The Game Developers Conference is arguably one of the most influencial conferences on the subject of video game development. It's a giant beast these days, which can tend to suck compared to the way it used to be... a bit more commercialized and bloated compared to when it was smaller and more cozy. However, there's little argument about the influence the conference has on the developers in our industry.

If you're serious about video game development, the GDC is a place where you can network and learn a lot about all facets of the industry. It's all about the people who MAKE the games, unlike E3, which is about the promotion of games under development.

Don't think I'm saying this is the only good conference out there, but it really is the cornerstone for all the rest. I'll find myself attending several different conferences in some years, but the GDC is always one of them.

Now, it's freakin' expensive, to put it bluntly. If you don't work for a company willing to pay your way, you might find a scholarship to go (I'll drum up more info about potential scholarships as I find them.) You can also try to get in as a Conference Associate. CA's work as volunteers for the conference and put about 20 hours in for the week and get a Giga Pass for their efforts. Huge value in that 20 hours of work! It's not easy to get in that way due to the sheer quantity of interested candidates, but if you're serious about this, you should definitely consider this path.

Students are also offered discounted rates for conference attendance, so look for that if you're a current student at conference time. You can also just register for small parts of the conference, like GDC Mobile, Audio Pass or just the Serious Games Summit portion, for instance. These are great if you're only going to focus on a small part of GDC anyway.

Well, there's a quick intro to the conference. I talk about it so much that I figured a glossary entry might allow me to just say "GDC" instead of generating a link all the time... yeah, I'm lazy. :P