GDC, Career Pavilion - Page 2

Gshonk · 02-09-2009, 10:46 AM

That is the only party I wasn't able to get into last year. I too will be shy by 2 months

, but there are plenty of other parties to attend.

RHD · 02-16-2009, 11:32 AM

It sounds fantastic. Unfortunately the cheapest hotel on their website worked out at $900 for the week and the cheapest flight from the UK I could find was $900. Have fun guys!

dzeligman · 02-16-2009, 04:56 PM

One thing people forget about is hostels. The one I'm staying at (atleast for one night) is $27 a night, but that's sharing a room with 3 random people.

jillduffy · 02-17-2009, 06:39 AM

Another hotel option is to stay in Oakland. The hotels near Oakland airport are much cheaper ($79-100 a night) than the suggested GDC hotels, and they are easily accessibly by public transit (the BART system).

There are some budget motels in San Francisco out by the beach (Sunset district), too, with public transit via MUNI, though that commute will actually take more time than coming from across the Bay from Oakland.

ccontinisio · 02-17-2009, 08:35 AM

The best option is Couchsurfing.
http://www.couchsurfing.com

Zooch · 02-17-2009, 01:43 PM

theres a few new hostels 5 blocks away from moscone that are cheap and have singles and doubles. The only requirement is that they're youth hostels, but they have free breakfast and wifi and provide linens/pillows. You wont need to do chores either and you can pick your roommate if you call ahead and request. AKA network on places like this if you are desperate and cant cut the single room rates. I dont remember the websites though so you'll have to find them yourself - just google hostels in san fran and look up ones that are a bit further than the 1-2 block radius that 90% of them seem to be in.

Gshonk · 02-17-2009, 04:40 PM

If you are a student check out http://www.studentuniverse.com/for discounted everything.

Nagaoka · 02-28-2009, 10:31 AM

A friend of mine and I are going this year. We both bought the expo pass for wednesday through friday. He's graduated but I'm still a student. It didn't seem like there were any restrictions for people not yet broken in to get the expo pass though. Let's hope not.

Going by the advice in this thread we also got reservations in a hostel. I would have never thought of that. There are plenty right near the convention center too. All four days with the cheapest plan was $94 total. That's less than one night at the hotel would have cost.

The round trip airfare from Virginia to California was only $350 total too! Make sure to try and fly American Airlines. There's a promotional code on the GDC site that gets you a discount on flights with them if you're attending. I think the tickets were originally $500 something. Quite nice. I thought this whole thing would be much more expensive.

I can't wait to go, but I'm extremely shy so I'm also scared to death. Ugh. Wish me luck.

Gshonk · 02-28-2009, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nagaoka

It didn't seem like there were any restrictions for people not yet broken in to get the expo pass though. Let's hope not.

Nope there aren't.

Good luck!

jillduffy · 03-03-2009, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nagaoka

I can't wait to go, but I'm extremely shy so I'm also scared to death. Ugh. Wish me luck.

Have a great time! I'm so glad you worked this all out. You got some great deals.

See last year's GDC Survival Guide for more tips on what to do once you arrive.

The biggest piece of advice I have to give is to talk to someone as soon as you can. Even while you're waiting for sessions to start or standing in a line, say hi. Say, "I like your shirt." Say, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe how nice the weather is." Whatever. People are just as shy as you are and are waiting for someone else to break the ice.

Everyone is extremely friendly -- just remember that.