EB Games Expo 2012 – Ladies in Gaming Panel presented by Geek Bomb

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During the EB Games Expo 2012, it was my pleasure to be invited to be a panelist on the first Ladies in Gaming panel presented by Geek Bomb. To be asked to join five of the most iconic and well-respected women in the games industry for this panel was both humbling and a great honor.

The purpose of the panel was to be informative, interesting and inspiring to any in the audience who may also wish to pursue a career in the games industry. All aspects of the games industry were represented in the backgrounds of the panelists who were chosen. There were creators, producers and presenters – Janet Carr, Series Creator and Executive Producer of Good Game and Good Game: Spawn Point – Australia’s first program entirely dedicated to video gaming – was one of the panelists. Also on the panel was Steph ‘Hex’ Bendixsen, presenter of Good Game and Good Game: Spawn Point. Representing the programming side of things, Rebecca Fernandez, CMO of Convict Interactive was on hand to answer all questions programming and computer science related. Kirsty Sculler, presenter on New Game Plus, delved into the worlds of games lecturing, cosplay and presenting and Snezana Stojanovska, the Asian Regional PR Manager for Electronic Arts was able to talk all things PR. Alongside these inspiring women I spoke about what it takes to create and maintain a successful online media outlet focusing on all things video games. Also on hand to help answer any e-sports related questions was Mary ‘JipD’ King, an e-sports consultant, advisor and event organiser.

The panel generated some fantastic discussion and there was some excellent advice given and inspiring stories shared. The audience asked interesting and thought-provoking questions and I was amazed by the sheer number of people who attended to listen to the panel – it was standing room only and people were being turned away because there wasn’t enough room at the Community Hub.

To all those who attended, who listened and asked questions – I’d like to thank each and every one of you. Thank you for coming to listen and thank you for suporting the panel with your insightful and discussion-provoking questions. It was so inspiring to see the passion and interest from the audience and I hope the panel was interesting, informative, helpful and inspiring to all of you. I know that being alongside these amazing ladies in gaming was inspiring to me, and something I will always look back on with pride. It was humbling to share the stage with these women, and to hear their stories and all they have achieved so far. I can only hope that I provided as interesting an opinion on what’s involved in starting up an online games presence.

For those who were unable to attend the panel on the day, footage of the panel is now online – and you are doubly blessed, for you have your choice of which video to watch. Geek Bomb filmed the panel from three different angles (oh my) and their footage can be found here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRiGJY9Brr8

The lovely folks at Player Attack were also on hand to film, and their footage can be found below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHHlpUiTd9U

In both instances, I apologise for my quiet voice – this is the first time I’ve been involved in such a panel, and the first time in a long time I’ve held a microphone. As always, if you have any thoughts and comments after seeing the panel, feel free to leave them in the comments section below.

Thank you again to everyone involved and everyone who came to watch and listen – it was a fantastic celebration of amazing achievements. Special thanks to Kelsey who I’m quite sure went without sleep in the lead up to the event to organise and plan the panel, working behind the scenes to ensure the panel ran as smoothly and perfectly as it did. To Maude and Rae – thank you for extending an invitation to me to be part of this panel – I have kept the original email you sent where it retains pride of place. I don’t believe there could have been any other duo who could have hosted and MC’d the panel with the professionalism, panache and perfection that you showed. It was a wonderful panel that I feel blessed to have been a small part of, and I feel doubly blessed to count you as colleagues and friends. Thank you.


About the Author: Founder & Editor-in-Chief

Tash is a self-diagnosed gaming fanatic with a doctorate in Psychology. She's also a self-confessed Mass Effect fangirl and will likely talk your ears off if you ever get her started on the subject. A lover of all things RPG and adventure, she has more gamer related action figures and memorabilia than any 30 something year old professional has a right to own, and has spent more time than she’d like to admit to daydreaming about exactly what she would do should the Zombie Apocalypse actually happen.

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