Gamertell

Women in Games International announced the details of their next conference “She Got Game.” The conference, taking place September 8, 2007, at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, TX, will focus on industry trends to diversify the talent pool of gaming and how it will impact the future of gaming.

One of the main keynote speakers for this conference is Dona C. Bailey, the creator of popular 80’s videogame Centipede and one of the few female game programmers of that time in the game industry. Bailey, currently a professor at the University of Arkansas, will be discussing how women can cultivate and express ideas to help broaden the market.

“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, “I often wish there had been a group of WIGI colleagues back then from whom I could have gotten advice.”

According to Bailey in an interview with Gamasutra, it wasn’t easy being the only female programmer while working at Atari.

“When I started at Atari, there were probably around 30 game designers who were professionals of one sort or another, either software engineers, or hardware engineers, or technicians,” Bailey said. “I was hired as the only software engineer who was a female. It was a ratio of 30 to 1! And by the time I left, it was about 120 to 1…there was a lot of additional pressure just by being the only female.”

During the conference she along with other professional women in the industry will discuss the changes of how women have changed gaming over the past 20 years and the growing market for women in MMOs and attracting female players into the virtual worlds.

Those interested in attending this event can register online. Tickets are $30 for students, $40 for WIGI members and $55 for everyone else.

Site [Women in Games International] Read [Game Daily] Also Read [Gamasutra]