And another Anime North is done and over: and of course, I did a lot of my career events. Here's a roundup, and some observations of the State Of Progeekery that I got from there.
EVENTS:
Fan To Pro: Bonnie and I did our fan to pro panel, based off of my last presentation. This one went decent, though I'm thinking of splitting it in two: one for "state of the geekonomy" or specific careers (or both), and one more on coaching and psychology. There's just so much to cover.
Careers In Videogames: This one was far more packed than I thought (more on that later), especially for a panel held at 11 at night on a Friday. The panel went very well, and the audience asked good questions. I also ran into several people there who were well on their way to good careers. I've had great response on this panel, and think I'll keep it, just tweaking it over time. I should have remembered to print out the "100+" list on game career sites however.
Brainstorming Your Dream Job: This is a new workshop I do based on the techniques in the Fan To Pro book; it's a brainstorming exercise, but the goal is to have everyone help each other out. This went pretty good, and some of the audience members actually began talking to me and others after the workshop to get more ideas or share advice. This went good for it's first time, but I think I need to make sure the handout includes a good resource list.
Otaku At Work – Why You Don't Have Your Dream Job: My panel of hard truths and sarcastic humor on people's career dreams, this seems to be one of my most successful panels in the last six months. People had fun with this at Anime North, swapping stories, making observations, and so on. It was packed despite being at the end of the convention. Another keeper, I think what I need to add is a few more "positives" to the humorous observations and exercises, most of which are just there to provide "fixes" to negative ideas.
Overall? Lots of great members of the audience and good participation. Which leads to a few more observations.
A FEW GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON PROFANS AND PROTAKU AT ANIME NORTH:
- I got more attendance at my panels this year than last year, more than I'd expect from convention growth alone.
- I also saw more "pro" and skill oriented panels this year, which I'd say reflected the audience desires more than anything else.
- Considering my observations at other conventions, I think the "profan" panels are a growing interest in the convention scene in general and the anime scene in particular.Diversity of ages. My audience members seemed to range from 18 to their 30's. This has been the norm for awhile, so I share this as I think it indicates a broad interest in progeek panels in anime fandom.
- Not enough people use LinkedIn.com.
- When you speak, and mention websites and such, remember folks will be there with their iPhones and the like and may go right to them during your lecture. I note this because it could change how people deliver lectures in the future.
GENERAL SENSE OF THE CONVENTION:
Well, it was a lot of fun. What more can I say? I'll see you there in 2011 . . .
– Steven Savage