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Women in Gaming workshop series begins, join us in San Francisco!

June 7, 2016 in Community | 2 min. read
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We recently hosted the first of five workshops in our Women in Gaming series in Amsterdam and I thought I’d share some of the takeaways. This particular session was focused on career navigation, mentorship and networking. But first, a big thank you to Fiona Sperry who was our guest speaker. Fiona currently manages Three Fields Entertainment and her background includes amazing experiences as both an entrepreneur and a corporate leader.

The lunch started with our preliminary interview, we walked through her career and talked about some of the moments that she felt offered meaningful insights. A few in particular resonated with me, including: 1) When making a risky decision, play out the worst case scenario. It helps get your head around the risk making it easier to dive in. 2) Leverage mentors to help you think through material decisions and challenges. Then, my favorite: 3) Be accountable, not apologetic. I tend to apologize too much, and sometimes it’s just not necessary!

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During the second half of the workshop, the participants were equally insightful as they went table by table and shared their own stories and discoveries from their careers. A few great pieces of advice included seeking mentors outside your company or industry, as it can be helpful in offering a fresh interpretation on a situation often putting a problem in perspective (even pointing out when you’re making too big of a deal about something!). Also, there are often wonderful mentors right under your nose — look around you and start asking for insight from people in your own sphere.  Lastly, social media can be a great platform for networking and mentorship. You don’t always have to be at a company office or take people to lunch to get great mentoring.

John Riccitiello, Unity CEO, also weighed in noting to “Ask and Thank”. He recommended following up after getting advice to let the mentor know how the situation played out. It’s a great way to touch base, and offers a great topic for the next mentoring meeting.

We closed out the session by encouraging everyone to network with each other and lots of business cards were exchanged (not to mention the LinkedIn connections).  It really was such a pleasure meeting the ladies who attended and I hope to stay in touch.

Our next workshop is taking place June 20th in San Francisco. U.C. Berkeley Professor Dana Carney will host an engaging discussion on the topic of influencing skills through body language and other non-verbal communication. She’s sure to pepper the session with lots of witty comments and engaging stories. It’s another opportunity to network and meet more amazing professionals, while learning some new skills to put to work toward your own career development and advancement.

The event is open to the public but our limited seating is going fast; be sure to sign up soon. Hope to see you there!

June 7, 2016 in Community | 2 min. read

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