Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are pivoting for Summer 2021 toward virtual programs. Thank you for your patience as we work on building a new program and format for our summer programs.
This page is currently the archive of our 2019 Girls in Gaming summer camp!
Until we have updates for our 2021 virtual program, feel free to peruse our programming from the last year we met in person.
The Girls in Gaming camp was our founding camp in 2017, and we aim to continue the series while improving with what we’ve learned. We will be joined by guest experts to explore a range of topics from streaming, game development, the competitive scene, and much more. Additionally, the camp will focus on networking and learning from the challenges our speakers have overcome in the currently male-dominated industry.
Our target audience is high school students currently in their junior or senior years of high school, but we encourage everyone who is interested in attending this camp to apply. We’ve found that the topics covered are most useful for students ready to explore potential careers and developing professional skills, so please use your best judgement!
The list of staff, guests, and the schedule is subject to change in the weeks leading up to the camps. This is still a work in progress as we continue to refine our curriculum to make sure that our camps are as enjoyable and educational as they can be while still accommodating our staff and all campers.
The current schedule and guest profiles are subject to change.
Schedule
| Monday, July 8 | |
|---|---|
| 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM | Welcome, Camp Intro |
| 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Icebreakers |
| 12:00 PM - 1:15 PM | Lunch |
| 1:15 PM - 2:15 PM | UCI Esports/NASEF Intro |
| 2:15 PM - 3:00 PM | Ergonomics/Health Talk |
| 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM | Group Play |
| Tuesday, July 9 | |
|---|---|
| 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM | Tour UCI |
| 10:00 AM - 10:45 AM | Day in the Life: Producer |
| 10:45 AM - 11:30 AM | Board Games |
| 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM | Community & Events |
| 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM | Lunch |
| 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM | Streaming and Influencer Management |
| 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM | Group Play |
| Wednesday, July 10 | |
|---|---|
| 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM | Esports Journalism & Hosting |
| 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM | Group Activity |
| 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM | Esports Makeup |
| 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM | Lunch |
| 1:30 PM - 3:30 PM | Blizzard Panel |
| 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM | Group Play |
| Thursday, July 11 | |
|---|---|
| 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM | College Insight: Team Management |
| 10:30 AM - 12:15 PM | Pro Team Management & Social Media |
| 12:15 PM - 1:15 PM | Lunch |
| 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | Game/Character Design Writing |
| 2:30 PM - 5:00 PM | Group Play |
| Friday, July 12 | |
|---|---|
| 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM | Harassment Lecture/Forum |
| 10:30 AM - 12:15 PM | Tournament & Interviews |
| 12:15 PM - 1:45 PM | Lunch |
| 1:45 PM - 3:45 PM | Tournament & Interviews |
| 3:45 PM - 7:00 PM | Closing Ceremony |
Staff
Mark Deppe
Director
Mark led the effort to create the world's first collegiate esports program at a public university - UC Irvine. Working closely with student leaders, administrators, faculty, and industry partners, Mark built a business plan that is cost-neutral to the university and that broadly approaches the world of esports through the four pillars of competition, research, community and entertainment. Since coming to UCI in 2010, Mark advised student government leaders and coordinated some of UCI’s largest and most successful events including six consecutive Guinness World Records. Mark has a B.S. in psychobiology from UCLA and a MBA from Cal State Fullerton's Mihaylo College of Business and Economics.
Kathy Chiang
Assistant Director
Kathy found her way to UC Irvine through her interest in pursuing a career in the gaming industry, suitably majoring in Computer Game Science. She cofounded and led one of the largest gaming clubs in the world, The Association of Gamers at UCI, and dedicated all of her time between classes training officers, planning events, and, of course, playing video games. Her favorites include Final Fantasy XIV, League of Legends, and Path of Exile. She also enjoys competitive typing on websites such as TypeRacer.com.
Samantha Anton
Chief Operating Officer, NASEF
Samantha represents UCI Esports in managing operations, the community advisory board, and tournament events for the Orange County High School Esports League. She graduated from UCI in 2016, where she double majored in Political Science and Film & Media Studies.
Jessamyn Acebes
League Operations, NASEF
Jessamyn serves as League Operations Coordinator for NASEF. A leader in the esports community since 2008, she was previously a supervisor and intern for UCI Esports. She specializes in events, media production, and team management. She is currently training to be the top SoCal Melee Jigglypuff.
Hillary Phan
Player Support Coordinator
Hillary supervises program interns and the scholarship teams. Once an esports intern, she now specializes in providing personal and professional development, team management, and event coordination. A veteran pro gamer, her latest achievements include 7th in the Beanstalk Skribbl Circuit.
Allison Le
Camp Coordinator
Allison is a 4th year Mathematics major looking to specialize in data science and apply her skills in the esports industry. Her hobbies include streaming League of Legends and Final Fantasy XIV. Outside of PC gaming, she aspires to join the DSCS, Dancerush Stardom Championship Series.
Alice Lee
Camp Counselor
Alice is a fourth-year Informatics major at UCI who is passionate about all things games-related. Outside of UCI Esports, they are also active in the ICS student community, and have helped host various computing-related events on campus.
Anthony Ortega
Camp Counselor
Damian Rosiak
Camp Counselor
Damian is a recent alum, graduating with a Sociology major. As stream intern, his goal was to provide unique and engaging content on the Twitch platform. His favorite games include Super Smash Bros., World of Warcraft and Hearthstone.
Dishanth Reddy
Camp Counselor
Michael Shaneman
Camp Counselor
Nickolas Gasparyan
Camp Counselor
Nick is a 4th year undergraduate interested in esports business. He started at UCI Esports in 2016 as a volunteer photographer/videographer, moving up to Social Media Coordinator, and now Digital Marketing Intern. He is very competitive and loves FPS games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
Tony Wu
Camp Counselor
Guests
Nicki Quinn
Producer, Second Dinner Studios
Nicki Quinn is a Producer at Second Dinner Studios. She has been a professional in the video game industry for over 7 years, although her involvement with games spans 20+ years. Her career in games started at Blizzard Entertainment when she joined the company as an Intern, transitioned to being a QA Analyst on Diablo III and World of Warcraft, a Project Manager on the Business Intelligence team, a Project Manager on the Esports team, as well as a Program Manager with the BlizzCon team. Outside of her work at Second Dinner, Nicki designed and taught Project Management courses with UCI as well as contributes to the game design program at Chapman University.
Abby Sherlock
Partnerships Intern, NZXT
Recovering child actor Abby Sherlock, (real last name, no she’s not related to Sherlock Holmes) grew up in South Carolina before achieving her final form as a Forbes 30 under 30 in Games Finalist at the University of California, San Diego. (One of the top 60 individuals in the running for the list at only age 21.) She’s been broadcasted on the live page of Twitch as a personality, led panels with VAs from Overwatch, appeared on the E3 2018 ESL Gaming stage, interviewed pro players from CLG plus produced and hosted an all female gaming podcast. Besides interning at Geek & Sundry and Nerdist, and working as a Community Coordinator for Tespa, she's now with NZXT as their Partnerships Intern. She'll be starting at University of Southern California this Fall in their Interactive Media, Master of Fine Arts game design program.
Sarah Michelle "SM" Lahti
Influencer Manager, Riot Games
Sarah Michelle "Zephyr" got her start in gaming at Twitch, where she assisted streamers in making a living on the platform. Later she used her understanding of the needs of content creators to create Twitch's first Influencer Marketing team. Now at Riot Games, she supports streamers through a variety of online and in-person initiatives. In her spare time she plays off-meta picks in mid lane and works on genderbend cosplays. You can find her on Twitter @riotzephyr.
Candace Thomas
Senior Game Designer
Sabrina Wong
Community Events Lead, Los Angeles Valiant
Sabrina began her esports career in high school five years ago as a social media manager for League of Legends teams. Since then, she’s created her own collegiate gaming organization, Highlander Gaming, at her alma mater UCR; worked as a marketing manager for game developer FunPlus; created her own annual gaming convention Highlander Con; created contracted graphics for esports teams such as NRG and Team Liquid; and was given the amazing opportunity to intern at Blizzard Entertainment for Esports Events. Since graduating in Winter 2018, she has worked full time as the community events lead for the Overwatch League team, the Los Angeles Valiant.
Indu Reddy
Writer
Hey! I'm Indu. If you play League, and are a Yasuomain, I have thoughts. If you play League, and know Diana is the best in all the lands, i respect you. I'm a writer. I play League competitively (silver - because i farm champs, not minions) but my favorites growing up were Skyrim, FF X, Assassin's Creed, Battlefront. (what i do: champ spotlights, vo, trailers, kd/a universe).
FAQs
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