Writer, Agilist, Elder Geek
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.
Is your career in a rut? Is your business in a rut? Are you in a rut?
If you're in this situation, you've probably been told "think outside the box," which basically means "get outside your current assumptions" to see new opportunities and solutions.
This is wrong. You should not think outside the box career-wise.
You should get out of the box, set it on fire, and jump up and down on the ashes before sweeping them into the river to be washed out to sea forever. You then need electroshock therapy to forget your box. By the time "the box" has imprisoned you it's not something to get out of a little bit – it is something to DESTROY.
In fact, here's a guilty secrets for us geeky, neo-literati, otaku fan-types. We are just as capable as anyone of being able to straightjacket our minds. In fact, we're probably very good at it since we're use to using our imaginations, and we can dream up an amazing amount of ways to shackle ourselves.
A quick note – since last week's "Definition" column I found the term Fansourcing is also being used when media producers outsource things to their fans. So I'm going to slightly tweak the way I'm using it, and refer to Fansourcing as "outsourcing things to fans" and the subset I discuss is when fans outsource to fans.
Hey, it's internet terminology, it's evolving almost as fast as the technology.
So last time I discussed what Fansourcing was, and I just clarified it for the upcoming discussion.
So now, why outsource fan to fan?