48: WGE MAG
WGE MAG: 49
She’s been a hardcore casual gamer for more than 15 years and loves hidden object games on the Macintosh.
World Gaming Executives recently sat down with Belinda to discuss Women in Games International. She started by telling us, “Women in Games International was conceived in 2004 to further the advancement of women in the global video game industry as well as promote more inclusive game design and gameplay environments. In 2005, the organization hosted its first day-long conference in Austin, Texas. Since then, WIGI has grown to over 4,000 members and is one of the top professional organizations in the video game industry.”
Women In Games Interview:
Belinda Van Sickle President/CEO of GameDocs
B
elinda Van Sickle is President/CEO of GameDocs, a game industry service provider specializing in distribution, consulting, packaging, localizations, web promotion and B-to-B documents. She started her video game career in 1996 at Activision, working as a writer, copyeditor, designer and layout artist in charge of all game manual copy.
In 1999, she was one of the founding members of Ignited Minds, an ad agency that specialized in game packaging. At ATVI and IM, Belinda worked on manuals for all of Activision’s releases from 1997 through 2005. She left IM in 2005 to start her own company. GameDocs has since worked on packaging and promo materials for Blizzard, Vivendi, Disney Interactive Studios, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Konami, Midway and many other AAA and independent publishers.
Belinda started volunteering for Women in Games International in 2006 by spearheading the WIGI LinkedIn group and the Community Mixer series. Since then, she has become CEO of the organization, leading WIGI’s efforts to promote and encourage women’s achievement in video games. Belinda has an undergraduate degree in Feminist
Studies and Psychology from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a Master’s in English with a focus in Creative Writing from Sonoma State University.
Ms. Van Sickle has spoken at industry conferences such as GDC, Casual Connect, NAB and others. Belinda has been interviewed for several articles on the game industry for publications like Wired, GameSpot, GameCareerGuide, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times and the Into Tomorrow podcast. She has lectured or taught at the University of Southern California, California State University-Fullerton, the Art Institute of California-Los Angeles and Westwood College.
“WIGI makes a difference for everyone in the game industry by providing low or no-cost educational and networking opportunities.”
Joining WIGI was a natural fit for Belinda. She told WGE of her history with the group and the reasons she joined. “I have been involved with non-profits and women’s issues since the 1980s. I attended WIGI’s second conference in January 2006 in San Francisco. I started my career at Activision and had worked with many people in the industry and had a lot of contacts.” You might assume that Belinda would know many of the people at the event, However, I noticed I didn’t recognize anyone at the WIGI event. I started to think about how isolating it can be to be a woman working in video games, especially programmers and artists. Isolation does not lead to career growth or a positive work experience.” Belinda continued by telling WGE, “I joined WIGI and started the online community for the organization to help create more opportunities for women to grow their careers collaboratively over time. In November 2006, I hosted the first WIGI networking mixer in Los Angeles by reaching out to this new online community.” Belinda is now the WIGI CEO.
WGE wanted to know how WIGI makes a difference? Belinda explained it this way, “WIGI makes a difference for everyone in the game industry by providing low or no-cost educational and networking opportunities. Most of our events and programs are open to anyone at no cost, allowing students, folks in-between jobs and those working independently to learn from leaders in the industry as well as expand their own personal business networks.”
for VC funding. Nanea Reeves has a huge executive job and major respect among the top tier of game industry leaders.” She concluded with, “I have been very lucky to have an awesome group of organizers on the WIGI Executive Board. I learn from them all the time.”
It’s always interesting to learn how many men join “women’s” groups. WGE posed that question to Belinda. “All WIGI events and programs are open equally to women and men. We have at least 50% men at our major conference events like GDC and E3. Our WAM Women and Men networking events in Los Angeles and San Francisco also have a strong male presence close to 50%. We believe in collaborative career building over time grow your industry network to grow your career. The game industry is over 80% male. It’s vital for women to work with men and vice versa. Besides, I’ve been in the game industry going on 15 years because it’s fun and the people are great regardless of gender.”
“The best way to get involved is to join the WIGI LinkedIn and Facebook groups.”
At this point, you might be thinking of Belinda as someone that many look up to. We figured there must be someone who she considers a personal mentor/heroine in the world of games? “Through WIGI I have met many fabulously successful women in the game industry. There are a few who have really inspired me, women who have started their own companies, ones who have sold their companies and started another, women who are in top executive roles at major publishers.” Belinda then got down to naming names, including, “Margaret Wallace inspired me with her talk at the 2010 Gamesauce conference about her company’s search
Like all successful groups, WIGI is growing. Belinda told us of the group’s plans for the future. “WIGI is re-launching the GameMentorOnline program in September 2011. The program is the only one of its kind in the game industry, matching professional mentors with proteges working in the industry, trying to get into the industry and in-game educational programs. We are working with the Girl Scouts to create a game design badge for all girls in scouting. We’re looking forward to more growth in 2012 by providing more member benefits and more chapters around the world. The Executive Board is meeting with publishers and developers to gain insight on how to better serve companies and their employees. WIGI is also working with the Canadian Consulate in Los Angeles to create a comprehensive study of game industry demographics with the intention to inform the industry on ways to create more diversity.”
To wrap up, WGE asked Ms. Van Sickle how people can become involved with WIGI. “The best way to get involved is to join the WIGI LinkedIn and Facebook groups.” Belinda finished with telling us about the networking opportunities, “You’ll get plugged into community discussions as well as learn about our events and programs. For people in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle or Vancouver, we have frequent WAM networking events in those areas. We have major events at GDC Online in Austin, GDC San Francisco and E3.”
WGE would like to thank Belinda Van Sickle for taking the time to talk with us about Women in Games International.
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