Where are you heading next?
Game Conference Guide Insights - October 2024
Businesspeople are like nomads. They travel for work and sometimes they cross each other’s paths. They will exchange insights, and if they had a good time, they will recommend or even push you to go to an event you might never heard before. They are cross pollinating their events calendar. Alongside you will be exposed to barrage of social posts or roll calls, you will get a FOMO, and you will join the tribe next time.
By now you already know that being at each event is pure and simple lunacy while during pandemic we have learned to be more efficient and cut down the travel. Add in recent cutting down the travel budgets and tightening the belts and your event radius will shrink.
Where are you heading next? Is a very common question from my peers at events. My rule of thumb is one event per month, be it a conference, small gathering or partner visit. October is an exemption, as this month we are seeing a record-breaking numbers of events: 61.
And from here I can add more if there is a need and enough time and budget. I usually start from the landmark ones: GDC & gamescom are must attend and they are so demanding that being at another event shortly before is a big no. Then I would focus on all the important ones with very long track record capturing international audience: Reboot Develop, Nordic Game, Pocket Gamer, Develop Brighton, if you are indie then it is A Maze, if you work with external development then XDS is your event to focus on. Add to this your own favourite one, that you attend each year, and the schedule is roughly built.
PARTNER OF THE MONTH
Game Days conference is just around the corner, taking place from November 7th to 9th in the beautiful city of Košice, Slovakia! This year’s conference promises to be bigger and better than ever, bringing together game developers, studios, and industry leaders from Central & Eastern Europe and beyond.
Game Days has quickly become an event for everyone in the gaming industry, offering:
Inspiring Talks & Workshops: Featuring a stellar lineup of speakers from around the world, we’ll dive into the best practices, technologies and innovations shaping the industry. Get ready to learn from leading game designers, developers, artists, and business experts!
Networking Opportunities: Meet and connect with the devs, publishers, indie studios, and industry professionals not just from the CEE region but globally. Whether you're seeking collaborations, investments, or new talent, Game Days is the place to be.
Showcase & Expo: Discover upcoming games, services and projects. Our expo hall will feature innovative studios and game devs showcasing their latest creations to an international audience.
Now is the time to secure your spot! Don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity to be part of Game Days 2024. Get your tickets today and join us for three days of gaming insights, inspiration, and innovation in Košice this November!
Everyone has a different goals, so whichever way you will look at the events calendar, you will always find more events you would like to go or to explore. I tend to pick one per year that I never been to. It is not about the venue, or attractiveness of the destination, for me the key is community I never interacted before and learning as much as possible about the local eco system. And where better to learn then at an event ideally organized with the help of the local association or community. These events tend to be driven by passion, driven by the hunger for knowledge, sharing and learning. And usually, they have very intriguing sessions and panels.
We have been talking about local events before, and I will always recommend going off the beaten path. Each country has a different flavour and twist on games, creativity, sometimes they need guidance, or they are curious how you solved a certain challenge. On top you are making friends along the way and that always counts. So whenever someone asks me what my next event is, I tend to point finger to the local one, or the one I never been to. And usually at these events, I play games and have time to listen to talks.
One of my favourite ones, is Game Days in Slovakia (check out the partners section above). I am super biased here, as this one started as a single track at animation festival I helped to shape it and later it became its own beast organized by Slovak Game Developers Association and passionate developers. Small, fun, and filled with lovely people that I bet you have never met. You should come, we will have a good time.
Celebrating 4th Anniversary
October 1st 2020 is the official launch of Game Conference Guide. From simple spreadsheet shared among friends, other conference organizers and trade bodies to a small website with thousands of events in the database visited by growing audience each month. Hearing stories that the website is being recommended or that is being used daily makes me beyond happy. It also keeps me on the edge as I have a commitment to fulfil. I am thankful to each and every one of you, who are visiting the website, or recommending it.
Thank you so much!
What are you planning next?
The website will undergo some changes. If everything works out, sometime in coming weeks you might see a slightly different, modernized look, a little bit faster, without clutter and with straightforward design. Functionality will stay the same, same as features, some will be hidden though, some will be more pronounced. We will go into details in the next blog post.
What I want to make clear, is that the website is staying as it is: free of charge. You will be able to browse, filter, search, add to your calendar all the events without the need to create an account, or subscribe. I am not a huge fan of putting features behind paywall once the community grows and you have the visitors engaged. And I am sure you are enjoying the convenience of browsing through (almost) all events on any device.
Game Conference Guide is pure passion project. I like events, and till this day I am still involved with some. The data gathering can’t be automated, as it is heavily curated (and some AI scrapers were already training on the data), it requires up-keep as the data points are constantly changing. Just yesterday, I added two new events, 3 deadlines and 1 showcase to the database. It is never ending and with a daily job sometimes pretty challenging.
If Game Conference Guide is providing value to you, consider a donation or switch to paid subcription here on Substack to keep it accessible and a free resource for everyone else out there.
Join the awesome humans club by buying me coffee, nowadays I drink decaf, as caffeine gives me headaches. Jeanette, Kate, Takaaki, Damir, Masatoshi, Erik, Robin, Mateusz, Justin, Tobi & Jay believed in the project since the very beginning. Massive thanks to each of you, you are a legend. And you can be one of them, do you think we can get past the 10 patreons?
Become a Partner of the Month
As we are entering slowly 2025, I am opening monthly partnerships again. It is simple, you pick your favourite month, and for the whole duration your banner will be on the main page exclusively promoting your brand, service, or event you are putting together. Plus, you can have a nice promotion message in this newsletter. Let me know if you are interested.
Support from the audience and partners goes directly into developing the website, up-keep and it drives me to make the Game Conference Guide better and provide value to everyone.
[Game Conference Guide is helping you find your next games industry events & showcase.]
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Pavol Buday, curator @ GCG