Should I Stay or Should I Go: Conference FOMO
Hellooo! I’m back from my trip to Bitsummit (followed by a short vacay he!) and it got me thinking about the value/cost of attending larger events/conferences/summits etc… FOMO hits WAY harder when you’re a lonely freelancer trying to navigate the industry.
But when is it actually worth going? Let’s break that down!
Affordability
Mitigation
Complimentary Benefits
Hidden Costs
Affordability💸
NEVER ATTEND A CONFERENCE IF IT PUTS YOU IN DEBT. Repeat after me: No credit card debt is worth a conference.. On that note: If going to an event (as a freelancer) puts severe financial strain on you, to the point where food/rent is an issue, it ain’t worth it. You might think But I need to attend talks, I need networking, I need contracts to be signed, I must go! NO YOU DON’T! Let’s break that down:
Networking → Before going to international events, check out your local ones, especially if you live in a city. Check the local university and co working spaces to see if they’re hosting events. Networking can be done in different forms: Game jams, playtesting, attending talks etc..Also don’t devalue online networking. Once again, there’s usually always a domain specific community out there, whether in a discord, slack or forum group online. A fantastic one for my audio friends is AirWiggles (they even have their own online FREE conference!!). Ask around, do some detective work and discover what’s out there.
Signing contracts → NOPE. Nope nope nope. Contracts do NOT get signed at events like these, even if you pay for the fancy schmancy business pass. No one wants to commit during a exhausting-jetlagged-meeting filled- overworked week.
Talks → At this point, no matter what domaine you specialize in, there are dozens, if not hundreds of videos on your subject matter freely available, usually on Youtube. GDC uploads a ton of their talks for free, spanning multiple years (decade old talks can still be valuable!!). Most conferences nowadays upload their talks a couple months after the event. It’s all there, for free, online at the convenience of your fingertips. No need to shell out $$$ for educational purposes. If there’s a specific talk you REALLY need to see, you can try politely emailing the speaker to see if they might want to let you view the slides, or better, set up a short call. My point is, no talk is worth going into debt for. Check out all these conferences that post their talks online:
AND THERE’S MORE!
Check out this site for a collection of up-to date events and check their Youtube channels!: gameconfguide.com
I repeat once again, no conference is worth financial vulnerability. I’m sure you can find some successful dude out there going ‘Yeah and I attended GDC in 2008 with my last paycheck bro, and I MADE IT, met this publisher at this party at 2am and it changed my life bro, YOLO. (im trying to imitate an entitled narcissist dude, they’re the loudest). Well you know what? GOOD FOR THEM! The world is a very different place now, much more expensive. Not just that but maybe, that stupid risk was never even needed?? Like he could’ve made it whether he went to that event or not. Point is, I ain’t heard of a deal being signed at event in ages, and as freelancers, we’re not pitching games to hundreds of publishers anyways. Indie funding and work culture has drastically shifted in the last couple years and I recommend staying on the financial conservative side. Pay you rent and eat.
Fear the bankruptcy! Keep your money!
Mitigation
Now let’s say you can technically afford that trip, but it’s still costing you a hefty penny. You wonder if it’s worth putting that financial dent. Heres a list of things you should think about before jumping in:
Scholarships? → Check early (at least 6 months prior), ask your network and start applying. Especially if you are a student, there’s SO much out there, but YOU need to do the leg work in finding it. Most likely than not, most conferences offer some sort of financial help.
Skill Trade→Try offering to volunteer at someone’s booth in exchange for a ticket/lodging/something. Ask around your local game dev hub if anyone is looking for help and see if there can be some exchange of services you can do with them.
Time worth → What would you be doing if you were NOT going to the event? Do you have enough work to do? What is the cost of being away from your work station? It’s important to know if time spent elsewhere is even worth it.
Talks/Panels → If your talk is accepted, you should at least be getting a free ticket to the event. Ideally, some sort of stipend too but uh, the games industry is a little stingy on that end. BUT the cool thing with getting an acceptance is that you can then use it to apply for local travel scholarships (don’t be shy to ask for some sort of official acceptance letter, the talk coordinators should be able to do that for you!).
On a personal note, I remember at the start of my career, I was offered a free ticket to PAX East 2020 (right before covid) and really wanted to attend. I knew it was more of consumer facing show but I was sort of desperate to go out to some sort of an event. Then I started checking bus/train/flight options to Boston and..cancelled the trip. The free ticket wasn’t worth the travel expense. It hurt back then because I wanted to meet industry people! But no regrets. It’s okay, rather strongly suggested, to priortize your personal finances
Complimentary Benefits
Going to out of town events cost a lot of $$$, so is there a way to make the trip even more worthwhile? The plane tickets are only paid once, so try to see if there are other things you can do during that trip that could benefit you. A couple of examples
Vacation? Assuming this is financially viable, since you’re already abroad ‘might as well’ see if you can spend a couple days doing touristy thing. Wow so efficient, you now already planned your vacation of the year, hurray!
Seeing long lost friends → I often treated my GDC week as a small ‘vacation’ (shh it wasn’t but hear me out). Most of my dear industry friends live abroad, especially those from my specific creative field. I feel socially fulfilled and this sense of community when I attend these events. Of course there’s the official networking bit but there’s a lot of people I want to catch up with! Personally, I NEED that feeling of community, the chitchats with likeminded people, the feeling of welcome-ness. It’s something I lack in my day to day life but that I can get en-mass at certain conferences.
Artistic Glow-Up → Are there any cool museums/concerts/art shows around the city that you are visiting that could inspirational? Perhaps a cool musical store, or an exhibit that you can’t find elsewhere? I think it’s important, especially in artistic fields, to attend and experience a variety of artforms. If you’re already out of town, try making time for these! I get it, you’re already shelling out money, but I’m trying to give suggestions to maximize that expenditure!
My point here is to see what else can you do other than attending the event, and can that help justify the trip? It’s up to you to do a lovely introspection job and see how and IF you even need to maximize your trip.
Well aware this section suggests you spend money but mebbe there’s benefits??
Hidden Costs
So you budgeted the travel fees, lodging and approximate meal costs but…conferences can often incur unexpected costs. So here’s a couple based off my experiences
Ubers/Taxis → It adds up quick and surge fares hit hard. You might think ‘welp my hostel is only a 20min walk away, I’ll be fine!’. But it might not feel safe to walk when it’s midnight, the streets are sketchy and your place is in the most unsafe area of town. Or worse you start getting screamed at/followed, and it happens more often than you think (sigh, GDC)… so find a safe way home!
Uplanned meals/coffees → Meet ups can often happen on the fly at conventions/conferences. You might have budgeted breakfast at the hostel but you met someone really cool the day before and want to go out with them in the morning! Keep some leeway and the food budget, it’s nice to be able to afford going out!
Weather → I’m looking at you MIGS (Montréal International Games Conference). Sometimes you visit a city and they’re hit with a 40cm snowstorm in November, but you flew in from sunny California. Time to go shopping! Emergency jackets, gloves, boots! Or a city is hit with record breaking rain. Clothes, especially in urgency, get expensive!
Always budget yourself with a decent buffer. Not everything goes as plan during a trips like these so be ready for changes and adapt to them the best you can
Conclusion
Ooof that’s it! Hope this helps shed different aspects on attending events. I love travelling and sympathize a lot with wanting to attend all these cool events. Especially as someone who is extremely isolated in her day-to-day life, conferences are invigorating! Why money so expensive >__<
On that note: If you liked this post, I’d appreciate a little donation (it cost me $$ to keep this running!)
