Writer, Agilist, Elder Geek
Steven Savage It is an often repeated statement – "The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good", meaning that if you try for perfection you will not only fail, you won't get to achieve something pretty good.
Let me extend on this and share my findings: the Perfect is the enemy of everything, even mediocrity.
I love a good convention – SF, Anime, fantasy, games, etc. They're usually fun, stimulating, and often educational. I know I try to ensure all three in events I do at conventions (admittedly, I often focus on the latter).
One of the major reasons people attend conventions is to meet the guests. It's fun to hear them speak, get autographs, and even chat with them. They're also often very informative – hearing how someone's career came about, their experiences, etc. can really be telling. Guests may even host workshops, career panels, etc.
I am of course always for the latter.
So, progeek that I am, I began wondering: should conventions consider inviting more guests who aren't on the front lines? Yes Scott McNeil is exciting, but what about a sound engineer from a studio that does dubs? I'm sure people would line up around the block to see Zachary Quinto, but what about a special effects team who did the new Star Trek? For that matter, I'd love to hear, say, the head of accounting at a video game company speak.
What if conventions started adding guests that did geeky things or did things at geeky companies, and had them speak on jobs and careers? They could build sequences of panels and workshops around them.
Yes, this would be educational, but it wouldn't necessarily be a big draw, but the advantage in that is that the "non-front line" people may also be cheaper to get than big name guests. Some of them might come for airfare and hotel fees being paid since it gives them a chance to network, connect, and publicize. Fans get educated, some people who deserve more recognition get it, and a con gets more events and draw cheaply.
Sounds win-win to me.
I'm sure there are flaws, but someday it would be neat to see the publicity head of Funimation signing autographs, a lawyer from Electronic Arts speaking to a rapt crowd on the advantage of being in law, or a sound studio tech guru surrounded by his or her own legion of fans.
In fact, if you're working at a convention, steal this idea. You may help the convention, your fellow fans, and do a bit of networking in the process. Everyone wins, and you may make some unappreciated Project Analyst very happy!
– Steven Savage
If you feel overwhelmed in your job search, pause for a moment and ask yourself this:
Are you overwhelmed with effort – or overwhelmed because you aren't sure what to do next?
I encounter this a lot – people are unsure of what to do next, so try everything, or randomly meander from task to task. They never get anything done (or get comparatively little done), yet are completely exhausted. Even if they don't spend endless hours on their careers, the lack of success and the attempt to do EVERYTHING overwhelms them. They may even try less as they feel so overwhelmed.
So when you feel overwhelmed, take some time out and ask if you have definite measurable goals and directions – or are you trying to do everything at once without a plan. The answer may be surprising.
I myself am guilty of this, and find that regularly reviewing what I really want to do and achieve helps – I have less chance of getting lost trying to do everything. Even if I overload myself I at least know what my original intent was before I overdid it.
– Steven Savage