The Right Side of the Ocean: EA_Spouse Then and Now

Over eight years ago Erin Hoffman accidentally set loose a firestorm of sentiment and industry soul-searching when she posted a livejournal entry titled “EA: The Human Story” under the anonymized pseudonym EA_Spouse. The essay was subsequently reprinted in Best Software Writing for that year, and the widespread reaction on and offline — spanning tens of thousands of comments and millions of hits — prompted news coverage in the New York Times, LA Times, Wall Street Journal, Salon.com, NPR, and more. Today the post and its aftermath are analyzed in dozens of business and culture books, and taught in university courses on law, business, and the video game industry. This session looks back on the industry-wide discussion on work-life balance that has progressed over the past eight years, and what it might mean for the future.