Avatar photoSteven Savage

It’s About Information

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99% of fandom, geekery, otakudom, etc. is information.

One secret of building a geeky career is realizing that most of what we love – and thus what we want to do – relates to information.  Games on video and video games, fiction in text or animation, movies or films.  It's all encoded, processed, delivered, and shot into our brains.

So if you're looking for a geeky job, there's a good chance it's entirely or partially about  the creation, delivery, and access of information-heavy resources.  A video game on DLC is no different in this way than the latest song downloaded from a band.

I realized that there are three sides of information delivery: The Information itself, the Creation (and alteration) of information,  and the Transmission of information.  In examining the career to turn your fandom into payday, ask yourself which of the three (or all?) are you on?

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Avoid the Peter Principle

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The Peter Principle is a famous idea that, simply, people get promoted until they're in a position they're simply not good at.  Too many people are promoted to their level of incompetence.

This is often used in many jokes, but it's actually something I take seriously.  I take it seriously as I've seen it in action.

I also take it seriously because it scares me, as it is even more important to career geeks and profans like us.  We, yes we, the cool and creative and hip and obsessive people are in even MORE danger of the Peter Principle affecting us.  We are, in short, in more danger of being promoted far beyond our level of competence.

The danger is that we often like what we do and can miss when we're bad at it.

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News of the Day 10/16/2009

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Economics/Freakonomics/Geekonomics:
Bank of America having problems – Another big one in trouble. As I've noted – and quoted columns noted even more – we haven't flushed the toxic mess out of the banking system or instituted good regulations. Make sure your bank is stable (for peace of mind) and I don't see any real "green shoots" despite the Dow – too many troubles remain.

Ed harrison rips into the culture of greed and the need for regulation here and here. Interesting from an ethical view but also a Freakonomic view on the odd, and often contradictory things people believe regarding the economy. Read up, it'll make you think and possibly surprise you.

Tech startup execs seem more optimistic – Not sure if its delusion, adaption, or if things have gotten so bad now up is likely. Good news on the job front – and possibly the investment front.

Publishing:
Walmart is competing with Amazon in the online book space with a price war. Interesting to see. That's someone else nipping at Amazon's heels – but also means Walmart might enter some of the other areas (like ebooks) – which of course puts them in competition with very competent companies. More text wars, more everything wars, stay on top of this.

Social Media:
Why companies need to embrace social media and not ban it – and need to 'get it'. Food for thought for your company policy.

How Social Media is changing our daily lives – Not a throwaway article. It's got some food for thought and is good if you're a user or in the business – since the business will be expected to support these changes.

Technology:
Google says android adoption is about to explode – and pretty much gives away a major motivation – more mobile users means more searches, means more Google. Android seems to be doing well, and with Google's backing, well – it's a factor. Get used to it or even learn it (and I wonder for you develoeprs what tools let you develop/port for both iPhone and Android . . .)

– Steven Savage