Want A Job in the Gaming World? Join Us To Find Out How To Get One.

So you want to work in the video games industry. Or your putting together your own company and design team and you want to find the right people. Where do you start the process and what do you do?

Join us next Wednesday at 6:30pm at the CDIA for a talk with Mary-Margaret Walker and Ellen Beeman who specialize in video game industry recruitment.

For those of you who are joining us remotely - please go to Skype and link to games.gateway. Please do this before the event so we can be as ready to go as possible and you will be able to join the session/I will be able to bring you in.

This conversation which will take place both at CDIA (so we can have a fun gathering) and over the web (since both our speakers are based on the West coast and so we can have as many people join us as possible) will cover what you need to do if you are searching for a job, what creds you need, how to get into the business, how to position yourself for your next job in the industry if you are already working in it, where and how to find the jobs, and many other bits of information. Also, if you need to recruit game developers, this talk will also tell you where to go and how to do it.

We will start the talk with Mary Margaret and Ellen at 6:45pm and have our social gathering after.

Details of how to call in will be made available in the next few days.

If you have particular questions you want to be sure they cover, please post them on this meetup site so I can send them on.

See you all next week!

p.s - light snacks served so bring food if you'll be hungry

About our speakers:

As CEO of Mary-Margaret Network (http://www.mary-margaret.com/), Mary-Margaret leads the recruitment strategies and new business endeavors for Mary-Margaret Network. She brings to the role over 15 years of experience in recruiting and 6 years of experience in video game development.

Prior to moving to recruiting in 1996, Mary-Margaret was Manager of Studio Services for The 3DO Company managing the milestones and development process of all projects in production and the hiring of over 200 employees. Previously, she was at Origin Systems where she created the company’s Human Resources department and contributed to titles in development as a Design Manager.

Mary-Margaret is a regular speaker at international trade shows and has authored numerous articles. She was a contributing author to Ernest Adams’ popular book, Break Into The Game Industry: How to Get a Job Making Video Games.

A founding member of the IGDA, Mary-Margaret holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Texas Christian University and an M.B.A. from Sacred Heart University.

Ellen Beeman describes herself as mom, wife, videogame designer and producer, author, gadget geekette, Celtic fiddler, former TV writer and city commissioner, etc. She joined Origin to write and direct games in the Wing Commander series, and has also held salaried positions at Electronics Arts, Monolith, Microsoft, and The Amazing Society. As a freelancer, she worked for Disney, Sega, Leapfrog, Mary-Margaret Network, and other companies. Prior to her games career, Ellen was a children's television writer, and has published four novels and numerous short stories and non-fiction articles. Ellen has been a speaker at the Game Developer Conference, SXSW Interactive, Game Design Expo, and other game industry events.

During her tenure with the Mary-Margaret Network, Ellen advised companies on recruitment and mentored game industry talent on career growth and advancement. She is currently on the Professional Advisory Committee for DigiPen's Game Design college program, and also a professional advisor to IADT.