In this installment of Meet a Payloader we say hello to Karen, the Events and Games Hub Manager for the Tentacle Zone.
How have you settling into life at Payload?
My first year at Payload (and the games industry) has been fun! Everyone is nice and welcoming. Especially now that we are back in the office, it was great to meet people in person again. I particularly enjoyed joining some of the after work tabletop RPG groups and exploring places around our office.
What does your job involve?
I touch base on all sorts of things around the Tentacle Zone including our residents, workspace, events and the incubator programme.
My daily routine includes working with our facilities team to make sure residents in our office have what they need, schedule weekly virtual events and plan different types of socials in the office.
What’s the best part about your role?
We have run the Tentacle Zone Incubator Programme since 2021 which aims to help game developers from underrepresented backgrounds around the world. Being part of a team who cares about others with the goal to make a difference in the industry is one of the best feelings you can get at any job.
Besides this, I also get to use my creativity and throw some themed parties for our Tentacle Zone residents. It was fun and challenging – the best part was to hear people say they enjoyed the events!
What’s the hardest part of your job?
This is my first year in the games industry and starting to bring back in-person events after such a long time can be challenging! At the same time, most of our residents were also planning their return to our co-working space so there were a lot of things that needed to be considered and handled with thought.
I am very lucky to have Nisha guiding me through the process and receiving the greatest help from our facilities team. We were able to host a number of different industry events and visits to the studio throughout the summer!