GDC Fundraising 101: Tips for Success

For many people this probably looks like a new project that appeared over the last weeks. In reality, the Context-X event platform is the result of more than three years of work... and honestly, more than two decades spent inside this industry. A lot of what now exists inside the system comes directly from my time working in the commercial conference and event business, combined with everything I’ve experienced in the global Internet infrastructure community since 2003. The good parts, the chaotic parts, and also the situations nobody likes to talk about publicly. CtxEvent was never meant to be just another event tool. Yes, it includes CfP management, meeting coordination, scheduling and operational workflows. All the things organizers need to actually run events without drowning in spreadsheets and disconnected tools. But over time one thing became very clear: Running events is not the hard part. Creating environments where people feel safe enough to participate honestly is. That is why CtxWhisper became one of the most important building blocks of the entire platform... for the system, for our community, and very personally for me. https://lnkd.in/dAAKKn4u CtxWhisper introduces something that has been missing in many technical communities for a long time: a trusted, structured and anonymous way to raise concerns without fear of visibility or consequences. No login. No identity tracking. No stored IP information. But also not a black hole inbox. Every report follows a defined governance and escalation path handled by a dedicated trust structure... moderators, Whisper Heads and independent Ombud roles. Responsibilities are clear, timelines exist, escalation is automatic when needed. Because trust does not emerge from statements or policies. It emerges from visible processes and accountable people. For me personally, this module represents an important step toward making events not only technically excellent, but socially resilient as well. We engineer redundancy, security and resilience into networks every day. It felt necessary to finally apply the same thinking to the communities that build and operate them. Context-X is not just about managing events. It’s about strengthening the environment in which our industry meets, collaborates and grows. More information: https://lnkd.in/dAAKKn4u

As I sign off for the day, after another Monday full of switching between tabs, tools and platforms, I’m reminded why Net Hub’s all-in-one infrastructure matters. Networking and events management take this to another level. Ticketing platforms over here. Email clients over there. WhatsApp groups in the middle. Spreadsheets. Membership lists. Payment systems. Individually, they work to an extent. Together, they create huge amounts of friction. And friction compounds. Organisers feel it first. The mental load. The constant switching. The low-level worry that something will slip through the cracks. Attendees feel it next. Different links. Different logins. A slightly different experience every time. It affects sign-ups. It affects flow. It even affects how people feel before they’ve stepped into the room. More and more, people are looking to reduce the number of tools they rely on. They want fewer moving parts and a smoother experience. The full potential of networking won’t be unlocked by another bolt-on platform. It will come from cleaner infrastructure. Systems that feel simple and sleek on the surface, but deeply joined-up underneath. When everything connects properly, momentum builds instead of stalling. That principle sits underneath everything we do. To remove all complexity at its root. Sue Richards' upcoming event, KCC Wilmslow, is a strong example of the kind of repeatable, well-run event that benefits from everything sitting in one place rather than being spread across multiple tools. When the structure is joined up, organisers can focus on the room rather than the wiring behind it. And attendees can move through the experience without friction. Less switching. Less chasing. More momentum. I’ve shared the link below for anyone who wants to attend, or simply see how KCC are running events like this through Net Hub.

As the Membership Coordinator for the North West Business Chamber (NWBC), my focus is on ensuring our systems actually support our growth rather than hindering it. For our networking breakfasts, I wanted to solve a specific friction point: the "clipboard queue." Checking people off manually is a bottleneck. It’s slow, it’s prone to error, and most importantly, it makes it far too easy to miss a new member or a first-time guest in the morning rush. So, I built this. It is a custom-engineered check-in app designed to: Eliminate manual admin: No more paper lists or manual data entry after the event. Prioritise the experience: We can now identify guests and new members instantly, ensuring they get the welcome they deserve. Real-time visibility: We know exactly who is in the room the moment they arrive. In an industrial environment or a business chamber, the principle is the same. If you want to scale without losing your sanity, you have to buy back your time through smart systems and automation. We aren’t just building a network at NWBC. We are building a blueprint for how a modern, tech-forward chamber should operate. Work smarter, not harder.

My fav productivity hack lately: (and how you can copy for your team!) If something in your workflow is annoying… build an app for it. We did this recently for events. We go to a lot of different types of events, and the days are always super crazy. Trying to chat with all the right people, shooting content as we go, running around at 100% speed. We ask the same questions every time. Where is everyone right now? What videos do we need to film now? Who are we trying to meet? What dinners / side events are happening? And during a busy event, nobody has time to dig through Slack to find the info. So we built a simple event app using Glide (glideapps.com) Now everything lives in one place on our phones: • Where each team member is during the event • The sessions we’re planning to attend • Networking targets to meet • Side events, dinners, meetups It basically acts as a mobile command center for the team while we’re on the ground. Which means less stress and way more intentional networking. Which also means we get so much more out of the event! The best part is that building something like this is way easier than it sounds. (seriously took me like 30 min to make) Instead of forcing your workflow into a premade tool, you can just build something that fits exactly how your team operates. And once you start doing that, you realize how many small problems you can solve this way.

Online Conference Management for Membership Organisations Online conference management for nonprofits: explore core concepts, platform options, engaging attendee experiences, and common pitfalls to avoid. #MemberEngagement #MembershipManagement #AssociationManagement #CRM Read more at: https://lnkd.in/epgR3vry

Meetings should end when they were scheduled to end. Or sooner. That's it. That's the whole post. Except it isn't, because we all know that's not what actually happens. What actually happens is the agenda gets covered with ten minutes to spare, someone says "while we're all here," and suddenly you're twenty minutes deep into a conversation that wasn't on anyone's calendar to begin with. I call this calendar-based optimism. The belief that because time is still available, it should be filled. That an early ending is somehow a failure. That leaving ten minutes on the table means the meeting wasn't worth having. That is simply untrue. A meeting that ends early means the work was done, the decision was made, and the people in the room respected each other's time enough to stop talking when there was nothing left to say. We've built a culture where a meeting running long signals effort, and ending it early signals a lack of preparation. Both of those assumptions are wrong. The person who ended a meeting at the 40-minute mark of a 60-minute block didn't fail to fill the remaining 20 minutes. They gave everyone in the room twenty minutes back. Twenty minutes that belong to someone's next task, their lunch, their school pickup, or just the silence they needed to actually process what was just decided. This isn't just on the person running the meeting. Everyone in the room shares the responsibility. The person who asks a question they already know the answer to. The person who raises something that should have been an email. The person who circles back to a point that was already resolved. Even the person who stays quiet when the meeting is clearly over, but doesn't want to be the one to say it. We are all capable of ending a meeting. Most of us just don't. So before you let the clock run out on your next one, ask yourself a few things: 1. Has someone raised a new topic? If the new topic is worth everyone’s time and requires the whole room, schedule it. If not, it was never a meeting topic to begin with. 2. Are we still actively deciding something, or just talking? Conversation without a decision is a social event. End the meeting and have the conversation separately. 3. Are you sticking around because there’s work left, or because leaving early feels awkward? If it’s the latter, do yourself a favor and leave. 4. Does the conversation still require everyone in the room? If not, release the folks who aren’t necessary. The answer to "Could someone benefit from getting some time back right now?" is almost ALWAYS yes. 5. Is the agenda complete? If yes, the meeting is over. It’s that simple. The meeting was scheduled to end at a specific time for a reason. Honor it. The people in that room made plans around it, whether you know what those plans are or not. And remember, done early is done right.

GDC 2026 is next week! After a few GDCs, here’s my 2 cents - a no-BS cheat sheet to make it actually worth it: 1️⃣ Register for events. Now. GDC is not just Moscone (actually, most of it isn’t). The real business happens at: - Side events - Private dinners - Partner meetups - Industry parties - Curated networking sessions Register in advance. The best events close early. I’ll drop a list of useful links in the comments (schedule, parties, networking tools, etc.). 2️⃣ Don’t ignore the lectures. GDC is a conference for a reason. Go over the schedule ahead of time. Look at: - The topics - The speakers - The companies behind the talks If someone interesting is speaking - go. You’ll: - Learn something relevant - Understand industry direction - Potentially meet the speaker after - Meet other people who care about the same topic Some of the best conversations happen right after a good talk. 3️⃣ Business is built between friends. The best deals I’ve seen didn’t start in a meeting room. They started: - In line for coffee - At a random side event - After a panel - At 11PM over a casual drink Don’t just “pitch.” Connect. Listen. Be curious. Long-term relationships > short-term transactions. 4️⃣ Stay close to Moscone (yes, even if it hurts). Hotels nearby are expensive. Still worth it. Why? - Most events are walking distance - You’ll save Uber time - You’ll stay flexible - You can jump between meetings fast - You won’t miss spontaneous opportunities At GDC, proximity = leverage. 5️⃣ Do booth reconnaissance before you land. Don’t wander randomly on the expo floor - it’s huge and chaotic. Before the expo: - Identify companies you care about - Check where their booths are - Map them - Plan your walking path Whether you want to: - Use their services - Partner - Sell - Integrate - Raise - Or just learn Preparation changes the quality of your conversations. 6️⃣ Learn the faces that matter. If there are 5–10 people who can change the course of your company… Know who they are. Know what they look like. You might run into them: - At a party - In the hallway - At a random talk If you don’t recognize them, you miss the moment. GDC rewards preparation. If you’re going to GDC 2026, drop a comment or DM me. Let’s make it a productive week. See you in San Francisco. 🚀 #GDC2026 #GDC #GameDev #GameDevelopment #GameIndustry #Networking

If I were to host a corporate event, there are a few things I would do differently. First, I wouldn’t host it to look important and that already eliminates half the conferences we attend. I’ve sat in rooms this year where the speaker list was strong, the branding was clean, the photos were perfect… yet, halfway through, I realized I was just watching someone’s highlight reel. Awards. Revenue. Growth. Impact numbers. Impressive? Yes. Transferable? Maybe not! And that’s the problem. We’ve mastered optics but we haven’t mastered outcomes. So if I were to host a conference, here’s what would change: 1. No achievement parades. If you’re speaking, you must break down how you did it. The ugly middle. The failed versions. The templates. If it can’t be replicated, it doesn’t get stage time. 2. The room would be small on purpose. If 300 people can hide, nothing meaningful happens. I’d rather have 60 people who can’t disappear. 3. Before you attend, you declare what you’re bringing. An introduction? A resource? A skill? Capital? Experience? No one shows up empty-handed. 4. There would be working blocks, not just talk blocks. Phones down. Laptops open. Real-time building. Draft the proposal. Outline the partnership. Map the pilot. 5. Panels would be cut by half. Most panels are polite monologues with microphones. We don’t need five opinions. We need one deep dive. 6. The convener wouldn’t be the hero. The goal wouldn’t be to build my platform. It would be to build shared wins the room can point to later. 7. Every event would have one defined problem. Not “innovation” or “leadership.” Something specific. Something uncomfortable. Something we can actually move. 8. Before people leave, they lock in next steps. Calendars out. Dates set. No vague “let’s connect.” 9. Three months later, there’s a public progress check. What moved? What stalled? Who followed through? 10. And here’s the interesting part: If people only want to attend to consume, I wouldn’t host it. Because I’ve tried building a collaborative room before. I started #Konnect4Impact to bring social impact founders and volunteers together to build projects, not just exchange business cards. What I met was this silent assumption: “It’s your thing. So feed us.” That’s when I understood that a lot of us don’t want community. We want curated experiences. And those are not the same thing. So maybe the real question isn’t how to make conferences bigger or flashier. Maybe it’s this: Are we brave enough to host rooms where everyone is responsible for the outcome? If you organize events, kudos to you! However, are you building audiences (which is quite fine), or are you building ownership?

Most virtual events don’t fail because people are distracted. They fail because people were never invited to participate. There’s a big difference between attending and engaging. We’ve all been on those calls. Cameras off. Everyone muted. A presenter talking into the void while the chat stays completely silent. Technically, everyone is there. But no one is actually in the experience. That’s not engagement. That’s spectatorship. What we’ve learned running hundreds of virtual events at couch + cork is that people will participate — happily — when you make it easy and safe to do so. Ask for a reaction and acknowledge it. Invite people to use the chat and respond to it. Give people something to notice, taste, react to, or solve together. When the environment feels participatory, the energy changes almost instantly; people lean in and suddenly the call stops feeling like a meeting. It feels like a shared experience. Curious heading into the weekend: Which is worse on a video call? A) The presenter who never pauses for interaction B) The awkward moment when someone says “Any questions?” and the silence goes on forever

If you want me to contribute at an event, lower the threshold, and show me that it matters. Most people do want to contribute. Not all in the same way, and not immediately, but the will is there. We want to matter in a group of people. I believe this is a core instinct. What gets in the way is usually not lack of interest. It is uncertainty. Is this the right moment? Is my input wanted? Will I be the only one speaking? Will I risk sounding stupid if I say something? Remember what it was like in school when it took a much bigger effort to raise your hand the first time and speak. Once you had said something the first time - and proved to yourself that it was safe - it became much easier to speak again. That is why I think good event design should work with two things at the same time: lowering the threshold for the first contribution, and also giving clear evidence that the contribution was received. Here are some ideas to use as early as possible when the event has started. In another post we can explore how we can do this before the event and start the contribution early. Examples of lowering the threshold: - do reflection in pairs, this also warms up the participants for networking later on - ask for one word, one emoji, or one short sentence instead of a full opinion - use a poll or word cloud before opening a broader discussion - do three quick "Hand up if you're ... " questions - allow people to contribute in different formats: speaking, writing, app, follow-up email - ask something specific and narrow instead of something big and abstract - let the first interaction be light, quick, and low-risk Examples of acknowledging contribution: - summarise back what was heard - show how participant input influenced the next part of the discussion - mention how many questions or responses came in - respond to unanswered questions afterwards - reflect themes back to the room: "what we are hearing from you is..." - revisit participant ideas later in the event, or even in the next one The fastest way to reduce future participation is to ask for input and then let it disappear. As participants we don't need every contribution to change the outcome. But we do need to know that it has landed. We want to feel that we matter.