Gaming Angels loves all things GDC. The recent GDC Canada, much like the upcoming GDC Online in Austin, Texas, focused on social gaming and the online gamer. This year’s GDC Online conference and expo is going to explore the development of these connected games, including social network titles, free-to-play web games, kid-friendly online titles, large-scale MMOs, etc.

GDC Online has announced a few of its ‘Live’ track lectures:

In ‘From Shadowbane to Wizard101: Strategies for Expanding Player Communities and Sustaining Enthusiasm After Launch’, J. Todd Coleman & Josef Hall of KingsIsle Entertainment will reference their 10 million registered-user online game and previous experience, discussing “sustaining community that transcends genre and generation, the importance of always having new content in queue, and strategies for communicating milestones and methods for remaining engaged in public conversation.”

‘Surviving Social Media: Advice From The SOE Playbook’ sees Sony Online Entertainment’s Linda Carlson discussing how the Free Realms and upcoming DC Universe Online creators “identify the best outlets for ROI, implement efficiencies in time and money, involve all departments for the common good, craft audience-specific messaging, provide proven strategies to engage and motivate fans, manage multiple games in social media, maintain brand strength” – with “plenty of war stories and scars to prove points!”

IMVU’s Brett Durrett will present ‘Building A Successful Business After Launch through Rapid Iteration’, showing how, by “creating systems that utilize A/B testing, instant customer metrics and a sophisticated deployment process IMVU is able to shorten the iteration loop and deploy new software to production up to 50 times per day” – leading to an avatar-heavy online environment with over 100 million registered users.

GDC Online will present specialized Summit programs, with in-depth business and technical advice on the up-and-coming technologies, including 3D stereoscopic games and iPad development.

In addition, GDC Online will be hosting the first ever Game Developers Choice Online Awards which will honor the accomplishments of the creators and operators of persistent online video games: big boys and indies alike.

GDC Online will score phat l00ts on October 5-8, 2010 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas.