When I launched Game Conference Guide, we were living and interacting in a different world. During pandemic I was wrapping up the year with predictions how the next season will look like and how it will affect social gatherings, events and conferences we were craving for after the Zoom fatigue. In most cases, my predictions were spot on, you can read all about them here, and here.
Nowadays we can connect and attend as many as 300+ events per year covering almost all the needs for your business, networking or just expanding the experience by sharing the knowledge or absorbing it via listening to sessions or panels. Last year, my predictions were very short, but I would like to go back to one of them – Rise of the local events and their increased importance.
PARTNER OF THE MONTH
The Oldest Central-european Conference GDS Prague Will Be Back This December!
Prague once again opens its doors to the gaming industry, connecting professionals, students, and the public. Visitors can look forward to the Game Developers Session, accompanied by the AI Summit and Game Law Summit, this December 13-14.
Game Developers Session is the oldest Central European conference dedicated to game development, gaming technologies, business, and marketing with an exciting lineup of talks and many opportunities to connect with developers, publishers and investors. Among many great guest speakers, the organisers confirmed Glen Schofield, the lead producer and director of titles such as Dead Space, Call of Duty MW3/AW/WW2, and Callisto Protocol.
90+ speakers in 6 lines of talks
70+ indie studios and teams showcasing their games (register your game for free!)
Dozens of professional studios presenting their booth
3 epic parties
Matchmaking system to network
Opportunities to seek jobs
Two summits on AI and law in games
Indie Expo Awards
Investor and publisher pitching sessions
GDS Prague Game Jam
Steam Event page and livestreams
And more!
For more information, including ticket purchase, visit the conference website.
We all have love or hate relationship with the biggest events out there (GDC, Gamescom, TGS to name a few). There is a lot of opinions on their utilization, effectiveness, how expensive they are, how they resonate with brands investing tens of thousands on flashy stands and booths, how bonkers it is to travel overseas and have a meeting with someone who lives 2 hours away from you. These discussions are coming back like a boomerang each year. Events like these create such a huge FOMO it is impossible to miss them, hear about them or attend them, which leads back to the question; are they worth visiting? And everyone who attended them multiple times, will give you a different answer.
The beauty of our industry is we are constantly meeting new people and cross pollinating our networks and our experience with events. Few weeks ago, I went to Game Days, small format event in Slovakia that is a must attend for me. It is happening in my home country, and I am a little bit responsible for the event itself. Seeing it grow each year and attracting new attendees is eye opening, especially when you see them smile and have fun. I was always worried when I was inviting friends from abroad that they will be bored, or there is not a lot of content for them. I was wrong.
They are seeing a completely different creative output and meeting people not attending the usual events and conferences. On top, they are experiencing different culture through food and drinks.
Unsurprisingly, during one of the dinners the question about importance of GDC and gamescom was brought forward. And while we have collectively admitted their importance, being off the beath path led to new connections, new opportunities and new experiences. We agreed, we should visit more of these events next year. And that is the point, where the local events come to shine.
We can’t run like bunny rabbits all the time. While Gamescom or GDC are dreams for many, the talent is not usually emerging there for the first time, they usually start local. I stopped counting on how many times I had this conversation before. Thank God, there are those organizing events and summits and various conferences. Develop went North in UK, WN Confs are exploring East Asia, DevGAMM is surfing in Portugal, Executive Summit found a stable home in Spain, Portside Game Assembly are hosting event on a boat. And one of the oldest running conferences - Game Developers Session - is returning to Prague next month. And I highly recommend visiting it, not because they are Game Conference Guide partners. It wasn’t GDC, it was GDS that helped me to peak behind the curtain and was a stepping stone in building my network and on top, you can meet every developer in Czech republic. Go and grab the discount by clicking the banner up.
Last month I shared a little trick with you how I build my events calendar; I am always making space for one new event I haven’t visited before. And it is always local. It works like a charm. I am all about getting to know the stakeholders in smaller regions, putting acorns in the soil through network but also through friendship, that will lead to something beautiful in the future.
Local events are not always the answer, but they are a great place to visit. And the great thing? Each month there are multiple of them happening at the same time. You just have to choose one.
[Game Conference Guide is helping you find your next games industry events & showcase.]
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Pavol Buday, curator @ GCG