On Friday, March 12, the following twenty women will receive acknowledgment for their contributions in the games industry as nominees for the Microsoft Women in Gaming Awards:

Nominees for Top Woman in Art include

• Amy Beth Christianson, Principal Artist at LucasArts
• Bronwen Grimes, Tech Artist for Valve
• Patricia Kullusch, Development Director at EA
• Andrea Wickland, Game Artist at Valve

Nominees for Top Woman in Design include

• Brenda Brathwaite, Creative Director at Slide
• Jenna Chalmers, Creative Director for Zynga
• Robin Hunicke, Game Designer for thatgamecompany
• Kim Swift, Game Designer at Valve

Nominees for Top Woman in Engineering include

• Nicola Bhalerao, Senior Software Engineer at Rare
• Rima Brek, Software Project Lead for Ubisoft
• Christina Ann Coffin, PS3 Lead Programmer for Ubisoft
• Corrinne Yu, Principal Engine Programmer at Microsoft Game Studios

Nominees for Top Woman in Production include

• Megan Gaiser, President/CEO at Her Interactive
• Holly Hirzel, Lead Producer for Microsoft Game Studios
• Jade Raymond, Producer for Ubisoft
• Louise Murray Copley, Head of Fable at Lionhead Studios

Nominees for Lifetime Achievement Award include

• Mary Bihr, Vice President of Global Publishing at LucasArts
• Amy Hennig, Creative Director for Naughty Dog
• Lucy Bradshaw, Vice President of Production and Development at Maxis
• Sheri Graner Ray, Senior Game Designer for Schell Games

One award will be presented in each of five categories. Final judging for the awards was provided by sixteen members of the global women in games community, primarily members of the IGDA Women in Games advisory board. Final awards winners will be announced after March 15, 2010.

On behalf of the entire games community, IGDA Women in Games congratulates the nominees of this year's Microsoft Women in Gaming Awards!

ROUNDTABLE MEETING: We will hold our annual SIG roundtable meeting on Thursday, March 11, 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm in Room 230, East Mezzanine. The roundtable meeting will be moderated by Tina Tyndal, SIG steering committee member and newsletter editor. Bring your fresh ideas and enthusiasm, plus stick around for the latest news on our primary initiatives during 2010, including GameMentorOnline and Games2Girls.

SESSION: Starting Something New – Women in Games
Thursday, March 11, 3 pm to 4 pm in Room 130, North Hall

Moderated by Sonja Kangas, Head of Game Lab, Paf and IGDA Women in Games advisor, with speakers Tiina Zilliacus, CEO of IronStar Helsinki; Celia Pearce, Director of Experimental Game Lab at Georgia Tech; Megan Gaiser, CEO of Her Interactive, and Julia Brasil, the first G.I.R.L. scholarship recipient, SOE.

SESSION: Are Women the New Hardcore Gamers?
Thursday, March 11, 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm in Room 130, North Hall

Moderated by Shanna Tellerman, Founder and CEO, Wild Pockets, with speakers Amy Jo Kim CEO of ShuffleBrain; Wanda Meloni, Market Analyst with M2 Research; Morgan Romine, Community Manager and Online Marketing Manager for Ubisoft (plus Team Captain, Frag Dolls), and Jessica Tams, Executive Director of the Casual Game Association.

PROGRAM MEETING: Games2Girls: Please join Margaret Wallace, Jessica Hammer and Joanne McLaughlin in our impromptu Games2Girls meeting on Friday, March 12, 10 am - 11 am, held in Room 230, East Mezzanine. Learn more about the Games2Girls program and how you can get involved.

PROGRAM MEETING: GameMentorOnline: Please join Anne Toole, Chris Oltyan and Karen Clark in our impromptu GameMentorOnline meeting on Friday, March 12, 11 am - 12 pm, held in Room 230, East Mezzanine. Learn more about the GameMentorOnline program and how you can get involved.

SOCIAL GATHERING: We are reprising our annual SIG social gathering at the IGDA booth on Friday, March 12, 3 pm to 4:30 pm at front of the South Hall. Join our sponsors GamingAngels.com, Gas Powered Games, Her Interactive, Microsoft SideWinder, Mumbo Jumbo, Naughty Dog, Obsidian Entertainment, and Thurst Interactive for refreshments, door prizes, networking and fun! Expo pass badge holders are encouraged to attend.

Please see our Events page for more information on sponsors.

The Open House will also launch the 2010 Women in Games $30,000 Scholarship to VFS. Inaugurated last year, the scholarship is part of VFS Game Design’s ongoing initiative to actively support women entering the game industry – the only one of its kind in the world.

The recipient of the $30,000 Women in Games Scholarship will have the opportunity to join a world-renowned one-year program that covers everything they need to join the game industry, from theory to hands-on practice to portfolio production.

In a process that closely mirrors a real-world studio environment, students work in teams to take a game from concept to completion. Through an in-depth curriculum covering visual storytelling, analog games, Flash, interface design, level design, project management, game audio, motion capture, and much more, students learn many facets of game design, gaining broad and applicable experience as they begin their careers. At the end of their year, they have the opportunity to present their final games to an audience of industry insiders and recruiters.

Hosted by the Game Design program at Vancouver Film School (VFS), the fourth annual Game Design Expo will take place April 10 and 11, 2010 in Vancouver. This popular event for video game industry professionals and gamers will be tackling the most pressing challenges and trends in the game industry now and for the future, and features the game industry luminaries responsible for today’s most innovative games. Event details and registration are available at www.gamedesignexpo.com.

"We are very excited to be hosting the next Women in Games conference in Bradford, through a collaboration between The University of Bradford and Bradford College," commented Mark Eyles, founder of Women in Games, "both institutions have a commitment to computer games and will be working closely with local developers to ensure that Women in Games continues to act as a bridge between industry and academia."

With a focus firmly on industry and academia, the Women In Games 2010 conference looks to showcase the Industry, academic research and latest technologies relating to games and women. The goal for Women In Games 2010 is to build bridges between different cultures within the games industry, game markets and game study, in what is becoming an increasingly globalized marketplace. Learn more at www.womeningames.com.

Here's your chance to make an impact on where IGDA goes in 2010 and beyond. We have some high quality candidates this year, many of whom have had lengthy, productive roles with IGDA over the years.

Please take a few minutes to read about the candidates: http://www.igda.org/igda-board-directors-2010-candidate-statements, and then vote: http://www.igda.org/2010election/BoDVote.

Voting is only open until Sunday, February 28, so please vote soon!

Microsoft, in exclusive partnership with the IGDA Women in Games SIG, is excited to announce their 2nd Annual Microsoft Women in Gaming Awards Ceremony, celebrating women across disciplines in the gaming industry that have played an important role in videogame development.

Celebrating the beginning of the new decade, we invite you to nominate women who you feel have made substantial impact in the videogame industry within the past decade. This is the first time that the nomination process is being opened up to the entire games community!

Please include the following with your nomination:

• first + last name of nominee
• OPTIONAL: a small blurb (limited to 80-100 words) on why you feel they have made an important impact to the industry, your company, or past/current projects
• contact info for the nominee if available (if they are selected we will invite them to the event as a VIP attendee)

• Top Female in Art
• Top Female in Design
• Top Female in Engineering
• Top Female in Production
• Lifetime Achievement Award

Please send the requested nomination info directly to at WIGgroup @ microsoft.com

Judging Process: IGDA Women's SIG Advisory Board will be selecting the winners from each category when all submissions are received.

If you have any questions, please contact wigsig @ igda.org.

If you would like to participate please contact us @ wigsignewsletter(at)igda.org.

Previous newsletters can be found here:

• Spring '09
• Summer '09

Please remember that we can't do it without you! We look forward to hearing from you and thank you to everyone for your continued support.

Are you or do you know a freelance web designer or boutique web team seeking some exposure in the games industry? IGDA Women in Games can offer a selection of marketing benefits in exchange for your web design and management services.

If you are interested in learning more, please contact wigsig(at)igda.org.

Please prepare and send your session proposal, following general GDC proposal guidelines, to wigsig(at)igda.org by Tuesday, January 12. Minimally, please include a session title, detailed synopsis and list of prospective speakers.

If you have any questions or requests, please feel free to contact Fiona Cherbak, Chair, IGDA Women in Games, at wigsig(at)igda.org.

The team at the IGDA WIGSIG have been hard at work preparing the next issue of the IGDA WIG SIG Newsletter but we need you!

If you would like to participate please contact us @ wigsignewsletter(at)igda.org.

Previous newsletters can be found here:

• Spring '09
• Summer '09

Please remember that we can't do it without you! We look forward to hearing from you and thank you to everyone for your continued support.

IndieCade is the only event of its kind in the United States & the only festival of independent games open to the public.

The IndieCade 2009 International Festival of Independent games will bring together the most groundbreaking independent video games from around the world. Be the first to see the 30 finalists for IndieCade's annual juried competition, available for hands-on gameplay and meeting the gamemakers at three Culver City locations: the Wonderful World Art Gallery, the Culver Hotel, and the Gregg Fleishman Gallery. These festival venues are open from 10:00 - 7:00 daily.

A simultaneous conference at five other locations around downtown Culver City includes artist's talks, salon discussions, master classes, workshops, panels and keynotes. Contributors will include iconic game designer Will Wright, creator of the Sims and sore; Keita Takahashi, creator of Katamari Damacy and Noby Noby Boy; and Jenova Chen, creator of flOw and flower.

Spread the word to all of your friends to join us to launch IndieCade 2009! For more information about IndieCade festival and conference Oct 2-4 go to www.IndieCade.com.

A few moments of your time will provide essential data on the current state of game developers. The IGDA's Quality of Life SIG will use this data to try to improve the game development experience industry-wide. All survey data will remain anonymous and used in aggregate. The IGDA's Quality of Life SIG studies these problems and will propose practical solutions in the next Quality of Life White Paper.

You can learn more about the IGDA Quality of Life SIG at: http://www.igda.org/qol/.

The Forum is generously offered by and in conjunction with the Casual Games Association, and is being presented by: Women in Games Vancouver, Women in Games International, and IGDA Women in Games.

Casual Connect Seattle is one of the premiere events for the casual games industry, with over 3,000 professionals attending Casual Games Association events each year. Casual Connect Seattle brings together the most talented and knowledgeable experts to broaden the casual games industry with the best of networking and learning.

If you would like to attend the Casual Connect Leadership Development Forum, it is free to attendees to Casual Connect and $25 for separate admission.

Register now at http://seattle.casualconnect.org/registration.html.