Responsible for main stage programming is Declan Cassidy, the chief executive of Into Games, a leading non-profit in the advocacy and support of skills development.
“If Games Careers Week offers a taster of the games sector, then WASD Careers is a full three course meal!”
How did you come to be involved in WASD Careers? Into Games programmed the careers stage at the inaugural WASD in June this year as part of our on-going partnership with Ukie. We managed to pull together a really impressive line up with speakers from 20 different studios - from AAA to small indies - and talking about every aspect of the game design process. We were really excited when the Roucan team asked us to support WASD Careers on a bigger scale and jumped at the chance to get in front of thousands of career seekers.
How is the list of speakers and exhibitors coming along? We are focussing our time on bringing in speakers from studios in the Surrey region, as it’s so local to Farnborough. Expect speakers from nDreams, Glowmade, EA, and Criterion. We’re focussing on bringing a really great range of speakers, many
32 | MCV/DEVELOP September 2022
of whom will be very early in their own career journey, giving WASD attendees a clear idea of what they need to do to get that first position. We have a clear commitment to diversity and will be ensuring that more than 60% of speakers will be women or from underrepresented groups.
November is a busy time for the industry. Are you expecting to receive as much support as you would during the traditional events season? So far we haven’t had any problem with this. As the event is so well located to so many great studios there hasn’t been any issues with speakers not being able to attend. We believe that WASD Careers will become a key date for recruitment for the games sector as a whole as the event grows, drawing in talent from across the country for advice and support.
Games Careers Week is massive undertaking for you. How does WASD Careers differ and what are its specific challenges? Games Careers Week is a national event with lots of different organisations that take part. It’s also mostly online. WASD Careers is a chance for people to get up close and personal to studios and recruiters and there really is no comparison for face-to-face networking. In terms of challenges, in addition to programming speakers, Into Games is running a one-to-one career coaching booth on the show floor, offering advice for participants on practical next steps in their career journey and we’re hoping to provide 250 people with advice over the two days which will be a big challenge for our tiny team. That said, we are extremely excited to be part of it all and look forward to growing with the event.
How do the two events compliment one another? They both have exactly the same aim, and not everyone is going to be able to come down to Farnborough for WASD Careers, especially those in the north of England, so having an predominantly online event like Games Careers Week, which also has small hubs in different parts of the country, makes sense. If Games Careers Week offers a taster of the games sector, then WASD Careers is a full three course meal!
For those organisations who’ve been hanging back or otherwise distracted, is it too late to get involved? Absolutely not, we still have speaker spaces to fill and I’m sure there are still recruitment areas on the floor too. This is a first ever event that needs as much support as possible to grow and become a real fixture for games careers seekers across the UK, ensuring studios get the best, most diverse talent possible.
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