Just passionate about Education, Gaming, and Family
Social Media
The Molyjam is Over LONG LIVE MOLYDEUX!
01 month ago
So we finished up things in Austin and even ended the night with an award ceremony. I have a lot of video to go through and edit down, but for now please take a look at this:
Intel AppUp and Tizen and Jolie O’Dell
07 months ago
So I am just getting settled in from my recent trip to Seattle. I went there to attend the Intel AppUp Elements Conference. It was a small conference, maybe about 500 or so attendees. While there, we discussed the migration of the AppUp App Store to a new platform called Tizen. I won’t get into a technical explanation of what AppUp and Tizen are, mostly because I am not an engineer. What I will say, from a business standpoint, is that this is another opportunity to develop and spread your brand to another audience. Right now, that audience is a bit on the small side when comparing it to other app stores. However, Intel seems to be really behind this effort and they are investing a lot of money, time and tools into it. They have set a lofty goal of 6M users by September of next year which is HUGE, considering that they currently have only 300k users. I personally plan on keeping an eye on this platform to see where it goes with the new ultra-books and embedded platforms of the future.
Before reading this next portion listen to Jolie O’Dell’s speech here
I was sent to The Elements Conference in Seattle to seek out business opportunities. While there, I had some time to take in some sessions. One session stood out the most to me. The one that was given by Jolie O’Dell was about how technology is being use to impact the social good.
Imagine this soft spoken voice basically calling you out and saying that all you work on and are passionate about is garbage. I think after the first few well written lines of her speech people quickly realized that this was not the message they thought they were going to hear. The long and short of her speech was that we, the developers, have the power to change the world with this magic we call technology. And we have the responsibility to do so.
Her message was great and I loved it. However, her delivery was crap. If you are trying to get people to join your cause and “do the right thing” you probably shouldn’t start off by telling them that the stuff they love and are passionate about is garbage. Also don’t follow it up by listing other companies who are better than us because they do “x”. At one point in time she said that about 90% of the room were Atheist, which further shows the amount of assumption that had been put into her speech.
At first, I was getting into her speech. But then I felt like I was being yelled at and called a bad atheist… even though I consider myself to be a good Christian. So then this thought came into my mind… “Jolie why don’t you do what you are telling us to?” It started to bother me so much that by the end of her speech I went up to her and asked that very question. Her reply? “Oh, I don’t think my bosses would appreciate it.” — FAIL! You can’t yell at people and tell them they are not doing the “right” thing and then never give them a resolution as to how to do the “right” thing. And then to not even be practicing your own advice, that is just hypocrisy at it’s best.
Anyways, I would love to hear your opinion…
Finding Your Voice and Keeping It!
01 year ago
Yeah, I know its been a while since I have blogged. I have been very busy with several projects – mainly this one. On this blog post I wanted to discuss the subject of keeping true to yourself. You may have read some of this in Gary Vaynerchuk’s book Crush It but I want to put it in my own words. When you conduct business you should always be true to yourself. Keep your personality in everything you do. The main reason is this:
Collectively our customer’s BS meters are getting more accurate. If you dare to venture into the world of social media your followers need to see the same person they contact on the phone to buy something as they do in youtube videos and twitter status updates!
As you can tell from the content I produce, I have a casual approach to business. Don’t let this fool you. I am after the money just as any other sales person is, I have to pay the bills. However, my approach with customers is to build a true relationship. Which is the same thing I strive for on the different social media mediums. It’s all about the relationships! Find what works for your DNA though. My solution is my own. If you are the type of guy or gal who is all business – all the time, then be the best person out there at that. On the hand if you are a joker who loves to make people laugh, let that show in your personality. Just make sure that when you get into twitter, facebook, youtube, flickr and the rest that your push that same image.
Anyways that’s my post. In the comments below, let me know what your style is and why it works for you. Thanks for reading!
Welcome Back GarageGames!
31 year ago
Today GarageGames announced a comeback. The company formerly known as GarageGames, then formerly know as InstantAction, then oddly called TorquePowered is now back… as GarageGames. They have not announced who is the owner of the company just yet, but they have announced Eric Priesz as the CEO. Another very noticeable change to GarageGames is the price point. The 3d tool set has dropped to $99 USD which is considerably less than their rival Unity 3d. GarageGames has an old and loyal community that will follow this comeback and help move the brand back out into the spotlight. I am willing to bet you will see price moves from Unity this year in order to try and put more pressure on GarageGames. Needless to say this will be an interesting year for middleware providers and users. What do you think of the comeback of GarageGames?
Listen to Your Customers!
41 year ago
Today I posted a link on twitter and facebook referring to the hacker that took an MMO game hostage I also added that I thought the company should pay more attention to their, but some readers took that as though I was supporting the actions of the hacker. This was not the case. My thoughts were that I felt if the company paid more attention to their community this hack probably would not have happened. I know you can not please every whim from your customer base, however if several of your customers are asking for the same things then you should/need to appease them. There are plenty of companies that are showing excelent examples of how to handle and help their community. And one that is just surprising me everyday is Microsoft and its twitter Xboxsupport If you have a xbox follow this crew they are unstoppable. Let’s look at one particular case and break it down on how they are listening and ENGAGING with their community.
Here is a conversation I was following in twitter:
This is how you should do it!
Okay so lets break this down. I will break this down in way so that people who don’t use twitter will understand the full awesome of this post. My friend Chupacaubrey was trying to play Battlefield Bad Company 2 and could not connect. She … expressed her frustration to her entire follower list which is 557 people (potential customers). She did not message xbox directly and she was not really saying anything pleasant at all. However on the next message we see Microsoft’s Xbox Support team jump into the conversation. They were Actively Listening to their community. Meaning they must have search terms going for negative sentiment towards the word xbox. I could go into further detail but that will be a later post. Now from this point on they go into a dialogue of troubleshooting and blah blah… the meat of THIS post is in the first two messages. Microsoft is now controlling this negative experience before she would even call tech support or continue to spread negative messages to her friends. As you can see she turn off her xbox in frustration and I am sure she could have continued to say negative things about MS and there live network. But now the tables have turned, the team is in action fixing the issue. Even if they don’t fix it think about this: She did not even get the chance to call tech support! If you can’t see the awesome in that, then you need to close your doors and stop doing business now. Also note one very important thing. This entire conversation was public. They didn’t go behind a closed door to fix the issue. Let me know what you think?? Can they keep this up? Is this feasible for every business?
IGDA Microtalks Video
01 year ago
Hey guys I just wanted to drop a quick note(I forgot to do this earlier) I am releasing one section of the IGDA Austin Microtalks video on my Youtube channel each week. I just posted one tonight so please take a look. And yes if you can please subscribe it does help me continue to bring more content to you! Thanks again!
Part 1
Part 2
Being a Connector
61 year ago
So today I connected some people in my network to help them work together. So why is this something to blog about? Why is it so important? Why should you be doing it as well? I will tell you why!
So you have a few people following you on twitter and facebook. And you now have a sizable collection of people that you are “linkedin” to. There is more to them than just using them find you your next gig. I have found that one of the best things I have done is to connect my connections. When people ask for help in certain areas you should connect them with someone else in your network. Here are the reasons why this is so very beneficial:
1. It makes you more effective – Your peers in your network will start to see you as a person who can get things done, even if its not something you are proficient in. This is obviously good when it comes to business development and getting new jobs.
2. Solidifies relationships within your network – It’s the ultimate ‘Thank You!’ Giving a web developer or software engineer work by dropping his name equals food on his table and the ability to take of the family. It’s always good to have people connect your name with money.
3. That feel good feeling – I try not to mix feelings with business very often, but there is a lot to be said about helping out a friend. Keep in mind my earlier post about treating each connection as a true friend and you should understand why helping out someone is a good thing.
Now here is something that I should also mention. I have a short list of people who are my go to guys and gals for certain disciplines. I suggest you build a list as well so that when you are talking to someone in person you can quickly name drop the right person. This shows confidence in the person you just suggested and it shows you have a good relationship as well.
My List
Dan McCollum – Game Designer
Glenn Banton – Social Media / Localization
David Hanas – Web Development
Mindaugas Jokubaitis – Art Team(digital art)
Deborah Fike – Project/Team Management
David Higgins – Game Developer/Software Engineer
Greg Holden – Game Developer/Software Engineer
Keep up the relationship building!
The Indie Force is Strong in Austin
21 year ago
Many people have asked why I decided to stay put in Austin when the gaming space is so large in California. I could list a million reasons all dealing with financial issues, however the big reason for me is the indie movement. Yes Austin is known for its indie music scene but the creative talent doesn’t stop there. Austin is home to over 60 game studios both indie and AAA and we have several events every month for games it seems. A few nights ago Austin hosted the Game On event. I decided I needed to get out and mingle a bit and I took along my camera. Please give me feedback on the video! Thanks for watching!
Related links:
I Want to Say Thank You
51 year ago
As many of you know my current job at InstantAction has come to an end. I lived a great dream to be able to work at the company I have loved for so long. It’s sad to see it go and to see so many friends with out a job. But I don’t want create a blog that focuses on the negative, there is too much positive to focus on right now. And mainly I want to say Thank You!
I want to say thank you to Eric Preisz mainly for hiring and giving me the opportunity to work along a great team. He gave me the chance of life time and it was a great value to me and something I will never forget. As it turns out, he is a very awesome boss and I mean that with the utmost sincerity. I also want to say thanks to Michael Perry, Derek Bronson, Michael Blenden, Matt Fairfax, and Deborah Fike. There has only been one other job in my life where the people were as passionate as these guys and gals here. These people, whom I consider close friends, will stay with me for ever. I can only hope they thought I was just as passionate about InstantAction as they were. I hope that I get the chance to work with them again some day… and some day soon!
Why am I taking the time to thank these people? Because I consider them friends and not just networking connections. Yup, I am going to turn this post into a business post…. 
Some people consider my network connections pretty large, I am no Gary Vaynerchuk, but I am getting there. However, when I make connections with people I try and build REAL friendships with them. The kind where the people I am connected to actually care about me and I care about them. Competitor or not. As the result of these friendships, I have built over the years, I am seeing an abundance of real concern and connections with many job opportunities. As soon as I announced I was unemployed 5 opportunities were sent my way. These were not the “Hey I saw this on the job board you should look at it” but it was more “Hey sorry to hear you are a bum now, but I have an opening and would love for you to interview”. I even got a phone call asking, “Why the H#LL didn’t you tell me?!” followed by an “ok well let’s get you going again”. I am not sharing this to brag, I don’t think I am some kind of BizDev wizkid, or that my skills are so awesome that people throw themselves at me. I am writing to tell you that if you are in a job and you are making connections, treat them like humans and remember to say THANK YOU to each of them! Be remembered for making each person count and they will remember you as a result of that.
Okay that’s it for now and you know what? Thank you for reading this!
How to Find the ROI on your Social Media Efforts
01 year ago
There is no way to truly measure ROI on Social Media please stop asking!
Yes there is a value in Social Media, will you find a way to measure it? No, not from someone else. You will have to find what is valuable to you and your organization and look to increase that point with social media. No one else can create this formula for you. Oh, and one more thing. Don’t try to tie social media efforts directly to revenue or you will end up like this. That is all!
