The games industry, like other major industries, has its fair share of trade shows, conventions, and gatherings to bring members of the industry together. Gaming Insiders Summit isn’t trying to be a trade show or an exhibition, but instead it’s bringing together professionals in the game industry to network and discuss the top issues of the day.

Gaming Insiders, which bills itself as “the leading network for professionals in the videogame industry,” offers a weekly newsletter as well as carefully curated communities for professionals to share ideas on topics such as Growth, Free to Play games, Design, Kids, VR, and Tech. The upcoming Gaming Insiders Summit 2015, being held this September 24th and 25th at the Intercontinental Hotel in San Francisco, brings together a wide range of professionals to make deals, share knowledge, and network.

The founder of Gaming Insiders, David Kaye, spoke with [a]listdaily about the Summit and what it means to the participants.

David Kaye

Gaming Insiders Summit is a unique event for gaming professionals — can you tell us how it started, and how it’s grown to its current size and importance?

Gaming Insiders grew out of our online community of gaming professionals who use our network to share their thoughts, opinions and contacts. The Summit has grown alongside the community, and we’ve always tried hard to curate the events as carefully as the membership. I think that’s given us a reputation for putting the right people in the same room.

Why should industry professionals, and especially marketers, attend the Gaming Insiders Summit?

For marketers in particular, our Growth group has become the largest and most active group of professionals sharing cutting edge insights and real data. We’ve drawn the speakers for the Growth track (our largest at the Summit) directly from this group. There are two kinds of people you learn the most from: domain experts who have solved similar problems, and people with different experiences that can help you approach things from another perspective. You’ll find both in our sessions.

Tell us about some the speakers and what they’re speaking about at the Summit.

There’s a lot I’m looking forward to, but here are a few: Alex Rigopulos will be talking about the future of Harmonix on new platforms and the changing publishing and funding landscape. Warner Bros Interactive has had an incredible year — David Haddad will be talking about their secret sauce. Dan Gray from ustwo, who led development on Monument Valley, will be talking about why they chose VR for their next project.

What do you think are going to be the hottest issues in the gaming industry that will be discussed at the Summit and beyond?

Several themes and questions run through several of the sessions. First, where are the new market opportunities, both geographically and from a platform perspective How do you deal, both tactically and strategically, with a gaming landscape that is so diverse and competitive Now that commercial VR is on the horizon, what kind of experiences will bring in mainstream audiences

What’s the game you are most looking forward to playing in the next few months?

Fallout 4 and Campo Santo’s Firewatch. The Campo Santo team is phenomenally talented, and I think it’s going to be one of the most compelling narrative gaming experiences of the year. You can catch Sean Vanaman from Campo Santo at the Summit.