NETWORKING
ACTIVITIES
NETWORKING EVENTS
Day One of GDS will blaze a new trail for business summits by dedicating an entire day to discovering common ground and connecting on a personal level. There’s no better foundation to build a partnership on than a truly genuine connection!
To make this possible, the GDS Networking Day will be brimming with both classic activities, and some very special ones. For this unique day, we’ll be encouraging attendees to avoid the serious business talk (except in our immunity zones!), and instead join the clever activities that - just through participation - allow you to discover and be discovered. That way attendees can simply enjoy meeting people and building new relationships.
And finally, we have something extra special for premium pass holders! The full GDS experience includes access to even more engaging networking activities. Don’t miss the chance to
create an even
more memorable experience at GDS2025!
ACTIVITIES
Human Bingo supercharges your ability to discover and be discovered by making attendees the targets of the bingo cards! Find the elusive personalities by following clues about people and studios in each cell, and the trackers who find their marks will get prizes, but the lucky ones are those who make the best impressions and new friends along the way.
What’s the point of being in Boracay if you can’t get serious with sand? Team up for Asian Difficulty (especially for you art studios out there), as you may be great with the stylus, but can you use this GDS-unique medium to show everyone that your skill really comes from the Mountain Dew coursing through your veins?!
This is Magic the Gathering with a clever twist, where we build a deck for you based on facts about your business. Let your deck speak for you and showcase the strengths of your studio. It might not be the most balanced deck of cards, but the fun lies in discovering who your potential Planeswalker collaborators actually are!
COMMON GROUNDS
Our new signature GDS activity uses photos and a friendship wall to help attendees discover common ground, and capture the moment to share with everyone!
Cats or dogs? Marvel or DC? This is a clever and unique way to find shared passions, and a fun opportunity to learn some quirky stats about the GDS community (and hand out cool prizes)!
BUSINESS SPEED MATCHING
This activity is for people who know exactly what they’re looking for and want to check out what everyone else is offering. Get your most burning questions and best answers ready as you sift through potential partners while making strong impressions with each of them.
Food is the universal language that unlocks the cheerful side in all of us. So if you want to bond with your fellow attendees in the best mood possible, we suggest doing it over a table-sized spread of the island's freshest harvest and perfectly seared catch. Take part in a mouth-watering feast with your fellow attendees in this traditional military Boodle Fight. It may be called a fight, but it's really about sharing!
In this popular dungeon-crawling board game, delve into an exciting adventure with your fellow attendees, but with a GDS twist that gives each player unique advantages based on their type of studio!
Locked in an island mystery, you and your fellow attendees must work to solve a case or if you play the Murderer, hide in plain sight. Each player must convince the others of their innocence and narrow down the list of suspects to win or survive!
This is a thrilling and inventive way to get to know your fellow attendees as you creatively craft your stories and investigate theirs.
IMMUNITY ZONE
The GDS Networking Day is all about building bridges and forming bonds, so sales talk is well meaningly outlawed during Day One. However, that’s not to say that talking shop is completely forbidden, as there’ll be special immunity zones where anything goes for attendees that want to get straight to business!
But be warned, there’ll be humorous and light-hearted penalties for sales talk outside the immunity zones…
PREMIUM PASS
With just a $100 add-on to your pass, you’ll get access to these interest-based matching activities with fellow premium pass holders, including other perks throughout the summit! Time well spent can go a long way, so don’t miss out and make the most of your GDS experience.
