UPDATE 10/01/2020: Coven Club’s on hold for now! I’ll shout about it on the Twitters if/when it restarts.

Coven Club is a monthly London meetup for women in the games industry. It aims to help women form friendships and networks with other ladygamers by providing a free venue and that incredibly supportive, well-wishy atmosphere you find at women-only events.

Each month, Coven Club will rent out a nice spot with comfy chairs where people can relax, make friends, read a book, eat biscuits, rant about their days, have tea, have wine, and/or otherwise hang out with women in the industry. It’s explicitly not a professional networking event: I want it to be as relaxed and welcoming as possible.

The long-term goal is to help women build a large network of industry peers (read: ‘fwends’), so they’ll be happier, stay in games longer and fill out leadership roles in the industry. The more women in leadership, the easier it’ll be on women joining later down the line and the better gender equality we’ll see in games. Well, that’s the dream!

If you’re a woman in games who thinks you might be interested, follow Coven Club on Twitter. I’ll post a pinned tweet with a sign-up link on the first Monday of every month. Events will take place on the final Wednesday of each month, and are utterly free – but due to namby-pamby health and safety which insists on us not dying horribly in an avoidable accident, places are limited.

A London-based ladygamer meet-up, making life a little bit more friendly for women in games. It’s run by Lottie Bevan, sponsored by Weather Factory and currently takes place at Anomalous Space in Angel.

People identifying as women who work in the games industry. This definition is deliberately loose and includes jobs like professional streamers. If you’re not sure if you’re eligible, just tweet Coven Club or email Lottie to ask! It’s not intended for students, or people hoping to get into the industry. Sorry!

Firstly, to help women make friends with other women in the industry. We’re in the minority, and it can be quite isolating depending on your studio’s size, gender make-up or your particular role. There’s actually a lot of us here.

Secondly, Coven Club wants to provide a support network. In the long-run, I hope this network will make it easier for women to cope with the day-to-day stresses of being a woman in games, and therefore keep women in the industry for longer.

Yes, yes, I know. London is hardly devoid of opportunity, but I’m in London, and we’re starting smol. For now, I can only run a London-based event. However, once we’ve gained some momentum and I’ve learned some lessons about hosting events, I’d love to facilitate women in different cities starting their own Coven Clubs. Imagine if every large city in the UK had a monthly Coven Club? Or every large city in the world?!

Just to be clear, of course they’re not. Men are just as fallible and just as delightful as women. But this meet-up wants to be as relaxing and friendly as possible, and some women may not feel comfortable talking about certain experiences or opinions in a mixed-gender environment. So I’m keeping Coven Club women-only for now.

You can’t prove nuffink.