Mary-Margaret.com CEO to Moderate Panel at Women in Games Conference

Wednesday, June 21---Austin, Texas---Mary-Margaret.com, a leader in international recruitment services for the interactive entertainment industry, is pleased to announce that in addition to being a proud sponsor of the Women in Games Conference U.K. (WiG), company CEO and co-founder Mary Margaret Walker will be moderating a panel of U.K hiring managers, entitled "Hiring and Retaining the Best: Thinking outside the box to fill those next generation positions."

Held at the University of Teesside School of Computing in the U.K. on July 10-11th, Women in Games attracts participants from around the world in the academic, creative, and industrial communities. The definitive conference for women who are playing, designing and researching games in this rapidly expanding industry, WiG, now in its 3rd year, focuses on the professional development of women who either working or are trying to enter into the business.

"Women in Games 2006 promises to be an exciting and informative event with presentations, workshops and panel sessions on a diverse range of subjects including Quality of Life, designing educational games, attracting and engaging female players, through to the issues surrounding Sex in Games," offers Gabrielle Kent, Senior Lecturer in Computer Game Art and Design at the University of Teesside and member of the Womein in Games U.K. steering committee.

On Tuesday, July 11th at 9:30 to 10:30 am, Mary Margaret Walker, CEO of Mary-Margaret.com, will lead a panel of U.K. hiring managers, discussing their successful experiences when hiring for skills and aptitudes rather than the direct work experience that doesn't yet exist on the next generation platforms.

Joining her as panelists are Kaye Elling, Creative Manager of Blitz Games; Gordon Ross, CEO of Genuine Games, Ltd.; and Nathan Cockburn, Human Resource Manager of Microsoft Game Studios. Elling has 10 years in the games industry working as an artist, lead artist and creative manager. Ross has 10 years of video game experience which includes working on two hit titles. Rounding out the panel, Cockburn's prior experience includes 15 years in retail H.R. before joining Microsoft Game Studios in 2005.

"The interactive entertainment industry is growing and evolving at an astounding rate," said Walker. "By waiting to hire the ideal candidate, game studios are at risk of losing ground on a development cycle, which in turn, costs them valuable time and money. Hiring managers need to start taking advantage of the tremendous talent that is out there. In doing so, candidates who have similar qualifications but are less experienced can be quickly brought up to speed in less time than it would take to find a candidate that is the perfect fit."

Following her speaking engagement at Women in Games conference in Teesside, Mary Margaret will be heading to Brighton for the Develop conference, where she'll be moderating the IGDA's Women Developer's Group Gathering on Thursday, July 13th, from 11 am to12 pm. Open to all women and men in the games industry, regardless of discipline, the Women Developer's Group Gathering provides an excellent opportunity to put a face to a name or to reconnect with old friends. Networking is priority at industry conferences and IGDA invites attendees to use this event to make new professional contacts and increase their visibility.

About Women in Games
www.womeningames.com
Women in Games aims to disseminate the latest groundbreaking work in games of the past, present, and future, especially (but not exclusively) with reference to the experience of women playing, developing and responding to games and game culture. In providing an excellent opportunity to network with colleagues, the Women in Games conference offers support for researchers and developers who are exploring and redressing the game industry's gender imbalance. For general queries regarding the conference, please contact enquiries@womeningames.com. To register, visit www.womeningames.com.

About Mary-Margaret.com
www.mary-margaret.com
Mary-Margaret.com is a leading recruitment firm in entertainment software, representing top clients and creative leaders in the games software and hardware industries. With offices in the US and Europe, Mary-Margaret.com is continually seeking and placing highly-qualified creative, executive and technical talent for clients in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Europe and Australia.

For more details regarding Mary-Margaret.com, visit their web site at www.mary-margaret.com, or contact Morgan Ogburn, ThemePark Studios, 512/916-9633 or morgan@themeparkstudios.com, for more information.