Another post on GDC culture, this time on the garb of conference attendees. This is the stuff that isn't necessarily clear when you're reading accounts of sessions, but we're going after it because it gives a more complete picture of the event. We'll do this percentage-breakdown style, after the "continue" link.
(Pictured above, a dude hired by Microsoft to bartend sports the company-supplied shirt, and a competitor's hat.)
- 12% art students who are clearly trying too hard to be different. Green or rainbow-colored hair, noserings, plug earrings, torn fishnet stockings, that sort of thing. Shown above.
- 7% former art students who have succeeded at actually landing art jobs and have graduated to actually, really, truly different.
- 5% hardcore business attire. Full suits. Chumps. Or first-timers. Or Leland Yee.
- .01% Nintendo power glove wearers. There's always exactly one of these guys. The other 10 who brought their power gloves do not wear them when they see the first guy wearing his. It's an unspoken rule that there. can. be. only. one. It gets ugly if someone breaks that rule.
- 20% Jeans and T-shirt. The GDC uniform for the rank-and-file. Seen here.
- 10% Jeans, T-shirt or hoodie, blazer on top. The GDC uniform for execs. It's how J Allard's image consultants dress him. We don't think J was at GDC, but those who subscribe to his wardrobe style certainly were.
- 8% Tracksuit jacket (ideally with European football team insignia), vintage t-shirt. See Neil Young, head of EA LA studio (pictured here) for example. Orange was the new black. Then it was pink. Is orange the new new black, then?
- 14% Khakis, woven
leather belt, button-up shirt. For denizens of corporate cubicle farms. These people
actually
liked the GDC food, but occasionally hinted that San Jose is nice and all but they'd sure be glad to get back
to the family in Chicago or Seattle. - 9% hairy dudes. Long ponytails. Lambchop sideburns. Full beards. Foot-long goat-tees. Any combination thereof. The older ones tend to be involved in the making or running of MOOs, MUDs and antiquated (but loved) MMOGs.
- 17% booth babes. Yup, they do exist at GDC. Compared to their E3 counterparts, they tend to wear more clothing. Like their E3 counterparts, they're generally uninformed about products in the booths they front. This group is distinct from the actual real industry women who were present in ever-greater numbers at this year's GDC.
- How
do we know the ladies pictured at right were hired
for their looks? Real employees of a company would sue if asked to show up at a tradeshow in a tiny little skirt (or a
muscle-T). Professionals (male or female) just don't do that, even if they could somehow pull it off after sitting on
their asses in a cubicle farm for years. Professional employees tend to wear logo-embroidered polo or button-down
shirts and conservative bottoms.
(Numbers do not total 100%, because some people play multiple roles and because we're a games blog, not a math blog.)
