GDC was over on Friday but I barely logged in at all over the weekend. I needed to revive and I do that largely by staying offline and going outside. It is gorgeous here currently so there was much hiking.

I ended up attending zero sessions at GDC this year unfortunately but it was one of the better GDCs I’ve attended from my perspective. The big upside was that it was in San Francisco rather than San Jose, which is the difference between a real city (not that it’s perfect!) and a highly-populated extended strip mall. This means I could more easily commute (since I live just north of SF, in Mill Valley) and that it’s very much my ‘home territory.’

I also ended up attending no parties despite some reasonably good intentions, but I did get a chance to hang out with some old friends and make a couple new ones. The roundtables I was running with Dan James on the virtual asset sales revenue model were completely packed and I believe they had to turn people away at least two of the three days (possibly the last day too, but I’m unsure). The audience was great and we had people from a range of companies doing virtual asset sales and wanting to discuss everything from the legal side of virtual asset sales to how to design for the model.

My lecture with Sulka Haro (Habbo) and Erik Bethke (GoPets Live!) also went well. I had a real live ninja there and after he dove off the stage, did a forward roll, lept up and did some kicks and punches I think the audience was ours! Muhahaha. At the very least, they erupted in spontaneous clapping after Jeff the Ninja was done doing his thing. Sulka and Erik followed my speech with their compelling talks.

What I appreciated about GDC this year was, actually, the multiple meeting locations. Some people have complained that there’s no obvious replacement for the Fairmont’s bar when GDC used to be held in San Jose but I like the fact that there’s not one spot that you have “to be.” The Fairmont bar was irritatingly clubby as far as I’m concerned. I enjoyed the fact that this year I could migrate from the Marriott to the W to the St. Regis (my favorite hotel bar during GDC this year. Way less crowded/loud than the W and far more elegant). I had a drink in Jillians, which was supposedly the “official” bar of GDC, but it is a tacky over-done sports bar and I had no interest in going back (though I enjoyed the conversation I had while there).

Next year I hope I get to see at least one session. Seems silly not to. Thankfully, it’s in SF again. I hope it stays there, where it belongs.

Oh, I will post my slides along with a rough transcript (have to reconstruct it) of my talk this week.