[In a regular column, Gamasutra publisher Simon Carless -- recently added as a member of the Game Developers Conference Advisory Board -- goes behind the scenes to explain some of the most frequently asked questions about how GDC 2010 is taking shape, from lecture submissions to rating and beyond.]
So it's only September, and the main 2010 Game Developers Conference is being held from March 9th-13th, 2010. How much work can actually go into the conference this early, you might be asking?
Well, those who noticed the Call For Papers that the GDC organizers already held, we get started pretty early with lecture submissions and grading. And that's a cue for me to boot up this column and explain what happens behind the velvet (iron? velcro?) curtain. I'll be updating regularly with the GDC Advisory Board's perspective over the next few weeks and months.
One initial point that is worth making strongly. I know that in some conferences (both outside the game industry and in), the Advisory Board can take a much smaller role in actually directly picking the content.
But one of the reasons that Game Developers Conference is so well respected, I believe, is that all of the talks are either empirically chosen from submissions, or carefully and specifically invited by the official GDC Advisory Board. The GDC organizers don't pick your talk -- key members of your own peer group pick your talk.
