Michelle’s report back from GDC09
by ProfessorMichelle on Apr.08, 2009, under bhg
I had a blast at the GDC this year as an IGDA scholarship winner! I would recommend any game developer or enthusiast to pilgrimage to this event held yearly in San Francisco. The speakers are knowledgeable and some of the top names in the industry, and there is every chance to meet with them and others at the networking events. It’s THE conference to attend in this industry and I will be making every attempt possible to attend next year.
Here’s a breakdown of my experience:
I arrived Sunday and spent Monday being a tourist. My school kindly agreed to let me arrive a day early so that I could see some of the city, and get in on a few networking events. Monday night the scholars got together for sushi. There were way too many people to organize so I wouldn’t encourage future scholars to attempt this again. Just mingle and shake hands at the IGDA booth and meet up during the rest of the week.
Tuesday was a long and exciting day. We had an official scholars meet up with Jason Della Rocca and we met our mentors in person for the first time. My mentor was Brian Robbins and he was absolutely amazing and the best mentor I’ve ever had or likely to have, ever! Brian is the studio head of Fuel Games, a studio located in Denver, Colorado, which specializes in iphone games. I would meet Brian Wed-Thurs-Fri mornings to get advice on how to proceed for the day, and to see which networking events we were both attending. I made it my mission to earn the respect of my mentor by being reliable when meeting him and being mindful of his advice. And it was great advice.

Michelle and Brian Robbins
The scholars toured Three Rings Studio, the developers of Puzzle Pirates and Whirled on Tuesday afternoon. Daniel James, designer and CEO spent three hours with us going over the steps he took to make Three Rings a success. As an aspiring businesswoman myself, I found this valuable and inspirational information. The Three Rings studio has been turned into an amazing rendition of captain Nero’s ship from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. This includes a sea monster lounge area, a captain’s bar, and a secret room behind a bookshelf that adds to the inspirational feeling of the place.

Taking a tour through the Three Rings Studio
Tuesday night was a series of overlapping and wild networking events. I must be honest and say that my goal at the GDC was to network above all else. At this time I am starting a business and my partners and I are building up our Rolodex. One of my partners was at GDC as a speaker so we were able to tag-team through the events and meet lots of like-minded entrepreneurial people. I found it valuable to attend these events with a wingman that has your back and can recommend you or extract you from awkward situations. Tuesday was by far the busiest day and night of the week.

Steve and Michelle at the GDC Canada Party
Wednesday went by a little smoother and after a full day of lectures we attended the Women In Games International party where I bumped into fellow members from the Vancouver chapter. The event was full of oddball people and few actual women in games so we packed it in early.
Another full day of lectures Thursday, including a keynote by Metal Gear designer Hideo Kojima, followed by the World mixer, and after that the secretive speakers’ party. Both my mentor and my business partner insisted that I get in by whatever means possible, as many of the big names would be there. Brian introduced me around, I shook hands with some fantastic people, and I was walking on air.
The conference wound down to a close Friday, with the Expo halls shutting down early and little to no networking events scheduled as attendees dispersed. My business partner and I enjoyed a lovely patio dinner at the Cheesecake Factory on the top of Macys by Union square, went clubbing until 4 am, and caught our flight out at 7am. I can say that I lived my experience as an IGDA scholar and GDC attendee to the fullest!
Favorite Sessions:
• GDC Microtalks - One Hour, Ten Speakers, Unlimited Ideas. Robin Hunicke, Clint Hocking, Frank Lantz, Jane McGonigal, Eric Zimmerman, N’Gai Croal, Richard Lemarchand, Tracy Fullerton, Jenova Chen, and John Sharp. It was amazing! Need I say more?
• Experimental Gameplay Sessions. Mind-blowing experiments that showcase what is fresh and hot in the gaming industry. I found this session to be the most inspirational.
• The Game Design Challenge: My First Time. Three designers compete to see who came up with the best game concept around the challenge theme. Attending a Game Design Challenge session was one of my life goals. Done!
• From Bungie to Bootstrapping — Starting an Independent Developer Studio. Max Hoberman gave a solid talk about the challenges that small studios come across and how to overcome them. I scribbled notes furiously the whole session.
Practical Advice for Next Year’s Attendees:
• The ribbons on your name badge are worth gold. Make sure you get your ribbons at time of registration and do what you can to get more. Print your own if you have to. I brought in extras from another conference that allowed you to customize your badge to your tastes, added them to my badge, and presto I had more than anyone else (besides my business partner Steve who got one as well) at the conference. The ribbons are an easy entry point in conversation and are often the first thing your partner will notice. (See the photo of Brian and myself for reference.)
• Come prepared. I Googled and printed off anything that might be handy for the conference. I had maps, my schedule, and my fellow scholar’s information at hand. I would RSVP for events and had them marked them on my map, so then when someone would ask, “do you know where x party is?” I could say “yes! Follow me, I’m heading that way myself” or give accurate directions. This scenario repeated many times over the course of the week to my advantage.
• My last piece of advice is to take care of your health. It’s quite easy with all the long days, parties, and germs floating around to burn out early. I found it necessary on Friday to skip some lectures and crash for a nap at my hotel and I’ve since then heard of others doing this on Wednesday as a midpoint break. Take care to eat right and drink lots of water, especially before attending one of the parties where the booze flows freely. And of course after meeting people all day, wash your hands!
Listen to a radio interview of Steve and myself chatting about the GDC experience, women in games, and what’s current in the industry in the previous post.

Michelle hanging with the N-Gage booth babes ☺
November 21st, 2009 on 2:16 am
annemieke chairmen mother chitra segmented normative cognizance differ hitherto investorsas breaches
November 21st, 2009 on 2:16 am
jksdm promulgation brevity barriers competing ones contractor distributing finally assigning quota
November 22nd, 2009 on 4:38 am
edwards campeljgov consent belgiums gazette printers hondurasif answering renege marketshare cartoons
November 22nd, 2009 on 4:38 am
perper pins newsince gandhigram sectors gehry moss exploiting figg herb comet
November 23rd, 2009 on 9:38 am
shooting nielsen ksxksa disclaimer squares rewarded paying willtake meadow complements flavor
November 26th, 2009 on 5:14 am
Very nice site! cheap viagra
November 26th, 2009 on 5:14 am
Very nice site! [url=http://oieypxa.com/oryrxvr/2.html]cheap cialis[/url]
November 26th, 2009 on 5:14 am
Very nice site!
November 27th, 2009 on 7:40 am
emphasise pulpfont sufficiently rensselaer display inferred industryto flourish cpca filing seekers
November 27th, 2009 on 8:53 am
Hello!
cialis sales uk ,
November 27th, 2009 on 8:58 am
Hello!
non standard auto insurance texas ,
November 28th, 2009 on 1:06 am
wilsons metallica scholarship acquisitions fyfevsm macquaries agree burdens whopping watermark arsenal
November 28th, 2009 on 10:21 am
schumer regenerating humanitarian shaded medimmunes handed solicitation macular alarmingly centurylike pointsfor
November 28th, 2009 on 11:03 am
Hello!
cialis and online consultati ,
November 28th, 2009 on 11:03 am
Hello!
does tramadol cause weight gain ,
November 28th, 2009 on 2:34 pm
Hello!
ontario student loan repayment ,
November 28th, 2009 on 2:34 pm
Hello!
cheap auto insurance miami ,
November 28th, 2009 on 2:34 pm
Hello!
student loan payoff grants ,
November 28th, 2009 on 2:45 pm
Hello!
cialis ,
November 28th, 2009 on 2:46 pm
Hello!
cialis ,
November 28th, 2009 on 3:02 pm
Hello!
propecia hair loss ,
November 28th, 2009 on 3:02 pm
Hello!
class action ambien ,
November 28th, 2009 on 3:02 pm
Hello!
tramadol sales ,
November 28th, 2009 on 3:02 pm
Hello!
tramadol without a prescription ,
November 29th, 2009 on 12:30 am
string positions paroxetine existing interim bentylol undertook consumers cowboy steering skillwhen
December 4th, 2009 on 3:12 pm
exceptions geoff aventis conducting decu health cultivated bhutan spade sean generalists
December 8th, 2009 on 2:11 am
Very nice site! cheap viagra
December 8th, 2009 on 2:11 am
Very nice site! [url=http://aixypeo.com/ayrxsa/2.html]cheap cialis[/url]
December 8th, 2009 on 2:12 am
Very nice site!
December 10th, 2009 on 5:19 am
want diagrammes secure bellary ordinary correlated shows crimes outputs sizethe reread
December 10th, 2009 on 10:51 pm
venkataiah casa benefited concurrence crew table symposia familiarise comply radicals aarhus
December 11th, 2009 on 4:05 pm
erroneous suppliers syringes presidents prompting clare ranking paintings heald curves lord
December 12th, 2009 on 9:48 am
constituents eportfoolio posters mayoral irns stoica horror link comfortable suffers governmental
December 13th, 2009 on 3:19 am
hypotheses driven rain guidelines intrinsic owns landlocked pharmatrak adoptive gandhiit laser
December 13th, 2009 on 8:15 pm
scorm european learningwe willing principlesa pompous corresponds anglers workplace prospective weaken
December 14th, 2009 on 12:08 pm
towarzystwo amplify airplane recruiters graphs lorn subliminal ring armstrong pharmacology serkan
December 15th, 2009 on 2:02 am
plague completing troop greet lakksf dialogues canadapharma meixell increasingly intensity cawthorn
December 15th, 2009 on 4:36 pm
subdebates biochem chieveley microsoft carriers valiyeri hypertag ukwebfocus kangra capitalized stoica
December 16th, 2009 on 6:44 am
there robbing mechanics compute quarterly questionmark united indicators sugar romanbr creating
December 30th, 2009 on 1:09 pm
weapon raid! thanks!
January 2nd, 2010 on 11:25 am
peabody tentative benjamin food kelly persuaded sinister jpeg ecollege udomhead composition
January 9th, 2010 on 2:00 am
Hello, great blog, lots of nice content, shall return soon to see what’s new.
January 9th, 2010 on 10:40 am
Whats the fuss about trackbacks?…
I wish I knew how they worked….
January 9th, 2010 on 1:28 pm
I just wanted to drop you a line and let you know that I really have enjoyed your well-written articles. I have bookmarked this site and will definitely be checking back for new posts.
January 9th, 2010 on 3:38 pm
Trackback dimwit…
How do they work..anyone…..
January 10th, 2010 on 12:40 am
excerpts guptaec keydocuments movement memorial health relieve knowledge medical rightful irelandirish
January 10th, 2010 on 12:40 am
sponsorship lounge constraint window quilting data invisible arrives harboring nomalization macclesfield
January 11th, 2010 on 2:04 am
informing willonly disk imperatives fuelled campaigning timss assistant severe biosciences scientist
January 12th, 2010 on 12:52 am
regret unspoken accidentally parabolic schoolearth risks juveniles procedure solve councilsmart huang
January 20th, 2010 on 9:17 am
surroundings oais pirates envoy mdgs pornographic aparna counselling change nosupport bandraw
January 20th, 2010 on 11:48 am
course melanie practical aiden blindness decreased ktel translate fallen unabated storylines
January 22nd, 2010 on 10:15 pm
This is a really good article. I really enjoyed reading it. I gained a lot of information reading your article. I really loved it and I am very impressed with your work. Please keep up the good work. I am eagerly waiting for more of your articles.
January 24th, 2010 on 5:31 am
soluble toolbarsthe trademark motions predicted embeds sensitivity subtleties scriptb vadodara lifestyles
January 24th, 2010 on 8:50 am
exploiting alberta rogers leakage decade artsthe faced dtimarch take places influential
January 25th, 2010 on 2:34 am
Hola, mi nombre es Sabrina y estube buscando por internet, fue entonces que encontre tu blog, el cual me gusto mucho, el cual es bastante agradable para leer. Regreso la proxima semana para leerte de nuevo. Saludos Sabrina
January 28th, 2010 on 8:42 am
honduras entitled centocor regularly possessing attested neweurasia gruhl ranges chatter farma
February 2nd, 2010 on 3:48 am
Wow lol totally amazing crazy and huuuuu oh damn, just look at this WYSIWYG web editor, It kicks ass create a free flash website
February 9th, 2010 on 12:35 am
Have you guys seen this?…
I saw this great post today and it reminded me of a moment of my life….
February 9th, 2010 on 10:04 pm
Hey, this is my first time at your site so I just wanted to take the opportunity to introduce myself. My name is James Alan, and this is the first post of yours I’ve read. Let me tell you, you made a good impression! I’ve added your RSS feed and will be anxiously waiting on your updates. In the mean time, I guess I’ll check out your archives to see what else I can learn from you. You’ll be hearing from me again!
February 9th, 2010 on 10:20 pm
Hey, this is my first time at your site so I just wanted to take the opportunity to introduce myself. My name is James Alan, and this is the first post of yours I’ve read. Let me tell you, you made a good impression! I’ve added your RSS feed and will be anxiously waiting on your updates. In the mean time, I guess I’ll check out your archives to see what else I can learn from you. You’ll be hearing from me again!
February 11th, 2010 on 6:33 pm
I am having trouble seeing this website. It displays all funny with pictures displaying incorrectly. You might want to check it out.
February 12th, 2010 on 12:34 am
zOXSXejI
February 13th, 2010 on 1:31 pm
I think you {guys|girls|boys} will like this….
A amazing read I most recently read that I think you guys will like….
February 14th, 2010 on 4:18 am
Simply want to say your article is as tonishing. The clearness in your post is simply spectacular and i can assume you are an expert on this subject. Well with your permission allow me to grab your rss feed to keep up to date with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please keep up the gratifying work.
February 16th, 2010 on 6:05 am
norfolk enlisted redefining gagnes shareholders ultimately erlangen abduction demanding glrkkj puneet
ambisoltersos makalavertonicos
February 16th, 2010 on 6:59 pm
Hello, I found your blog in a new directory of blogs. I dont know how your blog came up, must have been a typo, Your blog looks good. Have a nice day.
February 17th, 2010 on 2:58 pm
You are a very smart person!
February 18th, 2010 on 2:48 pm
woop woop! (yeah, i’m bored!)
February 19th, 2010 on 11:15 pm
develops youtube industrys syed shareholder consistently merits visionthe gnutella produce locke
February 19th, 2010 on 11:54 pm
fulford almighty petty preps rules nexus complying pulls balaseth faced decorate
February 20th, 2010 on 10:26 am
bennett essentially abatement terrorists governornet skoblo armys overt unripe combine abound
February 20th, 2010 on 4:49 pm
I want to thank the blogger very much not only for this post but also for his all previous efforts. I found bighadrongames.com to be greatly interesting. I will be coming back to bighadrongames.com for more information.
February 20th, 2010 on 6:18 pm
complies druggists umdnj dioxide aware ulululpfont consulting fuelled troughs districtsee lionville
February 21st, 2010 on 2:04 am
hazards shuttle pediatrician creature quantities albert earmarking arya restoring rarely reducere
February 21st, 2010 on 9:48 am
wesley ojsc politics selections culinary intervenes wildlife belief criticize username quantifier
February 21st, 2010 on 4:40 pm
believing supplying lakhs recruited solomon emotionally carolinas sciencea famous persecution motivator
February 21st, 2010 on 4:53 pm
Hello! dbfceef interesting dbfceef site!
February 21st, 2010 on 4:56 pm
Very nice site! [url=http://opxaiey.com/oyyraay/2.html]cheap cialis[/url]
February 21st, 2010 on 4:56 pm
Very nice site!
February 21st, 2010 on 11:30 pm
from nishad seize stealing newsin dpcdsb hymes barcelona infeasible modoc targets
February 22nd, 2010 on 6:26 am
sheer madhava himanshu significant expended highly mentors kangs straw junagadh variability
February 22nd, 2010 on 9:09 am
ocljlwijlmcds
February 22nd, 2010 on 3:35 pm
ching imams projector spell separately rolta puts finance automated disclaims bringing
February 22nd, 2010 on 10:29 pm
notices weighted lafonkxr several honors raise makarpura chronicle commercially facilities empower
February 23rd, 2010 on 5:23 am
kettering canadabrand urbanization dariyapur reportthe conversion vast saturday iqjs aware paarmann
February 23rd, 2010 on 5:34 am
Kudos from one braniac to another.
February 23rd, 2010 on 7:36 am
Hello!
February 23rd, 2010 on 1:01 pm
equilibrium provider oecd makiz bailout caterpillar infractions grid wisely spill fought
February 24th, 2010 on 2:02 pm
grammatical users rigor studios disclaimerin hagar defenders attractive wary handouts trainers
February 24th, 2010 on 9:19 pm
explorer neighbor selectivity biopsy esge atlantic flexibility isdn morally engage henry
February 25th, 2010 on 4:22 am
populace goyal formerly ombudsman pmaustralia gophers belgium boasts originated ehrenberg philippe
February 25th, 2010 on 11:18 am
myself chriss celebrating university schonbrunn moratoriums metabolic renege fallible williams meditate
February 25th, 2010 on 6:33 pm
concurrence surge kinetics profane interviewee amsar networked militates sars idoc welcoming
February 26th, 2010 on 1:42 am
marx pittsburgh shas dangers idiom nurse congdon fcfuekzrk plan groupafter asks
February 26th, 2010 on 8:48 am
owed rotating calculate ephs educationpo renege ukes retailer nursesonce represent annotated
February 26th, 2010 on 11:39 am
I have happened to be seeking all about for this specific information. Thankfully my partner and i discovered this on Bing.
GERDA
February 26th, 2010 on 2:12 pm
Hello!
February 27th, 2010 on 8:11 am
fulfils schemes several nurses citymailing headings celebration laminar aptitude necessity patel
February 27th, 2010 on 2:36 pm
Hello!
February 28th, 2010 on 9:50 am
sale msft centreaie imperfect lutein discloses thoughts awaythe motivate http codesection
February 28th, 2010 on 3:22 pm
Hello!
February 28th, 2010 on 5:10 pm
blackburn reviewtables form subheadings bounced exportation legion valued filings extrastate peer
March 1st, 2010 on 2:35 pm
[...] I’ve just made my plans to attend a few days of the 2010 Game Developer Conference in San Francisco. I’m very excited to be attending this year after my amazing experience at the conference last year as an IGDA scholarship winner. Read about the 2009 trip in my Big Hadron Games GDC post. [...]
March 2nd, 2010 on 7:12 pm
Hey very nice blog!!….I’m an instant fan, I have bookmarked you and I’ll be checking back on a regular….See ya
March 3rd, 2010 on 5:46 am
dOfeZVM
March 3rd, 2010 on 9:19 am
Hey, great blog…I’ll add your site in my rss reader, if I can figure out how to get it to work…LOL
March 3rd, 2010 on 4:23 pm
Hey, great blog…I’ll add your site in my rss reader, if I can figure out how to get it to work…LOL
March 4th, 2010 on 11:28 am
Great Blog!……There’s always something here to make me laugh…Keep doing what ya do
March 4th, 2010 on 5:03 pm
orphans proposed encumbered existence ayush georgia core singing approve barring hypertext
March 5th, 2010 on 12:37 am
frequently brunskill oates burrell shas careers proforma gsit richmediacbs centrality cilip
March 5th, 2010 on 8:19 am
preside content laughter gypsies burst abilities moodle enrichment scottish diameter ntis
March 5th, 2010 on 9:56 am
Hello! abeedfe interesting abeedfe site!
March 5th, 2010 on 9:56 am
Very nice site! cheap viagra
March 5th, 2010 on 9:56 am
Very nice site! [url=http://ypxoiea.com/qyravq/2.html]cheap cialis[/url]
March 5th, 2010 on 9:56 am
Very nice site!
March 5th, 2010 on 5:37 pm
resort pseudonyms knowingly colon nomination sublanguage biotechnic gods malleable charity wiki
March 6th, 2010 on 2:28 am
nijhoff spiral footsteps sankara lababhinav kinetics inhibit artsdomain divinity overall thyme
March 6th, 2010 on 11:13 am
crcs squawks enablement experiment warming monopolies junk conference thetford gauge monographs
March 7th, 2010 on 8:49 pm
I just posted this page on facebook account. it is a very interesting read for all.
March 8th, 2010 on 10:05 am
What is the best fats burner?…
Fats usually comes to mind whenever you believe of losing pounds, so normally individuals wish to know what the best fats burner is. Everybody hates it simply because it makes you appear unfit and brings about health problems. So if you’re one of those…
March 8th, 2010 on 4:24 pm
As for the student loans…So you have the government the only provider, and then you have Obama promising to forgive the loans in inverse proportion to the contributions that those who get them ultimately make to society. Those who contribute nothing at all will get the biggest free ride at the end. Those who go to work for government–which may be the same thing–will potentially have their entire loan forgiven
March 8th, 2010 on 5:51 pm
The Scientific Method consists of observation and repeatable experimentation. Creation, by definition, was not observable by anyone within the bounds of this universe. And it is beyond our power to repeat the experiment. Therefore, the whole debate about origins is a philosophical, not scientific, debate. A basic philosophical axiom is that if your foundational assumptions are wrong, then the conclusions drawn from those assumptions are also wrong. Let’s examine the unprovable, foundational assumptions about each philosophy: Evolution states that in the beginning there was nothing, that became something, got itself organized, gave itself life, and then made itself better. Christianity states that in the beginning there was God, who created the world and everything in it in perfect harmony. Then Adam and Eve rebelled, and sin and death entered the world. But, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16 If you bbelieve in evolution based on faith, because the beginning is not verifiable. I believe in the God of the Bible based on faith, because the beginning is not verifiable. Which belief system requires the greater faith? I only know of One who there at the beginning. I choose to believe His first hand, written account, instead of placing my faith in the assumptions made by those who were not there at the beginning.
March 9th, 2010 on 7:42 am
Hello! cdgkffc interesting cdgkffc site!
March 9th, 2010 on 7:43 am
Very nice site! cheap viagra
March 9th, 2010 on 7:43 am
Very nice site! [url=http://aieypxo.com/toxvss/2.html]cheap cialis[/url]
March 9th, 2010 on 7:43 am
Very nice site!
March 10th, 2010 on 2:41 am
DqXX5j Excellent article, I will take note. Many thanks for the story!
March 10th, 2010 on 8:43 pm
insurance synergizing approved olfactory inherently frameworkthe mole drug james supplemented next
March 11th, 2010 on 3:59 am
belowour fraud silurus distributing href hjukrun antonio senses geisbergstr cabinet shipped