Hugo Gutierrez GDC Experience

Hello Sn Francisco.

This was my second time at GDC. I was excited because I felt that this time I wouldn’t be as nervous as last time and I would be able to do more things and connect in a better way. Last time I got good results by doing one on one networking in the after parties and in the round tables I was able to attend. That’s why on this time I wanted to catch up with those connections as well as checking the career expo to get some portfolio feedback and suggestions. I was excited to be in GDC with many of my classmates and to see how we all developed in the professional environment we were set on. Different from last year, this time I got the expo pass and only went for half instead of the whole week.  

        There were many experiences and concepts that I consider valuable in this trip but here are three that stood up the most to me.

1.-  Using video games to promote positive behaviors in society.

On the first day I attended a couple talks and the expos. One of the talks revolved my head for a while. It was a talk about violence and videogames but it wasn’t about how games promote violence, it was about how videogames can be used as a very effective way to raise awareness to prevent violence. I think it was very refreshing to see this take on the subject.

           The talk was conducted by the executive director of the Jennifer Ann’s Group. This group is focused in using video games to create awareness about teen dating violence. They host a contest every year where the contestants submit a game that is both appealing to the player and fulfils the group’s objective of promoting awareness and educate about this subject. The winners are then released in iTunes and the Android store for the public to access.

           The whole reason for video games to be a good way of promoting this is because they are appealing. Sadly, in my personal opinion, the games they had to show weren’t that fun. They were very educational and interesting but probably not something that many people would play for the fun. This got me thinking that it would be great if some commercial games or franchises that are already well placed in the market started promoting positive ideas and behaviors.

           I’m sure I’ve seen this happening already in many titles but if student generations like mine were encouraged to do this more, we would probably see a bigger number of titles with positive ideas in the future and in more appealing ways for the audience. I think that we have an ethical responsibility as creators of mass media content and I'm happy to see that the trend is to work in order to improve society through video games. I think its important to keep these ideas in mind as we grow up as artists and maybe some day we’ll be able to create something that turns this world into a slightly better place.

2.- Networking

This GDC I got to do a lot of networking. One thing that I found very useful was to use the contacts I made last GDC to go deeper in the companies I’m interested and meet more and more influential people. For example, I have a friend in Wargaming. I used his name as a reference to talk to one of the lead recruiters and he happened to be a good friend of him too. This got me the opportunity to approach the recruiter in a “not strictly professional” way which I found very useful. I was also told by one of the lead HR that in your applications it was very helpful to write if you know somebody within the company. I got mixed feelings about this.I wouldn't use it as a rule of thumb for every place but at least now I know that at that company it helps.

    Another thing that I found very useful for the networking process was to have a ‘wingman’. Its a funny comparison or use of words but I think it helped a lot. What I mean by this is that I found that the conversations went a lot better when I approached people and instead of doing it alone I did it with a friend. This was very useful because it would keep the conversation going. Sometimes the person we approached would make a reference to a game or a show I wasn't familiar but my friend was so we were able to keep the conversation going. Sometimes the person we were approaching would say something and because of the music of the club or any other reason, my friend wouldnt hear it but I would so I could keep the conversation going too. I think that this “wingman’ approach also help people see that you are sociable and not just a loner which make you more attractive as a colleague.

    Other tip that I think can help people going to GDC is to remember to try to meet people everywhere you go. Literally the place is full with game developers and people that are in the industry. If you start a conversation with a random person chances are that that person is involved in the industry. On this trip I got on the plane from SFO to ATL and I was no longer in networking mode anymore. However I started a conversation with the guy sitting next to me in the plane. He turned out to be an environment artist working at Americas Army the game and we just talked and talked the whole flight. He even introduced me to some of his colleagues that were in the plane (one of them , a technical artist, was sitting next to me on the other side of the aisle). We exchanged information and business cards. I wasn't expecting to make a business contact at the plane back from SFO but truth is you never know. So just talking to people can give you many nice surprises.

    In a quick summary, the new abilities/discoveries I got for networking at this GDC were, using your contacts to get deeper in the companies, approaching people with a wingman when possible and approaching people everywhere you go.

With Ryan on our way to meet with a business prospect.

3.- Latin American videogame industry

Since I got my pass for this years GDC, I was very interested in attending the IGDA Latin America round table. Im very interested in the way the video game industry is developing in countries like mine. I think its very important for me to evaluate my options and be informed so I can take the best decisions about my future and direction. Thats why I attended this gathering.

    It was overall very interesting. I got to meet some of the top developers from the region specially from Chile and discuss our ideas of the latin american video game industry. It was a little sad to see that there are very limited options for developers south from the United States. There only seemed to be two or three companies that were actually making good games and could afford a good art team. On the bright side, these two or three companies seem to have interesting projects, mainly developing content for other games like The Old Republic.

    I also got to chat with the leader of IGDA Mexico and got his contact. This was very important for me because I feel like I have expanded my horizons now. We talked about how the market look like for Mexico and he gave me some career advices. He is also a good contact because he can help me get a voluntary position for next year’s GDC. However the most important thing about spending time with him is that he is in contact with most of the Mexican developers and he can get me in touch with them if something I'm interested in shows up. He is like one key that opens many doors. Its always nice to have those options.

         This round table got me excited and ready to push myself harder to reach my professional objectives no matter on which part of the planet I wind up.

After the round table was over.

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Other than those experiences, I got some  good portfolio feedback mainly from the people at Blur, Wargaming and Creative Assembly. They told me which pieces I should rework and how, which pieces I should take out from my portfolio and how to make my webpage overall more friendly for recruiters. For the web page part, I had to ask their preferences but I couldn't show them mine since WiFi did not reach the area. However they all agreed that they would rather just scroll down to see all my work instead of having to click on each individual project to see the images.

    I also really enjoyed the Ringling night where we got together with people that already graduated and are now working in the industry. Its always very uplifting to hear their stories and to connect with them with our shared experiences.  

Overall this year’s GDC was above my expectations. I truly enjoyed it a lot and found it very useful too.