I have enough business cards to make a new card game….

One thing to remember about these conferences, is that they become a complete blur unless you keep yourself organized throughout the day. My job here isn’t to go to panels, which it is actually really sad how few talks there are on art and pipeline, but to walk around and network. I am looking for potential hires amongst other things. It has only been a day and I already have a pretty good collection of cards and have very little clue who they came from.

I have been telling everyone to email me, which actually brings up a whole new topic.

The follow-up.

Most of the potentials I have talked to are students, which is rather surprising how many I attract. At one point I had a group in front of me and all they wanted was my card. They didn’t even ask anything about my company. I just told the group to email me their resumes and went on my way and they were completely happy with that. I am curious of how many will follow through.

A good rule of thumb, when at a conference such as GDC, is to write down as much as you can remember on the back of the person’s card that you were talking to. In their case it would be nothing, besides “he wears a green sport coat.” Now, don’t do this in front of them. That’s not smooth. Wait until you are away from them, then jot down your notes. That night, shoot them an email saying thank you for talking with me and hope to speak with you again in the future. The reason I said “that night” is so you don’t forget or get bogged down. Make sure you contact them. Pretty positive they have so much going on they are not going to take the time to hunt you down, unless you made one hell of an impression.

This advice is really for someone who is looking for a job or that is a networking maniac.