I first attended Raleigh’s East Coast Game Conference in 2010, when it was Triangle Games Conference. (I’m a gaming convention hipster, apparently.) Now in it’s fifth year, ECGC offers seven programming tracks, allowing attendees to focus on Design, Programming, Art, Writing, Serious Games, Education, Mobile, Career, or choose different events from various tracks. The East Coast Games Conference is large enough to attract interesting speakers, offer worthwhile networking and opportunities, and allow local game developers to connect.
Via Geek Insider
I didn’t write about this part for Geek, but the conference ran out of programs and maps before 9:15 on the first morning. The kids at registration said that everything was on the website, but conference center wifi is $9 a day. Press had wifi included, after I tracked down a volunteer who knew the password, but some of the rooms and events had last-minute changes, so even the website wasn’t entirely helpful. The lack of programs was one of those awkward annoyances because the volunteers at the registration desk clearly weren’t to blame and there was nothing to be gained from complaining to them. But, as often happens, having to ask if this is the right room or what time the sessions started led to a lot more conversation between attendees.
ECGC offered two passes this year, Basic or VIP. VIP included speakers, panelists, press, and so forth, and the Basic pass was pretty much local game dev students. The first time someone asked about a possible internship working for me, I thought I’d leveled up to new industry awesome! After a few more times, I realized it was a side effect of my VIP badge. 90% of the useful networking for me happened in the VIP lounge, and then I really felt like I had leveled up, but it seemed odd that all of us with comped passes were hanging out where the folks who paid for their passes couldn’t go.
