I think I might try to go to the Game Developers Conference this year which is being held in San Francisco. I'm a bit lost though since I:

1) Have never traveled further than an hour or two from my house alone let alone gotten on a plane alone.
2) Have never been to GDC.

If anyone has any tips or advice concerning traveling, GDC, or the San Francisco area that would be much appreciated. I feel like such a little kid being so bewildered by something that so many people my age probably aren't bothered by in the least.

Mora

Canada5235 Posts

January 27 2010 03:12 GMT

i wish i could go to GDC.

i don't have that kind of cash though.

kruul_pz

United States10 Posts

January 27 2010 03:16 GMT

I lived in the SF bay area most of my life, you have nothing to worry about travelling there. If you have experienced large cities before this one will be similair, though more fun and beautiful in my opinion.

Word of advice though, pay attention to where you are planning to stay, it is extremely easy to get ripped off in any large city. Also SFO is a very large airport, keep a keen eye on your gate numbers.

Happy travelling!

Phyre

United States1288 Posts

January 27 2010 03:58 GMT

On January 27 2010 12:16 kruul_pz wrote:
I lived in the SF bay area most of my life, you have nothing to worry about travelling there. If you have experienced large cities before this one will be similair, though more fun and beautiful in my opinion.

I've been working in New York City for the last year and half so large cities don't frighten me too much.

Fishing around GDC's website they had a list of hotels and I found this one: http://www.gdconf.com/attend/hotels.html#mosser which looks to be pretty close to the Moscone Center where GDC is being held and it's considerably cheaper than the surrounding ones it seems. $149 per night. Hopefully I can find someone else from my workplace that is interested in sharing a room so I can cut that cost a bit.

I'll try to allot myself plenty of time to find my way around the airport, never had to find my way around one myself.

@Mora: Damn, I was hoping you'd go. You're the other game dev on this website that I know of and I've always wanted to meet up with more people from Relic and TL.

ZeroCartin

Costa Rica2390 Posts

January 27 2010 04:35 GMT

I went to GDC 2 years ago, it was an amazing experience :D Got to know lots of people, but couldnt find courage to apply at Blizzard *there was too much line, and my english is not that good

* I wish I could go as well, but I'm on the same page as Mora :p

I can tell you there is an incredible Thai place nearby the Convention center, ill look it up and tell you the name.

Cambium

United States16368 Posts

January 27 2010 04:51 GMT

SFO is actually a tiny airport if you ever travelled internationally.

I had the privilege to live in SF for five months, and I absolutely loved the city. There is a ton to do and to eat, I can give better suggestions if you list some of your preferences.

Phyre

United States1288 Posts

January 27 2010 05:49 GMT

On January 27 2010 13:35 ZeroCartin wrote:

I went to GDC 2 years ago, it was an amazing experience :D Got to know lots of people, but couldnt find courage to apply at Blizzard *there was too much line, and my english is not that good

* I wish I could go as well, but I'm on the same page as Mora :p

I can tell you there is an incredible Thai place nearby the Convention center, ill look it up and tell you the name.

That's awesome to hear, tell me more! I really don't know what to expect at GDC so I'd really like to know about your experience there. My dream is to work for Blizzard one day, so I'll definitely be aiming to hunt down some Blizz employees while I'm there. I'll probably be too intimidated to apply though but it would still be amazing just to meet more Blizz guys.

On January 27 2010 13:51 Cambium wrote:
SFO is actually a tiny airport if you ever travelled internationally.

I had the privilege to live in SF for five months, and I absolutely loved the city. There is a ton to do and to eat, I can give better suggestions if you list some of your preferences.

I've never really traveled on my own and the few times I did fly I didn't really look around much, I just followed the rest of my family around. Just about any airport will probably seem massive to me lol.

As for food preferences, I'm not terribly adventurous and easily content. I'll probably just end up looking for the nearest pizza place to save money and because I really like pizza.

I guess I favor Italian if anything.

Nitrogen

United States5345 Posts

January 27 2010 05:51 GMT

flying by yourself really isn't that bad. i flew by myself a few years ago and i was really nervous about it but there are tons of signs everywhere telling you where all the gates are, and generally when you ask someone who works at the airport they will be more than glad to point you in the right direction.

Waffles

Romania605 Posts

January 27 2010 06:40 GMT

i live in sf all my life and as a minor, i feel theres nothing to do in SF -_-

CommanderFluffy

Taiwan1059 Posts

January 27 2010 08:09 GMT

#10

On January 27 2010 15:40 Waffles wrote:
i live in sf all my life and as a minor, i feel theres nothing to do in SF -_-

Really dude? I've lived there as a minor too and i still find SF to be one of the more interesting cities i've been to.

to OP: if you have any questions about the city/getting around feel free to PM me.