IGDA Scandal: scantily dressed dancers at party?

[Kasey Chang]

Co-chair of IGDA resigned after the IDGA party apparently featured some scantily dressed dancers. (no pix yet)

http://venturebeat.com/2013/03/28/game- ... e-dancers/" target="_blank

[Blackhawk]

Brenda Brathwaite has always been very active in regards to womens' roles in both games and the gaming industry.

Then again, she was lead designer on Playboy: The Mansion.

[AWS260]

And just days earlier, this: journalist harasses Lara Croft cosplayers at PAX East.

I love being a gamer, but some people in this subculture just... ugh.

[LawBeefaroni]

Sounds like a sponsor's unvetted hire. Not sure that it signals a failure of the gaming commuinty so much as failure at the corporate and organizational level by YetiZen and IGDA. Considering that most attendees were up in arms about it, and that the backlash was strong and swift, I think it signals a pretty solid rejection of the whole thing.

VB:

“We do not condone activities that objectify or demean women or any other group of people,” she wrote. “One of the core values of the IGDA is encouraging inclusion and diversity. Obviously, we need to be more vigilant in our efforts. We intend to be so in the future.”

According to Kazemi’s Twitter feed, YetiZen, a mobile-funding incubator, sponsored the party and hired the dancers. The company also did something similar last year for the IGDA party.

Kazemi made it clear that he is speaking as an individual as he no longer represents the IGDA.

“I had massive reservations using YetiZen as our sponsor the second year in a row after they burned us last year by using scantily clad women,” Kazemi wrote on Twitter. “But I did not speak up about them internally because I did not want to rock the boat with like, 2 weeks left in my term. For that, I’m sorry.”

I won't even make a John Romero joke here.

[Zarathud]

Translation -- I already had one foot out the door so you can't pin the blame on me this time.