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The 2011 Game Developers Conference is Feb 28 - Mar 4 in San Francisco

http://www.gdconf.com/

We would like to sponsor someone from the gamedev.stackexchange.com community to attend this conference!

That means we will cover your airfare, hotel, and travel fees to make it to the summit, so long as you spend a little bit of time speaking / networking / blogging / sharing during the conference, and of course mention our fine, fine game development community here. :)

So, the question part of the question:

  • Does this make sense? What else should we be thinking of for the conference?
  • Who would like to go?
  • Who is willing and able to speak / network / blog / share at the conference?

Robert Cartaino, our community coordinator, will be following up.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Yes, it makes sense. A booth would be cool, I would LOOOOOVE to go but I have school D:. Can I call dibs on next year? :D \$\endgroup\$
    – Jesse Dorsey Mod
    Commented Jan 11, 2011 at 15:52

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Other things to think about, if you have the cash, is more general sponsorship stuff.

http://www.jointhegamenetwork.com/event/gdc/sponsoropp.html

Speaking doesn't really make sense. Maybe if we knew somebody who was already going to GDC and giving a talk and could plug the site at the end or something. But that might be against the rules, I'm not sure. It's a bit of a long shot either way.

Blogging, would that be on, say, a personal blog site or would that be an article or two written for the stackexchange blog itself?

Personally I've never been (so I really don't know a good way of promoting a site like this at a place like that, other than the usual "wear a t-shirt with a large logo and hand out business cards") but I wouldn't mind going.

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I think sending someone to GDC to spread the word about our game development community, and share their experience with others who aren't able to attend, is a wonderful idea!

Off the top of my head, here are a few ways I think we could spread the word about GDSE (from least to most expensive):

  • Spokesperson – Essentially the idea presented by NAME – Send someone to GDC to spread awareness via word of mouth (and business cards/brochures)
  • Swag - People like free stuff. A well designed shirt could do wonders!
  • Advertisement – Designing an interesting banner to be hung near areas of high traffic could increase web traffic
  • Booth – The traditional way of promoting products/services at GDC
  • Party - A GDSE (co)sponsored party would be a wonderful way to raise awareness, although I imagine this could option could be quite expensive, and would require a lot of planning

Whoever we send to GDC needs to be sociable, professional, and in tune with the industry, as they will be representing ALL of us. :)

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    \$\begingroup\$ excellent suggestions, all. This is something we want to get serious about, as we believe so deeply in learning, and going to a conference to speak or participate -- and bring that back to our community through deeper participation or blogging -- is a great way to learn. \$\endgroup\$
    – Jeff Atwood
    Commented Jan 20, 2011 at 0:23
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    \$\begingroup\$ Personally, I think the challenge we're up against is figuring out a way to (easily) attract a large number GDC attendees to GDSE. I imagine most people on this site could write a few blog entries recounting their GDC experience, but the true value we gain from sending someone to GDC is the potential to increase the (aspiring) professional presence on this website. \$\endgroup\$
    – Ari Patrick
    Commented Jan 21, 2011 at 17:37

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