO Eric Chen once joked: "If you have a foundation with these people sitting on the board of directors, won't that foundation be a little... odd?" And he was right. Apart from William, Hank and Mingkai Liao who we know well, the four remaining directors are a little odd. Still, they may very well be the best example of "Dream Hard, Be Yourself!"
Albert
/ Chairman of Gamania Cheer Up Foundation
In 1991, Albert joined Fujin Software, a developer set up by a student club. As a student, he even delayed graduating for one year without the knowledge of his parents to develop his first game - Warring States Strategies. As he "loved" games, he decided to join the game industry that the mainstream and his parents all thought was not a "proper" career. Now he is the head of Gamania, one of the most important digital entertainment companies in Asia.
Kristy Chu
/ D irector of Institute of Fashion and Communication Design, Shih Chien University
A university professor out of the ordinary who is also an artist, exhibition organizer, sketch artist and collector of used toys. As a child, she was a poor student and lost her self-confidence. She became a failure in many things and almost didn't finish senior high school. She eventually went to study overseas by herself and through painting, rediscovered who she truly was.
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board of directors
Albert President
CEO
陳秉良
CFO
林佩勳
Executive Secretary
林建佑
Gamania Cheerup Foundation Staff
Planning group
Finance group
Consultant
張家甄 Group of public relations
Activity group
李娟
謝春未 蔡育嘉
Creative Group
洪鈺婷 張琦憶
Kevin Lin
/ Taiwanese Ultra-Marathon Athlete
Many people couldn't understand his obsession with running, and a lot of people have the wrong ideas about why he insists on running. But in reality, he knows better than anyone what he is doing. Through running, he has gained a better appreciation of the meaning of life. So he is more willing to dream and to take chances than anyone else! Be it blazing hot 50 degrees above zero, or a bone chilling 50 degrees below zero, not even the most challenging conditions can now break his steel will.
Ping-huang Liao
/ CEO of Outward Bound Taiwan
Liao started out as a real estate agent then became involved with education & training. He was the first to introduce the PA (Project Adventure) type training courses from the U.S. to Taiwan. Due to his passion for education & training, he set up the non-profit "Outward Bound Taiwan" foundation last year. He now hopes to get more people to embrace the values of "Service, Perseverance, and Never Give Up" so they will have the courage to pursue their dreams.
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GAMANIA
Features
Don't just dream, Do! When dream begins to take shape and direction becomes clear, it's time to take action. The "Census of Youths' Dreams of Tomorrow", "Dream Planter Grants", the "Polar Challenge" and "Summer School" events all exemplified the Foundation's encouragement to youths: "Dream Hard, Be Yourself!"
Dream Planter Grants Gamania Backs You and Your Dream
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The first program launched by the newly established Gamania Cheer Up Foundation was the "Dream Planter Grants". The Foundation wanted to play the role of "Dream Maker" by giving youths the confidence and resources for realizing their dream. Looking at all the proposals filled with energy and passion, who says youths today can't take the pressure? Who says they don't dare to dream?
Albert talked about how to realize dreams in Press Conference of Gamania Cheerup Foundation.
Sending the Invitation As the name suggests, the "Dream Planter Grants" involved the Cheer Up Foundation sponsoring the dreams of young people. The results of the "Census of Young People's Dreams of Tomorrow" showed that youths today aren't unable to cope with pressure like people usually think. They actually have a lot of dreams of their own, and the confidence to follow them. So, the first move by the Foundation was to send out the invitations.
The "Dream Planter Grants" covered four categories: Creative, Adventure, Public Participation and Artistic Specialty. Youths were asked to choose a category and then submit their proposals. Over a hundred proposals were received, and after a preliminary judging, secondary judging and final judging process, four winners were named: Shu-ling Cheng, Pian-pian Yan, Chia-chen Wu and the Flower Theater Group.
The "Dream Planter Grants" was actually a test to see how youths will build their dreams. In their proposals, the youths must tell the Cheer Up Foundation: What is your concept? How will you carry it out? What is your timetable? How will you use the budget? By submitting a complete proposal, the Cheer Up Foundation can be certain that your dream can in fact be realized.
We received over 100 proposals.
Teenagers presented their proposals to jurors at second stage.
During judgement.
Give sponsorship to the 4 winners.
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GAMANIA
Features Their Dream Stories Public Participation – Chia-chen Wu The Story of Sunflower School The summer she contacted the Gamania Cheer Up Foundation, Chia-chen Wu and 15 other college students from Hengchun quietly set up a "Sunflower" school in remote Hengchun. As locals, they knew how lucky they were to go to college despite being born in a small town that lacked teaching resources. There were students out there living in more remote areas in less fortunate families whose right to education was being slowly eroded away by their environment. So, they decided to do what they can to change things for disadvantaged kids in their hometown. After receiving the support of the Cheer Up Foundation, the volunteers at Sunflower School could finally spend more time on developing courses for the kids instead of trying to raise funding. For its second year, the school was expanded from 50 to 80 students as well.
"I remember Albert telling us on the day of the presentation ceremony that he was really moved by our story. He also kept encouraging to stay the course." When asked by G!Voice what the biggest difference between the first and second Sunflower year was, Chia-chen said: "The students' attitude to learning changed a lot. They didn't act up as much and really treasured the time they spent learning with us." Chia-chen was sure that their efforts have made a difference! In the four winners of the Dream Planter Grants, we not only saw the selfless dream of Jia-jheng's "Sunflower School" but also moving, personal dreams as well. They demonstrated their passion and dedication for their dream through their actions and beliefs.
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Winner of the Action category – Shu-ling Cheng "I want to make frisbee a sport in all Taiwan!" Shu-ling Cheng is a student in the Department of Recreational Sports at the National Taiwan College of Physical Education, and a member of the Chinese Taipei Frisbee training team. With the support of the Gamania Cheer Up Foundation, she and her teammates took part in the World Ultimate and Guts Championships held in Vancouver, Canada, last August. They also won a place in the frisbee competition at the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung.
Winner of the Specialty category - Pian-pian Yan "I want to host a themed graduation concert for myself before I graduate in 2010." Pian-pian Yan fell helplessly in love with the Hungarian Cimbalom while attending a percussion class at university. Though this instrument is virtually unheard of in Taiwan, she hoped that one day it could be as popular as the piano. Pian-pian decided to make a start by studying in Japan and performing together with her Japanese teacher Hiroshi Saito. She also plans to hold a "Hammer Dulcimer" themed graduation concert before she graduates in 2010.
Winner in the Creative category – Flower Theater Group By combining art and charity, realize our dream of putting on a theater production. The Flower Theater Group is a drama group made up of students from 10 schools. With the support of the Cheer Up Foundation, their dream project successfully hosted performances of the Life Drama Exhibition on August 16 and 17 at the Crown Theater in 2008. 50 tickets were also made available for disadvantaged groups in each session.
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GAMANIA
Features
Dream
Polar Challenge
Conquering the Arctic with the Power of Dreams At 40 degrees below zero, the arctic is no place for a man, never mind the dream of adventures. To set an example to youths on "Dream Hard, Be Yourself", the three-member "Team Gamania Foundation" still decided to make the attempt. Let's find out which was stronger- the power of nature, or the power of dreams!
The Foundation originally planned to sponsor ultramarathon runner Kevin Lin's "Polar Challenge" because the two shared similar ideals. In a chat with Kevin however, Albert decided to attempt the challenge himself. "When Kevin asked me if I wanted to take part, I thought about it for a little while then agreed. I knew that if I didn't go this time, I probably won't ever have the chance again." said Albert.
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During the 16-day Polar Challenge, Albert, Kevin and Jason eventually made it to the finish line by the specified deadline (21 days). They were the first team from Taiwan to complete the "Polar Challenge" and one of the three teams to do so out of the nine that took part.
To walk across the arctic – you had to admire the three members of the "Team Gamania Foundation" for their "perseverance". This was the message that the Gamania Cheer Up Foundation wanted to convey through the "Polar Challenge" as well – you must have the courage to challenge your dreams, and the courage to persevere.
rld o w e h t ! Reach of dreams se becau
the p
at
Albert has always felt that life is meant to be an endless bid to break your own limits and pursue your dreams. Though he was not as young and fit as Kevin Lin or Jason Chen, he knew that he wasn't going to get any younger. He might not get such a rare opportunity to challenge himself either. So he said: "The Gamania Cheer Up Foundation has always encouraged young people to "Dream Hard, Be Yourself". If the trip can convince more young people to go and chase their dreams, it makes my participation worthwhile."
halle C r a l o h of P
nge
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Features Crossing the Arctic Has Made Me Believe More Strongly in My Dream While one might think that the hardships of the "Polar Challenge" may have had the most effect on Generation Y member Jason Chen who was the youngest and least experienced of the group. In his interview with G!Voice however, the challenge didn't really "change" him. It actually made him more "unchangeable". He told us that he is now even more firmly committed and in chasing his dream, he is now more convinced than ever that he wanted to be an "Environmental Adventurer". When it comes to dreams, Jason offered an interesting simile: "It's like a treasure map." Every map has its own set of hints and you must reach within to find the key to each checkpoint. Once you complete one checkpoint, an even more demanding challenge awaits ahead. Only at the very last moment do you realize what kind of treasure you were looking for. This was like Jason's life. He started as a speed skating athlete and won many national awards. In senior high school however, his mission was "to become an exceptional track & field athlete". So, was his next mission to become a professional athlete? We weren't the only ones to ask him that question. This was a question Jason often asked himself as well. He said, "Actually, up until I went to the North Pole I wasn't sure what I was going to do in the future. Continue running? Or be an ordinary office worker?" After going through the Polar Challenge, Jason said he gradually came to realize his value in extreme sports. For him, he must continue to challenge himself to inspire both himself and other people about life.
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Jason Chen I began taking part in sports at the age of four with the goal of meeting the Olympic standards and spreading the Taiwanese spirit.
Continue "Living the Dream" Beyond the Polar Challenge! After the end of the Polar Challenge, the Gamania Cheer Up Foundation launched the documentary Beyond the Arctic and dedicated the premier to kids from disadvantaged families. All box office receipts from the documentary were donated to 23 families in the "Disadvantaged Family Dream Program" in a very meaningful gesture. 1. Charity Premier: In the "Polar Challenge" campaign, the Gamania Cheer Up Foundation launched an expedition to the North Pole to encourage young people to pursue their dreams. It then hosted a Beyond the Arctic charity premier for disadvantaged families and 350 people in audience were crowded into the theater on the day. The Cheer Up Foundation hopes that the message in the documentary will provide a boost to disadvantaged families and their children.
Expression of Gratitude from Zi-wei Zi-wei is a student who must use a wheelchair due to muscular dystrophy. The Gamania Foundation presented him with an "Iron Life" figure to encourage him to create a better life for himself. Pictured here is Zi-wei's delight at receiving the Iron Life figure and his thank-you gift of an oil painting he made himself.
2. Donation of Box Office Receipts: The Cheer Up Foundation not only encourages young people to pursue their dreams but also wants to help more needy disadvantaged families. After visiting every disadvantaged family in the Taipei County Social Affairs Bureau's "Disadvantaged Family Dream Program" to understand their situation, the Cheer Up Foundation decided to donate all the receipts from the Beyond the Arctic box office and DVD sales to the 23 families in the program. The Foundation hoped that this will help them pursue their dreams.
"I used to think that Gamania only made game software. I didn't know that they had set up a foundation and are really doing a lot of good! In the film, I saw how the three of them overcame all the obstacles. I was really impressed! It made me realize that willpower is truly what makes people keep going and I think if you remain strong, you can do anything."
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GAMANIA
Features
A Warm Start to Summer School in Wanli For this year's summer, the Cheer Up Foundation has designed an inspirational program for the children of Wanli. Led by a group of dedicated university student volunteers, the Foundation hopes to plant the seeds of dream and hope in the hearts of these children.
People who visit Wanli Township, or even Yeliou, no doubt left with a strong impression of its natural beauty. Few however realize that this area, despite its proximity to Taipei City and being part of Taipei County, suffers from a lack of teaching resources and many kinds of family problems. "Up to 60% of students here come from families with issues. Most of them come from single families, are being raised by their grandparents or are the children of new immigrants." The Foundation's executive secretary Pei-hsun Lin was very concerned about this issue after visiting the Education Bureau on multiple occasions to organize the Foundation's activities.
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After finding out about the situation with students in Wanli Township, the Foundation brought the Social Affairs Bureau and the Outward Bound Foundation to see what they can do about the difficulties facing students in remote areas. Chairman Albert was also still very moved by the homecoming project of Dream Planter Grants proposed last year by Chia-chen Wu, a student at the National Cheng Chi University. So Albert eventually decided to launch an emergency "Summer School" program for this year's summer.
Mothers Wanted in Too Though both local charity projects were based on the "hometown service" concept, the "Summer School" concept was quite different in its own way. In this project, the Cheer Up Foundation began by recruiting university volunteers, then giving them interesting and practical training. The student volunteers then applied what they learnt to help children in remote regions short on resources to help them open up their hearts and look for their own dreams.
Taiwan is. "We had mothers who saw a report about our program calling the Foundation herself to ask us if only young people can volunteer. They wanted to do something for the kids in Wanli as well."
While recruiting volunteers, there were a few incidents that showed what a nice and loving place
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GAMANIA
Features Hoping that Dreams will Take FLight G!Voice asked Pei-hsun how the program was able to attract so many people. She told us: "Taiwan is already a place where there is a lot of love. I think the 8-day training course for phase 1 of summer School was also a key factor." During the dream cadre training camp for volunteers, they not only took part in active courses such as climbing Mt. Syue and river walking but also passive courses such as guided learning and potential development. No wonder many passionate young people all volunteered to take part. Pei-hsun recalls the volunteers who took part in the 5-day expedition to climb Mt. Syue particularly well. "They really changed a lot (before and after the climb). During the 8-day training course, they
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not only built up a really strong sense of rapport but also embraced the spirit of teamwork." Every volunteer in the Mt. Syue had to carry about 17 kilograms of equipment and get up at 6:30AM each morning. This called for stamina so every person had trained extensively in advance by running 3000m each day. The student volunteers have now completed their 8-day training course. 83 students from the Daping, Kanjiao and Yeliou elementary schools in Wanli Township will now be led by these 40 passionate trained volunteers through the "Summer School" motivational program. Dreams are now posed to take flight!
Summer School Teachers Experts from various fields and celebrities were also invited by the Cheer Up Foundation to take part in this year's Summer School. Their contribution will hopefully inspire and move the young children.
1. Class Counselor: Claire Kuo Known for her fresh youthful image, celebrity Claire Kuo will serve as the class counselor for Summer School. At the start of school, she will not only register the students and sort them into different classes but also teach a class in a topic she is very familiar with: "Cheerleading".
2. Story Teacher: Mr. Small Eyes "Mr. Small Eyes", a backpacker who has set foot on nine continents around the world will now walk into Summer School to share stories of his travels. He will hopefully inspire the children to take an interest in the world beyond Wanli and make them more ready to embrace their dreams.
3. Physical Education Teacher: Dacin Players Players on the Dacin team will take on the role of physical education teachers at the Summer School. Members of the championship team such as Lei
Tian, Chi-chun Wang and Zi-wei Chen will personally show the children of Wanli how to play basketball properly. They will also teach them about the spirit of team work and division of labor that is so important in basketball.
4. Performing Arts Teacher: King Chin When compared to other regions, the children of Wanli aren't as good as expressing themselves. The Foundation has therefore invited movie, TV and stage actor King Chin to teach the children how to better express themselves through speech and body language.
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GAMANIA
Features
Eric Chen x Ping-huang Liao A 2.0 Foundation That Listens to Dreams G!Voice invited Foundation CEO Eric Chen and frequent collaborator Outward Bound Taiwan director Ping-huang Liao to talk about how the Gamania Cheer Up Foundation is different compared to other foundations. We also asked them if they had any particular expectations about the Foundation's future development.
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GAMANIA
Features 1
From your personal observations, what types of foundations are there in Taiwan? What type is the Gamania Cheer Up Foundation?
Ping-huang Liao ("Liao"): Most foundations you see nowadays can be divided into three types. The first type is those who care a particular segment of society such as the elderly, the disabled and people in a vegetative state. These foundations are "social issue" oriented. The second type is the "Corporate Social Responsibility" foundations. In the process of accumulating wealth, some entrepreneurs discover that there is something lacking in society so they set up a foundation. Examples
include those support culture, the arts and technological development. These foundations tend to be broader in their scope and not as focused on the grassroots. The third type is "mission-oriented" foundations such as the Spring Foundation of NCTU. This was established to serve the school's alumina. Erich Chen ("Chen"): Before the Gamania Cheer Up Foundation was established, Gamania had already made many donations to charitable causes, such as youths and stray dogs. Albert talked things over with top executives and suggested setting up a foundation. This will not only ensure proper controls over Gamania's social
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What have you discovered from the projects carried out so far? What have you gained?
Chen We naturally received a lot of feedback during the process and they were very moving. But for me, what
welfare resources but also draw upon our own creativity and brand power to maximize the benefits of our charitable efforts or issues. As for the direction and mission of the foundation, we naturally put the emphasis on youths who Gamania have the closest relationship with. It's not that this was a corporate exercise – we just felt that the efforts of young people "maybe" was a good place to start. We then expand on this to encourage dreams or to help those in need. So, we didn't call it the Gamania Youth Foundation". We called it the "Gamania Cheer Up Foundation" because we wanted to do more.
was really interesting was how our members like Kevin Lin and Kristy Chu were all people who knew what they wanted, so we were able to hear more of what young people think. This was unlike some of the more middle-ofthe-road and "1.0" foundations with a very clear-cut mission that just didn't touch the hearts so much. We were more flexible and open. We let the young people come inside and tell us what they think. We then let these ideas gradually develop. This is rather like the "2.0" concept actually.
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Liao I think the Gamania Cheer Up Foundation was lucky to get off to a good start. The "Dream Planter Grants" for example was like a sending of invitations out to the young people. No matter what the contents of the proposals that came in were like, the process itself was a very important form of communication. In the future, I feel that the Gamania Cheer Up Foundation will continue to "listen".
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What expectations do you have of the soon-to-becompleted Summer School?
Chen Summer School is, in fact, a dual-effect program. We recruited and trained a group of passionate volunteers then let them go teach kids in remote areas. So, both groups were able to grow and develop through the program. If the seeds "planted" in Wanli's children should take root, we might go on to host these programs in northern, central and southern Taiwan every year from now on.
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hat's your advice for W Gamanians, gamers or even ordinary people looking to get involved in the Foundation's activities?
Liao First, you must care. Take this year's Summer School for example. You might not be able to make a contribution this time, but you should take an interest in what the program did. We must also ask ourselves: Should only university students be
Liao For this program, Outward Bound provided the volunteers with the preliminary training and post-activity review, so I am looking forward to seeing the results as well. How these university volunteers managed to change the children of Wanli Township in just a few short weeks and how they themselves changed as well is something I am interested in, so I am very much looking forward to the results of Summer School.
eligible to volunteer? Can the program be only held during the summer holidays? The answers are obviously no. But right now, the Foundation is still exploring the options and platforms for allowing more people to participate. Once the Foundation identifies a reasonable and feasible model, it will welcome everyone who can contribute their passion and expertise to boost the effectiveness of the Foundation and its charitable activities.
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What are your future expectations of the Gamania Cheer Up Foundation?
Liao I hope that future activities can be more in-depth. For example, I've seen how they take care of old people overseas. That was really interesting and unusual. Generally speaking, these kinds of services just involve visiting old people at regular times to chat with them, give them a sponge bath and clean up their rooms. But in that particular case, all the volunteers were required to publish a biography
Chen Our number one priority is everyone's support. Maybe people can start as IT volunteers to increase the influence of the Gamania Cheer Up Foundation by forwarding news of the Foundation or posting on their own blog. I am sure as everyone gets a better understanding of what we do and the messages we want to convey, we will be able to do even better.
of the person you took care of at the end. This was a formal publication so you had to take the time to learn about their lives in order to write a good biography. I hope we can do something creative like that in the future in order to serve people better. Chen Liao is right. But time-wise, we are just beginners and there are a lot of things out there that we still need to learn about. I hope we can continue to improve so that we can do more for youths and other social issues.
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GAMANIA
Project
Gamanians Really Care!
Apart from setting up the Gamania Cheer Up Foundation in Taiwan to support young people, Gamanians also quietly support all kinds of charitable causes in their spare time. Let the G!Voice show you just how much Gamanians really care!
Gamanian Care x Stray Animals Rescue Albert made many donations in Gamania's name towards animal welfare causes. For example, paying for the full costs of the "Stray Dog on Campus Neutering Campaign" and generous monthly donations to "Dog Home". At Gamania, not only is the CEO a dog lover but so are little Gamanians as well. Last year, the GTW Gamanian Welfare Committee launched a Stray Animal Charity Calendar group buy. The response was overwhelming with 216 copies sold. Due to the sheer numbers, Dog Home also agreed to emboss each of the 216 calendars with the Gamania logo for free to thank Gamania for their support. Gamanians' team spirit is expressed through other causes as well. In March this year, a GTW HR employee found out about a research student selling hand-made popcorn online to raise money for treating stray dogs. HR ran an internal campaign and eventually ordered 55 cans of charity popcorn. This raised a lot of money towards a fund caring for stray animals.
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You can see the Gamania logo on the Dog Home homepage!
Gamania Care x Children Sponsorship In the 2005 Core Project organized by Gamania, the Group CEO's Office won a NT$12,000 cash prize. At the time, forty or so people voted on what to do with the money, and in the end, everyone voted to... donate it all! After all, splitting the $12,000 among everyone or using it for a meal meant it was gone in an eye blink. For a child in mountainous areas, this was enough money to live on for a year. The Group CTO Office therefore adopted a Taroko girl in 3rd year of elementary school through World Vision. Four years later, people in the department still regularly donate money to help the girl successfully reach 6th grade. Looking at the cards and development reports sent by the little girl every year offers employees with the Group CTO Office their most meaningful moment in the year.
Apart from cash donations, other Gamanian units also support kids in their own ways. The Brand Center recently collected 7-11 stickers and exchanged them for charitable items like pencils, mineral water and the ever-popular donut. These were donated to children in remote areas.
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GAMANIA
Project Gamanian Care x Environmental Protection In November 2006, Gamania Japan began working with the WWF* Japan to donate the proceeds of some products from "Holy Beast Online" towards protecting the natural environment. Gamania Japan has also set up a WWF donation box in the office so people can quietly help needy parts of the world.
*Note: The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is one o the world's largest non-government environmental protection organizations. Since it was established in 1961, the WWF has been dedicated towards the cause of environmental protection. Its ultimate goal is to create a better future where man exists in harmony with nature.
The donation box is filled with Gamania Japan's love of nature.
Gamanian Japan raised 204,868 Yen (approx. NT$70,000) through "Holy Beast Online" towards environmental protection.
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Gamanian Care Snowballs... To get more caring Gamanians in one place, the Gamania welfare committee organized a "Gama Love Charity Market" in April this year. Gamanians were asked to donate unwanted used items to be sold to people who needed them. The proceeds would also be donated to stray animals. This campaign to help yourself, help other people and help animals received strong support throughout Gamania with over 500 items donated. On the day, volunteers from the Animal Republic also brought many cute small dogs and cats for adoption. In the end, the "Gama Love Charity Market" raised NT$56,173. Unsold used items on the day were all donated to second-hand shops as well.
Gamania Charity Campaign Organizer: Chuan Chuan This charity market showed me that Gamanians don't just work and play, but are also very caring people as well. It also showed other office workers in the park that Gamania is filled with loving and caring young people. I am really fortunate to be working in a big family like Gamania!
Gama's show of love proved infectious to other companies in the business park. Everyone wanted to know when such a meaningful event will be held again. To continue promoting Gamanian spirit of compassion, it was decided that the charity market will now become a part of Gamania's culture and held every year.
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GAMANIA
Events
2009 Gamania Cup Report The Gamania Cup has been held since 2005 with a different theme and set of surprises every year. This year's "Return of the Gamania Cup" was set at Leofoo Village to unleash the athleticism of Gamanians in a chorus of screams!
Many Gamanians brought their families along on the day for the Gamania Cup.
The theme for this year's Gamania Cup was "2009 Gamania Cup Theme Park Family Day". Albert once said, "It's very inspiring to see Gamanians with their families at the sports carnival because it showed that Gamania is not just an enterprise, but also a big family that takes care of its own. So, this year employees were urged to bring their family and take part in the festivities of the Family Day". Gamania designed a series of challenges for departmental teams to attempt. Scoring was based on the creativity of team war cries and challenges completed. The winning team would receive a cash prize of NT$20,000. From all the costumes and performances on show, it was evident that Gamanians were pulling out all stops in a bid to be number 1! The challenges were nothing as mundane as getting on the amusement park rides. In response to the Family Day theme, even as you challenged the park rides the challenge master would hold up cards with the letters of the Gamania F.A.M.I.L.Y. values on them. Even if you were in mid-scream, you had to recite the Gamania values for that card to prove that you are a true Gamanian in order to pass the challenge.
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The winning departments for the Caring Gamania award were also recognized with much fanfare at the carnival.
No matter how thrilling or scary the rides were, the most important mission was to see the Gamania value cards!
I must say, this year's Gamania Cup was truly awesome!
Gamania – Yu-rong
Seedo – Chia-mei
PlayCoo – Ren-hao
At this year's Gamania Cup Family Day, I felt really happy that I was able to challenge the limits with my friends and families. By hosting the day at Leofoo Village, colleagues who brought kids along had great fun as well! Even if the children didn't dare to try the thrilling rides, they could still visit the zoo, ride the merrygo-around or go on the small Ferris Wheel. When compared to the previous years' Gamania Cup, this year's location was truly fun for the whole family!
This was my first sports carnival after joining Gamania. It was like friends getting together to have fun! Everyone in the Gamania Group from the boss down was very passionate as well, and didn't feel stuffy at all. The park rides that really everyone got really high on this year was a perfect match for the Adventure part of Gamania values. For Gamanians who don't usually dare to try the really thrilling stuff, this event made them take the plunge too!
Playcoo don't usually have much of an opportunity to meet with the rest of the Group, so this event really allowed everyone to get to know each other. Our creative war cry "Stay Cool / Be Cool / PlayCoo) was applauded by the Group as well. Since everyone one was aggressively pursuing "Laurels", "Innovation" was everything in the war cries and they were willing to try their hand at "Adventure" by showing off on stage. Most importantly, everyone kept a heart filled with "Youth" and really showed off the vitality of Gamania PlayCoo!
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GAMANIA
Events
SPACE 17 is the designated exhibition space for Gamanians that has been designed to facilitate cultural interactions within Gamania. It serves as the perfect venue for Gamanians to let loose their unlimited creativity and crazy ideas. Gamania hosts exhibitions and events on a monthly basis at SPACE 17 on top of irregularly inviting creative experts such as artists and designers to speak and exchange ideas with Gamanians. In the future, SPACE 17 plans to assist Gamanians to share even more of their creative thoughts and present more interesting person/incidents/objects within the company.
T-Shirts: A Simple Way to Communicate SPACE 17 launched the "Unspeakable: The Art of Communicating with T-Shirts" exhibition in the summer month of July. What exactly was SPACE 17 trying to say? G!Voice will now help you find out!
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Walking inside SPACE 17, we saw what appeared to be a T-shirt concept store. It came with a "GT COMMUNICATION SHOP" sign at the top, a huge T-shirt vending machine as the background, a fitting room to one side and rows of clothes racks. We really thought we were in some kind of special micro-shop.
Actually, on display in the large vending machine were T-shirts worn frequently by Gamanians. Be it the Union Jack, cartoon characters or even Comme des Garcons' PLAY series‌ all the T-shirts on display offered a glimpse into the variety of Gamanian fashion culture.
Why weren't these T-shirts on display available for sale? SPACE 17's organizer said, "We didn't want to sell anything tangible in this exhibition. What we wanted to sell was the 'concept' ".
If our clothes are a way of selfexpression, then the T-shirt is indeed the simplest way to do so. As the exhibition text to one side noted, we might not have been able to decide our appearance but we can pick a T-shirt that matches our personality and taste. Wearing the
T-shirt expresses our personality and our preferences. After viewing this exhibition, perhaps Gamanians will have new ideas the next time they buy or wear a T-shirt.
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GAMANIA
Events
Brand T-Shirts T-shirts have a simple form but their contents can be anything. A lot of designers or fashion brands used T-shirts to develop ranges of products. Here we name some of the most popular examples to support the concept expressed by SPACE 17.
Topical T-Shirts: H&M and AIDS To promote AIDS awareness, H&M invited popular singer Kate Perry to design T-shirts. As this campaign was targeted at young people, the AIDS awareness T-shirts featured a direct message as well: "Use your brain". 25% of all proceeds from the T-shirt sales were donated to global HIV/AIDS awareness programs.
Character T-Shirts: Rolling Stones The tongue icon used by Rolling Stones has been popular with youths in recent years. They feel that that it has a lot of character so when you are walking through the streets, you often seen Mick Jagger's (Rolling Stones' lead singer) gaping mouth printed on the young people's T-shirts.
Art T-Shirts: House of Holland The House of Holland T-shirt has always been renowned for their risquĂŠ style. The nude art T-shirts it recently released for example were very eye-catching. These T-shirts featured cartoon nudes of famous fashion celebrities and included some humorous graphics as well. It does take some courage for the more conservative to wear this kind of T-shirt however.
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Supporting Your Dreams
遊戲橘子關懷基金會 夢想 改變 The Gamania Cheer Up相信 Foundation believes that dreams have the power to change the world. 遊戲橘子關懷基金會 相信 夢想 擁有 擁有 改變 世界的力量，我們期許自己為夢想推手， 世界的力量，我們期許自己為夢想推手， 給 多人 「用 力作 夢，用力做自己」的勇氣。 We want to be the helping people the courage to "Dream Hard, Be Yourself". 給 予更 予更hand 多人 that 「用gives 力作more 夢，用力做自己」的勇氣。 以 播下夢想的種子， By sowing the的態 seeds度， of dreams with a positive attitude 以 樂觀 樂觀 的態 度， 播下夢想的種子， 將 行動 Imagination can實際 be translated into action to change the future! 將 想像 想像 化為 化為 實際 行動 ，你會看見不一樣的未來！ ，你會看見不一樣的未來！
Dream Hard, Be Yourself !
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