Channel A: The Life of a Card Game

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(A guest post by Ewen Cluney)

494bb2c8ce284dcb939e61f3f268ce41_largeI hit on the idea for Channel A during the ridiculous rush of inspiration that came from discovering Cards Against Humanity. I’d had tremendous fun playing CAH with my friends, and being that rare creature, a tabletop RPG fan who isn’t much into board games, I desperately wanted to explore this new design space of card games that are more about words and social interactions. I also wanted to make something that was less Cards Against Humanity (“A clandestine butt scratch.”) and more in keeping with my own shiny anime-inspired aesthetic.

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How Blogging Helps Your Career #10 – The Trophy Case

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(The roundup for the “How Blogging Helps Your Career Series” is here)

Ever been in an interview and wondered how you prove you know what you’re doing in that short time?

Ever tried to convince someone of your competence if, say, you’re trying to run a convention or help them with a project?

Ever wonder how, in the end, we can kind of ever prove in a few minutes that we’re good at things?  Because it seems way, way too much of our life involves that.  If you’ve ever been on the job search or tried to justify a promotion, you know what that’s like.

We have to show wins.  We have to show proof.  This is one reason I try and end every in-person interview by giving someone a copy of one of my books, because it’s hard to say “you can’t do project management” when I can self publish.*

The proof in many cases has to come quick, fast and solid.

That’s your blog.  Your blog is a trophy case.

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Why The System Fails

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There are people who build The System.

There are people who maintain The System.

There are people who operate The System.

The people who operate The System rarely know how it’s built or how it’s maintained, or even what it’s for.  They may not care.

It is easy for those who operate The System to use it for great gain and benefit.  It does not mean they understand it.

In time, maintenance is not thought of because it appears to be running well.  Those who maintain must adjust and it is hard.

In time, building is not thought of as new wonders appear all the time and problems beyond the moment are not imagined.  Those who build must strive mightily or merely repeat themselves to survive.

In time, The System breaks down.

Those who run The System are startled.

Those who maintained The System are angry.

Those who built The System curse everyone’s stupidities.

Everyone grabs for what they can as the walls crash down.  History gets another chapter where we point at people’s ignorance and feel superior to them.

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.