AGC: Additional thoughts and opinions

This year's Austin Game Conference was a really good experience. Going from 2 days to 3 was a huge (positive) change, and running concurrently with (and granting concurrent access to) the Game Writers Conference, Casual Games Conference, and first Game Audio Conference is certainly bang for the buck.

The Game Audio Conference itself was a cool deal, but I found myself getting less out of it as a voice actor than the Game Writers Conference, which I found surprising. Though I did get a ton out of GAC (like that acronym) keynoteist Charles Deenen (Senior Audio Director at Electronic Arts).

Speaking of the Game Writers Conference, I got a bunch out of the sessions and experience here -- even though I had only planned to attend one session ("Inside the Voice Actor's Studio: Writing Dialogue for Actors"). I ended up also attending the Improve for Writers, and got unexpected (and needed) emotional uplift, and "Writing Comedy for Games", which introduced me to one of the heroes I didn't know I had -- Matt Soell, writer behind Stubbs the Zombie.
The GWC also introduced me to an unexpected, repetitive irritation. I was at 3 separate sessions, where writers at a table (who didn't know I was a voice actor), were griping about "those voice actors" -- like this verbatim gem:

"Actors. They work 88 days out of the year -- no wonder they love their jobs. We work all the time, and don't get any recognition. I freaking hate voice actors."

What the hell? If there are folks out there in the game or acting biz working 88 days out of the year, I want that gig -- and then I'll fill the other 277 days doing other full-time productive stuff. But this was a repeated, semi-poisonous mindset I found pretty bothersome. Uh, Writers? If no one acts out your stuff, does it even exist? I'm a writer, and I resolve to treat myself well as an actor. ;-)

Going back to the positive (really positive) Writer & Game Writers Conference Chair Susan O'Connor is freaking amazing. Not just talented (Gears of War? Bioshock? Two of my "Important games Adam must own?), but really together, and really nice. And really good at the "Do ya know?" game.

For those who don't know how this works, it starts with a very aware person (Susan, or Dan Parsons, who also does this well) recognizing a similarity or potential synergy between two people they know or have met, and getting them introduced. At any cost (Short of lack of professionalism). Susan did this deftly several times during several sessions. Fun to watch.

UPDATED: Cliff Bleszinski told me, "She is, in fact, the shizzle."

On the applicability to BigHugeCorp, applicability was pretty much across the board, with particular benefit from Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.'s keynote from Rob Pardo, and sessions "Re-Thinking Service Offerings", "New Frontiers in Digital Acting. A BioWare Perspective", "Moving Beyond Men In Tights", "Financing Choices for Start Up Game Companies", and "Digital Distribution Revolution".

On the voice acting front, this was a productive week. I accomplished the majority of my goals, met a ton of new folks, and would like to work with a great many of them. And those damn business card form-factor CD demos that lost me so much sleep? Huge hits. Of course, my big fear is that someone will slide them into a slot-load CD player, kill the machine, then hate me. But they'll remember me.

This was a way better year than two years ago, when I was attending the conference while massively sick -- and definitely better than not going last year (when I canceled last minute to clean up someone else's mess at BigHugeCorp, then got treated less than charitably in response; but it taught me where to invest the loyalty).

Really glad I did it this year -- and I really enjoyed meeting so many fascinating and talented people.