One of the really fun parts of being a game developer is getting to attend gaming conferences and events and call it ‘work’. This weekend is PAX East 2013 here in Boston — gamers of all varieties are coming in from far and wide to celebrate gaming in all its forms in a huge weekend-long convention. How awesome is that?!

Rich & Katie at PAX East 2010

PAX East has a special little place in my heart — not only is the biggest gaming conventions in Boston, but the first time I attended was in 2010. Following the C&D from Activision, PAX EAst 2010 was our big chance to talk to some members of the press about our story, and fellow director Richard Flores and I did exactly that, getting interviews with Kotaku and Joystiq among others that became a part of the momentum that carried us through to working out an agreement with Activision and releasing Episode 1 just a few months later.  So from the get-go, for me, PAX East is always linked to promoting and talking about what’s going on with Phoenix Online.

Back in 2010, those were my first in-person interviews, and with the feeling that so much was on the line, I was so nervous I barely slept at all the night before! Thankfully, most of those nerves are long-gone, but the excitement about getting to meet people from the gaming press and getting to talk about what the projects I and so many others love and pour a crazy amount of time and hard work into hasn’t gone away at all!

Plus there’s being surrounded by the whole of gaming culture, distilled into a concentrated dose that you just get to soak in for three days straight. There are awesomely detailed cosplay costumes, line games played with total strangers while waiting for panels, trying out new games in the exhibition hall — there’s just something welcoming and even a little magical knowing you’re standing in a huge convention center with thousands of strangers and you’ve at least one thing in common with every single of one of them.

This year will be another memorable one! I’ll be meeting three of our team members in person for the first time, talking about our current projects–Cognition Episode 3, Jane Jensen’s Moebius, Mad Orange’s Face Noir–fitting in some interesting panels (I’m especially looking forward to this one about story in indie games, featuring Wadjet Eye’s Dave Gilbert), and being a part of this celebration of games, gamers, and gaming culture.

And if you’re interested in keeping up with what I’m up to over the weekend, follow @katiehal16 or @POStudios on Twitter for pictures and more! Going to be at PAX East? You can check out and play Cognition at two booths! Our demo will be at the IndieGameStand booth(#797) and the Indie Royale folks at the Born Ready Games booth (#1121). And say hi if you see one of us around wearing our red Phoenix Online shirts!