This year all the panels at GX Australia were recorded! Now they’re all up on YouTube for your viewing pleasure. Footage is uploaded into six playlists; one for each panel room on each day. The schedule from the weekend is here in case you’re trying to look up a specific panel.
Here’s the panels I was on and my Boss of Honor Talk (video is linked on the title)
HARDER. BETTER. FASTER. STRONGER. — SELF-CARE TIPS FOR DIVERSE PEEPS
Emilie Poissenot Wren Brier Snow McNally Tanya DePass Dameyon Bonson
As part of an underrepresented group in the games industry, our careers are harder than the norm. Our actions and words may be used as a blanket representation of our whole group. The knowledge of biases against us can lead to increased self-doubt and distrust of our coworkers. All these experiences take their toll on our well-being. How can we get better at recognizing these side-effects and alleviating them faster? The panelists discuss experiences and tips that have helped them get stronger to broaden your own set of tools for similar situations.
BUILDING BETTER GAMERS
Ashton McAllan, Tanya DePass, Dr. Jennifer Hazel, Alayna Cole, Adam Koebel & Mavis Chan
Can games be used to build better gamers? Can game design improve the outlooks and behaviours of the people that play them? Can we utilise this power to make our gaming spaces and communities safer and more inclusive? Come along and see our panelists discuss who is already doing this in their games, what they are actually doing, and how we can work this kind of magic in our own games.
DIVERSITY 404: WHAT NEXT? (PRESENTED BY THE IGDA FOUNDATION)
Tanya DePass,Felix Kramer, Katherine Cross & Rami Ismail
Diversity and inclusion is at a crossroads, with lots of performative diversity and well-intentioned-yet-ineffective strategies being touted as the Big Thing. But where are we, really? And what’s next?
My Boss of Honor talk! <3 WHY A CUSTOMISABLE CHARACTER ISN’T DIVERSITY (PRESENTED BY THE IGDA FOUNDATION)
Tanya DePass
One of the responses that calls for better representation is often, you can customize your character in GAME! Well that’s not actually diversity, nor inclusion or an acceptable response to not thinking about inclusion in the first place. Through examples, and discussion let’s dispel this notion that customization characters = diversity.
DESTROYING TROPES AND STEREOTYPES IN GAMES
Tanya DePass, Lee Flores, Adam Koebel & Ken Wong
A look at the harm that using stereotypes and tropes does to games narratives, and why they need to be stopped.
WRITING THE “OTHER”
Anna Irwin-Schutze, Jody Toomey, Katherine Cross, Tanya DePass
At first glance, it seems obvious; Writers need to write about people and places they haven’t experienced directly for themselves. Most crime writers have not personally killed their victims. This panel is all about discovering how can write diverse and interesting characters while at the same time respecting where they come from. How do we be inclusive without having to save the whole world with every game narrative we design? What can we do to write the other to actually make a positive impact on the world and keep our stories awesome and engaging and inclusive at the same time?
HOW TO BROADCAST SAFELY AS A POC/LGBT/FEMALE ID’D STREAMER
Tanya DePass, Lee Flores, Adam Koebel
Streaming on Twitch can be fun, but it can also be perilous for some of us. This panel will bring you some tips and tricks such as using bots, human mods and other methods to make your experience as stress free as possible.
