YOUR ONLINE CONFERENCE EXPERIENCE: IMPROVED
Thank you for joining Blockchain Gamer LIVE! and PG Connects Helsinki Digital, the completely-online conference from the makers of Pocket Gamer Connects. We realise this is an unfamiliar way of doing things for many people, but 2020 is proving to be a whole new world. Don’t worry, we’re all in this together and we’ll look after you! Our first online conference in April taught us a lot of lessons and so you should see some positive changes in each new event we plan. If you’re used to seeing webinars and streams online, you’ll get the idea pretty quickly about how the video talks and panels will work.
It’s labelled Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki because it’s the time of year when we traditionally take our roadshow to the Finnish capital. But rest assured, this September’s conference is online and global. We will do our best to celebrate Finland’s finest though – it’s the spiritual home of mobile gaming, after all.
NOTE: The MeetToMatch meeting platform will go live approximately a week before the event, and you will be automatically added to it and notified by email once you have registered for a ticket.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Everything you expect from a conference, except the bumping into people on the stairs or at the bar. Blockchain Gamer LIVE! and PGC Helsinki Digital aims to distil the core elements of a regular PGC conference into online form. There’ll be talks, meetings, fringe events and so on. Obviously we aren’t congregating in one physical venue in the Finnish capital, but using a series of online tools to arrange meetings and watch videos.
No. As well as this official website, there are other platforms you’ll need to get your head around. It all fits together seamlessly, don’t worry, but please be prepared to see links to these resources:
Eventbrite: our ticketing platform
MeetToMatch: our new meeting platform. Registered attendees will receive a log-in and password link in due course (it runs on the web, and will be familiar to you from other trade shows and events; here’s a dedicated FAQ)
Zoom: the video broadcast system we’re using for our webinars and our meetings (download that, sharpish)
BlockchainGamer.biz, PocketGamer.biz and PCGamesInsider.biz: our editorial sites where you’ll find the latest b2b news and features from the games industry
The event runs from just before 9am on Monday September 14th until about 8pm on Friday September 18th, and you can arrange meetings to take place any time during that period, to suit your local timezone.
Talks will be broadcast via Zoom webinars and take place on those days, with a short break in the middle of each session. All times listed on the site here are BST (British Summer Time, GMT+1, which will be the local UK time that week). We’ll try our best to spread things out so that you’ll be able to see at least some of the content live whether you’re in China or California.
The schedule will be available about three weeks before the event!
We will also email you to remind you of upcoming Zoom sessions, and to share the link with you, which of course is only available to registered attendees. These links will also be visible on the Program part of the Meet To Match platform, which is where you’ll also plan your meetings. Simply click on the Zoom link you see and you’ll become an audience member in the track.
A webinar is an online seminar, a presentation broadcast live from anywhere in the world to your computer screen, via a video service.
BlockchainGamer LIVE! and PGC Helsinki Digital has two main sorts of video presentations: talks (presented by one individual, often with a slide deck you can follow) which last 20 minutes, and panels (a number of individuals discussing a hot topic) which last 40 minutes. They will all be shown to you over Zoom. There’s more information available on our guide here and also below.
Talks will be broadcast via Zoom webinars and take place between about 9am and 1:30pm (BST) and between 3pm and 8pm (BST), Monday September 14th to Wednesday September 16th. Although you’ll also have access to the additional content from PGC Helsinki Digital, which continues all week. We will email you to remind you of upcoming Zoom sessions, and to share the link with you. You will also be able to find links in the MeetToMatch platform when that is live. See the note above about scheduling.
Talks will happen in a similar way to how they do in a regular Blockchain Gamer LIVE! and Pocket Gamer Connects events. We’ll organise talks into specific themed tracks with a time for each track. Typically individual talks will have a 20-minute length and panels 40 minutes.
The difference, of course, is that rather than being in a track room in London, Helsinki, or Seattle, you’ll be watching from your home, using the popular Zoom video conference chat tool. It even enables you to interact with the speakers!
All the talks will be recorded with a video link posted to a private space for delegates within 48 hours. We’ll share the link with you so you can catch up later.
There’s a dedicated FAQ here about watching the scheduled sessions.
Please note: if the Zoom links are not opening for you, it’s because you’ve not logged into your Zoom account first. There are more hints here.
Meetings will take place over video, so get your webcam ready. You’ll find people to meet, and schedule times to connect, using our matchmaking platform: MeetToMatch. You will probably have used this platform before at another event, for instance in San Francisco alongside GDC.
You will receive an email explaining how to get access about a week before the conference. When you log into MeetToMatch then, you will be able to establish a default video meeting service: we recommend Zoom or Skype, but others are available, including 8×8. We have a full guide and FAQ here which should answer all your questions.
No event would be complete without the traditional side events. We will be running a bunch of activities during the week including Big Indie Pitch (mobile and PC/console separately), Blockchain Pitching Sessions and Investor Connector. There are also Careers Week activities, Journalist Bar and an IGDA Mentor Café. You can also enjoy the usual Pocket Gamer 2020 Sessions.
These have their own sign-up processes and you need to apply and be eligible – see the links in the Side Activites menu on this page. If you’re involved in a fringe event you need to apply using the relevant form, and then wait to be contacted by the event manager with specific details for getting involved. If you’re unsure if you’ve registered contact [email protected] with the title ‘Fringe event question’.
One ticket, two conferences!
We were planning to hold Blockchain Gamer LIVE! in July. Instead, we moved it to September, to take place alongside Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki Digital. It’s a 100% online event, and if you have a ticket to one, you automatically have access to the other.
All ticket holders will have access to both Pocket Gamer Connects talks and panels in addition to all the amazing Blockchain Gamer LIVE! talks and panels. Not only that, but all ticket holders will be able to mingle, chat and network with the other games industry folk in the MeetToMatch and Discord platforms.
We’re one big happy games industry family of over 1,400 people.
This join-from-anywhere event is brought to you by Steel Media Ltd, the makers of Pocket Gamer Connects, the leading mobile games industry b2b conferences.
We’ve got seven years’ experience of running events where people learn new skills, hear from the leading industry experts, and meet other professionals to network and do business. We’ve got all that for you here too, using the latest web and video tools.
Tickets are available to buy now, from our registration page or Eventbrite page (they’re identical, don’t worry).
If you are one of the following special cases, we may have additional discounts and benefits for you: press, media partners, small indie studios, students, jobseekers. Please contact [email protected] to discuss.
You can find out more about the video talks and panels here.
You can find out more about the MeetToMatch, your meeting platform, here.
There’s more about Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki Digital 2020 here.
Or you can contact the team directly here: [email protected]