Womenize! Games and Tech: Full Schedule

10:00

Workshop: Don't Think You Are, Know You Are - Embracing Your Talents

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

You follow your passion for game creation and strive to build your skills, and yet something continues to hold you back - a feeling of being inadequate, or not being as good as a fellow student or colleague, or simply questioning your place in the industry, as if you're an impostor. Sound familiar at all? If so, you're not alone - the great majority of people, especially in creative fields, struggle to know their true skillset and comprehend how they can fit it. Join this workshop to explore how you can identify and embrace your true talents, overcome impostor syndrome, and start building a criticism-proof confidence in your capabilities.

Speakers

Kate Edwards

CEO, Geogrify

Kate Edwards is the CEO and principal consultant of Geogrify, a consultancy which pioneered content culturalization, a Board Member of Take This, and is the former Executive Director of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) from 2012 to 2017. In addition to being an... Read More →

Wednesday April 10, 2019 10:00 - 11:00
Workshop Raum im Palais Schönhauser Allee 36, Berlin, Deutschland

Talent Workshop

10:30

Opening

Welcome to the Womenize! Games and Tech

Speakers

Melek 'm3lly' Balgün

Event & TV Host, Freelance

Melek Balgün is a qualified IT professional with specialisation in System Integration. She also has a Bachelor of Arts in Media/ IT Management and a Master's degree in International Marketing and Media Management. Melek used to be a professional gamer where she participated at the... Read More →

Philipp Lanik

VP Head of Studio, King

Philipp is a VP Head of Studio. Having worked at King for more than six years, he has experience in executive producing Candy Crush Saga, as well as being the Head of Studio in Berlin. Previous roles include, Social Media Manager, Team Leader Online Marketing and Product Manager Games... Read More →

Jenni Wergin

Funding Manager Games, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg

Jenni lives and breathes gaming. She started her career in the games industry as project manager for Womenize! Tech, digital Business and Media. For four years her days were split between writing concepts, managing deadlines and hosting guests at conferences until late at night. In... Read More →

Lena Alter

COO, Booster Space

After finishing her diploma in sociology in Marburg Lena went to Berlin to look after the submissions for the DCP, furthermore she was working for the GAME e.V as head of office. Next to her position as business administration for Wargaming Europe over the year, she became freelancing... Read More →

Wednesday April 10, 2019 10:30 - 10:35
Palais in der Kulturbrauerei Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin

Opening

10:35

A Personal Journey through more than a Decade in Esports

Rachel is an absolute veteran in the industry with more than 10 years experience as an eSports host. But what does that actually mean? What can we learn from games and cooperative play? What is about diversity in the business and does it change? Those are just some of the questions Rachel will answer while talking about her personal journey and how the industry has changed.

Speakers

Rachel "Seltzer" Quirico

Event Host/ Interviewer/ MC, Cyber Solution Agency

Rachel "Seltzer" Quirico entered esports as a competitive gamer in 2006 and made the pivot to on-camera presenting in 2008. She has emceed tournaments and international championships for Player Unknown's Battlegrounds, StarCraft 2, League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Overwatch and... Read More →

Wednesday April 10, 2019 10:35 - 11:15
Palais in der Kulturbrauerei Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin

Fireside Chat

11:15

Beyond Code, Art & Design: Roles in Games for the Jack-of-all-trades

Making great games would be impossible without exceptionally talented specialists. Education programs often focus on the "holy trinity" of game development: Art, Game Design and Programming. But what about aspiring game creators who do not want to commit to a single discipline? Does this mean there is no room for generalists in game development? Leontine struggled to find her place within the industry, until she actively sought out jobs better suited for the "Jack-of-all-trades, master of none" - and found happiness as a Product Manager.

Speakers

Leontine Jenner

Product Manager, Kolibri Games

Leontine graduated from the Technical University of Berlin, where she specialized in Sociology and Technology Studies. Trough internships at various gaming companies, a position as Freelance Writer for clients like Smilegate and Experimental Game, and while researching the games industry... Read More →

Wednesday April 10, 2019 11:15 - 11:30
Palais in der Kulturbrauerei Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin

Talk

11:15

Workshop: If You Fail to Plan, You Plan to Fail! You’re Already a Producer, You Just Don’t Know It Yet.

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Often when the development of a game becomes stressful the first thing individuals and teams drop is proper planning of their next steps. The main complaint is that it’s “taking away” time that could be used to do something “productive”. In this workshop we are going to introduce the basics of production as well as reasons why you should never drop proper planning and how you can do it in a way, that’s not incredibly time-consuming. We’re also trying to bridge the gap from abstract, “top-level” production to the more pragmatic and actual execution of tasks that will lead to successful projects.

This workshop is intended for beginners and intermediates alike. Prior knowledge about agile processes / SCRUM is helpful but not necessary.

Speakers

Soren Wagner

Student, S4G School for Games GmbH

Soren Wagner is a student at the School for games with a focus on Production. He is currently on his fourth semester and has three projects worth of experience leading groups through a project from the conception phase to launch. He is passionate about games, supporting teams and... Read More →

Pia Krensel

Student, S4G School for Games GmbH

Pia Krensel is a student at the School for Games who loves to create stylized 3D assets for games. Having participated in three student projects, she has already learned a lot about teamwork and cooperation with other game-making students.

Ilka Hesche

Student, S4G School for Games GmbH

Ilka Hesche is a fourth-semester student at the School for Games who loves to create 2D concepts and illustrations. With three semester projects behind her, she has learned how to work effectively in groups with a variety of roles.

Norbert Haacks

Project Director, S4G

Norbert is Project Director at the School for Games in Berlin for the past 5 years. He has over 7 years of teaching experience, covering topics ranging from Game Design, Game Analysis, Level Design and Production among others. Apart from the student projects he is also responsible... Read More →

Wednesday April 10, 2019 11:15 - 12:45
Maschinenhaus

Talent Workshop

11:30

Stories To Go: Narrative Design for Mobile Games

The way mobile games are played results in shorter attention spans and an unwillingness to read text. But research shows that players are still curious about the world and its characters for a sense of purpose, motivation and gratification. This session will look into designing narratives for a mobile audience and optimizing narrative opportunities.

Speakers

Valentina Tamer

Narrative Designer, King

Valentina Tamer is Studio Narrative Designer at King Berlin, working on the mobile developer's Candy Crush IP. Previously employed at Daedalic Entertainment, she's written for the Adventure Games "Ken Follett's: The Pillars of the Earth" and "The Night of the Rabbit". She holds a... Read More →

Wednesday April 10, 2019 11:30 - 12:00
Palais in der Kulturbrauerei Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin

Talk

12:00

How to Lead a Team in the Gaming Industry and Stay (Mostly) Sane

"How did you become Head of GamePro?" is a question Rae has to answer quite frequently. In her talk, she's looking back on almost a decade in video game journalism, what it means to be a woman in the industry, and how she manages a team across different locations.

Speakers

Rae Grimm

Head of GamePro.de, GamePro

Rae Grimm studied Fotodesign but decided to swap pictures for words and write about video games fulltime in 2011. Since 2016 she's Head of GamePro.de, Germany’s leading website specialized on console gaming. That includes much less writing and a lot more managing, including leading... Read More →

Wednesday April 10, 2019 12:00 - 12:30
Palais in der Kulturbrauerei Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin

Talk

12:30

Building Bridges & Putting Out Fires: Community Management in Games

Modern Community Management exists at an intersection between marketing, PR, customer service and event management. In her talk, Carolin will highlight how for her, it all boils down to connecting with people. By humanizing projects and products, it is possible to establish lasting bonds and loyalty.

Speakers

Carolin Wendt

Community Manager, CD Projekt RED

Carolin started working in the games industry in 2015. For four years, she has been responsible for the submission process as part of the award committee of the German Video Game Awards, organized jury meetings and planned projects and events. In January 2019, she joined CD Projekt... Read More →

Wednesday April 10, 2019 12:30 - 13:00
Palais in der Kulturbrauerei Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin

Talk

13:00

Managing Teams, Startups and Family

Combining family and work can be a tough challenge, especially in the games and tech industry. All of our panelists are either founders of their own company or in a leading position responsible for big teams. But they are also parents.

Together they will share their mixed experiences and have a discussion about challenges and prejudices they encountered. Furthermore, they will give tips on how to manage companies, teams and a family at the same time.

Speakers

Johannes Kristmann

Independent Game Developer, Maschinen-Mensch

Johannes Kristmann spent more than 8 years in the AAA-Industry and worked on “SpecOps: The Line” or Dead Island 2 as an Artist, Leveldesigner and Gamedesigner. In 2014 he decided to leave the mainstream business and co-founded the Berlin based independent games studio Maschinen-Mensch... Read More →

Ulrike Supa-Kunkel

Product Head, InnoGames

Almost a decade in the games industry, Ulrike Supa-Kunkel has worked in various games companies and is experienced in all stages of the product life cycle, from production to live ops. As Product Head at InnoGames she is responsible for the creation and execution of product strategies... Read More →

Nellie Garcia

CEO & Founder, Ellistra

My name is Nellie Garcia. I am 31 year-old and I have a 6-month daughter, called Zoé. After completing two Master Degrees in Business Management, I worked for large corporations in Düsseldorf. In 2015, I had the opportunity to work as an Associate in the first techstars METRO accelerator... Read More →

Wednesday April 10, 2019 13:00 - 13:30
Palais in der Kulturbrauerei Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin

Panel

13:00

Workshop: Organised Software Development

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

If you are starting your career as a software developer, besides learning programming languages there are certain concepts you should know to be a successful, fast, well-organised, and delivering high-quality developer. They apply whether you work alone, remotely, in the big team or want to increase your chances in the interview process.

What I'll share with you are certain principles, processes, problem approaches and tools that play essential roles in the everyday productivity of software engineers.

Speakers

Anna Mechlinska

Senior Software Engineer, King

Anna Mechlinska is the Senior Software Engineer and Development Manager at King Berlin Studio, working in the games industry for nearly a decade. She has been working with different teams setups and sizes, developing titles like Candy Crush Saga, Candy Crush Jelly and Candy Crush... Read More →

Wednesday April 10, 2019 13:00 - 14:00
Workshop Raum im Palais Schönhauser Allee 36, Berlin, Deutschland

Talent Workshop

13:30

Lunch Break

Time to grab some coffee!

Wednesday April 10, 2019 13:30 - 14:30
Palais in der Kulturbrauerei Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin

Break

14:30

"How to Grow a Pair as a Woman." A Female View on Courage.

Courage sometimes seems as if it originally was connected to male traits and still we often therefor feel the need to ‚grow a pair‘ as a woman to be able to pursue our own career and life paths. This talk critically reflects the challenge of being a courageous woman in these days, drawing from business experience as well as a scientific background in psychology, philosophy, and sociology.

Speakers

Sarah Noack

Owner, Rebel Recruiting

Sarah is an entrepreneur and has a background in marketing and advertising, a MA in Psychology, is a certified Coach and yoga teacher. As the owner of Rebel Recruiting her humble aim is to revolutionize recruitment, bring it back down to earth and turn it into a field of authenticity... Read More →

Wednesday April 10, 2019 14:30 - 15:00
Palais in der Kulturbrauerei Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin

Talk

14:30

Workshop: Polish and Optimize Your Portfolio

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Presenting your work is important, especially in the games and tech industry. We want to help you build a portfolio with which you can identify yourself on a professional basis.

During the workshop, we will go through your portfolio pieces and give you in-depth insight on how portfolios can display more than just the final result of your work. As a team, we will find out how to improve your portfolio, what to look out for, and how they can become a timeless representation of your work. In the end, you will be able to put together a Portfolio that accurately displays your skillset and that can be expanded with future projects.
It would be great if you could bring whatever you have so far so that we have a solid foundation of information we can work on with you and give you as much constructive and personal feedback as possible.

Speakers

Sara Han

Concept Artist, Freelance

After graduating with a BA in Game Design from HTW Berlin in 2018, Sara started working as a freelance Concept Artist in the Video Game Industry, contributing to titles such as Call of Duty Black Ops 4 and Anno 1800.

Klemens Reckfort

Level Designer, Jo-Mei

During his Apprenticeship in Mechatronic Engineering Klemens discovered his passion for Level and Game Design. After his graduation in BA Game Design in 2017 at the HTW Berlin, he worked as a freelancing Game and Level Designer for the gamelab.berlin and Wonderkind GmbH. He took part... Read More →

Wednesday April 10, 2019 14:30 - 16:00
Workshop Raum im Palais Schönhauser Allee 36, Berlin, Deutschland

Talent Workshop

15:00

Working as and with an Influencer - An Insight from two Perspectives

Influencer Management is an established part of the entertainment sphere by now. But what does it actually mean to manage an influencer? What are the daily tasks and challenges one has to face? In this talk Nadine will answer those questions and tell you how you become an influencer manager in the first place. Furthermore, you will learn about the other side from Saftiges Gnu. How is it to work as an influencer? And what are the ups and downs of the job especially as a female influencer? In the end both will share their thoughts on how influencer management will develop in the future.

Speakers

Jasmin "Saftiges Gnu"

Youtuber, Saftiges Gnu

To be successful in the Youtube Gaming sphere is tough, it is even tougher if you are a woman. Saftiges Gnu took up the challenge and worked to become the most important female gamer in Youtube germany. She accomplished this with her creativity and humor and not falling into stereotypes... Read More →

Nadine König

Talent & Network Manager, allyance Network

Nadine König decided about three years ago to follow her passion and joined the gaming sphere. Since then she redefined the talent management at the entertainment youtube network allyance, Germany's first gaming youtube network. Now she is leading an ambitious team and also develops... Read More →

Wednesday April 10, 2019 15:00 - 15:30
Palais in der Kulturbrauerei Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin

Talk

15:00

Professional HR Workshop: Fostering Diversity in the Gaming Industry – A Case Study

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Diversity in the gaming industry is a much-discussed issue. Yet many organizations still struggle to implement the right instruments to foster diversity. In this workshop, we will be looking at the relevance of diversity, where the gaming industry currently stands, and how we at Wooga try to drive a more diverse workforce. In interactive breakouts, we will identify gaps and how companies can learn from each other.

Speakers

Aleksandra Zdeb

Talent Acquisition, Wooga

Talent Acquisition Manager with experience in various digital entertainment industries. In the mobile games industry for just over a year, striving to make a positive change. Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Advocate. Passions are Business Coaching, concepts of Positive Organization... Read More →

Tomas Jensen

Head of Corporate Communications, Wooga

Broad experience in national and international strategic corporate communications and positioning - in small and large, in dynamic and saturated markets. Developed and implemented impactful Corporate, Consumer and Product Communications Strategies, CSR initiatives, and Crisis Management... Read More →

Wednesday April 10, 2019 15:00 - 17:00
Maschinenhaus

Professional Workshop

15:30

How to Build Characters Through Systemic Interaction

Anno 1800 is a highly systemic game and most of our characters are not experienced linearly by the player, but through a series of systemic interactions. In this talk, we will tackle the challenges of writing and designing in a way that allows the player to get to know, love and understand our characters while she engages with them in-game.

Speakers

África Curiel Gálvez

Junior Game Writer, Ubisoft Blue Byte

África Curiel Gálvez has been working as a game writer and narrative designer ever since she graduated as M.A. in Creative Writing. She has worked on games like Gris by Nomada Studio and is currently preparing for the launch of Anno 1800. Aside from writing and publishing several... Read More →

Wednesday April 10, 2019 15:30 - 16:00
Palais in der Kulturbrauerei Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin

Talk

16:00

Gender Bias in Mobile App Gaming

We are just starting to learn about gender and inclusivity in Mobile gaming. Today, with the rise of mobile gaming, more women are playing than ever before. However, there is still a strong bias that games are predominantly played by men - this session will look into women in gaming, women as gamers and women in games in the mobile space!

Speakers

Franziska Elsaesser

App Partnerships Manager, Google

Franziska Elsaesser works with Gaming clients across EMEA. She supports Mobile App developers and publishers on strategies to scale new titles as well as monetizing existing apps. She has been in Google for two years and previously worked as a UA manager in Germany.

Wednesday April 10, 2019 16:00 - 16:30
Palais in der Kulturbrauerei Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin

Talk

16:30

“Casually Hardcore” - How “Casual Game” and “Hardcore Game” are Outdated Terms

In the beginning…there was Pong. And it was very casual indeed. Or...was it the very core of a hardcore shooter?
Let’s dive into a history lesson of gaming and discover where popular terms have lost relevance. We'll clear some cobwebs and challenge the established.
What are these different game styles really about and which questions should you ask yourself when you’re working on your game design? How do you make sure you engage the right audience and what do they truly value?

Speakers

Martine Spaans

Owner, Tamalaki.com

Martine Spaans started her career in online gaming over a decade ago and has worked for well-known companies like Spil Games and Ubisoft before setting up her own Casual Gaming company. She has worked with more than 1000 developers and has taught herself a good understanding of gamers... Read More →

Wednesday April 10, 2019 16:30 - 17:00
Palais in der Kulturbrauerei Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin

Talk

16:30

Workshop - Networking and Self Management

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

This workshop will equip you with some simple but important strategies on how to effectively organize yourself. Topics to be covered include time management, separation of business and private life, networking basics for introvert and timid talents.

Speakers

Ruth Lemmen

Project & Event Management, Consultancy, Freelance

Ruth Lemmen is co-founder of Womenize! Games and Tech, an action program fostering diversity in digital industries. Ruth is an experienced project and event manager and also working as a systemic coach for individuals and companies alike. Ruth has strong networking abilities and her... Read More →

Wednesday April 10, 2019 16:30 - 17:30
Workshop Raum im Palais Schönhauser Allee 36, Berlin, Deutschland

Talent Workshop

17:00

Company Introductions

It's time to welcome our awesome recruiters and exhibitors on the stage:

Freaks 4U Gaming
King
Kolibri Games
InnoGames
Ubisoft
UE Germany

Wednesday April 10, 2019 17:00 - 17:15
Palais in der Kulturbrauerei Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin

Recruitment & Networking

17:15

Recruitment & Networking

Get in touch with inspirational people, introduce yourself to exciting companies from the digital industries and have a drink.

Wednesday April 10, 2019 17:15 - 20:00
Palais in der Kulturbrauerei Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin

Recruitment & Networking