Come to GDC 2017 and level up your community management skills!

The 2017 Game Developers Conference is nearly here, so organizers want to offer a quick heads-up about some of the great forward-thinking talks you can see at the conference's popular Community Management Summit.

The talks that take place during this one-day Summit are meant to give game makers practical insight and actionable advice on how to do right by your game's community of players -- everything from inspiring them to supporting and rewarding them.

For example, Lionbridge Game Services' Chloe Swain has helped bring her fair share of game communities to a dignified close, and in her GDC 2017 Community Management Summit talk on "Closing Down Game Communities: How to Plan a Dignified Breakup" she'll share what she's learned to help you avoid some key mistakes.

That's important, because the care and planning you put into shutting down your game's community will directly affect the legacy of the game and that of your overall brand. In her talk Swain will explain best practices that will ensure your community walks away feeling they've been treated with respect and gives them the best goodbye possible.

She'll also walk you through how to lay the groundwork with a solid schedule and messaging plan so that you and your community can part ways on good terms. That way, when you run into each other again, you can both feel good about it!

Plus, expert community manager Emma Siu will deliver a talk abot "S***'s on Fire!: A Cautionary Tale in Community Crisis Management" in which she'll frankly about handling crisis at product launch and managing live issues within communities. It promises to be a heartwarming story of pizza, empathy, and community management.

In a practical sense, Siu's talk aims to explore the importance of wise handling of difficult circumstances, how it can and does inspire trust and long-term player commitment, as well as how from chaos, something amazing and fulfilling can arise.

All these sessions and more will be part of the GDC Community Management Summit, just one of eight that will take place on Monday and Tuesday, February 27th and 28th at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA during the first two days of GDC 2017.

Stay tuned for more exciting session announcements in the weeks to come, and make sure to save some money by registering early -- the deadline to register for passes at a discounted rate is January 18, 2017.

GDC 2017 itself will take place February 27th - March 3rd at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. For more information on GDC 2017, visit the show's official website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS.

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