Diversity in VR and Video Games

We hosted our very first Diversity in VR and Video Games event at KEXP last night on October 25th, 2018.

Cami Smith (Industry Relations at AIE) and Sarah Tan (Gameplay Engineer at Against Gravity) delivered a short and sweet but empowering speech to prep everyone for the speed networking event.

The purpose of the event was to bring awareness to diversity by sharing with one another their experiences to those who are training to become industry professionals themselves.

Diversity is what brings us together, not what tears us apart. Diversity should be celebrated and inclusive, not a “members only” jacket club. Diversity isn’t a political statement nor is it a taboo idea – it’s progress.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a programmer or an artist, a veteran or just starting out. Learning from each other’s victories and stormy weathered days gives perspective to both the experienced and upcoming industry professionals.

Networking and building meaningful relationships built the foundation of this industry – and it is exactly what continues to support it. By providing equal opportunities to all ethnicities and backgrounds, for the mentor and the mentee.

AIE would like to give our utmost thanks to our hosts at KEXP for providing their warm and welcoming safe space and helping us make this industry event happen.

We also want to give a ginormous thank you to the awesome women and non-binary individuals who attended the event from the following studios: Sucker Punch Productions, Bad Panda Games, C2S Technologies, ArenaNet, Camouflaj, Virtual World Society, Hardsuit Labs, Harebrained Schemes, Lakshya Digital, Bungie, Verge of Brilliance, Dreamworks Animation, and Wizards of the Coast.

Last but certainly not least, a special thanks to our friends at Mod Pizza for helping us realize our goals of progress and pizza!

Our most frequent question we received was, “When is the next event?” – so, if you would like to learn how you can participate Diversity in VR and Video Games event, please let us know via our contact page and we’ll keep in touch for the next event.