The Ultimate Guide to Parties at GDC 2017

Ah, the 2017 Game Developers Conference. It’s that time of year again when the entire game industry flocks to San Francisco for a week jam-packed with panels, lectures, meetings, game demo’s, and of course, PARTIES! I’ve gathered a list of 2017 GDC Parties. Let me know if I missed any – it should be updated until the event. Please note that this is an unofficial list, and does not include invite-only events. Some events are either free, paid, will require you to be 21+, will require you to have a GDC Badge and ID, and/or business cards. Check the RSVP pages for information.

Without further ado, here’s the ultimate GDC 2017 Party Guide for you:

Link to Calendar View (Credit to Brandon Boyer): [email protected]">https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=[email protected]

Link to GDC Party Map View (Compiled by Matthew Anderson): http://www.eventsforgamers.com/map/

Link to Spreadsheet (Special Thanks to Talia for helping me keep this list updated!): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1i8f_oaam8-Uc6LGfMweTz-32xXEpr0_bi5VEMkNNAN0/edit?usp=sharing

Read more on my blog: GDC 2017 Parties

Which Game Industry Conference is right for me?

The main factors to consider when choosing an event to either attend or exhibit at are cost, time, location, and Category / Focus – Mobile, Casual, AAA (mostly b2c exhibitions), Indie, AR/VR, tabletop, etc.

Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco is by far the biggest and most significant event for developers to attend. It’s usually around late February to early March, and lasts about a week. Game Connection America is usually held in parallel nearby.

There are two main categories of events for almost any industry:

B2B (Business to Business) is ideal for Developers, Service Providers, Game Publishers, Ad Networks, Distribution Platforms, Tools, etc. Examples include Casual Connect and Pocket Gamer Connects

B2C (Business to Consumer) is ideal Indie Game Developers, Larger Game Studios, Games Press. Examples include PAX and E3.

For games industry conferences, almost any event can be considered to be B2B if indie developers are in attendance, even if the show is primarily B2C focused. This is because it’s not always about who your target audience is an exhibitor, but rather who the attendees are interested in talking to, as they can have different interests (i.e. a journalist and gamer would have different reasons for looking at new games).The other aspect is that often times the roles can be reversed – a visitor can stop by multiple booths, and if almost all of the booths are their target audience, then in effect it’s as if the visitor had a booth and the exhibitors were their visitors.

Conversely, all attendees (except for players or fans) should try to find a B2B objective to take away from the event. For developers, that can be finding a publisher, trying to get press for their new game, or just general networking with peers.

Here is a list that I’ve prepared below, and a more indepth one here.

What happens at trade shows:

Talks, panels, and workshops – Some of the information shared by presenters can be valuable. Executives will share candid insights on a particular topic, such as user acquisition, publishing, game design, etc. Some of the talks and sessions are recorded for later viewing. Here are the YouTube channels for Casual Connect, Pocket Gamer Connects, and GDC Vault.

Expo Hall – Like virtually any conference, the main attraction will be an exposition hall, where exhibitors will have booths for attendees to walk up and visit. Usually they will be stocked with promotional materials, pens, pamphlets, signs, TV’s, business cards, etc. 

Networking mixers, happy hours, parties, after parties – Usually a sponsored affair, evening meetups are usually a good time to network and connect with fellow attendees. Your main goal should be to meet new people here. For larger events like GDC, sometimes parties really are for entertainment, and not an ideal place for networking, but can still be a good time nonetheless.

References:

The use of Game Conferences

GDC Networking: How It’s Done

Networking Like a Pro: Tips to Master the Convention Circuit