June | 2012 | Gamecraft

Register NOW and save with our discount code.

ISVCon 2012 takes place July 13-15, which is only a couple weeks (!) away. ISVCon is the spiritual successor to (or, in entertainment terms, reboot of) SIC, the Software Industry Conference, which I have attended numerous times, and which has always been a great investment. This conference brings together scores of independent software publishers (or “vendors”, hence ISV) to discuss and learn about the industry It is a unique opportunity to meet face-to-face with many other people who share similar business challenges; I now call lots of them “friends”.

ISVCon will be taking place in Reno, Nevada (USA) at the Atlantis Casino Resort.

Here is the catch: Time is running out!

Step 1: Register (at a discount)

First, register for ISVCon before the prices go up. As an incentive, we at Digital Gamecraft can offer you this 10% discount code: “Gamecraft2012“. Limited time only; prices increase July 1st.

Step 2: Get your hotel room (at a discount)

Next, make your hotel reservations now (using that link) to receive discount pricing and no resort fee. Offer ends in only a couple of days!

Step 3: Attend ISVCon 2012

Join us in Reno for the conference. We will be arriving before the Welcome Reception on Thursday evening, during which we will be able to have a drink or two, socialize with friends and colleagues (both long lost and brand new), and switch from travel mode into conference mode.

The conference sessions take place Friday, July 13, through Sunday, July 15, and specifics can be found on this complete conference schedule. Note that the Friday sessions are Power Sessions, while the Saturday and Sunday sessions provide a couple of options for each timeslot. There is so much content at ISVCon that we are sending most of the staff (okay, just two of us) to make sure that we can have full coverage of the relevant topics. Additionally, the networking value and information exchange between (and sometimes during) sessions is possibly even more valuable than the speakers.

That said, let me draw your attention particularly to Paradise Room A on Saturday from 1:45pm to 2:45pm, for my presentation, Quality Assurance for Small Software Publishers, and on Sunday from 9:00am to 10:00am, where I will serve on a panel of game developers for the session, How Games are Different. The answer to your question is: I will be there and awake at 9am because, with the time difference, that will be noon back home. (Also, I never work the B room.)

We will there at the conference through the After Hours MeetUp on Sunday evening, before beginning our (more) lengthy journey back to the office. From experience, this will involve an odd mixture of being physically spent, but mentally energized, full of plans and ideas. Honestly, attending ISVCon 2012 is probably one of the best ways to spend a few days improving your business; I strongly recommend it for any ISV.

Follow me on Twitter @GreggSeelhoff for live conference updates. See you there!

An outstanding resource to online marketing

I admit it: I am not the best at marketing. This is why I am always looking for resources to help me learn more, get better, and ultimately sell more software. On my system, I keep a large list of bookmarks to pages I need to read, and the ‘marketing’ folder includes, literally, scores of links to pages from DP Directory.

If you, like me, can use all of the marketing resources you can find, you will find their encyclopaedic Software Marketing Glossary very useful. [In fact, I recently created a new ‘Resources’ category for it, on your right, beneath the blogroll.] However, there are also more than one hundred articles about online marketing on the site as well. Specifically for game publishers, they also provide a game press release writing and submission service (which has been used in the past for some of our games, and will be again).

DP Directory is a small company run by Al Harberg, who has decades of experience in the field and provides personal service to clients. I first interacted with Al through the Association of Software Professionals, where he often dispenses advice (freely) to other members, and I first met him in person at SIC (now ISVCon) 2000 in Tampa. Interestingly, I recently stumbled across a DP Directory mailing (to our company) from the late 80s, which shows that Al is not new to this game. He actually offers a service whereby you can Rent Al’s Brain and tap (almost) directly into his many years of expertise.

This week, Digital Gamecraft has begun realigning some internal responsibilities [see opening sentence], and our prospective Director of Marketing/Business Development will be starting her transition by reading the DP Directory website, plus a couple of marketing books originally recommended by Al Harberg. I am very hopeful…

Gamecraft

All about the craft of making games

Monthly Archives: June 2012

URGENT: ISVCon 2012 is almost here!