There will be 20 presentations and discussion panels focused on Growth and Data science in mobile gaming. Very unique knowledge shared by experts from Poland, Israel, Germany, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Estonia, UK, United States. You can check the agenda here and register here.
We had an opportunity to talk about the upcoming conference with the founder of GameCamp, someone who has been with Google since 2007, and leading mobile gaming initiatives at Google for Startups Campus in Warsaw, supporting the growth of the mobile gaming ecosystem in the CEE region – Mariusz Gasiewski.
SGA: This year, GameCamp covers all about data and marketing. What kind of gaming startup is an ideal candidate for applying to? And which teams or team leads will benefit the most?
Mariusz Gasiewski: I think it’s mostly for companies that want to increase their growth and/or marketing capabilities. For example, they have a product already, they do not want to rely only on publishers to grow their business, and they want to invest time/resources to grow the company in the middle/long term. The main focus is on intermediate/advanced knowledge so either it needs to be bigger companies (20+ people) or smaller teams where the founder really puts a strong focus on business growth.
SGA: We see several Serbian companies will have presentations this year (GameBiz Consulting, Peaksel, Two Desperados). What’s your take on the expertise of our local mobile scene?
Mariusz: I think the expertise level is really high once we compare it with other CEE countries. This is due to several things. On one hand, first mobile gaming successes appeared in Serbia relatively early (companies like Nordeus inspired many people). On the other hand in some countries like Poland, the biggest focus of the market was PC/Console, and relatively not long time ago many companies shifted to mobile where business/growth/data knowledge is much more important than in PC/Console. On the third side, the mobile gaming community is really strong in Serbia and you are doing a great job to engage it.
SGA: We are finally getting back to offline events. What are some secondary benefits of attending such an event?
Mariusz: I think networking at first. In my opinion, online is great for 1-2 hour webinars although it is not suitable for streaming entire events at all. Next, the quality of speakers at offline events is much higher. I mean, you meet people who really made an effort to come, and spent more time understanding what they need. An important point in networking is the fact that online/hangout is OK for maintaining existing relations, but it is pretty inconvenient for starting new important relations.
SGA: Is there a limited amount of teams that will be accepted?
Mariusz: We try not to limit it. The best candidates are the teams that really want to grow their expertise in growth and data. So solid teams/companies that have the ambition to get to an even better understanding of these.
SGA: It is important to mention that participation is free of charge.
Mariusz: Yes! So even adding the cost of the plane/hotel, is a really good value for money. In the case of Serbia, it is important to plan trips better and decrease costs. One additional thing that could be helpful is that we were able to get some discounts for GameCamp participants.