Women’s Issues at Austin GDC

Women in Games International (WIGI) will hold its next conference on Saturday, September 8 in Austin, in conjunction with the Austin Game Developers Conference. “She Got Game,” the half-day seminar (11 a.m. to 5 p.m.), will tackle current trends in diversifying the games industry talent pool. Speakers include industry experts from Amaze Entertainment, BioWare, Midway, NCsoft, Sony Online Entertainment, Ubisoft, and other game industry companies. Fiona Cherbak, chair of WIGI’s Strategic Alliances committee, stated in a press release, “Co-locating this latest WIGI conference at the Austin Game Developers Conference creates a unique opportunity to supplement the overall experience of peers and professionals who attend the various games industry events in Austin this September. This promises to be the most abundant games-related event offering in Austin to date.” The keynote speaker is Dona C. Bailey, the programmer and designer responsible for old video game Centipede. She’s also a professor at University of Arkansas and one of the few female game programmers from the 1980s. “I’m hoping to be helpful to someone now who may be in a situation similar to the one I was in at Atari, said Bailey in the press release. “ I often wish there had been a group of WIGI colleagues back then from whom I could have gotten advice!” Registration for “She Got Game” is $55 for general attendees, $40 for WIGI members, and $30 for students with I.D. Austin GDC pass holders will be admitted for no charge, but must pre-register. Space is limited. Register online at www.womeningamesinternational.org.