San Francisco Bound – FGS 2012 And More

It’s that time again, the wonderful land of San Francisco, and FGS 2012. I’ve got about 2 hours until I begin my trip out west, and I’m pretty excited to say the least. I’m a lot more prepared than I was last year, and I’m even bringing some friends too. I’ve got a lot of events lined up for my stay, and will be meeting up with a lot of people I haven’t seen in nearly a year now. Things are definitely shaping up to be just as good Flash Game Summit 2011, if not better.

Traveling With Company

After having such a good time last year, I ended up telling a lot of my friends about my trip. After enough talking about it, one of my friends became interested, and decided to join me. He did 3D modeling with 3D Studio Max back in high school, and with Unity and Stage 3D on the rise, it seemed like a very possible career path for him to pursue. Along with him, our friend Tamra will also be joining. She’s mostly looking for a sweet vacation, but has dabbled in art, so if she likes what she sees, anything is possible. All in all, I’m excited to have people I grew up with join me on these adventures, and it’ll definitely be a more enjoyable trip with them by my side.

For Serious, Business

Last year’s FGS was an absolute blast, and I expect no less this year, but one thing is for certain, a bit more business is to be had. I’d say I learned plenty last year, and established some pretty great contacts, but this year I plan to do that and more. I’ll be drinking a little less (drunk, but not stupid-drunk), and focusing a lot more on networking.

I was an event virgin last year, and quickly learned that business cards where a must-have item if you didn’t feel like sucking. I may have been empty handed last year, but this year I’m more than prepared. As you’ve probably noticed, I’ve had no logo for the last year. At long last, I’ve finally got around to getting one, and for that I’d like to give a big thanks to Scott over at Heavy Cat Multimedia, thanks Scott! Scott worked with me on a very tight timeline, and delivered exactly when he said he would. While I’m sure the logo will go through a few iterations as time goes by, and my imagery of the brand is more clear, this is a fantastic start and I’m quite happy with it. I haven’t quite decided if I’m going to stick to a monochrome design, an inverted monochrome design, or colored design, but either way, the design is there, and it looks good.

After spending literally an entire day (I’m no artist, at all, and one hell of a perfectionist), I managed to come up with a design that I was not only happy with, but impressed by. I decided to go with Moo for my business cards, as I had heard great things about them from other developers, such as Chevy Ray, and JJ Wallace. They’re a bit pricey compared to other providers such as Vista Print, but the quality is significantly better, and the final product far more professional. The cards are extremely firm feeling, very thick, and were colored just as I designed them. The tools on their website were excellent, and very straight-forward. My favorite part about the cards, is that every card can be entirely unique on one side. Your front is always the same, but your back can have up to 50 different designs, and you’ll receive an equal number of cards for each design. Without further ado, here’s what I’ll be rocking this year for my cards.

Don’t Forget The Fun Times

While I may be going for business, there’s definitely a lot of fun to be had. So far I’ve got only a little over half of my days planned, but they’re quickly filling up. I’ll be doing Pint Night (everyone flying in meets up for drinks at the Zeitgeist) on Friday the 2nd, which is sure to be a great way to kick off the event. On the 3rd I’ll be joining the FlashGameLicense group for Indie Giving, where we’ll be doing charity work for a local organization, which in turn helps pay for indie developers with their stay in San Francisco. On Sunday the 4th I’ll be going to the actual Flash Game Summit event, and the many after parties that follow. On the 5th I have the day off, but will be going to the Gamestop / Kongregate GDC party that night. I’m considering going to see Indie Game: The Movie on the 6th, but that’s not set in stone. From then on, everything else is by ear. I’d like to stop out to the ocean, and I’d love to bike around the city, so hopefully there’s time for that. Either way, it’s definitely going to be just as much fun as it is business, if not more.

Wanna Meet Up?

If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area between the 2nd and the 7th, and want to meet up, definitely get in touch with me. I’ll primarily be using Twitter all week, as I’ll only have my DroidX on me as a means of communication, so hit me up at @Gemfruit if you want to meet up. If you know of any great parties going on during the week, feel free to share those as well, the more options the better. I’m looking forward to meeting some new people this year, and thus far it looks like I’ll be doing just that. I’ll do a write-up when I get back and settle in later this month, check back then for full coverage on my west-coast adventures.