In the upcoming 12 weeks, taking place every Wednesday 4pm – 6pm the Ukie Hub Crawl will see up to three different expert industry speakers give talks on that week's respective theme, followed by a panel of studios sharing their experiences. After each session, there’ll be a chance to network and share ideas with your peers in our virtual office space on Gather Town.
These are free events open to anyone involved in the games industry. Please feel free to invite your colleagues, friends, and associates.

Session 1 : Starting Up & Business Basics
07 Jan 16:00 – 18:00
Week 1 will be focused on Starting Up & Business Basics and will consist of a series of talks educating people about setting up a games studio:
Speakers:
- Gavin Smith, Relationship Director, Barclays - Barclays Games team: Here to help
- Matt Frenchman, CEO & Co-Founder, Sugar - Starting a Business: Back to the Future
- Isabel Davies, Associate, Wiggin - Game Development: Common Legal Pitfalls For Start-Ups
- Kate Rhodes, Account Executive, S-Tech Insurance - Insurance basics for Start-Ups: What should you protect and why
Panel:
- James Brooksby, CEO - Absolutely Games
- Jay Shin, Director, and Co-founder - Arrogant Pixel

Session 2: Building your Brand
20 Jan 16:00 – 18:00
Week 2 will focus on building a brand and raising the profile of a business and will cover:
• Branding
• Trademark and copyright
• IP
• Being inclusive
• Staff retention and perks
• Healthy balance
• Team building
• Training
Speakers:
-
India Atkin, Trainee Solicitor, Wiggin - Content Clearance for Games: Top Tips
-
Matt Law - Corporate Consultant & David Taylor - Benefits Consilting Director: Using Benefirs Strategy to build a brand
Panel:
-
Oscar Guardiola, Marketing Lead - ustwo Games
-
Andrew Hogan, Chief Marketing Officer & Co-Founder - Intorqa

Session 3: Talent and Recruitment
27 Jan 16:00 – 18:00
Week 3 focuses on talent and recruitment and the different ways a business can find staff and will cover:
• Internships
• Graduate programmes
• Agencies
• Fairs
• Salary benchmarking
• Contractors v employees
Speakers:
- Ian Goodall, Managing Director, Aardvark Swift Recruitment & GradsinGames: Modern Recruitment Strategy
- Catrin Jones, Operations Manager, Skillsearch - Funky cats and their feisty stats: How to retain staff
Panel:
-
Andrew Smith, Managing Director, - Spilt Milk Studios
-
Nisha Minhas, Head of HR and Operations - Roll7

Session 4:
Essential Tech
03 Feb 16:00 – 18:00
Week 4 is a look at the different products available that can help you to run your business effectively and will cover:
• Middleware
• Licenses
• Software applications
• Virtual offices
• New tech/products
• Cloud storage
Speakers:
-
Micheal Williams, Chief Product Officer, and Co-Founder, Intorqa - Understanding threats in gaming
-
Arni Birgisson, Developer Advocate, AWS Game Tech - Why Cloud for Games
More Speakers TBC

Session 5: Managing Workloads
10 Feb 16:00 – 18:00
Week 5 takes a look at how to manage a project and the workload of a business's employees both effectively and efficiently and will look to cover:
• Project management
• Efficiency of work
• Product selection and lifecycle
• Minimum viable
• Scope versus money
• Q&A
Speakers: TBC

Session 6: Building for your Players
17 Feb 16:00 – 18:00
Week 6 content is aimed at helping businesses understand how to build their games with their players/fans in mind and engaging with them, and will cover:
• UA
• UX
• Community management
Speakers:
- Arni Birgisson, Developer Advocate, AWS Game Tech - Why Cloud for Games
More Speakers TBC

Session 7: Getting Investment Ready
27 Feb 16:00 – 18:00
Week 7 will be focused on Getting Investment Ready. Join and listen to experts discuss the different ways to find and raise finance for a business along with how to pitch a game or business:
• Mid-stage investment
• Publishers
• Investors
• Pitching
• To scale or not
Speakers:
- Peter Lewin, Senior Associate, Wiggin - Publishing Agreement Pitfalls – Tips for Developers and Publishers
More speakers TBC

Session 8: Raising your Profile
03 Mar 16:00 – 18:00
Week 8 will be focused on Raising your Profile. Join and listen to experts discuss the different ways you can raise the profile of your business or game:
• Marketing
• PR
• Making a trailer
• Promoting business
Speakers: TBC

Session 9: Going Global
10 Mar 16:00 – 18:00
Week 9 will aim to help people understand how to take their game or business to the international market:
• International trade
• Trade shows and events
• Choosing a market
• Localisation
Speakers: TBC

Session 10: Policy of Games
17 Mar 16:00 – 18:00
Week 10 will cover the policy surrounding video games. This will look to cover the following:
• Government
• Legislation
• Being responsible
• Trade body support
Speakers: TBC

Session 11: Looking After your Workforce
24 Mar 16:00 – 18:00
Week 11 will have content that looks to educate people on how to manage and improve their teams. It will look to cover the following:
• Large studio management
• Team management
• Accessing skills
• Diversity
Speakers: TBC

Session 12: Selling your business
31 Mar 16:00 – 18:00
Week 12 will cover things a business owner might want to consider later in life:
• Exit strategy
• IPO
• Long term finance
• Valuation
Speakers: TBC