Two years on the game-dev conference circuit, from gamescom to São Paulo

When Andrew Sakhno joined Clever Ads Solutions, the people it most needed to reach, mobile game developers and publishers, had never heard of it. That was especially true in Western markets, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa. Over the next two years he took the company to game-dev conferences in 11 countries as a sponsor and a speaker.

Client
Clever Ads Solutions (CAS.ai)
Year
2022–23
Location
11 countries
Role
PR & Business Development Manager
Disciplines
Events, Strategy & BizDev
The CAS team in black shirts at their blue “MAXIMIZE” stand with laptops on the counter

The task

Prepare the company’s participation in game-dev conferences as a sponsor and a speaker, from the negotiations to the posts afterwards.

My part

The whole preparation for each conference: the deals with the organisers, the stand, the speakers, the work on site and the posts before and after.

Team and partners

The CEO and the company’s speakers gave the talks, and the team staffed the stands and met clients. At BIG Festival in São Paulo I gave a talk myself.

Key decisions

  1. Go as a sponsor and a speaker, not only as an exhibitor: at GIC 2022 in Poznań the company was a silver sponsor.

  2. Stands designed to stand out, like the blue “MAXIMIZE your monetization” stand with the robo-cat.

How it was done

  • Negotiated with the organisers, prices included, and handled the contracts, team registration and company profiles on the event platforms.
  • Designed stands meant to stand out, such as the blue “MAXIMIZE your monetization” stand with the robo-cat.
  • Prepared the speakers and their presentations.
  • Ran things on site: client meetings, lead generation, the contact database, photos and video.
  • Wrote the announcements and the posts after each event for LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.
  • Kept up personal relationships with game-dev conference organisers in Europe, Turkey, Brazil and Canada.
  • Ukraine
  • Czech Republic
  • Slovakia
  • Poland
  • Germany
  • Brazil
  • Finland
  • Lithuania
  • Jordan
  • United Kingdom
  • India
  • gamescom 2022, Colognewith the team
  • BIG Festival 2022, São Paulomy keynote
  • GIC 2022, Poznańsilver sponsor
  • DevGAMM 2022, Vilniuswith the team
  • Pocket Gamer Connects 2023, Londonstand
  • Pocket Gamer Connects, Helsinkistand

Scale

Among the stops: gamescom 2022 in Cologne, BIG Festival 2022 in São Paulo, where I gave my own keynote, GIC 2022 in Poznań with the company as silver sponsor, DevGAMM Vilnius 2022, Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki and Pocket Gamer Connects London 2023.

Materials and proof

Planning an event like this?

I’m open to in-house roles and to client projects. Write to me about the task, or take the CV.