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How to get the most out of the UK’s conference for the game-making industry.
Develop:Brighton is now a regular fixture in the UK’s games-making industry’s calendar. Every summer the whole industry – from the biggest names in the business to the smallest of the indies – gets together to learn, discover, and network in Brighton’s beautiful seaside. The 2022 edition has been the biggest one ever – with over 3,400 attendees across all three days.
Creative Enterprise team had the immense pleasure of attending the conference this year and seeing first-hand just how great the atmosphere at the conference is. It really is something special when a community of game makers comes together. It is a huge event with so many happenings across multiple days. Having attended the full conference this year, we, Creative Enterprise team, thought it would be useful to share some tips on how to get the most out of Develop:Brighton conference as a freelancer or small business owner.
Do Some Research on the Panels You Are Interested In
As we mentioned earlier, Develop:Brighton is a huge event with dozens of talks and panels every day. With multiple tracks and wide range of speakers, there is something for everyone. It’s worth to take some time before the event to do a bit of research of the official programme and figure out what panels you definitely do not want to miss out on. This way you can get to your preferred events on time and possibly have some time to network with people who are interested in the same topics! Win-win.
Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
Having said that, do not overfill your schedule with just the things that are in your niche or interest area. Leave some time to explore the event on the spot and take a chance on a panel or a talk that might be out of your comfort zone. Brighton:Develop is the perfect place for a small business owner to broaden your horizons and learn about a part of the gaming industry you might not be familiar with – you never know what opportunities you can come across.
Go to the Expo and Revisit It During the Conference
Develop:Brighton Expo is definitely one of the funnest parts of the whole event and you should take some time aside during the conference to visit it (multiple times if possible). The list of exhibitors is always so full of amazing and innovative companies. The atmosphere at the Expo is always buzzing and it’s the perfect spot for more informal chats and networking. It’s the ideal place to bump into to people – we got to catch up with a lot of our Creative Enterprise beneficiaries there. We really recommend revisiting the Expo during the conference – there is so much to take in and you never know who you are going to bump into.
Use Meet@Develop to Take Networking to the Max
Meet@Develop is a great networking tool that allows you to look through all the attendees, contact people and book a meeting in the dedicated meeting zone in the Expo. This app takes the networking to the max so you don’t have to leave your networking only to chance encounters. Furthermore, you can also get a better picture of all the attendees, learn about who they are, where they work and increase the likelihood of meeting the right people.
Incorporate Brighton Into Your Conference Experience
It’s not every day that a conference takes place in such a beautiful setting as Brighton seaside! Brighton Seafront is just a few minutes’ walk from the main conference location. Why not take advantage of the beautiful scenery and have a meeting with a beautiful seaside view? On top of this, during the conference Brighton transforms into the UK Games Industry capital with events, meet-ups, and networking opportunities happening across the city. Take advantage of this fact and try to attend as many after hours events as possible.
That’s it! Those are our top tips for attending the Develop:Brighton Conference. We really enjoyed our time at Brighton:Develop and can’t wait to attend again this year. Don’t miss out and make sure you get your tickets now. If you subscribe to our Creative Enterprise newsletter you’ll get an exclusive 10% discount code.