Upcoming Events


November 4-5, 2010 :: IGDA Leadership Forum
The lineup for the IGDA Leadership Forum continues to grow as Laura Fryer, Vice President and General Manager, WB Games Seattle, is tapped as a keynote speaker. Laura joins Mark Pincus, founder of Zynga, on the list of confirmed keynote speakers for the annual event, scheduled this year for Thursday - Friday, Nov. 4 - 5 at the San Francisco Marriott Hotel.

This year's IGDA Leadership event will feature 3 tracks - Personal, Project, and Tools. The Forum is aimed at the team leaders, producers, project managers and studio directors within the game development industry who seek to learn and share techniques for leading successful teams and games. The Forum will also feature a Scrum Certification course by Clinton Keith, which will be held November 2 and 3 at the same location. Last year over 20 attendees completed the course and earned the official title of Certified ScrumMaster through the Scrum Alliance.

For more information about the IGDA Leadership Forum please visit, http://www.igda.org/leadership.

Past Events
July 19, 2010 :: Leadership & Professional Development Forum
Hosted by Casual Connect, the Leadership & Professional Development Forum is a one-day conference that takes place the day before Casual Connect and will be held at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle.

Successful Female Game Devs Speak: It Pays to Hire Women in Games
Moderator: Solveig Pederson, PlayFirst
Yes, we do need more women in the game industry! We need to make sure girls and women are aware of the opportunities, and make sure employers are aware of the benefits. Q: What do you get when you hire women to develop games? A: Successful, fun games that sell! Come hear women from different experience levels, companies, and genres share their experiences in the game industry, plus the lessons and successful games that resulted.

Building the Next Generation of Rockstars
Moderator: Tina Tyndal, Girls Who Game
The video game industry is a competitive market; however there is one critical factor that can help professionals build a solid foundation and become a rockstar in their respective career, a mentor. This panel will review the personal stories of industrial professionals and the mentor(s) in their lives, discussing how they found their mentor(s), the critical milestones in their careers and how they were able to overcome the situations successfully... or not, what they could have done differently in order to avoid the same pitfalls.

March 25-26, 2010 :: U.K. Women in Games Conference -- CANCELLED
University of Bradford in cooperation with Bradford College will host Women In Games U.K. in March 25-26, 2010. Women In Games is in its seventh year and Bradford brings a strong technological and cultural background to this internationally recognized event.

"We are very excited to be hosting the next Women in Games conference in Bradford, through a collaboration between The University of Bradford and Bradford College," commented Mark Eyles, founder of Women in Games, "both institutions have a commitment to computer games and will be working closely with local developers to ensure that Women in Games continues to act as a bridge between industry and academia."

With a focus firmly on industry and academia, the Women In Games 2010 conference looks to showcase the Industry, academic research and latest technologies relating to games and women. The goal for Women In Games 2010 is to build bridges between different cultures within the games industry, game markets and game study, in what is becoming an increasingly globalized marketplace. Learn more at www.womeningames.com.

March 9-13, 2010 :: 2010 Game Developers Conference

Thursday, March 11, 1:30-2:30 :: IGDA Women in Games Roundtable
IGDA Women in Games will hold their annual SIG roundtable meeting on Thursday, March 11, 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm in Room 230, East Mezzanine. The roundtable meeting will be moderated by Tina Tyndal, SIG steering committee member and newsletter editor. Bring your fresh ideas and enthusiasm, plus stick around for the latest news on our primary initiatives during 2010, including GameMentorOnline and Games2Girls. Learn More

Thursday, March 11, 3:00-4:00 :: Starting Something New - Women in Games
Moderated by Sonja Kangas, Head of Game Lab, Paf and IGDA Women in Games advisor, with speakers Tiina Zilliacus, CEO of IronStar Helsinki; Celia Pearce, Director of Experimental Game Lab at Georgia Tech; Megan Gaiser, CEO of Her Interactive, and Julia Brasil, the first G.I.R.L. scholarship recipient, SOE. Learn More

Thursday, March 11, 4:30-5:30 :: Are Women the New Hardcore Gamers?
Moderated by Shanna Tellerman, Founder and CEO, Wild Pockets, with speakers Amy Jo Kim CEO of ShuffleBrain; Wanda Meloni, Market Analyst with M2 Research; Morgan Romine, Community Manager and Online Marketing Manager for Ubisoft (plus Team Captain, Frag Dolls), and Jessica Tams, Executive Director of the Casual Game Association. Learn More

Friday, March 12, 10:00-11:00 :: IGDA Women in Games Games2Girls Program Meeting
Please join Margaret Wallace, Jessica Hammer and Joanne McLaughlin in our impromptu Games2Girls meeting on Friday, March 12, 10 am - 11 am, held in Room 230, East Mezzanine. Learn more about the Games2Girls program and how you can get involved.

Friday, March 12, 11:00-12:00 :: IGDA Women in Games GameMentorOnline Program Meeting
Please join Anne Toole, Chris Oltyan and Karen Clark in our impromptu GameMentorOnline meeting on Friday, March 12, 11 am - 12 pm, held in Room 230, East Mezzanine. Learn more about the GameMentorOnline program and how you can get involved.

Friday, March 12, 3:00-4:30 :: IGDA Women in Games Social Gathering
IGDA Women in Games is reprising their annual SIG social gathering at the IGDA booth on Friday, March 12, 3 pm to 4:30 pm at front of the South Hall. Join sponsors GamingAngels.com, Gas Powered Games, Her Interactive, Microsoft SideWinder, Mumbo Jumbo, Naughty Dog, Obsidian Entertainment, and Thurst Interactive for refreshments, door prizes, networking and fun! Expo pass badge holders are encouraged to attend.

GamingAngels.com
GamingAngels.com is the premier online community for women that love to talk about all things geek. This includes video games, gadgets, anime and comic books.


GasPowered.com
Gas Powered Games was founded in May 1998 by acclaimed game designer and industry visionary, Chris Taylor. The founding principle for GPG was to create immersive AAA games that push the boundaries of interactive entertainment.


HerInteractive.com
Her Interactive's vision is to be the undisputed leader in creating high quality, fun and inspiring games for girls of all ages. Our philosophy is to create an environment that fosters excellence through the art of creative collaboration.

Microsoft SideWinder

http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/gaming/gaming.mspx
Microsoft's SideWinder line delivers innovative gaming mice and keyboards to give gamers the winning edge, with superior precision, advanced technologies and legendary comfort.


www.mumbojumbo.com
Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, MumboJumbo LLC^tm is a worldwide publisher, developer and mass marketer of premium casual games for PC, mobile, handheld devices and game consoles. MumboJumbo games are downloadable at its website as well as key game portals, or purchased at retail through mass merchants, computer retailers and specialty outlets.


www.naughtydog.com
Naughty Dog Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc., develops cutting-edge technology, graphics and gameplay for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system.


www.obsidianent.com
Obsidian Entertainment is an entertainment software development company passionately dedicated to making high quality, next generation games for PC and console systems. Titles include Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, Neverwinter Nights 2, and the upcoming titles Alpha Protocol and Fallout: New Vegas.


www.thrustinteractive.com
At Thrust Interactive our enthusiasm for making online games and virtual worlds is driven by our mission to build superior products through the relentless pursuit of technological and creative innovation.