Here i am in the games industry and a women and trying to organise a night for guys and girls to get together(WIGI mixer 20th October) , industry and students to get more girls interested in getting into the games industry and i get a lacklustre response.....whats going on??? here i am reading about how girls and such a growing part of sales of games ....so where are you all? this is a great opportunity for making contacts in not only the games industry but other areas as well and noone seems interested.As a fully sponsored event with industry professionals i cant believe that i have recieved such a lacklustre responce......
Sad to hear that your event didn't get the expected response.
I'm behind your cause 100%... I think we need a greater balance of males and females in our industry for a whole host of reasons.
As part of my work I find myself doing talks at schools (primarysecondary) as well as Universities (lecturesopen days). I always stress to the girls that games isn't a boys club, and that we're crying out for their help.
Times are achanging, and we're seeing more and more girls jump on the boat every year... right now as I look around, most of the managers here are women... some of our artists are women... no girl programmers or designers yet, but they're coming.
Owen, posing as a woman probably won't make you more eligable for a job (strong portfolio + getting on well with us in interviews will always win)... I reckon it would make for a memorable interview if you did though. ;P
I'm not sure what the agenda for the Women in Games meet was. Girls are always welcome at the IGDA meets and such, and they might feel a bit more at ease in that environment.
A neutral setting seems (to me) less confronting than a "mobilising of the troops".
I also remember when I was a student trying to get my break, and resenting the perceived "unfair advantage" girls got. Experience has shown me that there is no such divide, but I'm mindful that not everyone knows this.
I hope you have better luck with your next event. Out of interest, in which city was the event held?
Scott.
It's only been three weeks since the Mixer event was announced, and with another two months to go, there's still ample time to drum up more noise. I can imagine the response would have been greater if this was held in Melbourne or Queensland since we don't have as much in the way of developers in Sydney, but I reckon it's still worth sending a few emails to the companies listed in our developers listing.
Actually, I think it would be beneficial to contact some of the panellists and contributors from various women in gaming panels and luncheons from past AGDC's for advice on drumming up more support.
What are the other areas?
It might be better if you open it to more people; not just students and industry people. I'm sure there is a whole mass of girls who are unhappy at their current unrelated jobs or looking for something different to do and it might just be the right inspiration for them to change their mind to do game related work in the future.
if i pose as a woman, will this make me more eligiable for a job in the industry?