If you've read this blog for any length of time, or any of my books, you know I'm big on people joining professional associations. They're great for networking, for keeping your skills up, and more. They're de rigeur for any professional.
So I'm going to assume that you're joining one, have joined one, or are so seized with guilt after the above paragraph you're going to join one.
Now, when you are/if you are part of a professional association, you want to make sure they know about things from the geeky side of things. They might not always know about the people who have a passion for the same subjects they do – but are coming at it from the fan/geek/otaku side.
They need to know these things:
- They may be fellow geeks who just never thought about discussing it.
- It may give them new ideas for recruiting – say a convention or something similar.
- It'll give them an expanded understanding of people interested in their profession.
- It gives them a larger idea of how culture and economy intercept.
- It may open all sorts of opportunities when you let people know of your interests.
And of course, you keep reminding people of professional geekery. The idea people can do what they love for a living is important period.
I had great success giving a presentation on Project Management in video games to PMI of Silicon Valley. It was fun, made people think, and also helped several people who worked in video games discuss it in front of non-gamers. I also made a lot of great contacts that let me do even more for tech geeks, such as judging contests.
So go on, talk to your professional association about progeeks. Maybe it's a talk on a geeky industry, maybe it's on how they could recruit at a convention or a comic shop or whatever. Share it.
They're professionals. It'll pay off in many ways.