Kate Edwards is a world known corporate strategist, or more specifically, content culturalization strategist, most active in information-based cartography and video game content. After 13 years at Microsoft, as the CEO and principal consultant of Geogrify, a consultancy which innovated content culturalization, she has consulted for some of the biggest world companies like Google, Amazon, Facebook, LEGO etc. She is also the CXO and Co-Founder of SetJetters, a film tourism app, and holder of numerous awards and recognitions in gaming world.
But Kate Edwards is also a frequent guest of Dubrovnik. She regularly attends the developer conference Reboot Develop Blue, which has been held in Dubrovnik for 6 years now. “I really love the Reboot Develop game industry event and I’ve been attending it ever since 2016, when it was held that year in Split. But then it’s been in Dubrovnik since 2017 and I’ve attended every year (except 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19). So, I’ve been to Dubrovnik a total of 6 times and always for Reboot – and returning to Dubrovnik is honestly one of my big highlights of the year” she said.
At the last Reboot conference held in April this year, she was one of the inspiring speakers, so we talked to her about her experience of Dubrovnik as a meetings destination.
- You visited Dubrovnik for every Reboot Develop Blue conference. What impression did Dubrovnik leave on you?
For me as a geographer as well as the co-founder of the SetJetters film tourism app, it’s really a combination of three key things:
1) The amazing geography of the area – situated among such a beautiful coastline with the various islands as well as crystal clear water.
2) The deep history of the region that extends back for thousands of years. Many people focus on the Old Town and it’s certainly worth the focus, but I also really enjoy the areas immediately surrounding Dubrovnik – there’s a lot more to explore.
3) The fact that Dubrovnik has served as a perfect background to several film and television productions adds another dimension to the fun of visiting.
“If I were to organize an event myself, I could easily see considering Dubrovnik as the location.”
- You frequently speak and visit numerous conferences around the world. How would you evaluate Dubrovnik as a meetings destination - is there a possibility that you would choose it for an event in your organization?
I see so many positives for Dubrovnik as an event location, which is why it’s not surprising that Reboot has long-chosen the city for their event. The very close proximity of the airport which is accessible from most of Europe is really helpful, as well as the availability of several larger hotels and spaces that can serve as an event location. Dubrovnik is really unique in what it offers and I think it has a wide appeal to many kinds of conference attendees, so if I were to organize an event myself, I could easily see considering Dubrovnik as the location.
- You come back for Reboot conference every year. How would you rate this event - in terms of quality of content and organization, production...?
Reboot Develop is one of the very best game industry conferences of the year (and I attend a LOT of events). The organizer Damir Đurović and his great team always manage to produce a very high-quality show which brings together some of the top talent in the game industry as well as a lot of emerging talent from the region. This combination, along with the great location, makes it an ideal destination for a more casual style of doing business and networking.
Game worlds are perceived differently by people from different cultures
- Can you explain in more detail what your role as Culturalization Innovator entails, that is, what does culturalization work in the video game industry mean?
Culturalization on games and digital media is something I started over 30 years ago during my time at Microsoft. I entered Microsoft as a cartographer and geographer to work on Encarta Encyclopedia and World Atlas, but I quickly saw how my knowledge and skills could be applied to other areas within the company. At its core, culturalization is about maximizing the global reach of digital content by considering all aspects of adaptation – not just language translation (which is typically called localization). We examine all aspects of a product – from the user interface to the many design elements. If it’s a game we look at, it means all content assets in the game’s world, including characters, buildings, the narrative, and so on. The goal is to find issues that may disrupt the user experience from a cultural perspective and resolve them before the product releases.
- At this year's Reboot conference, you had a presentation on the topic “Allegorical Distance: The Real Challenge of Cultural Representation in Games”. What have you identified as the biggest challenges?
As I’ve been performing culturalization consulting on games for over 31 years now, the biggest challenge with game creators is simply being aware that the game worlds we build will be perceived differently by people from different cultures. The second aspect that makes this work challenging is social media, and the fact that people are offering their opinions and perceptions in real time. So even though the content in a game may undergo a tremendous amount of work and cultural due diligence, someone out there on social media may react negatively for various reasons (and in my experience, often because they don’t understand the full context of what’s in the game). So, it’s critical that game creators do the work to ensure they are being culturally respectful in their representations and avoiding issues like cultural appropriation.
SetJetters - an app that connects tourists to global filming locations like Dubrovnik
- You are also the Co-founder and Chief Experience Officer of SetJetters, a film tourism app. Can you explain more about this project?
Absolutely – I’ve been a lifelong film tourism fan – or “setjetter” as they are often called – and I love visiting where my favourite films and televisions shows have been shot. This is an activity I’ve enjoyed since growing up in southern California – surrounded by countless filming locations. During the Covid pandemic when I wasn’t traveling for 18 months, I partnered with four other great founders and we created the SetJetters app to fulfil a critical need in this space. Now, on either iOS or Android, film tourists can easily find the filming locations and make that special emotional connection we have to our favourite media. We also really want people to discover the amazing geography and culture around the filming locations, so we emphasize a “Beyond the Frame” section in our app that helps them explore beyond the film tourism aspect. And of course, we have a lot of filming locations already on display in and around Dubrovnik!
- What filming locations, that is, which movies/series filmed in Dubrovnik does your app cover?
At the moment, the SetJetters app contains scenes from Game of Thrones and Star Wars - Episode VIII, but if film tourism fans know of other scenes and films shot in and around the area, they are welcome to submit a scene and suggest new ones - either through the app or via the SetJetters website https://setjetters.com/.
