Halo action figures once made my job easier.
I had to get to know a team operating several servers on a project I worked on at a past employer - and being the Project Manager I had to get to know everyone. This included people who I'd never met, on a team I didn't know existed. I needed to get to know them - and get some things moving project-wise.
Fortunately, someone had Halo action figures. Sensing a fellow geek, I struck up a conversation with that team member, and had an instant in to the team.
Being an unrepentant geek helped my communications with others.
Continue reading "Progreek Pride: Communication In The Geek Nation" »
If you're a geek, a fanboy, fangirl, otaku, sports nut, what have you be proud that you know how to relax.
Seriously. You know how to relax. You know what you like, as I've said further, and that's not just important in your career, but in your life. You have a life - a life where you know what you enjoy doing to blow off steam.
Think for a moment how fortunate you are to know that three issues of manga will help you chill out after a month of software releases. Be glad that you know a marathon World of Warcraft session will restore your sanity after you met your publishing deadline. Appreciate the fact that ESPN is therapeutic after a hard day at the hospital.
Thats one of your advantages as a progeek - when you've got too much pro going on (or too much else going on), you've still got the geek to help you get back in touch with yourself and in general just have fun. Knowing how to have fun means you can relax and refresh. Being relaxed and refreshed means you can recover from stress - or face stress that's still out there.
So embrace your geekines, progeek. Your geekiness gives you a way to come down from a bad day that some people don't have. Imagine what it would be like not to have your DVD collection, or your love of retrogaming, or your stack of well-worn Warhammer 40K novels. Take a moment to feel some sympathy for those unable to relax as you do (and perhaps vow to help them out).
You're a progeek. It's not just about your ability to work using fannish inclinations - you also have the ability to use your fandom to relax.
- Steven Savage
I love technology, video games, and social media.
I love animation, anime, the kinetic visual creativity that it allows us.
I learn a lot from my obsessions. I learn of new technologies as I follow gaming news - even if they don't relate to my job. I learn about the complexities of international businesses as I follow anime news. I learn what actors are doing in what games and what anime, I see trends and future possibilities.
You, the pro-fan, the pro-geek, the hopeful working otaku, ought to be incredibly, insanely proud of that fact that your obsessions are teaching you so much.
Continue reading "Pro-Fan/Pro-Geek Pride: We Learn, Indeed We Do" »
Whatever your career, it helps to think differently. Thinking differently helps you solve problems others see no solution too. Thinking differently lets you blaze new trails and find new things. For that matter, thinking differently keeps you from getting bored.
This is one of the things that makes me proud to be a progeek - because progeeks, the fans and geeks and otaku who make their hobbies into careers, are great at thinking differently. It's a great edge in your career.
Continue reading "Pro-Fan Pride: The Power of Thinking Differently" »
What makes you great as a profan/progeek - or a fan/geek/otaku that wants to turn their hobbies into a job?
The fact that you know this.
Seriously. You, from your love of anime to your disturbingly deep knowledge of sports statistics, have an idea of just what you want to do with your life. Your fanfic, fanart, web pages, blog posts, reviews, what have you all give you a bloody good idea of just what you should be doing in your career.
Right now you're lucky. Right now you have direction. Right now you have something you care passionately, deeply, obsessively about and will push yourself to achieve. It could be anything from finishing a video game to writing a web page.
But you care and you know what you want to do.
Continue reading "Pro-Fan Pride: The Joy of Knowing" »
