Fan To Pro - The Blog of Professional Geekery

Launch or Be Lunch, Day 4 - OMGWTFBBQ!: Identity Design

Okay, show of hands!  Who hasn't started working on their webcomic/videogame/book/whatever yet?

Okay, those of you with your hands up, keep them up.  Okay, out of all of you, who already has their logo and stuff ready to go?

Okay, everyone whose hands have dropped, we'll meet you on the other side of the jump.  For the ones who haven't....

....what are you thinking?

Launch or Be Lunch, Day 23 - Beach Blanket Bingo, Office Edition

As I mentioned, here we are on the post of scheduling.  Scheduling is important.  Why?  Because I wrote yesterday's article one day late and should have done this one earlier.  Yes, bad writer.  no cookie.

But aside from that, I highly recommend Cupcake chardonnay for anniversary dinners it is vitally important that in the process of your work, you do not let other stuff slide by in the day to day things.  Yes, you're in charge of a vitally important part of the wheel, you can't afford to let anything slip.

Launch or Be Lunch, Day 24 - Labour of Love (Yes, I Stole a UB40 Album Title. Deal.)

(yes, I know I was going to talk about scheduling today, but I thought this one was more appropos.  I'll do it tomorrow.  Really.)

Ah, well here we are: the weekend.  After a long, hard time of working until 3am, dealing with life and generally working to the bone, it's relaxing time.  As a special bonus, Sunday's my anniversary; seven years of wedded bliss with my wife.  It's fair to say that I'm due for a long, leisurely weekend, filled with nothing but barbecues, gaming and catching up on some reading, right?

So the weekend is here, and like anyone else, we do what comes to naturally to couples in love.

That's right...we're still working.

The Deathly Mellows

Without warning, it strikes.  It’s 2 AM, you’re half asleep, and suddenly... INSPIRATION!   Hopefully, you’ll find the energy to write your idea down before falling asleep, but in the morning, what happens?  You’ve got to jump out of bed and go to work/school/job search/other responsibility, and by the time you catch a moment to read your idea over, it’s lost its sparkle.  What was “ZOMG, MUST DO!” at 2 AM looks kind of “meh,” by that evening.  All that stress piling up over the course of your day can drain your energy, and make fun ideas look a lot less appealing.  This can be a useful filter for making sure you don’t waste time on things that don’t really need doing, but what if you want to take that extra step and get them done anyway? 

Four Things to Discuss Before Starting a Colab

Whether it’s to make money or just for fun, if you’re doing a serious colab that will take a lot of dedication, there are some things you and your potential partner(s) need to clear up beforehand.

1. Other Priorities

What is most important to you, what is most important to them, and where does your shared project rank among those things?  You want to give about the same amount of darn.  If one person does not give a darn whatsoever, and the other gives advanced darn, problems will ensue.



2. Skills and Interests
What is each person bringing to the table?  Is there overlap?  Talk that over because there could be fighting over who does what.  Are there gaps?  Figure out how you two (or however many people) are going to complete everything that needs to be completed.



3. Communication Style

Some folks like to be kept updated every step of the way.  Others consider this spam and like to only be notified when something concerns them directly.  Keeping someone inundated with more than they want to know and keeping someone in the dark when they’re desperate for info are both recipes for disaster.

4. Purpose
If you’re working towards some tangible goal, then you need practical steps, a system of workflow, and deadlines.  If you’re noodling away at the project just for fun, then, by all means, noodle.  But if people are on different wavelengths here, the noodles will boil over and make a huge mess of the stove.


The basic rule is, if your approach makes a difference as to how your partner has to treat the project, make sure you clear it with them beforehand.

- Tamara Hecht

Collaboration Proclamation

I’ve been in a few creative collaborations in my day, and I’ve seen success come down to a few simple factors.  To work accordingly is nearly a guarantee that your project will reach completion (and be a really fun process).  To ignore these rules is a death sentence.

1. Don’t work with close friends.
Don’t.  Just don’t.

2. Collectively come up with a schedule that everyone can agree on.
Know ahead of time when things are expected to be done, and stay on track.  Even this must be decided as a group.  I’m the type to make huge plans and impose crazy deadlines on myself.  Not everyone appreciates that.  There are folks out there who have the attitude “if it gets done, it gets done, and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t.”  Not everyone appreciates that either.

3. Let people volunteer their skills.
That way, everyone ends up doing what they want to do, which makes it more fun, and more likely that they’ll actually do it.  Also, everyone can have their proud “moment to shine” when showing off the part that they created.



4. Communicate what else is going on in life.
Sometimes people are distracted or too busy, meaning it’s a bad time to start a new project with them.  If you’re already working on a colab and they (or you) are consistently late with their contribution, be open to discussing what’s going on.  Shifting responsibilities and/or deadlines at this point might save a whole lot of arguing.  However...

5. Have consequences.
If someone consistently flakes out, and all they can say is they’re “too lazy” or they “got busy,” kick them to the curb.  A second chance is nice, but if they’re on their third or fourth or hundredth chance, then chances are they are just using you.  Give them the ultimatum: Either have it done by Monday or you’re outta here.  



Don’t feel bad about doing this (I need to tell myself this on a regular basis).  That person joined voluntarily and committed to their portion voluntarily.  It’s a matter of getting the project done.  It’s not personal.*

6. Do your research about ALL the tasks involved.
One, it helps you if someone truly is too busy and you have to cover for them.  Two, it helps you understand what everyone else is dealing with.  The best case scenario for a colab is if all the people know what it’s like to do everyone else’s job.

I had a really rough colab almost fall apart because one person had unrealistically high expectations on our artist.  This person also never credited the artist because “What’s the big deal?  They’re just drawing pictures all day.**” 

Make it your business to understand what other people’s jobs entail.  It can save a lot of arguing and help you prioritize group tasks.

7. Don’t be a jerk.
This one is obvious, so I’m surprised at how often I see this rule broken.  Therefore, to recapitulate: don’t get bossy if things are under control, don’t butt into other people’s jobs if they’re handling it fine on their own, don’t freeload, don’t make someone else do all the work, don’t claim that you yourself are doing all the work (unless you are, but in that case, go in with a more tactful strategy), and be kind when critiquing others’ contributions.* 

8. Don’t work with close friends.
This bears repeating.

*See Rule #1.

**See Rule #7.

-Tamara Hecht

Taking the Spork

“If you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
-Yogi Berra

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that there’s a single straight-up match between a passion and a career.  For example, just because you’re into music, it doesn’t mean your best shot at career happiness is to become a singer-songwriter.  There are lots of people with different jobs who collaborate to work on one thing.  Let’s go with that music example again.  There’s the talent, the manager, the people who market the band, band merchandise designers and salespeople, *deep breath* music video choreographers, directors, and editors, people who do lighting for the shows, people who arrange the tracks, album artists, *deep breath* people who manufacture and repair instruments and amps and microphones, copyright lawyers, stylists for the talent, and people who manufacture recording gear.  Maybe you can think of more.  The point is, there are lots of careers related to each fandom, so if the first job you think of isn’t your cup of tea (or financially feasible at the moment), keep thinking.  There’s more out there than you realize.

How to Measure Your Fan To Pro Progress

"I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it."
-Stephen Leacock


Yeah, I totally had a different post for today, but Steve’s post yesterday was tres inspiring.  So read his post if you haven’t already and then come back here.

The One Thing You Do NOT Want to Emulate the Japanese For

It's common knowledge that Japan is the foreign culture most emulated by geeks. From anime to J-rock to Gothic Lolita fashion, Japanese stuff is everywhere - and it's even seeped into the geeky output of North American media companies. (For more proof of this, see Marvel's new anime series, otherwise known as Iron Gainax Man.)

However, there is one area where you most definitely do NOT want to emulate the Japanese - vacation time. A new study shows the Japanese use less vacation time than anyone else on the planet.

The Most Important Thing I've Ever Learned

As important as it is to have a big, wild, crazy dream, you have to have a neat, tiny, manageable plan to go with it.  I spent 24 years thinking big dreams needed big plans to bring them to reality.  No.  No no no no no no no.

You’ve got to reframe.  Big plans require a lot of money, special places, and pricey equipment that you won’t be able to afford or won’t have access to.  Perhaps the toughest thing about big plans is that they need a team of skilled and reliable people - yeah, try finding that.

It’s okay for the ultimate goal to match your wildest dreams.  In fact, that’s the inspiration it takes to keep you going.  But your path up the mountain had better involve producing INDEPENDENT and TANGIBLE results.