GDC names Katie Stern as new GM

The organisers of the Game Developer Conference (GDC) have named Katie Stern as the new general manager of the GDC events. Stern will join GDC’s parent company UBM Technology as of August 7th.

Previously, Stern co-founded 3D printing and wearable computing event and showcase Designers of Things, and worked in close collaboration with electronic engineers on DesignCon and the Embedded Systems Conference. More recently, she was director of event services at the Linux Foundation, where she worked with key open-source communities.

In addition, Victoria Petersen will become lead conference manager for both GDC and its virtual reality counterpart, VRDC, after five years of working extensively across all of GDC’s 15+ advisory boards.

UBM’s EVP Simon Carless, meanwhile, will continue to be play an integral role in the event, and will be introducing Stern to the GDC community as well as working with senior marketing director Liz Wakefield to preserve continuity.

Stern commented: I couldn’t be more excited to be joining up with GDC to help the game industry and the event keep growing and flourishing. I very much look forward to talking to the community about what’s next for the event over the next few years.”

Carless added: Having attended or been involved in organizing GDC for almost twenty years, I am keenly aware of the needs of the game development community, and I’m stoked to be working with Katie to tell the next chapter of GDC’s storied history."

GDC returns to the Moscone Centre in San Francisco from Monday March 19th-23rd 2018, with the call of submissions now open until August 17th.