As part of our “Better Together: Empowering Women” festival, Virtuosi worldwide was brought together with a series of activities in celebration of International Women’s Day (IWD) 2023. Check out how the day went across Virtuos!
Connecting through shared experiences
In alignment with this year’s IWD theme of “Embracing Equity,” our global Zoom discussion showcased women empowerment activities conducted studios, and discussed on what we can collectively do to drive further progress in building a fair and equal workplace for all.
Lan Jingjing, Senior Artist at Virtuos Shanghai, shared takeaways on self-advocacy from attending an #IamRemarkable workshop, while Ariana Jez, Senior Producer at Black Shamrock – a Virtuos Studio, shared her experience of speaking to female industry professionals and aspiring game creators at Tea Talks, a hybrid event ran in conjunction with Women in Games.
We kickstarted the Zoom session with a quick familiarization of diversity-related terms
Attendees were engaged and actively asked questions about the studio activities – some were even inspired to organize similar events shared by the two speakers.
Ariana also sat on a panel at the SISTEM Tech Conference, where she spoke about the ins and outs of the Irish games industry and how women in tech could steer their careers towards video game development. She was joined by Treasa McCabe, Tech Lead and Game Designer at Spooky Doorway, and Thomas Cashman, Director at Viridian Software.
(Left to right) Ariana, Treasa, and Thomas
At Virtuos HQ in Singapore, Angeline Chen, Group Strategy and Marketing Director, took the floor for an #AskMeAnything session. Employees popped their questions live to Angeline about anything under the sun, including networking tips for introverts and how barriers to female leadership could be eliminated. When asked for tips on dealing with imposter syndrome, she shared, “If you are doubting yourself, one of the best things you can do is look for someone you can trust to give you the right feedback.”
Angeline addressing the audience
Our female Virtuosi in North America embraced self-expression with an art jamming session, where they had fun painting t-shirts. After which, they each came forward to share the messages behind their designs. The vulnerability in sharing facilitated bonding with one another, making it a session to be remembered for all participants!
Everyone expressed themselves through their T-shirt designs
Giving back to the community
If you’ve never heard of camogie, don’t worry as it was the first time for some of us at Virtuos too! Camogie is the female variant of hurling, an outdoor men’s team sport native to Ireland, and is unfortunately one of the more underfunded sports compared to male-dominated sports. In line with Virtuos’ CSR commitment pillars of education and diversity, Black Shamrock donated to Wexford Camogie to aid the purchase of new jerseys, as well as fund fitness and psychological training.
Jerseys purchased by Black Shamrock for Wexford Camogie
Female students from Shaanxi Vocational and Technical College had a great time learning about patchwork art with our volunteers from Virtuos Xi’an. Originating from Shaanxi, a northwestern region in China, the traditional folk art combines the craft of paper cutting and embroidery to create pieces of art from cloth scraps. It was a great cultural experience, and the activity also paved the way for future collaborations with the college.
Participants displayed their artistic talents through beautifully constructed artwork
At Virtuos Kuala Lumpur, everyone gathered for a movie night coupled with food purchased from local women-owned F&B businesses. Virtuosi also wore purple wristbands as a symbol of commitment to gender equity and in support of women in the games industry.
Our KL studio was also decked out in purple
Meanwhile, buttery smells wafted through our studios in France, where our teams sold homemade cakes in the office to fundraise for OUTrans and EndoFrance. A total of USD 1334.42 was raised, with the amount matched by the studios and donated to the organizations in upcoming weeks.
Everyone in our Paris, Lyon, and Montpellier studios took part in the fundraising
Affirming oneself and one another
And as we work on contributing to the community and inspiring a new generation of female game creators, it is important that we look internally and practice self-care in our pursuit of realizing our full potential.
To encourage self-care, Virtuos Shanghai invited an expert to run a workshop on detecting common health issues among women and prevention methods.
Virtuosi in the Shanghai studio attending the self-care talk
Glass Egg – a Virtuos Studio’s employees learned from a professional makeup artist on how they can present their best selves and bring out the confidence within. The session was followed by an office party honouring all female colleagues.
Employees learning that self-care is also part of women empowerment
Speaking of office parties, did someone just say boba tea? Excitement bubbled in Sparx* – a Virtuos Studio as employees queued up to receive a sweet treat during the studio’s happy hour. Female employees were gifted a special tumbler alongside a card filled with empowering messages.
Sparxers gathered for boba tea, an all-time favorite drink
Beautifully crafted cards were also given to female employees at Volmi – a Virtuos Studio, coupled with video that expressed the studio’s appreciation for them.
The back of the postcard gifted by Volmi reads in Ukrainian “Bloom and create beauty around”
Thank you notes were also sent out at Virtuos Chengdu, with male employees showing appreciation to their female colleagues by gifting them bouquets of flowers. Female employees also affirmed their creative talents with pottery and silk scarf dyeing workshops. After a few hours, everyone left with handmade artwork that they were proud to call their own.
Hands-on activity at Virtuos Chengdu
At Virtuos, gender equity is not a buzzword, but a long-term commitment we are working towards. Starting with hiring targets to achieve diversity, collaborations with schools on development of talent, and supported with policies and year-round initiatives – we strive to continue fostering an inclusive and conducive workplace for all employees.
