Three bullet points
Here are some facts I've learned which bring clarity to the last few months:
- Informa, which operates GDC, is a UK company
- "Games" and "gaming" are not legally distinct in the UK the way they are in the US, where gaming specifically means gambling
- In the UK, "festival" is a popular term for "B2B conference".
Please adjust your complaints posting accordingly.
The "festival of gaming" makes completely transparent sense if you are an executive organizing B2B conferences from an office in London! These explanations have been floating around the event for the last few days and I've heard them now from several people who had independent knowledge of the "festival" thing in particular.
I think when you look at this year's GDC branding change as the sign of a parent company trying to intervene in the operations of a sub-brand it does not really understand, in a place it does not really understand, to host a community it clearly does not understand, then you might recognize this exact kind of thing from elsewhere in your own life. Sometimes - particularly after a big leadership change, which GDC had - a parent company feels that it is simply crucial to put its big thumbprint all over a sub-brand. It's happened to me before - several times!
Anyway. I hope this brings a little clarity!!!