Today is a good day.
My last post talked about some of the issues that have come up to try and derail me in my empire-building, and I ended with the question ‘what things are taking priority?’ I think that scared the guys a little bit, because they spent the two weeks in between that post and today being exceptionally sweet. To be clear, RCM is instant priority, because it encapsulates everything I really want to do in one nice, neat little company. The people are a huge part of it – the guys are better than friends, and our fan base makes up the most amazing community on the Internet. But it’s more than that. Eight years ago, I was begging independent publishers to let me moonlight for them for free just so I could get some experience in the industry. Even offering pro bono slave work, I got rejection after rejection because what I ultimately wanted to do, nobody else was doing, and didn’t want to take a chance on.
Now, I’m running the kind of program I tried so hard – and failed – to find: taking novice writers, helping them find and hone their own strengths, and giving them a chance to get some publishing experience early on while also teaching them transferable skills in what I refer to as the Toolbox of Badassery. Make no mistake: people get out of the experience what they’re willing to put into it, and everybody’s got different reasons for being here. But it’s working. Over the past year RCM Writing has brought a number of talented writers to the front page. Last weekend, Hax tweaked the front page a bit so all the fiction runs we’ve been doing are neat and easy to find in their own forum and the stories, articles, and news pieces all have their own places (IT’S PRETTY). And next weekend, the summer interns have their first brainstorming session as they workshop their summer projects, bringing more fresh talent to our front page. It’s exciting.
And it’s not just about the writing. We’ve been working more on shorts for the YouTube channel. We’re pumping creativity into more skits and segments for the podcasts. In the quest to put together the awesome panels we have going for RivalCon, I’ve gotten to talk to some of the most interesting behind the scenes people in gaming…and it’s only getting better. And as I type, Varyar, Baron, and Killer are on the front page of Twitch wrapping up the 8-Bit Salute charity streams for Operation Supply Drop; RivalCares is a real thing.
We’re doing what we love, with people we’d do anything for. We’re having fun, and we’re helping people in the process.
So when I was getting ready for those last tests two weeks ago, preparing for the worst and contemplating my own mortality, my thoughts kept gravitating back to RCM – the work we’ve been doing here, the happiness it’s brought, and how if worst case scenario was indeed the game plan, I wanted to spend the rest of whatever time I had left here and doing the things that made me happy. As it turns out, we got better news than expected (FINALLY), but the realization still holds: we’re making headway. We’re growing. We’ve got new initiatives on the horizon. We have a team of insanely talented people who compliment each others’ strengths and compensate for our weaknesses. We’ve built a platform to showcase our work as a group and as individuals. We’re worth watching, both onscreen and off. And the public is starting to take notice.
Those are the important things.
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