Casey Monroe wrote up a nice overview of GDC, themed around the difference between T-shirt and sport coat types. In particular, he talks about a dinner we had which was kind of a sequel to last year’s dinner that I recorded on video. I met Casey’s brother Will at last year’s dinner, and this year Will brought along Casey too. In Casey’s words:
One night, something strange happens. My brother and I are attending a dinner at a nearby wine bar, with some (old and new) friends in the game industry. We sit and talk with Adam, an old bandmate who now does iPhone/iPad development. I finally meet Daniel Cook of Lost Garden, and Darius Kazemi of Tiny Subversions, as well as five or six other designers, developers and game industry professionals sitting around the table, and the conversation is…different. We’re not networking—we’re just talking. We’re talking about our ideas, our love of the art form, our belief in the potential of the future of gaming, the insight that games offer into the human condition. We’re just sitting and talking about games—and it feels good. After days and days of making contacts, suddenly I am making friends. It feels relaxed. It feels natural. It feels, in fact, just like changing out of my sport coat and back into a t-shirt.
I think he does a good job of capturing the feeling of what I love about GDC. I think that dinner lasted about three hours and I missed a bunch of parties as a result, but it was worth it.
I would take exception to one thing he says: making friends is networking. In fact, it’s the most effective kind.
Speaking of T-shirts — Matthew Wasteland and I have a few new shirts available at the store. I’ll post about them soon, but you can check them out here.
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I’m honored! I think I’m going to have to start stepping up the quality and frequency of my posts. :)
And you are, of course, correct about networking. A lesson I’ve long known, but it seems I needed dinner to remind me. :)
“I would take exception to one thing he says: making friends is networking. In fact, it’s the most effective kind.”
Bingo.
One of my favorite things about jumping into the industry is that I feel like I’ve found “my people.” It’s easy to network when you’re enjoying yourself and the people you’re meeting.
That atmosphere of the dinner sounds awesome. I can’t wait to feel out the local vibes of the upcoming BPM/IGDA get togethers. I imagine the air isn’t stuffy, save for the venue, perhaps :)
The guys of Boston Indies have been nice to get me going. GDC next year doesn’t seem like an impossibility anymore.
When’s the next big one? I have to start making plans. :)
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