The Process of CONEXION: Speaking with Elaine Gómez from Latinx In Gaming
CONEXION, made by Latinx In Gaming, is a virtual career fair happening June 26th, with recruiters from big companies like Unity, Niantic, PlayStation, Xbox, talking to its attendees. An Investor Panel follows on the 27th, where the LIG community can pitch their games to a panel of judges for a chance to receive $5,000 USD to help support their game.
I spoke to Elaine Gómez, one of the 6 co-founders of Latinx In Gaming and lead of the Investor Panel, about LIG and the process of coming up with CONEXION.
For those who might not know who you are, or what Latinx In Gaming is, could you give us a short introduction?
My name is Elaine Gómez, and I’m one of the six co-founders of Latinx In Gaming. This started as a chapter really, and then we decided that we could do a little bit more for the community if we turn into a nonprofit. So, that’s what we decided to do! This actually happened last year during COVID-19, in the heat of it all, when we became a 501(c)(3) organization. It took a bit of work to go through, but we were so happy to receive 501 status because it opened up a lot of doors, especially when it comes to more financial support from people when being a nonprofit.
People and companies feel more comfortable and willing to help when they know an organization is something more legitimate, and not just a couple of friends trying to raise money. We are an organization that is trying to do right, and create a community for a lot of Latinx identifying game industry professionals; Enthusiasts, content creators, and even journalists, students, and anybody who is, or somewhat, or wants to get involved in the gaming industry. We are kind of like a hub for everyone. Oh! We also have an international community, our hub is not only just for Latinx-American folks, but all over Latin America as well.
I’ve been following the organization for quite some time, seeing the hub you’ve mentioned, as well as holding talks on both Twitter Spaces and Clubhouse. I wanted to know if there were any talks you remembered really enjoying, or have learned firsthand from listening to speakers?
Yeah! There are interesting talks that happen on Spaces and Clubhouse. For example, yesterday we had one on the do’s and don’t’s of the hiring and interview process, as well as job hunting. It was a big success, and had a lot of folks coming in. This was part of CONEXION, with the real big day coming up on Saturday, June 26th; Where there will be a digital career fair, with a bunch of companies to talk to in booths! This talk was the one that is most memorable since it happened just yesterday, but I know we had other fun talks where we had conversations like what is the best game of all time, and Mario VS Zelda VS Sonic, and people who listened really love those conversations. We’ve also had a discussion about Latinx In Gaming and how it helped people, whether that be finding new friends, or feelings like people had a community they belonged in.
While we have these conversations in the digital spaces, we’ve also had them at round tables at conferences like the Game Developers Conference, and at PAX West and East. We definitely wanted to have these difficult conversations before COVID-19, when we had to digitize everything to keep that alive. Having a Discord community as well helped us prior to the pandemic, so the transition to go digital was a lot smoother, and we didn’t have to scramble around asking ourselves, “what can we do?” So, it was a matter of just creating more opportunities, engagement, and activities where our community can still feel a part of something, even though they cannot see people face-to-face. This brought up ideas of going hybrid in the future as ourselves on the board and our community is scattered around the world, and thinking more about folks who might not have a chance to be able to come to the United States. This would make sure everyone truly feels like they are part of the familia, which is what we call ourselves in the community.
Which you guys have been doing! Seeing in real-time the amazing community you have built up in the short time Latinx In Gaming has been established has been incredible. Bringing up CONEXION, let’s talk about the month-long event leading up to the big day this weekend. How was the process in making CONEXION on a small team? How did you all come together as a team and work during the pandemic?
One of the things that we are so lucky to have is our President, Cristina Amaya, who works event planning for Team Liquid. It’s been nice to have this kind of expertise by our side, because she knows the ins and outs of all the things needed to get any type of event off the ground. Cristina really is the mastermind behind it all because the rest of us… really don’t know anything about putting events together. Like for example, I’m a game designer, I don’t know much about events, but I can help with game jams or anything that involves actual gaming making or talking to game developers.
We really ride on each other’s strengths and weaknesses, so that the team can figure out who can lead what, and they can excel and take ownership. But that doesn’t mean we all don’t work together as a team. While we take leads on different parts of projects, we still collaborate by calling each other as we need the help. With CONEXION, putting together the career fair itself, and reaching out to the studios and companies, that was all Cris sending email after email, reaching out to folks. I cannot even imagine how stressful that could be! Having the responsibility of being the face of the org; Talking to, for example, EA, making sure they know we are organized and have our stuff together, and not giving them the idea that we aren’t just coming up with stuff out of thin air, that was all Cris.
We started delegating work for CONEXION between all of us when we wanted the event to be something more than just the virtual fair. On the social media side of things like making posts and graphics, one of the founders, Joe Tirado, has a background in graphic design. So, Joe was creating the graphics and templates we needed, and with social media managing, Judith Barbosa would put those things together and schedule them. It was really like a domino effect, you start something, and it just keeps going and we are all in that factory assembly mindset of just letting each other know when certain tasks are ready to be handed off to the next person. I was responsible for the investor panel, getting developers from all over our community to submit games, so they can get some money for development because making video games is not cheap! While being tasked to do this, the team still helped me out by peer-reviewing emails I needed to send out, fact-checking me on my deadlines, and more during our weekly meetings.
Having these weekly meetings help us stay on top of things. And all of us attend them, including folks who were not necessarily doing something hands-on because we all feel a responsibility that whatever we can to help and uplift each other, then we take it upon ourselves to do. We literally do this in our free time, for the betterment of the community because we really loved them. That was the whole point of putting something like CONEXION together, even just having Latinx In Gaming together.
The team works so hard! Between working so hard, were there any hardships that you personally have overcome while making this event?
I’ve recently been going through some hardships regarding my health. And when it comes to tasks I need to work on, whether it’s in Latinx In Gaming, work, or even in my family life. I’m one of those headstrong Puerto Ricans who feel the need to get things done when handed to them. It has been stressful knowing I have things to do, but my health has been an issue, and keeping me from completing them.
Recently, I had to tell everyone in a meeting that I’ve been trying really hard on this panel, but for the last couple of weeks, just problems with my health have been coming up, and I’m struggling to make it to the finish line. And I’m grateful that everyone was really understanding. Cristina and Juan made an effort to remind me that if I need any backup or help at all in the panel, to let them know immediately. Being able to be vulnerable, and having people to support me and ready for me to hand that baton over in case of an emergency, gives me so much comfort. I feel safe that nobody is going to just drop the ball, nothing is going to break, that everything is going to be fine, and that communication we have as a team really is that key to that. That is something I appreciate a lot, it’s hard to find people like this.
Thank you for sharing that and opening up, I’m glad to see such a supportive team around you, especially while going through a tough time. Having gone through the hardships and all the planning, the team and yourself are gearing up for this Saturday! What can we expect from CONEXION? Will there be any talks that might be helpful for students or anyone interested to enter the industry?
Talks have finished up! But, we did have rounds of portfolio reviews… actually our top watched webinar we had this month was Jean Leggett’s tips for resume and reviews! She’s essentially like a game dev career coach, and she was part of CONEXION. So many people signed up to get their resumes reviewed by her. I think that is one that might have been great for people trying to break into the industry. I’m not sure if we have her webinar recorded, but please! If anyone is interested, reach out to us via Twitter or through email at contact@latinxingaming.com
For the career fair itself, we had over 250 attendees according to the CONEXION’s Eventbrite. CONEXION will have recruiters from EA, Riot Games, PlayStation, and Xbox for our attendees to talk to. We’ve never worked with this many companies at the game time, and it feels like a dream come true for Latinx in Gaming. Also, on Sunday, June 27th, we’ll be doing our Investor Panel, the project I’ve been working on, which you can watch on our Twitch channel. We are super excited to have both people from the U.S. and Latin America pitch their game, competing for this pool of $5,000 USD. They’ll be pitching their games to a panel of judges consisting of me, Bioware’s Andre Garcia, and Unity’s Jorge Castaño. We are all super excited to give our community feedback, and support on making their games, because making games is so expensive.
Really exciting stuff! I can’t wait to watch it this weekend! Now onto the second to the last question, what was your first role in the industry?
My very first role was actually a teacher! I taught game design for two years before I landed my game design position. I was a teacher for an initiative for kids called Make Room! In New York City. I worked with youth of color in low-income areas, and taught them how to make games. It was really awesome and a great opportunity for me to learn the ropes and sharpen my skills, but also encourage the next generation on game design. After gaining experience from that and teaching at college-level at Rutgers University in New Jersey, I finally got my first job in the industry with the parent company that runs Make Room!, E-Line Media, and transitioned to my current position at Brass Lion Entertainment.
Last question! What was the game that made you want to wiggle your way into the industry?
I’ve answered this question in an interview with a blog site before and I think my answer still stands on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. it was the first game that I played that felt like an open-world, felt like it was alive and breathing. There were so many different areas that you could go into, and the story really captivated me from beginning to end. For a while, really for several years, I would play Ocarina of Time every summer to try to see if I could beat my previous completion time. One year would be trying to finish the game in less than five days, the next would be three, and so on and so forth. I’ve enjoyed every part of the game, from world-building to the mechanics. It’s influenced the way I design even now!
Follow Elaine on Twitter to see what she’s up to! And don’t forget that the CONEXION Virtual Career Fair is this weekend! To see the full schedule and companies that will be there, you can do so now on the event’s Eventbrite. Keep updated on any future talks, projects, and events from Latinx In Gaming by following them over on Twitter, Twitch, and by joining their Discord community.
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