I’ve acknowledged that my inability to be particularly organized isn’t such a bad thing after all. It fits the space I work in.
In my downtime, I play a lot of games. Literally, the only thing I think of when I’m on a 7 hour plane ride is either Why can’t I play CS with my trackpad?, Need more compendium levels and Must buy SKT-T1 Thresh Skin. I have a lot of people to thank for taking the time to really be patient with me when I started playing games like LoL and DOTA more seriously.
My parents will never forget the 13 year-old me with this flashing on my screen or how many times I downloaded that font. God that font. Thank you Valve for making my time investment worthwhile.
I haven’t actually worked in Esports for a particularly long-time now and certainly don’t consider myself a veteran or expert but I’m a month shy of 2 years. I think it’s the simple things that have allowed me to really provide a semblance of value for those I work with.
Here’s something I’d recommend for anyone interested in better understanding the business/consultative side of esports:
Be a customer.
Yeah, incredibly obvious but so overlooked. So many people are clamouring to become a part of esports but forget that those with the most pertinent advice are often those who are already part of the community and understand how it works. A partner recently asked me how I came up with the ideas I pitched them. Trust me, they weren’t ground-breaking. They just came from the perspective of a customer. I play the games and I consume as much quality content as I can.
A friend of mine works for Apple (atypical fanboy) and when I asked him why he joined the company he said ‘Because I bought Apple products my whole life. They’re as much a part of my life as my family.’ Woah.
The Takeaway?
Play more games, learn to appreciate the eccentricities of each community, keep playing.. and you’ll quickly realize what you really want. Then go out and give that to people. Stand out from the masses of brands populating esports by honestly embracing life as a customer.