Who are you, and what do you do?
I’m Kamina Vincent! Hi!
I’m the Producer at Mountains, and we recently released Florence on iOS and Android. I take care of the project schedule, the team, and general business of running the company. I drink a lot of tea and, when big looming tasks occur, I rely on a lot of chocolate.
Outside of my work at Mountains, I mentor women and other underrepresented people and speak at various events (GCAP, Get into Games Ballarat, and others). I’m passionate about inclusion and diversity and use these opportunities to demonstrate that there are different roles and people within the games industry.
I was a recipient of the inaugural Film Victoria Women In Games Fellowship. This allowed me to not only travel to embed in some amazing companies (Thank you Media Molecule, ustwo, and Stoic Studios!), but also enrol in diplomas focusing on learning project management, business, leadership and management.
I’m also the volunteer coordinator for Games Connect Asia Pacific, a game developer conference held here in Melbourne during Melbourne International Games Week.
I’ve recently been diagnosed with ADHD which has helped me understand how my brain works and getting systems in place to help me get things done!
What hardware do you use?
I use a MacBook Air at work with a second monitor. I’ve got the laptop resting on an iPad Pro box to get it to the right height. This all sits on a standing desk that I’m using to prop up my monitor but I’ve not used it standing yet.
I love the swipe gestures and multiple spaces/desktops. I don’t know if it’s a Mac specific thing but it works for me, especially with the Magic Mouse.
I have a physical notebook that comes with me everywhere! Everything goes into that book. Turns out it’s a great way to cope with some of the issues my ADHD brings up. Which means that I have a lot of pens. My favourite are the four colour pens (Pink! Purple! Light Blue! Lime Green!) which means that I have a fast visual guide to tasks, meetings, actions, and notes for myself. I am trying to be more digital though!
I have a whiteboard on my desk that I use for bandaids (public declarations of tasks that I just need to rip), and larger tasks that need a checklist. It’s a way for me to communicate with and be held accountable to the team about what I’m doing (and struggling with!).
When I travel for work, I’ll use either the Mountains iPad Pro, work laptop, or my own. There’s always something that needs to be done!
Of course, my phone (Samsung S7) is always with me!
And what software?
Does Google count? I do spend a decent chunk of my time using it to find solutions to problems, answers to my questions, and learning.
Related to that, I use Google Drive. A lot of my work involves a lot of docs and spreadsheets.
Calendars are super important to me. I try to plan out my week on the Friday before and that way I have a visual guide to how much time I can allocate to each task.
At Mountains I use Slack, Trello, Google Drive, and Spotify. Music plays a big part in helping me focus!
Being able to create spaces/desktops is super helpful for me. On my external monitor, I have a desktop with my Trello board and a calendar for the day so I can easily see what I’m doing and when. The next monitor desktop is for whatever task I’m currently working on. The laptop monitor is for any other sites I need to support that work. Spotify is always the first, then Slack, then work, and occasionally I’ll have a social media desktop.
For my personal projects, I’m currently migrating to Asana. It’s a very similar idea to my work set up: different spaces/desktops depending on task, Spotify, calendar, and a notebook. I use the Chrome extension Forest, which is based on the Pomodoro technique and blocks access to any sites that I haven’t whitelisted. It helps me think of what I need going into a task, rather than just diving straight in!
What would be your dream setup?
I’m pretty flexible about where I can work. I need some noise to keep me focused and a space that’s dedicated to work or study so I don’t get distracted. I enjoy working from cafes, especially if I’m part of a study group.
Mountains is based in the Arcade, which is a co-working space for game developers. It’s great because I can ask people for help and generally chat to people about what’s going on. It’s also close enough for me to cycle which means I’m forced to exercise each day!
I’d love to have another monitor and more fairy lights everywhere but I’m pretty happy with my work setup!