[game_edu] Students at GDC

[Darius Kazemi]

Yeah, though I'll note that the original poster is based in San Francisco,
so in his case there are no (or very few) travel expenses. In that case, I
think it may be worth the $75, particularly for graduating seniors who would
want to visit the Career Expo.

On Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 2:26 PM, Jim Parker <jparker at ucalgary.ca> wrote:


> 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

>

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

> "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

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