Random thought in the wake of GDC
What resonates from GDC isn't the talks, unless you're one of those lucky folks who saw Brian Moriarty work his magic. (I wasn't. A meeting for the Game Narrative Summit ran late, I was five minutes late, and I decided I'd rather not go in than see only a partial performance. Yes, he is that good.)
It's also not the parties. The parties are wonderful, don't get me wrong. Lots of very conscientious people put a great deal of effort into ensuring that the shindigs are indeed diggable by shins and other body parts, to the where the sheer profusion of options for conviviality is staggering. But the late nights and the loud noise and the colored lights and the interesting variations on hors d'oeuvres and jello shots can get bewildering.
What makes a GDC, if you're lucky, is the people and the conversations. Sitting and talking in an empty speakers lounge about what the Kinnect is going to mean for game narrative and storytelling. Learning new board games - and the reason folks think they're interesting - from respected peers at ridiculous hours of the night. Talking to students whom you've watched spend ten minutes and half a beer working up the nerve to introduce themselves to people who are obviously Real Pros (TM), ad the enthusiasm overtakes the potential freaking. Coming offstage after giving a talk and being hit with real, substantive questions, the kind that open conversations instead of closing them off. Watching convos drift out of a room after a round table and drift enthusiastically down the hall without skipping a beat. Catching up with dear friends not seen in too long, and indulging in bad Brooklyn accents with some of them over piles of dead laminated mobsters. Introducing talented folks to other talented folks and seeing the random moments of intersection turn into connection. Stuff like that.
Some of the takeaway, I can quantify. Great talks from Skaff Elias and Jeremy Bernstein. Interesting insight into character building from Pixar. And of course more where that came from. But it's the unquantifiable that holds as much value for me, the chance to swim in that sea of incredibly talented people because of the coincidence of our shared passion for games, and that's where the enduring memories come from.
Posted via LiveJournal app for iPad.
