PAX Prime can be four days of delight or total hell depending on your level of preparation. Take it from Maya Kramer and Matthew M., veterans of the indie convention scene, who created this checklist of “things you don’t think of until you need them.”

The team at Furiously Inactive Games did a ton of research for their first We Slay Monsters booth and it helped immensely. Read their lessons on laying out space, refining an elevator pitch, and staying hydrated.

Chicago independent Willy Chyr posted his experience showing Relativity at Indy Pop Con. He capitalized on the chaos of the convention floor to gauge the length of player emersion and identify points of friction. Playtesting like this is a fantastic way to get more mileage out of a small con.

The folks at White Lotus Interactive went all out on their GDC booth for Xing, their first-person puzzle adventure game. Here’s an extensive photoblog documenting the entire experience. Kudos on the extensive use of props!

Jan Jirkovsky of Dreadlocks recently published a thorough postmortem for Dex, their cyberpunk action RPG, at EGX Rezzed 2014. Really great roundup that digs into total costs breakdown, time spent on preparation, what went right, and things to consider next time.

Chicago indies The Amiable exhibited Tetrapulse in the Indie Minibooth and Kickstarter Arcade this year. Check out this great postmortem on networking with other devs, marketing mishaps, and the emotional roller coaster that is exhibiting at a huge conference.

Instead of purchasing ridiculously expensive iPad stands to showcase their games Color Sheep and Orion’s Forge, Trinket designed DIY tablet holders. Top-notch ingenuity, professional results. Read about their exploits in the PAX Indie Showcase, too.

Chicago indie devs, The Men Who Wear Many Hats, published this breakdown of expenses for their 10×10 in the Indie MEGABOOTH. They also experimented with an iCade for Max Gentlemen from the Six Pack Game Jam.