I'm a solo independent game developer from the Netherlands, working on my first game. To give you an idea of progress, I'm hoping to have something rough but playable within a month. I'm living off savings, so my budget is close to zero.

Now it came to my attention that there is a European chapter of the GDC, mid-August in Cologne. Since I'm technically still enrolled in a university by then, I can probably get in for the student price of € 180, and with early booking of a train ticket and a cheap hostel I can probably visit GDC Europe for a total of about € 400.

I might have something playable by then that I could show to people (movies only for now, because my laptop is too crappy to run the game...). This might help generate some buzz to drive sales when I get round to releasing the game. It would also be fun to get to know other indie developers from my area. Disregarding those whose blogs I read, I do not really know any others anywhere, let alone in Europe, let alone in my own country!

Obviously, I would love to go; this is not the question. But I'm wondering: is it worth the time and money, from a business perspective? Has anyone in a similar situation been to GDC Europe, and how did they experience it? Anything else I need to consider?

Quote: Original post by thomastc
is it worth the time and money

Read this answer

Thanks, there's some good info in that FAQ.

Please don't be put off by the exact "is it worth it" wording -- there are more questions in my post. I didn't mean to ask people to make a decision for me. Obviously, the final decision whether it's "worth it" is mine alone; but I need information to base this decision on!

So, to rephrase: Has anyone here been to GDC Europe? What value did it have to them? What's their background (so I can judge whether it will have similar value to me)? And -- yes, I'm interested in this too -- did you find it worthwhile or not? For what reasons?

Any answer will be much appreciated!

Quote: Original post by thomastc
Thanks, there's some good info in that FAQ.
Please don't be put off by the exact "is it worth it" wording...
So, to rephrase: Has anyone here been to GDC Europe? What value did it have to them? What's their background (so I can judge whether it will have similar value to me)? And -- yes, I'm interested in this too -- did you find it worthwhile or not? For what reasons?

This isn't a Business or Law question, so this thread is moved... somewhere.
Conferences and networking are most closely related with Breaking In, and attendance in conferences is often a Breaking In topic.

Ah, must've overlooked that subforum. That's more appropriate indeed, thank you.

Quote: Original post by thomastc
Now it came to my attention that there is a European chapter of the GDC, mid-August in Cologne. Since I'm technically still enrolled in a university by then, I can probably get in for the student price of € 180, and with early booking of a train ticket and a cheap hostel I can probably visit GDC Europe for a total of about € 400.

Not sure how GDC Europe compares to GDC in SF, but for that cheap I'd say definitely go. It's a blast, you meet a lot of awesome people and learn a lot of great things.