Introduction

The Game Developers Conference (GDC) continues to be the premier professional conference for the creators of games and interactive entertainment. Join the world's leading developers to exchange ideas, to be inspired, and to advance the state-of-the-art in game creation. If you have an idea, issue, solution or problem that you'd like to give a presentation about at GDC 2008, please make sure to submit it to us via this website by Monday, October 1, 2007.

This conference is all about sharing by dedicated, passionate, knowledgeable individuals. The event and the experience is generated by people like you, dealing with the most relevant topics that are impacting developers today. So we invite you to submit your proposals and we look forward to hearing your ideas.

SPEAKER EXPECTATIONS

Please take the time to read the Guidelines and Submission Criteria (specifically Tracks and Presentation Formats) before preparing a proposal.

We also have a video on this page to give more insight into how our Advisory Board makes selections from the presentation that are submitted.

Conference attendees are generally very intelligent. They are looking for material that is not obvious and expect excellence from our speakers. After your presentation, they will evaluate it based on deliver, knowledge of the topic and the visuals presented.

Preperation is one of the most important factors in delivering a successful talk at GDC. Please keep the following in mind when you propose to speak:

The proposed outline you submit now must match the talk you actually present at GDC
We suggest that you commit AT LEAST 10 hours to prepare for your session
We strongly encourage that you rehearse the delivery of your session for it to be effective; preferably in front of your peers (one tip is to video tape yourself speaking then review it. This is also a great way to practice pacing and timing)
Your presentation materials must be completed and submitted to us four weeks before the conference

Please note we are ALWAYS here to help you. If you have ANY questions you think we need to cover on this area of our website, please email mscavio@cmp.com.

Tracks and topics

Below is the list of tracks that GDC 2008 will focus on. Click on a track for descriptions of the topics we seek.

Presentation Formats

As you can see below, there are multiple time period choices. It's up to you to select the appropriate duration for your session.

Lecture: 20-minute, 60-minute, 2-hour
Lectures are issue-oriented, provide concrete examples, and contain both practical and theoretical information. They are normally 60 minutes long (including answering questions from the audience). We generally prefer only one speaker but we may accept two if you can demonstrate the second person is necessary.

Panel: 60-minute, 2-hour
Panels take many different viewpoints on a topic or issue and combine them in one venue. Debate among panelists (with very different opinions) is most welcome and audience participation time should be accounted for. We prefer 60 minute time slots and panels of no more than 3-5 people.

Roundtable: 60-minute
Roundtables are small peer discussion groups led by one or two moderators and limited to a maximum of 80 attendees. Moderators should facilitate conversation and keep the flow of discussion inspired and moving. They do not lecture or dictate. Constructive controversy and debate are very welcome in roundtables. Topics that are open-ended in nature and promote an exchange of ideas from people likely to have different veiwpoints generally work best in this format. Roundtables run up to three times, once a day during the GDC.

Poster: 60-minute
Poster sessions are presented on a one meter tall poster that the presenter is responsible for creating and bringing to the event. This is similar to a traditional lecture, however it is presented in front of the poster (a slide presentation is not needed) to a smaller group of attendees. This type of format gives presenters one-on-one interactions with the attendees.

Tutorial: Full-Day or Two-Day
Tutorials (simply) must teach attendees new skills. Think of this as (informal) classroom training. It can be interactive; you can have them work in teams; you can give them challenges; you can include competitions. The result of the time period MUST be that they'll feel they've learned something truly useful in the world of game development. It can be a skill, an ability, a method or even the mastery of a tool. NOTE: We do NOT supply any hardware (like laptops) for the attendees. If you need them to bring anything with them, this must be CLEARLY stated in your abstract.