Women in Games Conference
An interview with Inga Patterson
by Geek Woman on 7/28/05

Article Discussion Forum

Inga Paterson is a steering group member and one of the organizers of the Women in Games Conference at the University of Abertay, Dundee, Scotland, UK. WomenGamers.Com is a sponsor and supporter of the upcoming event. Inga lectures and teaches the BA (Hons) Computer Arts course at Abertay University.

Geek Woman : What is your involvement with the Women in Games
Conference?

Inga: I'm a member of the Women in Games steering group and one of the organizers of the WiG 2005 conference, which is being hosted by the University of Abertay, Dundee, Scotland, UK. The University of Abertay was selected to host the conference in 2005 and Teeside University will host the 2006 event. The University of Abertay is well recognized for its BSc (Hons) Computer Games Technology and BA (Hons) Computer Arts courses and also for the Dare to be Digital competition.

Geek Woman : Is the staff mostly women?

Inga: The steering group includes Mark Eyles, the founder of Women in Games, otherwise the group is female and the 2005 conference organizers are both women.

Geek Woman : What was your motivation for creating this event?

Inga: I attended the inaugural Women in Games 2004 conference. I run the BA (Hons) Computer Arts course and I'm keenly aware of the fantastic career opportunities that exist for girls in the creative media and games sectors, and I feel more girls should be encouraged to enter these professions.

Geek Woman : What challenges did you encounter?

Inga: The main challenge for the conference has been trying to organize a quality event that is affordable and accessible to industry, academia, game-players and students. Often these events are unaffordable for young people and students but we believe it is vital that the debate is accessible to games-players and students as they are likely to be the future developers and designers.

My main personal challenge has been finding the time to organize the conference and also do my demanding lecturing job. Fortunately Abertay University has been very supportive of the endeavor.

Geek Woman : How did you determine the location? Is it an area where many games are published or developed?

Inga: Dundee is the centre of excellence for the games industry in Scotland with around 50% of the country's 15 or 16 games companies now based in the city.

Geek Woman : Are you a gamer yourself? What are your favorite games?

Inga: I like "easy to pick up and easy to put down" games. I've just upgraded my mobile phone so my current favourite game is Jawbreaker, which I play mostly in airports. I'm looking for a more challenging game to download on my phone/PDA so suggestions are welcome.

Geek Woman : Is the Competition open to men?

Men are welcome to attend and participate in both the conference and competition because the conference issues and debate are relevant to both sexes. Geek Woman : I hope that a deserving young woman wins the free trip to Scotland. I think it is a generous and wonderful opportunity.

Geek Woman : This is the second year for this conference. How many vendors and participants attended last year?

Inga: In 2004 there were 80 registered delegates. 80 is the optimum number of delegates for the 2005 conference. The intention is to grow the conference as it becomes more established.

Geek Woman : Can you estimate the numbers of women and men that signed up?

Inga: In 2004 the delegates were primarily female with the exception of approx. 6-8 brave and very quiet men.

Aleks Krotoski

Geek Woman : What do you think were the highlights and accomplishments from last year?

Inga: Mark deserves credit for taking the initiative and establishing the event in 2004 and for bringing together a group of very enthusiastic speakers and delegates. Personally, for me the highlights were talks given by Sheri Graner Ray, Aleks Krotoski and Suzie Cardwell.

Geek Woman : This year there seems to be additional focus on women in the gaming industry, what is your opinion about why it is a popular topic in 2005?

Inga: I think that cultural and technological progression has reached a moment in time where the games industry and the broadcasting corporations are getting excited about the potential for broadening the market beyond the stereotypical young male game-player demographic. Technological and cultural shifts can be seen in the uptake of mobile technologies and also in home entertainment where broadband combined with digital TV and the latest game platforms is making gaming a choice for family entertainment. This is happening on a large scale in Korea. Mobile phones provide everybody with new opportunities to play games in diverse locations and so game playing is becoming mainstream and is no longer a niche pastime. I think MMORPGs are a vision of the future for digital entertainment, which will continue to combine communication with socializing and entertainment.

Geek Woman : What are the hopes or goals for this years' event?

Inga: My hopes for this year's event are to create a high quality, and affordable conference, which is accessible to all that are interested in hearing the debate about women in games. Making the conference sociable and enjoyable is a key goal and I'm also very keen to encourage games-players and students to attend on Wednesday 10th which we've made as affordable as possible but I'd be happy to agree a reduced rate for group bookings for members of your web forum.

For more information about the speakers and travel arrangements see the Official Website : http://www.womeningames.com/

There is more information at game-vixen.com

Associated Articles: International Gaming Women

Photos by Nik Racine  - Conference Photographer