conventions

Banned Books Week Focuses On Comics And Graphic Novels

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Here’s the news on that one.

May I humbly suggest that as per my post on Banned Books:

  • This gives you great material for your comics site or group.
  • This could inspire a good convention event.
  • Would be great for a reading room.
  • Have a giveaway at your convention, store, or shop.

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.musehack.com/, publishes books on career and culture at http://www.informotron.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.

Make It So: More Specific Career Panels

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Awhile ago I spoke at Con-Volution, a new convention in the Bay Area (we are blessed with cons out here) that was very practically focused. It had a lot of panels examining things in depth, talking specific skills, and getting pretty deep into doing things. I of course took my usual career roadshow there becaus I’m me. You know me.

It also got me thinking. In depth panels? Skill-building workshops? People with career interests. Career Panels?  Hmmm . . .

Right now there’s a lot of separate skillsets you need to do your job search and career building properly. There’s also specific things you have to do to get your career going that are also separate skillsets – making a good resume, for instance. Conventions, which often have “effectively doing stuff” events could have workshops and panels that address these various elements and skillsets. Not just a resume panel here or a website workshop there – instead have as many as possible that cover all aspects of careers.

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Promoting Professional Geekery #48 – Use Your Progeeky Viewpoint On Geeky Events

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(For more Promoting Professional Geekery, see this Roundup of past columns.)

Geek events are great for careers – they let you attend career events, network, etc.  You know I’m a big backer of going progeek at conventions and more.  I kind of write about it obsessively.

But there’s also a way to help people who do the events to make it pay off for their career no matter what they do.

That may sound odd – after all running a Hetalia game contest or a panel on the history of Star Trek may not sound that professional.  But it’s really all in perspective – you can help people see the professional potential in what they do.

See, running a con, running a fannish event, running a club, takes a lot of skills and abilities.  A lot of events are like businesses, or seminars, or other supposedly “professional” things.  The experiences of doing them could be valuable to careers – as long as people know how to leverage them and portray them to clients and employers.

That’s where you come in with this professionally geeky potential – helping people see the opportunities.

See you, the progeek, can look at these events and help people realize how to use them.  It just takes a little perspective, training your eye to see the opportunities out there.  For instance:

  • If people work together at a well-run con, they should act as references for each other.  It’s literally like working together.
  • People who do specific geeky events should put their skills on their resumes (and note their hobbies in more details).
  • Geeks who publish various progeeky/geeky things should put them on their resumes, LinkedIn profiles, use samples, etc.

You can probably think of many more opportunities right now just looking at that list.  For that matter, you can probably think of a few friends who should be sprucing up their resumes right about now.

This is because you have the experience to see the professional, and thus progeeky potential in people.  So start taking that unique viewpoint into fannish groups, cons, gaming teams, and more.  Start looking for the professional potential – and helping people realize it.

It’s all around you.  Trust me, I know . . .

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach for professional and potentially professional geeks, fans, and otaku. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/