Turns out there are volunteer opportunities for college students at all kinds of conferences. I was just at the Game Developer Conference in San Jose. They had almost 300 college students volunteering - giving directions, helping keep panels on schedule, helping at meals. In exchange for working about 16 hours, volunteers got free passes into all of the conference - panels, meals, discussions, the exposition floor.

Here are some pictures from the conference:
Here's a picture of some swag I got for being a speaker. Swag = "stuff we all get" - freebies. I also got a paddleball game, a notepad, some posters and stickers, and a Nintendo BrainAge t-shirt.


Here's a pic of the crowds on the exposition floor.


Here's the auditorium where the keynote speakers appeared. I got to see the producer of the new Battlestar Gallactica. They turned away hundreds of people (including me) for the president of Nintendo and Sony and for Will Wright.