Casual Connect Europe '09 reportFeb 17, 06:33 AM

Casual Connect is over, and I have to say it was both very productive and a lot of fun. Some notes in case you’re considering of attending the conference in the future:

• As a general rule, individual talks were better than panels. In most of the latter there usually wasn’t enough time to cover the topic at hand by the three or four panel members, so topics were passed over far too quickly for my taste. In the former, however, most speakers were very focused and explored the topic fully.
• The crowd was very varied, ranging from Costa Rica and Mexico to Hong Kong and Singapore. Great for getting a global perspective.
• Wireless at the Congress Center was irregular, dropping off for most of the second day – rather embarrassing for a technology conference. Do not count on it being available.
• Catered food was acceptable, but coffee was barely passable – it might be better to scout the area for restaurants in advance. The only reason I had lunch at the Congress Center every day was because it allowed for getting to know more people.
• The days are long, with a brief respite between 6pm and the networking parties that start around 8pm. Plan your days well and, if you’re interested in meeting with someone, schedule the meetings in advance.
• Sponsors were mostly publishers and payment systems, with a couple content companies like Sound Rangers and Universally Speaking having smaller tables.
• Unity Technologies was the only tool company with a table at the show, manned mostly by Tom Higgins and Joe Santos, while David Helgason, Unity’s CEO, was around always busy with visitors. I met Sten Selander on the second day, but did not see him after that.
• Other tool companies were present, but in stealth mode: the CEO of Powerhouse Games walked the crowd and the Gamebryo people dropped some leaflets off in the last day.
• The last day was pretty dead. The better conferences were early, but attendance was low. If you’re considering the trade-off between getting an earlier flight/train ride or missing out in the last talk, I’d get home earlier.

Would I attend again? Most likely, the experience was worth the time and trip – I met some very interesting people, and most of the talks ranged from good or interesting to eye openers.

Time to get back to work.