Destination devcom – building a conference with community in mind
Game Conference Guide Insights - August 2024
In August, all roads lead to Cologne. And if you are going there, did you know that you can customise your own minifigure with the gamescom logo in the LEGO flagship store? It comes with a nice box, if you are looking for cool gift idea.
Speaking about gamescom week, do you know which event is kicking it off? It is devcom, the long running conference, where business is happening even before the business centre opens and thousands pour in for their meetings or Geoff Keighley says World Premiere during Opening Night Live. And I can't recommend enough to attend it, if you are heading to gamescom already. You can do business and meet your new friends in one concentrated place without the hassle of running around the city. And you are doing it before the madness begins.
devcom partnered up with Game Conference Guide (you can do too, just send me a message) this month and I couldn't find a better time to talk about it. We have known each other for years, I have been to every single edition and they have been amazing supporters since I have launched the event tracker.
Beside’s running Europe's biggest developer conference, they are paying close attention to components like scholarship or safer summit (see below), even though they are not bringing massive revenues back.
This blog post was supposed to be 10 steps for you to enjoy the event to the fullest. We could talk about the new venue - Confex - where devcom is going to take place for the first time (please update your maps, if you are heading there). I am not going to touch an impressive 15 tracks, which is honestly scary how many talks, sessions and panels are going to happen in parallel. The good news is they are recording each of them. Not leaving anyone out. I am not here to talk about the speaker line-up, you can go ahead and check it out. There are mega names there, and you can even spot me. I will be talking about making relationships and the importance of nurturing them.
I am not going to talk about the expanded showcase, which is also another important step for devcom. This is where the truly hybrid format comes to life, as you can interact with everyone, watch and listen, comment and hang around in the dedicated event app from your home. The team is questioning this option (having all sessions streamed and showcase available online) each year, as it is the most expensive solution, but they do it anyway. When the chatter at virtual channels is alive and kicking, they know they are doing something good.
Then I had an idea to dig out secret tips from the organisers, helping you to be more organised, and prepared for the whole week in Cologne. And I did sit down with Robin Hartmann to talk about it. He is super passionate about his work, just like the rest of the small organisation team. The more we talked, I realised there is a different topic that bubbled up on top.
We have been circulating around very important questions about why we are attending events and why we are going to the same one repeatedly each year. For tradition, for friends, a good break after GDC, for speaker line-up, because business is in the city, for a chilled vibe, for gin and tonic at the beach, for FOMO or just in case. You could find a thousand reasons, and each event had its own perks.
The more I talked to Robin, the more I realised that sense of belonging and the strong community are the driving force behind devcom. Each year they are adding new components to the conference and each time there is a question, how does this help the community to grow. But in many cases, it goes beyond devcom and has an effect on all the other events.
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Take making the event safer for everyone for example. “It's about having more positive things, being more inclusive and being more welcoming for all types of groups. This is the goal.” What started as putting a very hard look at their event to make it safer, and then introducing increased security, having an awareness team present all the time among attendees during the official programme and also during the night activities, lead to Safer Space Summit (we can talk about it another time).
An initiative for all event organisers spearheaded by devcom and discussing together recommendations, guides and experiences that anyone can take and use. It is not about following the checklist and if you don’t tick all the boxes, your event is not safe. “Not every event can afford security guards, but there are other measures you can take to enhance the event and make it more safe, more comfortable.”
This year devcom is introducing a scholarship programme for about 100 participants on-site and additional ones online. And it follows their mantra: find a community, make memories, do business. devcom banded up with gamescom and other international organisations and created a programme for all scholars, online and offline.
“The goal here is to support those who cannot afford for whatever reason to attend our events as travel and accommodation, budget for event participations, visa requests can lead to problems, and also with the high emphasis on underrepresented demographics.” BTW, anyone could apply, even professionals, not just newcomers or students. The submissions for this year are closed as we are very close to the event itself.
“We will gather scholars on Sunday, the day before the conference. We will gather all of them so they can meet each other. They can get familiar with the city, they can talk and exchange with people. They can find their walking buddies or learning buddies. They will make their first business connections or connections in the industry.”
There are still challenges, as the scholarship programme wants to include everyone. Time is an essence for those who are not able to secure visas to travel way in advance. There is always room for improvement, and as Robin says the biggest issue is always the accommodation. Cologne during gamescom is not just expensive, but if you are booking late, your options shrink significantly.
“It's about progress and improvement, not perfection.” The team is taking small steps, but with each one they are sowing seeds for new communities to bloom. Each new component or idea is adding to it and expanding the whole offering.
And even if the event is about to welcome 3,500 attendees, it still feels chilled. devcom is a walk in the park compared to 30,000 people in the gamescom business centre. And you are doing business, learning and networking two days in advance. And that counts.
Either way, the gamescom week is hectic and as always it is helpful to remind you to keep a few basic rules in mind. These ones are coming from the devcom team:
1. Plan early. With a good plan you can go from primary goal to secondary and each step is adding up to the overall experience.
2. You should not expect to get everything done. Define what are your goals. Are the goals viable, realistic? In what time frame can they be done and where do I put my focus? Vaguely defined goals are not going to get you nowhere (= I would like to make as many connections as possible).
3. You're going to miss out and it's totally fine.
4. Make sure to have a lot of buffer time. Don't do meetings back-to-back if you do not have to. The quality of meetings is way more important than the quantity. Have at least a 10 minutes buffer for grabbing water or extending the talk or writing down the notes.
5. Play some games.
At the end of our conversation Robin said something very powerful and touching that I connected deeply, as I am still involved in some events and their organisation structure.
“Sometimes during the week when I have a few spots left, I am just going there without a goal, I'm not going there to play any games. I'm not going there to stay in a queue or whatever. I'm just walking around and just looking at the people. How they are acting, how they feel, what are the topics they're talking about, what are they excited about? How many different kinds of groups are there? Because this is our industry. This is the reason we are all doing that. All those people are the reason we have jobs.”
See you all at devcom!
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Pavol Buday, curator @ GCG