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!