Mon 23 May 2005
Another year, another E3 survived. I do believe this was my tenth show! I’m working on my summary “report” and usual pictures while trying to catch up with piles of work. Meanwhile, I thought I’d share some quick tips on how I survive these kinds of events:
1 - Buy a bottle of BlisterShield! This stuff really works, and saves your feet (and other areas as needed) from blistering and chaffing. No joke, this is my number one piece of advice - a big show like E3 really is a marathon.
2 - Bring a huge stack of business cards, without the ability to swap cards, you’ve pretty much wasted your trip.
3 - Don’t drink. Going to parties and other social activities is key to building your personal network, but don’t bother with the (often) freely available booze. It increases your chances of doing something stupid/regrettable and you’ll likely suffer in the morning, especially with little sleep.
4 - Bring some multi-vitamins. Your body will suffer from the physical demands of a big show, and the usual E3 diet (ie, no time for breakfast, quicky lunch, party snacks for dinner, etc) is less than optimal.
5 - Don’t waste your time on the show floor. The media/press are so pervasive that everything you’d want to see and check-out is usually more accessible online (or even on TV). I spent less than 3 hours on the floors (1hr for South, 1hr for West and about 30mins for Kentia). Checking out the games is cool/important, but spending too much time is wasting your chance to be doing business, meeting with peers, etc.
6 - Have your work phone forward to your cell phone. Remembering to check both your work and cell voice messages is just a pain…
7 - Stay close to event. You’ll have to book your hotel early, but staying as close as possible to the event will save you time from sitting in traffic, etc. Plus, you’ll save on car/taxi expenses.
Hmm, well that’s all I can think of for now. Please add a comment with your own survival tips!
May 23rd, 2005 at 10:17 pm
8. Carry food! Sure, most meeting rooms have some sort of catering set out, but chances are it’s crap or it’s been sitting there getting fingered and picked through all day. A couple of protein bars or a meal in a can will save you from salmonella and/or standing in loooooong lines for a shrink-wrapped muffin.
9. Get mobile numbers for EVERYONE you plan to meet with, and have them ready to go in your cell or PDA. The best-laid plans go out the window if a meeting runs long or you’re trying to fight your way through a crowd of guys who’ve never had their picture taken with a hot girl, unless you count things they Photoshopped themselves. Nothing worse than missing a contact because you couldn’t make an on-the-fly schedule adjustment.
May 24th, 2005 at 3:54 pm
Uh, I’d have to quibble with number 3. I mean, if it wasn’t for the booze, then game developers wouldn’t tell those of us covering the show anything very interesting. And without the booze, many of us would come to our senses and realize that people have been shouting platitudes at us for 5 days straight.
Like a real gentleman, I would suggest, drink within your bounds.
Hear hear!
– David
May 24th, 2005 at 7:00 pm
on (1), stop wearing those crappy leather sandals! I bought some COle Hann’s with Nike Air soles - kickass tradeshow shoes
on (3), I’ll quote the VP we both once worked for: “If you are going to go out with the boys, just make sure you can get up with the men!”
on (9) I couldn’t agree more!
I’ll at (10) - take it all with grain of salt. See what should be 10a,b,c,d here:
http://kpallist.blogspot.com/2005_03_06_kpallist_archive.html
May 25th, 2005 at 6:45 am
2) It’s worth noting that the definition of “huge” here is “really, really huge. Like, much larger than you were ever expecting. Even in your wildest dreams.”
Judging from the GDC experience, if you’re a speaker that goes double.
3) I’d modify this to “don’t drink a lot”. I find a little drink at industry parties is a good idea. First, it loosens you up a bit, which can help with networking, particularly when you’re shattered from jetlag and really just want to go to bed. Secondly, there will be a lot of people at the party who *are* drinking, and it’s much easier to get on with people who have had more than a few if you’ve had a couple yourself.
More than a couple? No. Bad plan. Very bad plan. Although the Fear And Loathing approach to games conferences can be fun once…