One of the most interesting things about my career as a communications professional is the opportunity it’s provided to conduct interviews. This was especially true when I worked in minor league baseball. I’ve chatted with future Cy Young Award winners. I’ve toured Camden Yards with major prospects, I’ve had a professional athlete ride his bicycle naked across a hallway to interrupt a conversation. So what happens when I combine my professional skills with my passion project? A nerdy nirvana of noteworthy notices!
With my profession, interviews come easy. We want more people to do X, so find some people who have done it and dive in deep on all the benefits. You know who your customers are and it’s easy to find brand advocates. When you are a random blogger with almost no following reaching out to strangers on the Internet it’s considerably more challenging.
Among my friends and family, I am known as an introvert and a notorious homebody. If I could manage it, I would never leave my home. I seldom answer calls and I am terrible at returning messages. The people I interact with most know that I prefer to communicate by text message. When I do begrudgingly leave my home I am socially awkward in most settings and painstakingly shy around strangers.
My work had everyone take CliftonStrengths last year and I learned that three of my biggest strengths were intellection, learner and input. These are critical thinking skills. It would appear that my curiosity and desire to learn outweigh my social awkwardness. I’m also a lot better when I can organize my thoughts ahead of time and script them out.
Outside of a couple famous people I’ve reached out to, to try to increase my audience, I’ve had a very scattershot approach to interviews. Basically, if I come across someone doing something neat on social media I will drop them a note and see if they are willing to chat. Roughly three times out of 10 I will get a response.
I’ve always had a fascination with cosplay – I think it’s a result of my nerdy nature combined with my mom’s passion for sewing. Shortly after I started OiO, I started reaching out to different creators on Instagram. My first interview on the site was Combining Creativity and Crafting and one of my bigger gets was the very talented Olivia Mears Innovates in Cosplay and Food Fashion.
I’ve reached out to more adept writers than myself, including Ruel Gaviola and someone with a huge game collection on the IG: 16,000 Games and Counting. Out of all the random people I reached out to, I think my best interview came with an artist. In Illustrator John Gallagher on Working in Movies, DC Shows, Comics and Gaming we dove into a number of nerdy topics and I think it is my favorite interview, personal or professional.
I’ve had the good fortune to interview some pretty big names, too. Steve Johson was one of my players when I worked in baseball, and we connected after he made it to the big leagues: Former MLB Pitcher on Balancing Career and Gaming. Paul Charchian is a big name in Minnesota, particularly among the fantasy football crowd. Now only did he connect with OiO in Paul Charchian Reflects on Life as a Fantasy Analyst, Entrepreneur and Gamer, he connected me with his brother who spent more than a decade working in the video game industry: Sam Charchian Reflects on 15 Years at Microsoft, Sony.
These interviews have been some of the best content on our website, but the biggest boon came when I reached out to a random journalist on Twitter. Game Informer Editor Brian Shea on Living a Healthier Gaming Lifestyle was a huge win for me. I’ve read Game Informer religiously for years. Shea wasn’t the first person at the magazine I reached out to for an interview, but we had a mutual interest in the health of gamers and it worked out for a great interview. Shea was even gracious enough to take me on a tour of the magazine’s office and introduce me to all his peers. It was an awesome experience and I will always be indebted to Shea.
Will OiO ever take off as a true hub for gaming and nerd pop culture content? I don’t know. I’ll keep reaching out to strangers and seeing what happens. Regardless of what happens on the site, with the support of our backers on Patreon and the corporate support of Premier Health, we have a lot of excitement for the future of the podcast.
What’s New at OiO
Episode 25 of Outside is Overrated – Video Game Music
In the latest episode of the podcast, Tom, Joey and Billy look at video game music through the ages and choose the most iconic video game song of all time.
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Thank you so much for reading my column this month. Until next time, stay inside kids!