It's extremely valuable to absorb everything you can in your chosen field. So I went to PAX again.
I dream to entertain. I am also a nerd, a gamer, a geek and so forth. This is also the only time in any of my professional careers (of which I have had many) where I have tried my best.
I aim to meld the things that I can already do with a crowd/genre that I love, that has otherwise been left as another part of myself.
I have a great deal of inspiration around me in my closest people/the people to whom I look up to the most.
Today was the first day of PAX Prime. I went last year, but I wasn't sure how to utilize the information/spectacle that I was being bombarded by/with. This is the largest trade show I have ever been to (rumor being that numbers have reached the 80,000 attendee mark this year), and those numbers are not something you can prepare yourself for. 75,000 is roughly the size of Redskin Stadium (now Fed-ex field). Now imagine the entire stadium of similarly vocal, dare I say, zealous fans actively on the crawl that everyone adopts during conventions. It's daunting and exhilarating, but I'm getting off track.My point is that I had no direction last year, and I have found direction this year. I love this field of expression. I'm a dancer and a writer and actor and so on and so forth, but I most definitely need this other aspect, this tribe of nerds in my life as a primary.
What makes me so sure of my desired placement is the celebrity. Not the fame, but the actual celebrities themselves, the folks who have already entered into the professional realm. I look for mentors. It's an easy, obvious observation. I've found my best in my friends, father and mother, but not in professionals in my other fields. This isn't to say that I don't respect and/or look up to those in dance, acting and so on. I have plenty of people I admire. The differential is the ego and presentation of that ego.
Before anything, I need to clarify that ego is healthy, to a degree. You did good, you celebrate. Good on you. Moving on.
My experience in the arts is with a great many folks who make it a habit to talk shit and boast beyond what is necessary. I'll probably go into great detail and specifics at some point. I'm getting off track a little...again.
There is something about the type of professionalism in the celebrities that I have chosen as "mine" in the gaming/nerd crowd. It's matter of fact. They seem to understand their position. They understand the prestige, the fragility and the value of their fans. I admire that and I want to be that kind of professional.
Today I hit a panel with Kindell that was Youtube Gaming, focusing on Game Grump's Aaron, PrestonPlayz, Shadypenguin and captainSparkles. (links are below) These people have over ten million subscribers combined. I have six. Moving on. It was your standard "tell us about the struggle" panel. What I took away from it was their down to earth attitude of "I do it because I like it," and "don't do it if you don't like it." They shared neuroses of social anxiety and advice to overcome it. They shared their technical wisdom. Mostly they made sure that people saw them as just folk, people who liked creating the content they do so they kept on doing it.
I've had the opportunity to meet the people I look up to most in my desired fields, and I feel like I'm latched to the right horses. Their character draws me in. Mostly, they seem to be like me. I've never felt that before, not in "superiors."
I want to be a writer like Patrick Rothfuss, a dancer like Danial Brown, an actor like Downey Jr, a friend like my crew, a parent like my father and mother. I want to be a youtuber like JackSepticEye, a producer like Kindell, an athlete like Aaron. The list goes on.
I have started making this list of what I want to accomplish with production. It's not as long as I'd first imagined it would be. I'll post it at some point. It feels tangible. I'm also at a point where I am excited to do the work and not just go for the reward.
Here's a couple:
Publish my first book proper and make a living as a writer.
Be consistent with youtube production - gaming/nerd/arts.
I'm on a good track.
LINKS for YOUTUBERS
Game Grumps - https://www.youtube.com/user/GameGrumps
PrestonPlayz - https://www.youtube.com/user/PrestonPlayz
ShadyPenguinn - https://www.youtube.com/user/shadypenguinn
CaptainSparklez - https://www.youtube.com/user/CaptainSparklez
Jacksepticeye - https://www.youtube.com/user/jacksepticeye/featured
ChknfootTV - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOtLStn-LL5Hf-CMa1UQeVg
