GameWisp’s Convention Recap: the power of the network

Looking back at a year of incredible events, and forward to the year to come.

Over the course of 2017, the GameWisp team travelled across the country in U-Hauls, trucks, Lyfts, Ubers, sprinter vans and planes. We’ve burned the midnight oil putting Ikea furniture together without any necessary tools. We fit three futons in a mid-sized SUV. We lifted trusses and hung lights after everyone else went home, while simultaneously searching grub-hub for late delivery. We stayed up all night in Boston, enjoyed great Pho in Atlanta, and hit the dive bars in Long Beach.

Did we have a lot of fun? Yes.

Did we see a lot? Oh yeah. From excellent cosplay at MomoCon to amazing booth setup at TwitchCon, we saw the streaming community grow even closer in the 2017 convention season.

One thing we are constantly in awe of as we go from city to city is the sheer tenacity of streamers expressing their desire to work with other streamers, brands, and platforms like ours. Sure, lots of folks go to conventions for pure entertainment. But today we want to take a minute to salute the glow-in-the-dark button makers, the business card cookie bakers, and those that give away toothbrushes with their Twitch handle on them.

If you spent any time going to conventions this year, you might have a nice little pile of stuff from all your favorite creators that looks something like this:

Of course, not every networking “gift” has to be artistic or even exchanged during a con. It could be as simple as leaving a professional impression with someone you’d like to work with.

We’ve actually been working on a product called Manage that might be able to help you as you continue your growth in 2018. The idea is to make networking and sharing numbers just a little bit easier for you when you are out and about.

What are your biggest networking tips and takeaways from what you’ve seen at conventions this year? How do you as a streamer get the right data and information in front of potential partners, sponsors and other streamers?

We’d love to hear your ideas and advice you’ve received in the past. What’s the one thing that a professional streamer should do to network with other creators or brands effectively?

We are working on our 2018 convention schedule. We hope to see each and every one of you again after the holidays during another year of streaming and gaming conventions. Thanks for joining us on our journey.

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