So, I went to the Game Developers Conference last week, and I had the time of my life. Yes, I did a little bit of fanboying, but I spent most of my time in sessions and seminars. I could never put a price on such a high concentration of knowledge over such a short period of time.
Some quick notes for next year:
- Wear. Walking. Shoes.
- Get swag early, most of the apparel sells out by Thursday, and the Stuff sells out even faster.
- Get to the Convention Center early, I missed some opportunities to network because I was walking into Moscone a half hour before the first session started.
- Wear. Walking. Shoes.
- Bring a power strip to the hotel. Normally, I bring one if I’m going to a new place and I know I’ll be making heavy use of electronics. I thought to myself “this seems like a relatively modern hotel, it should have enough power outlets for four people.” No, it did not.
- You can’t switch out of networking mode until you walk in your home door. I was on the shuttle to the airport, and met someone who went to the conference, including three people on my flight out of San Francisco.
- Thursday is Kilt Day at GDC. I will celebrate next year.
I had some great food while I was there, of course. Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, and Italian. Such a refreshing change from the wide variety of stuff I cook for myself.
I’ll have a more full report by Monday.
-Ozz