Brenda Brathwaite is an awarding-winning game designer, artist, writer and game developer who entered the video game industry in 1981 at the age of 15. She was named Woman of the Year by Charisma+2 Magazine in 2010, named one of the top 20 most influential women in the game industry by Gamasutra.com in 2008, and one of the 100 most influential women in the game industry by Next Generation magazine in 2007. Nerve magazine also called her one of the the 50 artists, actors, authors, activists and icons who are making the world a more stimulating place. In her TEDxPhoenix 11.11.11 talk, Brenda takes us through her life as a game designer and what it means to design games that can truly teach us culture, and change our perceptions about the events that have molded our society.
David Smith, Founder of Women in Games Jobs talks to Kevin Green, the CEO of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC). Here’s what Kevin said about its 4000 recruiter members doing much more to promote diversity amongst employers, including those in the games industry.
“As an industry I think we’ve got a lot to be very proud of. I think one of the opportunities for the recruitment industry is to play a more active role in working with their clients to promote diversity, particularly in industries like the games industry where you have a high preponderance of males in the workforce.
I think recruiters can be more proactive in promoting the opportunities of bringing more people from a diverse background into their workforces. But also demonstrating the value and the value comes from making sure workforces are in line with the communities that they serve. And again it has been proven in many situations that the more diverse a workforce, the more it represents the community that it services, the more creative and innovative that it is, and the ability to create great products and services is obviously driven by a fundamental creative process so the more people you have of different views and opinions with different perspectives adding value to organisational success. “
55 attended. A big thanks to Alison Cressey for speaking and to our sponsors.
Gemma Thomson A superb idea, and a fabulous night! It was great to meet so many new people, and the atmosphere was really friendly. I am, by nature, quite a shy person, so it felt great to be in such familiar-feeling company. Thank you, everyone.
Teresa Ellen Mardel Was a really good night. It was nice to meet like minded individuals and talk about games!
Yaiza Varona I had a wonderful time and found the speech very interesting. The event organization was flawless and the people who attendes were so friendly that it was a joy to share some insights. Thanks so much for having organised this, looking forward to the next one.
Debbie (Weefz) Timmins Great people. Loved that it was useful and informative without being too “Rah, Rah, Women!”
Diane Hutchinson It was really delighful to meet all the new women at the first official meet up in London. It was actually really great to walk into a room filled with ambitious women, who have been working within the video games industry or those striving to make their first career footsteps into the world of video games, whether it be in the development, PR, or journalism side of things. Usually I spent so much time going to events, where there is not even a woman within 2 feet of a video game console, so it was delightful seeing a room filled with women who shared the same interests. It was lovely to exchange news, from game’s women had been playing or university courses women had enroled in. It was very interesting.
We’re happily announcing that our newly created Facebook Group page for Womeningamesjobs.com has over 400 Facebookers! Yippeee!
The aim of the Group is to broaden out the message of WIGJ, bringing in new interest for the site as well as raising awareness of the opportunities for women out there.
We hope that the Group will enable those previously unawares of our message and aims to be welcomed into the fray and to get to know us, making connections and networking with established professionals as well as others with similar interests. We’d also like to encourage conversations and discussions on the topics and issues posted and linked to the Group.
So please join us, support the group to continue raising the interest for Women in Games Jobs! Spread the news; we look forward to seeing you on there!
After some research, we have set up a subgroup for active job seekers. The WIGJ Careers subgroup (Women seeking Games Jobs) exists for women ACTIVELY seeking their first or a new job in the online or video games industry. If this is of interest to you, please join here: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=4349147
This an optional EXTRA group for job seekers to join in addition to the main group at http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=2739553. As members of the main group, you can join (or leave) the subgroup at any time.
It is hoped that those who join the subgroup will be more visible to those that have jobs to offer including recruiters. Expect to be contacted by recruiters if you choose to join this group.
Join THE professional network for women in online and video gaming! If you are a women in the games industry and member of LinkedIn, you can now get together with over 3000 others who share the same interests. We think this could be the largest grouping of women in games in Europe. Dont miss out on the inside track!
Our recently launched Twitter account now has over 800 followers. Join us at http://twitter.com/wigj Our Twitter account is @wigj and we use the #wigj hashtag to group together tweets on the same women in games subject.
Lizi Attwood talks to David Smith of Women in Games Jobs and Interactive Selection. Lizi is a Lead Programmer with Relentless Software, a BAFTA award winning developer based in Brighton, on the South Coast of England. Her advice on the qualities needed seeking a job in the games industry:
“For a programming job, you need to work really hard. It is difficult, but if you are good at it it doesn’t matter because you don’t notice hard work. You should have a look at some programming books, try writing a bit of code, search online for C++ tutorials. You don’t need a powerful computer so start learning how to programme, you can do it on a laptop. You can download a free compiler from Microsoft called Visual Studio C++ Express and just start playing around with it. Basically you’ll want to put together a simple 1 page CV that shows everything that’s relevant and a demo including source code is really important.”
If you think the gaming industry is all about the guys, think again. At EA, creative, diverse teams are the driving force behind their success and the company works hard to be the destination for the most talented women in the industry. Here they show off just a few of their “superstar” women in this video to discover just how challenging, rewarding–and fun–it is to be a part of the EA team.
Leading creators and innovators explore how video games can teach valuable skills and build stronger communities in the real world. If you want a career in this exciting field, find out how YOU can get in the game! Volunteer-ism or Volunteering is very highly recommended.
55 attended. A big thanks to Alison Cressey for speaking and to our sponsors.
After some research, we have set up a subgroup for active job seekers. The WIGJ Careers subgroup (Women seeking Games Jobs) exists for women ACTIVELY seeking their first or a new job in the online or video games industry. If this is of interest to you, please join here: 
