The panel of professionals in and around the video gaming industry, which I moderated, was recorded and made available on YouTube thanks to the efforts of some amazing people in the UCI Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences. I am very grateful to the other sponsors involved in the planning and execution of the panel, namely the UCI Esports Arena and the UCI Women’s Empowerment Initiative. I also thank our partners at AnyKey, Blizzard Entertainment, and UCI Student Affairs.

Overall, I think the panel went very well. It was engaging (at least on my side of things), the audience was enthusiastic, and the Q&A session afterward featured some amazing and earnest questions from UCI undergraduates interested in the panelists and their experiences. It was a privilege and a pleasure to share a stage with such amazing people. The feedback I received afterward from attendees was overwhelmingly positive and I’ve already been asked several times when another event like it will be scheduled.

It is my hope that a similar event will take place in the 2017-2018 academic year and feature video game professionals from a different segment of the video game community or have a focus on a particular aspect of gaming culture (like competition).

I am constantly amazed by the passion that UCI undergraduates, grad students, staff, and faculty exhibit in regard to gaming and the compassion they demonstrate for all kinds of gamers. I am so proud to be at UCI and to be a part of this community of gamers.