Megan Varde GDC 2015 day-by-day report

Post date: Mar 16, 2015 1:46:3 AM

Well this was my first time going to GDC and it was a very exhausting but fun experience! Here's what I did each day with my Expo Pass-

Tuesday:

My original flight was canceled to I left earlier than expected to catch the rescheduled one...which was then delayed...and the next one was delayed... so I didn't get to San Francisco until late that night and nothing else of importance was done.

Wednesday: 

This was the busiest day for me by far- I walked around the expo floor, career center, and the indie play section (GDC Play??) many times and talked to as many people as I could. Most of the talking was actually done with the indie developers though because they were very excited to talk about their games and how they developed. I exchanged business cards with almost everyone I spoke to and even got a few people to look at my portfolio and offer advice. It seems like I got the most positive responses from my vehicle model and modular mall kit. The career center was a little disappointing though because it seemed like there weren't a lot of places looking for environment artists and after hearing feedback from other students I decided it wasn't worth it to wait in long lines and my time could be better spent making connections with smaller studios. That night I went to the Game Developer's Choice Awards. It was interesting to hear about and see clips of all the games nominated, especially for some I've never heard of at the IGF awards. 

Thursday:

I did almost everything I did on Wednesday but at a lot slower pace. I took time to look at every booth and talk to people I had overlooked the first day. I also explored the West Hall and played some of the indie games that were there as well. On the way out there was a talk by Ubisoft about a new game called Grow Home. I was able to play the game as the presenter talked about its development and specific visual choices made such as the low poly models, solid color textures, and drunken animations for the robot character. At some point that day I stopped back at an indie booth I had visited the day before to meet more of the team and they gave advice on how to stay connected with people you meet and get your work seen on the Internet. They were successful in convincing me to get a Twitter account and I am still talking with them through emails. I learned that if you play someone's game and tell them what you thought of it along with asking them questions about their career, they are more likely to give you advice and look at your portfolio once they realize how nice of a person you are. That was probably obvious but I had seen a lot of people just play the games and leave so who knows. 

Friday:

The last day was extremely laid back and mostly involved collecting swag and revisiting booths I had already spoken with. I learned that the line for crepes is worth it. After leaving the convention center I tried to visit Double Fine with Christopher; however, they were too busy this week to allow any tours. We were able to speak with Camden Stoddard who was extremely nice and passed our business cards on to their office manager along with an email to us after we had left. The rest of the day was spent in Japantown buying useless cute things and eating sushi. 

 <-outside Double Fine