[game_edu] Students at GDC

[Jim Parker]

The last time I attended, the Expo pass entitled you to very little. 
Being on the show floor, basically. No talks. I would not travel to the 
show for that alone, and a student would get very little out of it. 
Perhaps that's changed.

This is a very expensive trade show, no doubt - up there with the more 
expensive conferences.

Discounts for students are an investment. These guys are likely to pay 
their way back in future. It is lost opportunity cost only to give them 
a profound discount, 'cause they're not coming otherwise.

Jim

Ian Schreiber wrote:

> From the GDC website, if you're bringing a group and getting the more 

> expensive passes, you can get 10% off (and this bonus stacks with 

> other discounts): http://www.gdconf.com/attend/groupregistration.html

>

> That's for developers, mind you, so 25% off for students seems 

> downright generous in that context. Additionally, if you're talking 

> about student expo passes costing $75 each... umm, have you seen the 

> prices of the other passes? $75 is already more than a 60% discount 

> off of the next cheapest pass to begin with (and 95% cheaper than an 

> All Access pass), so I have a hard time feeling your pain here. Keep 

> in mind this is the largest game dev conference around; if your 

> students can't cough up $45 of their own to attend GDC -- we're 

> talking about saving up 12.5 cents per day for a year, not exactly an 

> unreachable goal -- then what exactly are they going to do when it's 

> time to actually look for work? Are they not planning on printing out 

> their own business cards? Do they not figure on putting their 

> portfolio on disks or thumbdrives? Printout out their resumes on 

> nice-quality paper? A complete job search is going to cost more than 

> what it takes them to get a student pass.

>

> Here's what I've told my students since I started teaching in 2006: if 

> you care at all about getting into the industry, you will find a way 

> to attend GDC. I would argue that in most cases, travel, lodging and 

> an All Access pass are very achievable on a student budget... IF this 

> is meaningful enough to them, and if they are willing to plan ahead.

>

> Ways to reduce conference pass cost:

> * Order early for huge discounts to start with -- early bird FTW. 

> (Bonus: after you do this once, you get an alumni discount in 

> subsequent years that stacks with all other discounts.)

> * Apply for an IGDA scholarship. If you're a student member (and if 

> not, why the heck not?) you can apply for free. Winners get, 

> basically, a golden ticket.

> * Apply for the CA program. If you get in, you trade 20 hours of your 

> time helping your childhood idols find the bathroom, and the rest of 

> the time you've got a free pass, plus all kinds of other perks.

>

> Ways to reduce food/lodging costs:

> * Especially if you're going in a group, split a hotel room as many 

> ways as you can without breaking fire codes. If you've got 6+, 

> consider splitting a suite instead.

> * There are some low-cost hostels in the area that are even cheaper 

> than hotels; quality varies.

> * Obviously, if you've got any friends or family in the area, see if 

> you can crash on their couch.

> * Food can be expensive if you eat out a lot; bring nonperishable 

> items with you, or purchase low-cost high-nutrition food at a local 

> CVS or similar. Go to lots of parties and eat while you're networking.

>

> Ways to reduce travel costs:

> * If you're going in a group, the cost of a road trip is less than a 

> flight. If you rotate driving duties every few hours and keep going 

> around the clock, you can get there in record time.

> * If you have to fly, look for tickets well in advance.

>

> Ways to save money:

> * Next time anyone asks you what you want for your birthday or the 

> holidays, say "cash". (I've had more than one student whose family 

> paid to upgrade to the next-highest pass after seeing their dedication.)

> * Get a part-time job to fund your GDC adventure. 10 hours per week x 

> 50 weeks x $5/hour = more than enough. Yeah, it's a lot of time; how 

> bad do you want it?

> * Get a lower-cost pass. I mean, all-access is great, but it's not 

> like you won't get a TON out of the conference with something else. If 

> your hardest problem is choosing between the summit/tutorial pass and 

> the main conference pass, you've already won.

> * If you absolutely can't make GDC this year, see if there are any 

> lower-cost regional conferences in your area at other times during the 

> year, and attend those first.

>

> Granted, it is too late for most students to do most of these things 

> at this point. But it's great to plant the seed now so they will be 

> prepared for next year.

>

> And then, of course, there's the issue of prepping the students for 

> GDC so they get the most out of it and don't waste their time and 

> money... but that's another post. (Or actually a whole series of them, 

> on Darius Kazemi's blog, so no need to reproduce that here :-)

>

> As for the other half of your question -- how to get students into 

> SF-area studios -- I think when that happens it's usually because the 

> professor knows someone on the inside and arranges something in 

> advance; it's not exactly a situation where developers routinely open 

> their doors to the public for studio tours (although now that I think 

> about it, that could make a great secondary revenue stream... ;-). If 

> you don't know anyone, but you're going to GDC, I'd say use that time 

> as an instructor to meet developers, get to know them, and maybe work 

> with them to set up a tour NEXT year.

>

> - Ian

>

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

> *From:* Andy <andycox at twcdc.com>

> *To:* game_edu at igda.org

> *Sent:* Wed, January 26, 2011 11:01:27 AM

> *Subject:* [game_edu] Students at GDC

>

> I've been in contact with GDC trying to get a deal to get a group

> of 20 students into GDC at a good discount. In these cash-strapped

> days I only have $30 per student budget. They are unable to offer

> any discount on the $75 student expo pass (the reasoning being

> that this is only available at the do0r) and only 25% off all

> other expo passes. This seems a little ungenerous. Do others agree

> that GDC should be giving a better deal to students? Has anyone

> else managed to wring out of them a better deal for their

> students?

>

> In addition, any ideas on how my students could get industry

> exposure through e.g. visits to game development companies in San

> Francisco, would be much appreciated. The class is considering the

> social impacts of technology through the lens of video games using

> Unity 3D.

>

> Andy Cox

> Adjunct Professor

> Conceptual and Information Arts

> San Francisco Stat University

>

>

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

>

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-- 
from Plasma611
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"If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance 
that we can solve them.                  I. Asimov .........................

Dr. J. R. Parker,                    Digital Media Laboratory
Professor of Play                    http://www.ucalgary.ca/~jparker
Faculty of Fine Arts (Drama)         jparker@ ucalgary.ca
University of Calgary                403-220-6784      AB606/AB611