Speaker’s summary: I first walked through the doors of Origin Systems in October of 1989 and I’ve been lucky enough to have been making games continuously since then. During that time I’ve made some great games, some dear friends, a few mistakes, and even learned a few things. In this talk, I would like to share some of that with you.

Sheri Graner Ray has been designing computer games since 1989. She has worked for such companies as Electronic Arts, Origin Systems, Sony Online Entertainment, Daybreak Games, Cartoon Network, and Schell Games. She is author of the book, “Gender Inclusive Game Design: Expanding the Market” which was nominated for Game Developer’s Book of the Year in 1996.

She has been awarded the IGDA’s Game Developer’s Choice award and has been on the Hollywood Reporter and WGEN’s lists of top women in games. In 1998 she founded the IGDA’s Women in Game Development Special Interest Group and served as its leader for 10 years. Then In 2000, she founded Women in Games International (WIGI) and served as its Executive Director for 6 years. Currently, she is pursuing her PhD while consulting and working on a couple of personal game projects (that she’d love to tell you about!)