Are you a woman (cis/trans) who is a current or prospective parent and feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or burnt out in the middle of your game development career? Pixelles is launching a program to help build womens’ support networks and exchange knowledge and strategy, using unbiased third-party human resources. This “co-development” or peer mentorship group will meet once a month in Montreal for 6 months, facilitated in coordination with Gamma HR.
Your participation or interest in this group will be kept in strictest confidence — neither Pixelles nor Gamma HR will communicate with anyone else about your involvement with this program.
Questions? You are welcome to send questions or suggestions to info@pixelles.ca
→ Who is this for?
→ What is the co-development group?
→ Where and when?
→ Why only women?
→ Why 2+ years experience?
→ Apply now!
Who is this for?
Any women (cis/trans) who:
- have worked for 2 or more years professionally, full-time
- are current or prospective parents
- are employed by companies with 5 or more employees. All roles are welcome (whether production or auxiliary roles such as QA, community management, marketing, user research, etc)
What is a co-development group?
Co-development groups meet and use a structure of problem-solving in order to improve their professional practice. Sometimes there are exercises or discussion topics, all so participants can help each other manage and overcome challenges they encounter regularly on the job. It’s a relatively new technique growing in popularity, and after a successful pilot program in 2017, we believe this technique is appropriate and helpful to women looking for assistance with their game development career.
Where and when?
Every meeting is 1-2 hours in downtown Montreal, once a month, for 6 months, starting in September (tentative). We will find a weekday evening that works for everyone (if possible) and provide light snacks to hold you over until dinner. It’s important that all members attend every meeting, since the co-development process requires steady building of trust and confidence.
Why only women?
Burnout and churn in game development is notoriously high, for all genders. There is anecdotal evidence that it may be even higher for all non-masculine genders, and particularly women of color. The purpose of Pixelles is to empower women to create and change games. Thus, this pilot program will stick very closely to our experience and expertise, focusing on the needs of women at present, with the hopes to grow over time to potentially include more gender identities.
Why is it restricted to 2+ years of experience?
Women across the industry experience burnout, isolation, and every other struggle — however, the struggles of indies, start-ups, and new hires are different, with different setbacks and strategies, and a smaller population in Montreal. This program is meant to address the greatest need in our Montreal community at present, which (according to our information gathering) is primarily represented in larger companies. If this program continues to be successful, we hope to create additional groups, representing different needs.
Application
Deadline: July 15th, 2018 @ 11:59pm EST
Application link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeSHUJ-tRK7siewvW_-VNHj5EiSBxisSw_jTf2i-QYc2L9PlQ/viewform
