作者：Luis Diaz

参加活动并在陌生人面前展示自己的游戏乍看之下会有点吓人。但这却是作为独立开发者的我们必须适应的工作。

AlPixel Games（游戏邦注：现在正致力于《A Place for the Unwilling》）在3年时间里已经参加了许多活动，虽然我们不能说自己是非常有经验的人，但我们还是选择了一些可能对你们有帮助的内容。

我们决定列出那些你应该关注的最基本的要素。

选择合适的活动！

首先你应该选择去哪里。旅行总是很烧钱（特别是以参加活动为目的的旅行），所以选择最合适的地方非常重要（特别是当你们拥有较低预算时）。你应该问自己目标是什么？是反馈，发行商还是曝光度？

有些活动只是面向专业人士，也有些活动是面向玩家，当然也有面向所有人的。或许你只是想聊聊天并认识更多开发者，或许你想要寻求工作机会。明确目标能够帮助你决定应该参加怎样的活动。

不要忽视那些较小的本土/本国活动！或许它们不像那些大型活动那般富丽堂皇，但却也相对便宜（甚至是免费的），并且也能让你去测试游戏且认识其他开发者。

booth(from gamasutra)

提前做计划！

所以已经选择了一个活动并买好票了！现在你可以伸伸懒腰放松了吗？当然不行！

展位（如果你有的话）

想想你在活动中该如何去突显自己的游戏（通过PC，屏幕还是海报等等）。有时候带上自己的所有装备会更好，但有时候你也可以选择到那后再购买/租赁。不管你做出怎样的选择，你都应该联系相关人员。他们总是会乐意提供给你帮助，你也要确保自己能够准确了解展位规格以及任何空间限制。工作人员可能还能提供给你关于酒店，租赁装备等事宜的建议。

会面

谁会参加活动？许多专业活动都拥有在线平台，你可以在那了解参加者以及一些会面安排，所以一定要有效利用这些平台（并尽早做这些事）！

你当然可以和记者，发行商或开发者进行交流，你可以在活动之前先联系他们。如果你收到来自不认识的人的会面邀请，也请接收，因为你永远都不会知道自己能从中学到什么，

你将在活动中遇到许多人，但提前计划会面也是必要的。

后勤

到现在为止你应该清楚，即使你是一名独立开发者，你也需要睡觉。所以去找个离活动场所较近的睡觉地方。酒店通常都是一个很好的选择，不过有时候你会发现airbnb更便宜些。同时你也要了解如何从机场或汽车站前往你所租住的地方。你同时也需要给自己发邮件告知完整的行程安排（包括会面，活动和之后的派对等等）。

是否有你认识的其他开发者会参加活动？

或许你们可以彼此帮助，一起搭车，一起住并分享信息。得到更多人的支持是很有帮助的。你还可以咨询之前参加过活动的认识的开发者，他们或许能够提供给你一些有帮助的建议。

准备好了

看来你已经准备好了，所有的这一切将开始，那现在你要做些什么呢？

总是尽早到达

准备展位很耗时间，特别是第一天的时候，因为你可能不知道具体位置。关于会面亦是如此，所以你可以到处走走事先熟悉下场所。并不是所有人都会在开场时就到达那里，但是你最好能够避免迟到。

照料展位

和你旁边的展位负责人打招呼，因为你们将很长时间都待在一起，所以请提前介绍自己。确保游戏始终都在运行或在没人玩游戏时循环播放游戏玩法视频，如此人们将能够始终看到游戏内容。手上始终拿着笔记本并记下你所获得的所有反馈。不管这些反馈是否相关或者你是否能记得，将其记下便可。

不要忘记游戏并非需要获得反馈的唯一内容。宣传总是很难，但如果一开始能让许多人去尝试你的游戏，你便可以大胆尝试向不同人宣传游戏。勇敢地去做吧，并认真观察人们脸上的反应。

使用社交媒体

你不可能仅凭一张展位图去进行病毒性宣传，但至少你要让别人知道你去过那。回头去看看活动照片总是很有趣也很有用，所以你应该多拍些照片。

之后的派对：派对也是工作的一部分，吧？

你不应该错过之后的派对或开发者晚餐，没错，在参加了一天活动后我们总会精疲力尽，但在这样的派对中人们将更加放松，并且这也会是展开交谈的绝佳机会，你可以在这里跟别人交谈并可能认识一些新人。毕竟要休息的话等回家你可以休息个够。

事后给你见到的人发信息

如果你进行了一些商业会面，你便应该给对方发送你在活动中展示的一些文件和内容，当他们回到自己的办公室时也会想要再一次看看你所展示的东西。

使用Twitter和Facebook去保持联系是不错的选择。

整理你所收集到的名片

说实话，有些名片在之后会派上用场，所以不要丢失它们。

休息！

有时候你会发现很难这么做，但是在结束活动后你最好腾出时间好好休息。你一定会很疲倦。除此之外你还要好好去清洗所有脏衣服。

额外一些内容：省钱

食物

这是否是个大型商业活动？如果是的话食物肯定很贵，所以你最好提前准备些三明治并放到包里去。

装备

没有人喜欢带着屏幕和电脑去旅行，但有时候你却需要这些东西。如果去租的话通常都不会便宜。将其打包收进行李箱会便宜许多。你也可以跟当地的朋友借（游戏邦注：并在对方来到你的城市的时候将自己的设备借给他们）。也有些开发者会选择在当地购买所需装备并在活动结束后将其倒卖出去。

睡觉和移动

酒店和airbnb都是不错的选择，或者你也可以选择梳化旅行（沙发旅行）。如果有人同行的话所有开销便会便宜一些。大众交通通常都较便宜，但在某些地方Uber会更方便，所以你最好在手机上下载这一软件。

这便是我们想分享的一切。当然你还需要计划并留意更多东西，但这只是一个开始。

关于建议我们认为最重要的便是保持与其他开发者的交流并获取最有用的建议。每个人的情况都不同，所以你应该去学习并接纳生活所教给自己的一切。

（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转发，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

The Indie’s Guide to Surviving Events

by Luis Diaz

Attending an event and showing your game in front of strangers can be quite daunting at first. However, it’s something that we, indie developers, must get comfortable with.

AlPixel Games (currently working on “A Place for the Unwilling”) has been attending events for about three years and, though we might not be the most experienced guys around, we’ve picked some tiny bits of knowledge that might be useful to some of you.

We decided to make a short list with the most basic stuff you should be paying attention to.

Choosing the right event!

First thing is choosing where to go. Travelling (specially when attending events) can be rather expensive, so picking the right places to be is very important (specially if you have a low budget). You should ask yourself what is that you are looking for, is it feedback? publishers? exposure?

There are events just for professionals, others focused on players and some mix both. Maybe you just want to chat and get to meet more devs, maybe you are looking for work for hire. Choosing a goal will help you decide which events you should attend.

Don’t overlook smaller local/national events! They might not be as flashy as the bigger ones, but they’re usually cheap (or even free) and they’re good to test games and meet some fellow ++ devs.

Plan ahead!

So you already chose an event and got your early bird tickets (hopefully!). You can now lean back and relax, right? Absolutely not!

Booth (if you got one)

Think of what you’ll need to feature your game at the event (PC, screens, posters, etc). Sometimes it’s better to take all your stuff with you, while sometimes it’s best to buy/rent it once you arrive. No matter what you choose always contact somebody from the staff. They will always be willing to help you, make sure you know the size of the booth and are fully aware of any space limitations. They might also be able to advice you about hostels, renting equipment or some other stuff (don’t forget about power adapters and powerstrips).

Meetings

Who’s attending the event? Many professional events have online platforms you can use to browse attendees and arrange meetings, be sure to use them! (also try to do this as soon as possible)

It doesn’t matter if you want to talk to journalists, publishers or devs, get in touch with them before the event. If you get a meeting request from somebody you don’t know just accept it (unless they’re just spamming their services around), you never know what you’ll learn.

You’ll probably meet more people at the event, but planning meetings ahead is a MUST.

Logistics

By now you should know that, even if you’re and indie dev, you do need to sleep. Look for a place to sleep that is close to the event. Hostels are usually a good choice, though sometimes airbnb can be even cheaper. Also check that you know how to get from the airport/bus station/whatever to the place where you’re staying at. You’ll also want to email yourself your full schedule (meetings, activities, after-parties, etc).

Are any other devs you know attending the event?

Maybe you could help each other, share cabs, rooms and information. It’s always helpful to have more people supporting you. Also ask around in case any dev you know attended the event last time, they might be able to give you some useful tips.

Get ready

Looks like you made it, this whole thing is finally starting, what now?

Always arrive early

Preparing the booth takes time, specially on your first day, since you might not even know where it is. Same thing happens with meetings, walking around and figuring out where everything is tends to be a good idea. Not everybody is already there at the opening hour, so you’ll be fine even if you’re a bit late, but you’d better try to avoid that.

Taking care of the booth

Say hi to the people at the booths right next to yours, you’re going to spend a lot of time together, so go ahead and introduce yourself. Always leave the game running or just play a gameplay video on loop when nobody is playing it, people always look at shinny moving things. Have a notebook at hand and write down every piece of feedback you get. It doesn’t matter if you think it’s not relevant or if you’re sure you’ll remember it, just write it down! You’ll probably be sorry if you don’t.

And don’t forget the game isn’t the only thing in need of feedback. A good pitch is really hard to get but, with so many people playing your game for the first time, what stops you from trying a different pitch with each person? Go for it and pay attention to their faces to see their reactions.

Using social media

You aren’t likely to go viral with a photo of your booth, but at least your contacts will know you’re around. It wouldn’t be the first time somebody kilometers away introduced me to another person who was at the event. On top of all this it’s always nice to go back and see the pictures, so take a few.

After-parties: Partying is just part of the job… right?

You shouldn’t miss after-parties or devs dinners, yes, we are all really tired after being at the event the whole day, but in these gatherings people are more relaxed and it’s pretty easy to start a conversation, talk to others and keep meeting new people. You’ll have plenty of time to rest once you’re back home!

You made it back alive!

Message back people you met

If you had any business meetings you should send them over all the documents and stuff you showed them at the event, they’ll want to take a second look once they’re comfortably seated at their offices.

It’s always a good idea to use twitter and facebook to stay in touch with the developers you met.

Organize those business cards you collected

Seriously, some of them will come handy later on, make sure you don’t lose them.

Rest!

Sometimes it might be hard, but find some time to rest once you’re back from an event. You’ll probably be tired. Besides, you really should do your laundry.

BONUS ROUND : Saving money

Food

Is it a big commercial event? Food might be expensive, better make some sandwiches early in the morning and put them in your backpack.

Equipment

Nobody likes travelling around with a screen and a PC, but sometimes you need those. Renting them isn’t usually cheap. Packing them in a suitcase is pretty common and (usually) less expensive. You can always ask a local friend to lend you what you need (and do the same if they visit your city). Some devs prefer to get more creative and do things like buying all they need once they arrive and re-selling all the goods after the event.

Sleeping and moving around

Check hostels and airbnb. Couchsurfing is another solution if you’re up for it. Everything is cheaper when you’re travelling with others. Public transportation is usually cheap but Uber can come super handy in some places, so get it on your phone.

And that’s the end of our short check-list! There are more things you’ll need to plan and take care of, but this should be a decent starting point.

The most important piece of advice we can give you is to keep talking to other devs and picking up more useful tips. Every case is different so at the end of the day all you can do is learn and adapt to whatever life throws at you.（source：gamasutra）