I spent last week in San Francisco attending Game Developers Conference. As a first-timer it is... wow... it's a lot to process! In this post I will try to collect some notes and advice for noobs like me - also for my future self.

This was my first time in the USA. I knew that they are particularly picky at customs but I was not prepared for this. At first I was asked the usual stuff, why am I here, how long will I stay, what do I do for a living, etc. I did not expect that I will have to explain what a point click adventure game is, but that was ok, I guess. Then I was asked if I am employed by a company. I said 'No, I am not. I am self employed.' and so begin the dissection of my financial situation. How much money do I make? Do I have other sources of income? So I haven't been employed for 2 years? Who am I living with? Who pays my rent?... and so on... The only answer that seemed to satisfy the guy was when I told him that I am living with my fiancé and he pays the bills and he is employed by a company. 'Oh, so he does have a job?' Ummmm... excuse me? I do have a job too! Just because I am not employed by a company it doesn't mean I can't provide for myself... Gee, great start... Luckily the rest of the trip was absolutely awesome and no one, and I mean not a single person said anything remotely similar to me from there on. But I have to admit, this 2 mins interview at customs really stuck with me for the next 2 days.

Ok, rant over. On to the good stuff!

Since I only had an Expo pass, I spent most of my time wandering around and trying to talk to people. I say trying, because it takes a lot of courage to just walk up to some random people and start talking about something! At first I was completely lost, I had no idea what to do, how to talk to people. But as it turns out most people have the exact same problem! So there you go, if you are scared to talk to people, remember this: they are just as scared as you are.

What you can see in the picture above is our promo stuff. We made these fake business cards for Johnny and the Fox. I was handing them out all week.

I wish there was an area for causal coffee break chitchat. I mean, there were mixers and there were parties and lots of networking events but every so often during the day I would find myself doing nothing. Either because the talks that were on were not relevant to me, or my pass wasn't enough to get into the interesting ones. And the networking events also coincided with talks or roundtable events I could join with my pass. It would be so nice to have a little place specifically for people who have nothing to do and just want to chat. If there is such a place at GDC, please let me know! :)

NOTE: Maybe next time I should write something on myself. "Ask me about my game" or "Nothing to do? Grab a coffee with me!" or maybe just "Somebody, PLEASE talk to me!" would do...

The main thing GDC helped me with is putting things in perspective. I work from home. I spend most of my days inside my little box that I call an office. This is how I work and it is ok. But I have no idea how others do it. Do they have bigger teams? Do they face the same challenges as I do? What are they working on? Do they have an office? Should I get an office for our team? Are we heading in the right direction? I didn't know the answer to any of these questions, because so far I've only seen how our team works and I had nothing to compare it to. At GDC I had the chance to meet and talk to a number of different people, ask them about their projects, their methods, their team dynamics, anything I wanted to know. And it was great. Everyone I met was really nice and was happy to share their stories. It is so good to know that we are not alone in our fight against the world.

One of the best experiences - for me - was Lost Levels. This is something genius and it shows just how hippy this whole experience was for me :D I had to bolt before the group hug, but it was awesome anyway. If any of you beautiful weirdos are reading this: you are awesome, I love you all! :)

I came home from GDC with lots of new friends, precious loot and energy to continue this project.
Thank you all, I hope to see you next year!