Fan To Pro - The Blog of Professional Geekery

Promoting Professional Geekery #23: Start A Pro Section At A Con

The roundup of Promoting Professional Geekery is here.

OK you're speaking at a con about careers.  You might be managing an entire track of career events.  So what more can you do to encourage people attending your convention or conventions to try the route of the professional geek?

Why, by inviting other professionals - but not just to speak.  Give them tables, give them their own area.  Start a Pro Section at your con.

Promoting Professional Geekery #11: Career Track

Last week I suggested that, to help promote professional geekiness and the fan-to-pro idea, that you speak at a convention and share your knowledge (or at least horror stories).  OK, so far so good, maybe you're even doing that.

So let's take it farther and reach even more people.

I want you to go to a convention and inspire/run/create a career TRACK.

Promoting Professional Geekery #10: Present At A Convention

OK folks, you want to share your professional fan stories with people and inspire them.  So let's ask - why aren't you at a convention spewing wisdom in every direction like a water sprinkler of knowledge?

(And if your answer is "because I'm relaxing or I'm usually found intoxicated Saturday night dressed as Dean Venture" then nevermind).

But for the rest of you who don't mind a little work or not being involved in an animation-related scandal, go speak at a convention and share your career wisdom.

Look you've got a few years (or decades) under your belt doing geeky things for money legally.  You have a lot of experience and skills and interesting tales.  Use that experience before you forget it or become completely cynical!

Here's a few things to try:

• Tell your success story, possibly along with other people with similar stories.
• Tell your greatest failures, and talk with other people who've made terrific mistakes.  This is a great way to get attention and use a contrarian approach to teach about geeky careers.
• Organize a specific panel or workshop around your given knowledge.
• Try a freeform discussion about career options.
• Do a roundtable of people on a given career subject.
• If you're not good at speaking or frankly not that interesting, get your friends/co-workers to do panels.  Hey, you might have a future as an agent.

I'm sure you have many excuses not to do this, since it can be quite stressful, so let me address those:

• You feel you have nothing to share.  If you've had a good career you can share that.  If you have a bad one you can be a warning.
• You're afraid to speak in public.  That's not going away without trying to overcome it - so here's your chance.
• You're not a good speaker.  Well, see the above.  Learn.  Or, heck, record something.
• You have no conventions to go to.  OK, that's a problem, but maybe you can inspire people or take that trip you wanted.

Having spoken at conventions for years, having helped with them (heck, having written a book on career events), I want to emphasize this is one of the most fun methods to spread the fan-to-pro message.  It's social, it's entertaining, it's a growth experience, and it reaches people directly.

So, here's your assignment - what con in your area could you speak at in the next six months - and what are you going to do there?

- Steven Savage

Convention Idea: The Hall Of Education

Behold, the Hall of Education!  Go forth and learn!

OK, that sounds corny.  No, I wouldn't use that introduction for . .  well anything . . . but that's what I've christened an professional-geek oriented Idea I want to suggest for your conventions.

The Hall of Education (come on work with me here).

Convention Thoughts

My experiences at Anime North and KinToki-Con 2011 are stil burning in my head, and I wanted to share a few interesting insights I had for progeeks and for conventions.

KinToki-Con: Review Part 2

After reviewing KinTokicon in general, I wanted to focus specifically on their Progeek activities - and what your con can learn from them.

First of all, the convention right off the bat, first year, made sure they had a professional track.  They noted it specifically, noted the interest in their audience, and divided up events appropriately.  This was a classy and smart move - and it set the stage for future growth.

A lesson to learn here is that to really do a professional track - it helps to kind of just do it.  I also think calling it out gave the con a professional atmoshpere.

Secondly there was a nice mix of pro panels to start.  I think that's also foundational - you want to mix it up, within the limits of your audience's interests.

Third, they did something I want to see more of - they invited a college of art and design to have a table there.  The people were thrilled to be there and got a surprising amount of attention.  As I've said, I've seen this done before - but mostly at larger cons.  They did this from the start.

Toss on these foundational elements to a con already well-run?  Definitely hit one out of the ballpark.  I think they showed a lot of promise for the first year, but these two moves show an inclination toward professionalism I want to see more of.

Well, heck, I plan to be back, so I'll be there encouraging it directly.

- Steven Savage

KinToki-Con: Review Part 1

This is actually going to be a two-parter on attenting KinToki-con.  First a review - and then my impressions of their professional focus.

KinToki-Con is a new anime-themed convention in Sacramento, CA.  Since I've never been to Sacramento, and since they invited me, I wanted to give it a shot.  Of course I did some career panels - along with some creativity panels.  I'll let you know how those went.

So let's get to it!

Anime North Review 201

And it's our annual review of Anime North, which you get once a year because, well, I'm there every year.

This time I ran a few new events and wanted to cover them - and I had a few interesting progeek insights to share.

Go Farther: Cosplay Cons

Cosplay conventions.  If you've ever been to one - and you're not much of cosplayer - it's a surreal, wonderful world.  There's amazing craftsmanships, characters brought to life, characters remade in new genders and genres.  You're not only through the looking glass, but everyone in Wonderland looks fabulous.

Cosplay cons, with their specific focus, may not seem ideal for career events.  I, of course, beg to disagree, since I think any convention is good for a career event.  Obviously I have some suggestions for how you can add career events to Cosplay Cons  or this would be pretty short . . .

How To Network at a Con

A convention is a great place to meet new people, make business contacts, and learn about the industry you want to get into.  However, cons are supposed to be fun, and for some people, “networking” means “crisis” more than “opportunity.”  If you’re the sort of person who looks at networking or other career-related activities as a reason to hide inside a mech suit and never come out, fear not.  It IS possible to enjoy yourself and network at the same con.