独立游戏开发者谈职业社交活动的观念误区

独立游戏开发者谈职业社交活动的观念误区

原作者：Rachel Presser 译者：Willow Wu

GDC的人很快就逮到了我们，但我们还在考虑去参加的理由。通常来说，除了参加访谈、看看开发中的新游戏之外就是社交了。有人会觉得这种职业社交活动烂透了。如果你是这么想的，那是因为你的做法不对，而且没有人教你应该怎么做。

我为你准备了一篇详细的攻略。以正常心态去和其他人交流，不要表现得太功利。

当人们听到“社交”而不是“对话”或“与人会面”时，他们就会僵住。

floppy fish(from gamasutra)

不久之前，我在Renssalaer Polytechnic就游戏业务的整体概况发表了一场演讲。结束之后，有个学生跟我说他还没准备好去参加他的GDC首秀，因为他真的不知道要怎么去跟人社交。由此我和他展开了一场有趣的话题探讨。

无论你是个初出茅庐的学生，还是一直在做一样的工作，而且也不是通过认识的人找到的，你只要记住两件事：1.去跟人交谈 2.不要表现得有所求的样子。

回忆我在这个年龄的时候，LinkedIn和Twitter都是新兴平台，我当时真的以为社交活动就是大人们灌输给我们的那样。你懂的，就是在某个正式场合举办的，每个人都西装革履，交换名片，人们之间的互动非常生硬做作，大家的目的不是寻找买主就是寻找雇主。

承认吧，这种真的很没意思。即使是通过人才招聘会或其它更加传统的社交场合达成目标，你不会觉得这一切很不自在吗？你必须得把自己包装成一个老道的商业精英，像在进行一场工作面试。

我觉得这样一点都不好。

所以，忘了学校里职业生涯导师告诉你的那些事，或许你会遇到更有前瞻性的人为你牵线。但是当年我读的是最便宜的公立学校，导师们面对的这一大群学生很多都是家里第一个上大学的孩子，给的求职建议并没有什么用处，就跟我父亲告诉我的一样。他最后一次找工作的时候，尼克松还在执政。他们的本意是好的，但并没有起到实际的帮助作用。又或者你没有上大学，没有这样的经历，但是你想在游戏行业有一个新的开始。

不管怎样，忘掉之前就业服务部或者学校告诉你的那些事。忘掉大众媒体给你灌输的社交场合印象。

在深入讲解那些基本规则之前，有些事情是你必须是要了解的。

1.需要多长时间？

为什么我要在这里放一张坏掉的微波炉图片？当你抱着强烈的渴望或者是以交易的心态去面对他人，盼着早日发财时，你的结果可能跟这个电器差不多。

别误会，你去参加招聘会或者是其它在Eventbrite、Meetup、Facebook、Twitter看到的单次社交活动并没有什么坏处。有些人就是在这些活动上得到机会的，不然大家还组织干嘛？这也是锻炼交际能力的一种好方法。

但如果你想找一份理想的工作，成为工作室的一员，发展业务，或者做一份让你名声大噪的自由职业，那么上述做法就不可取了，它不利于长期的可持续发展。

牢固的社交关系网是慢慢织起来的。

所以具体要怎么做？你需要的是具有规律性的社交活动。

Playcrafting在最开始的时候（2013年）是Meetup.com上的一个小组，叫The Games Forum。之后就有越来越多关注纽约独立游戏圈子的人加入了进来，这些独立开发者们也可以在这乐此不彼地讨论游戏和披萨。当我发现这个小组的时候，我真的超级超级想这些跟游戏开发者们碰面，因为我身边真的没有同行人士，没有人可以体会我的经历或者是理解我正在做的事。

从一开始对Meetup.com的好奇到后来发展成为一家从事游戏开发指导的成熟公司，我的职业生涯从“除了经营这个工作室但还要做一份我讨厌的税务工作”到在5年后成为一个媒体集团女老板，并且我还能到多个城市去做巡展。

当然，不是所有Meetup小组都有这样的结果，但并不意味着不可能。你不尝试怎么会知道呢？但是没有上文我所强调的规律性我也不会收获今天的成果。

你在某段时间内见的都是同样的一群人，彼此之间自然就熟悉了起来，形成一种更牢固的纽带以及更深的信任感。他们知道你的个性，也了解你的一些事情。他们知道你当下在做什么游戏或者是项目，他们会关心你的进度。

这听起来是不是比那种带着几份简历尴尬地站着，努力不让自己看上去很心急的样子，因为你真的需要一份工作，或者你的客户不吃你的套路了的情况要好很多？

至于这段时间是多长，那还真不好说。也许你会马上遇到一个需要你的技能的人，因为他们动画师出于某种原因不得不放弃手头的工作。或者他们会查看你优秀的叙事设计作品，但是可能过几个月才会联系你。就拿我的个人经验来说，有些人向我表示对指导、咨询领域感兴趣，但是过了好几周或者是几个月才跟我联系。（有时候直接就没了音讯，这样的事是会发生的。）

但是不管你要等多久，文火慢炖是重点，不要微波炉式地急于求成。

好了，是时候来讲跟进了。在数字时代，跟进过程仍然深受着老旧观念的影响，这些东西是我早些年满大街找金融工作时传下来的。如果你想保持炖锅的这个温度，你不能什么都不做地等它慢慢冷却，而是要给招聘经理或者是潜在客户发个提醒。确实应该给对方一定的考虑时间，但过太久的话你很容易就会错失良机。

过几天后你就可以联系对方，看看他们会不会回复。不然的话下周再试，这样试个两周。

如果两周后都没有消息，那你就另寻伯乐吧。对方可能会回来找你，可能不会。但一旦过了两周，你就该把精力放在别的地方了。

2.别表现得急功近利

遇到某个人只找你搭话，明显是对你有所求的时候，你不会觉得很不舒服吗？这就是人们讨厌职业社交活动的主要原因之一。

当然，这种需求在招聘会上是意料之中的，在单次的社交活动中也有可能出现。但如果是在大型活动，比如GDC，或者是规模再小点的场合，这种情况是最让人憎恶的。

不要误解我的意思，我也经历过，我很想找一份工作但对下一步该做什么感到非常不安。这种窘迫是显而易见的，让人感觉很糟糕。即使你在活动上奇迹般地得到了工作机会，后续你也不会太好过，因为孤注一掷的人很容易被人利用。

假装勇敢、假装强大，直到有一天你真的成为那样的人。结合下一节内容，你大概会觉得这句话没有那么难实现了。

如果你跟我一样是个能干的自由职业者，那就不要做强买强卖的事。确保你的名片是整洁美观的，然后再分发给别人。进行一场友好的交谈，交换名片和/或产品目录，你永远预料不到你们是否很快就会需要对方，或者在未来的活动中碰面。

无论怎样，你只有去试了、跟其他人交谈才会有了解。

3.跟其他人交谈

接下来是我最喜欢的部分——打破关于职业社交的刻板印象。人们对创意行业的误区尤其多，比如游戏开发领域。

你只要跟人们聊聊就知道了。不要把它想成是职业社交，你不用西装革履，你的目的不应该是为了一份薪资六位数的咨询工作而给这家市值数万亿美元的公司留下沉闷的印象。你是在GDC、PAX、East Coast Game Dev Con或其它他类似的场合，又或者是参加Meetup.com的本地小组活动，就跟Playcrafting差不多，穿着最符合你个性的衣服。

你要做什么？说说你的游戏啊！我希望你对它和其它正在开发的项目是充满热情的。因为即使你现的经济状况并不好，你激情满满的样子也是很惹眼的，而且富有感染力。通过这种方式让招聘经理或者是工作室负责人记住你不是比满脑子想着“老天爷啊我再找不到工作就要流落街头了”把对方当救世主要好多了吗？

接着你就可以说说其它的感兴趣的东西，告诉对方你的灵感来源。可以是别的媒体产品、你生活中的事，这要取决于你自己。我超级喜欢蟾蜍，我可以说上一整天。我送出的名片或者是宣传物品上都印满了公司的蟾蜍图标。我甚至都没讲关于Sonic Toad的事。我刚刚还跟人家解释了本地两栖动物的生物多样性以及如何区别蟾蜍和青蛙。（因为10次有7次，无论是哪种活动、是不是游戏同行，都会有人跟我说“我之前都没见过养蟾蜍的呢！”）

你现在感觉轻松很多了是吧？你刚刚跟别人进行了一场友好的对话，讨论了你喜欢的东西，分享了有趣的故事(幽默总是能让人放松、缓解紧张)，自豪地炫耀了你手头的项目——我得再说一次,这不比你无聊地把简历上的内容报给人家听好多了吗？这不是工作面试，你不是在推销产品。所谓的社交就应该如此。

也许你还会在这个过程中交到新的朋友，甚至是找到心仪的另一半，因为你是在跟人交流而不是在做生意。在这种场合谁都不愿意遇上销售员式社交。可以说大多数人都不喜欢被当成靶子，或者是不希望某个人对自己好是带有目的性的，比如要一份工作。

所以这就是我要讲的下一部分——去跟人们交谈，它不局限于游戏开发群体聚会、GDC等等。

你的社区中都有谁？你在咖啡厅、健身房或者是其它大家常去的地方会看见什么人？

你会经常去看音乐会/演唱会吗？或者还有什么爱好能让你长期和同一群人碰面？

你在社区里做的事情呢？比如民间组织、家长教师协会、邻里联谊会、教会等等。

这些不都是社交机会吗？你可能不会这么想，因为你之前被灌输了错误的社交观念，脑子里有了刻板印象。但是这些人都是你经常会遇到的，人们不会把对方看作是客户/老板，如果你是他们之中唯一的游戏开发者，那你当然不会听到哪个游戏工作室在招人，谁陷入资金问题中了。但如果你像大多数独立开发者一样，在开发游戏时还需要其它收入来源，那么了解其它行业的人也是对你有帮助的。你永远不知道谁哪天突然会想要从游戏开发者的角度来看待某件事，并愿意为此提供支持，而你的社区也会因此对你有所期待。又或是你在开发游戏时把网页开发当作是额外收入来源，同社区的民间组织人士可能哪天就会因为需要做个网站而找你帮忙。你看，有这么多种情况。

关于社交，你需要了解的还有很多。但是，通过走出去和人们交谈，你就会抛弃那种生硬、不真诚的社交方式。说真的，那不会给你带来什么好结果。跟大家说说你的游戏，分享你所热衷的事，再了解别人在做什么，他们喜欢什么，目标是什么。

这会比枯燥无味的名片交换带来更多好处。

本文由游戏邦编译，转载请注明来源，或咨询微信zhengjintiao

GDC’s quickly sneaking up on us and we’re thinking about our reasons for going. Usually “networking” is on that list in addition to attending talks and checking out games in progress. You might be thinking, “Networking sucks.” If you think this, it’s because you’ve been doing it wrong and no one taught you how to really get it done.

I’ve got some indoctrination to shatter in pieces for you. Ready for it? Talk to people like they’re people, not like you want something from them.

Okay, now breathe deep. Let’s go.

When people hear “networking” opposed to “talking” or “meeting people”, it makes them freeze up.

Not that long ago, I was giving a talk at Renssalaer Polytechnic about the overall business of games. After my talk, I got into an interesting discussion with one of the students there who said that he wasn’t ready to attend his first GDC yet because “I don’t really know how to network.”

It doesn’t matter if you’re a student just getting started. Or you’ve been at the same job forever and didn’t find it through someone you know.

You only need to know two tenets: A) just talk to people, and B) don’t come off as thirsty.

When I was this fellow’s age back in the Cretaceous Era when LinkedIn and Twitter were these shiny new toys, I bought into the version of networking most of us were sold. You know, the version where networking happens at these somewhat formal events where everyone’s in a suit and exchanging business cards, and the interactions are mostly stiff and stilted because everyone is either trying like hell to sell something or get a job (maybe a gig.)

This version sucks. Admit it. Even if you attained success in some way by attending something more traditional like a career fair or meet-and-greet kind of networking event, doesn’t it feel unnatural? Like you can’t just be yourself and you’re already acting like you’re at a job interview?

Sounds like it sucks to me!

So, let’s undo all of that. Forget everything your career services counselor in school told you, maybe you have a great one who’s proactive and introduces you to people but I went to the cheapest public university in the nation. They were overwhelmed with tons of kids who were the first to college in their families and gave us all the same useless job-seeking advice my father tried to give me when the last time he had to look for a job was when Nixon was still in office. Read: they meant well but their tips didn’t work. Or maybe you didn’t go to college and subsequently didn’t go through that, but you’re looking to start a new career in games.

Regardless: unlearn what career services and your school told you. Unlearn the depiction of networking mass media gives you.

But before I get into those basic tenets, there’s actually something else you need to be aware of.

So How Long Does it Take?

Why did I put a picture of a busted microwave here? Because it’s analogous to what happens when you come off as too thirsty and transactional, and also expecting too much too soon.

Don’t get me wrong, you got nothing to lose by going to a job fair or one of those one-time networking things you can randomly find by browsing Eventbrite, Meetup, or even Facebook and Twitter. People sometimes successfully hear of opportunities that way or else those events wouldn’t happen, right? They’re also really good practice for meeting people.

But if you’re looking for that dream job at a studio, building up a business, or freelance work that involves getting your name out there, this is the microwave approach. It’s not sustainable.

The best networking is slow-cooked.

How do you get that slow-cooking action? You need to find events that have some element of regularity to them.

Playcrafting started as this tiny Meetup.com group back in 2013 known as The Games Forum. It started drawing more people in who wanted to see what indie developers in the NYC area were working on, and also give indie developers a chance to talk shop over pizza and games. When I first discovered it, I was DYING to meeting other game devs as I had no others in my life. No one who really got what I was going through or understood why I was doing this.

What started as a Meetup.com curiosity grew into a full-fledged company doing game dev education and showcasing in multiple cities and ended up taking my career from “I’m working on this studio while I have a tax office job I hate” to becoming a one-woman media conglomerate in the course of five years.

Granted, not all Meetup groups have an outcome like this: but it could. You don’t know until you start something! But none of that would’ve happened without the regularity aspect I just stressed.

When you see a lot of the same people around for a while and become a familiar face, you form a stronger bond and degree of trust. They know you for something and for your personality. They know what games or other projects you’re working on and ask you how you’re coming along.

Doesn’t that sound way better than going to some event where you stand around awkwardly with several copies of your resume and try not to come off as desperately thirsty because you really need a job or your clients aren’t biting like usual?

As for how long it takes, that’s a wildcard. Maybe you’ll find someone who needs your skill set immediately because an animator had to walk out on a game. Or they’ll check out your amazing narrative design credits but not contact you until several months later. In my personal experience, I’ve had people express interest in coaching or consulting but not follow through until weeks or months later (sometimes not even at all. It happens.)

But no matter how soon something happens, the best networking is slow-cooked. Not microwaved.

So this seems like a good time to mention the follow-up process. In the digital age, the follow-up process is still subject to a lot of the same song and dance that it was when I spent god knows how many years of my life pounding the pavement trying to get financial jobs. If you want to turn that slow-cooker from whatever temp it was at to “keep warm”, you don’t want to wait TOO long to talk to that hiring manager or prospective client and just nudge them about that opportunity. Not giving it enough time comes off as thirsty, but too much time and you’ll miss the boat.

Wait for a few days then make contact. See if they reply.

Try again in another week.

Two more weeks.

If you hear nothing after two weeks, move on. You might get a bite back later. Or you won’t. But once two weeks are up, time to focus your energy elsewhere.

Don’t Come Off as Thirsty

Don’t you hate it when someone’s clearly only talking to you because they want something from you?

Yeah, that’s a big part of why networking sucks.

Granted, that kind of thirst is to be expected at a career fair. Possibly also at some of those one-time networking events. But when you’re at a big conference like GDC or even a smaller one, it’s often intensely off-putting.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been there when I really needed a job badly and was freaking the hell out over what to do next. That kind of distress is visible, it sucks, and unfortunately it mostly puts you in a bad position even if you do magically get a job offer at one of these events (people love to exploit those who come off as desperate.)

Fake it til you make it, sugar. That can become easy with the next aspect I’m about to get into.

Then if you’re a free agent/hustler like myself, don’t come off as a hardsell. Give out those business cards and make sure that they look spiffy. Check out my feature on Freedom with Writing on positioning yourself for maximum rate-charging and brand spiffiness. (By the way, that piece is barely a year old at the time I published this and my writing rates already tripled or went even higher with some clients.) Just have a friendly conversation and trade business cards and/or promotional goodies and you never know if you might need one another soon, down the road, or just say hi at future events.

Either way, you’re not going to know until you put yourself out there and just talk to people. So on that note…

Just Talk to People

Here comes my favorite part of breaking the indoctrination concerning professional networking. Especially when it comes to a highly creative field like game development.

You have to just talk to people. Don’t think of it as professional networking.

You’re not in a suit trying to make this stuffy impression for a multiple six figure consulting job with some trillion-dollar firm. You’re at GDC, PAX, East Coast Game Dev Con, wherever. Or maybe you’re at a local Meetup.com group or something like Playcrafting, dressed in the clothes that make you feel like you. What are you going to do?

You’re going to talk about your game! I certainly hope that you’re passionate about it and other projects that you’re working on. Because even if you’re legit in a bad place financially right now, talking about the things you’re straight up fucking passionate about is hot. You don’t apologize it. Your enthusiasm becomes infectious. Isn’t that going to impress a hiring manager or studio head a lot more than “For the love of god they’re going to evict me in 4 days I NEED A JOB!”

Then you talk about other things that you love and inspire you. It can be other types of media, stories from your life, you name it. I love toads and can go on all day about them. Talking about toads makes me so happy and I’ve given away many a business card or promotional item with my toad branding all over it. I haven’t even talked about Sonic Toad: I just explained the biodiversity of local amphibian populations and the differences between frogs and toads! (Because 7 out of 10 times I will meet someone at any kind of event, games-related or not, who says “I never met anyone who has/had a pet toad before!”)

You’re at ease now, right? You’re just having a good conversation about the things that you all love, maybe sharing funny stories (humor always helps put people at ease and cut tensions), proudly showing off what you’re working on– once again, doesn’t this beat the hell out of just rattling off what’s on your resume to what could potentially be a disinterested audience? You’re not at a job interview and you’re not giving a sales pitch. THIS IS HOW IT SHOULD BE.

Maybe you’re even making new friends or finding a potential significant other in the process because you’re looking at and talking to people, not potential transactions. Who likes to feel like a transaction? Not going to kinkshame you if findom is your thing, but I think it’s safe to say most people don’t like feeling like a mark or that this person is only being nice to you in the vain hope you’ll give them a job.

So that’s the next part of “just talk to people” that’s the best: this isn’t restricted to things like game dev meetups, GDC, and so on.

Who’s in your local community? Who do you see all the time at the coffee shop, the gym, and other places you might frequent?

Do you hit up music scenes frequently or have other hobbies where you also see a lot of the same people over time?

What about things you do in your community like civic organizations, the PTA, neighborhood parent co-ops, houses of worship, and other communities you belong to?

NETWORKING IS FOUND THERE. You just might not think of it that way because of how much you’ve been indoctrinated about networking and what people often construe it as. But these are people who you likely see often and don’t think of in a business capacity, and so if you’re the only game developer among them then you definitely won’t hear about which studios are hiring and who’s going through a freeze. But if you’re like a majority of indie devs who need other sources of income while working on the game, then knowing people in other walks of life only helps. You never know who suddenly wants to get a game developer’s perspective on something and will pay for it, and your communities will look to you for that. Or if you’re doing web development to have a flexible income source while you work on the game, someone in your civic organization suddenly tells you they want to start a business and need a website but don’t know where to begin. As you can see, the applications are numerous.

There’s a lot to unlearn when it comes to networking. But by getting out there and talking to people, you get past that stiff and informal attitude that honestly just holds people back. Talk about your game. Talk about the stuff that you’re passionate about, and ask the other person about what they’re working on and what their goals and passions are.

That’s going to result in far more than just a sterile exchange of business cards.(source: gamasutra.com )