Another model, which I will say right up front will not work for PAX, is the BGG.CON model. The main event sells out very quickly now, so they started holding two BGG.CONs in the same convention center, six months apart. For the Fall convention it is 18+ only, while the Spring convention is all ages.
The Fall convention is the original, and publishers are willing to book space in the Spring con just to make sure they get their spot in the Fall. When this started two years ago, Spring was purely a locals-only thing as a result, but this year, I noticed a bit of "couldn't make the Fall, might as well check out Spring."
This is a unique situation to board games, of course. BGG.CON tops out at around 2,800 attendees. The publishers are willing to do whatever it takes for that show because they know that more than half the people in there are influential in some way, whether they be a big reviewer, YouTube personality, podcast host, or even just a very active BGG & forum user. It's safe to say the show is stuffed with tastemakers, so the entire industry goes out of its was to support not one, but two small shows in the middle of Texas.
This last PAX East was amazing in that respect. I didn't even have to think about connecting—everything just reconnected and worked perfectly the entire time.
This last PAX East was amazing in that respect. I didn't even have to think about connecting—everything just reconnected and worked perfectly the entire time.
I think for the sort of stuff Scott wants to do he wouldn't enjoy it, but for people who are workaholics it's probably a great place to work with lots of side benefits.
I think every job they have is great, and I would enjoy it, except for their IT position. That's a nightmare job that grossly underpays and has a ruinous work/life balance.
Didn't Scott essentially say on a recent pod he doesn't want to work at all but just get paid for like 10 mins of his time vs actually working 8 hours?
Didn't Scott essentially say on a recent pod he doesn't want to work at all but just get paid for like 10 mins of his time vs actually working 8 hours?
I want to work as little as possible and still get enough money to live my comfortable life. If anyone can find a job that gets me closer to that goal than I am now, let me know.
Didn't Scott essentially say on a recent pod he doesn't want to work at all but just get paid for like 10 mins of his time vs actually working 8 hours?
I want to work as little as possible and still get enough money to live my comfortable life. If anyone can find a job that gets me closer to that goal than I am now, let me know.
Don't most people feel that way? That is the communal fantasy, but it doesn't really exist.
Didn't Scott essentially say on a recent pod he doesn't want to work at all but just get paid for like 10 mins of his time vs actually working 8 hours?
I want to work as little as possible and still get enough money to live my comfortable life. If anyone can find a job that gets me closer to that goal than I am now, let me know.
Don't most people feel that way? That is the communal fantasy, but it doesn't really exist.
I don't know what percentage of people feel the same way, but I encounter relatively few people like myself. Most of my co-workers work much much harder than I do. They seem to actually care and try very hard. If I look at their screens I see work. On my screen you will see this forum post I'm writing.
Even amongst just our friends, I don't think many people are crazy workaholics, but everyone seems to work way harder than I do. People seem to actually care about their careers and do actual work at work all day.
There are literally weeks where I sit here and do nothing. I'm not upset that there isn't more work to do. I'm upset that they won't pay me if I leave and come back later. They insist I sit in the office in order to get the money, even though I could do the same amount of work in just maybe two days instead of five. They have never expressed dissatisfaction with the amount of work I get done, even though I have specifically asked if they think I'm doing a good job. I keep getting raises every year.
I'm nearing the end of my rope in how much I can deal with sitting in an office for forty hours a week. The problem is that I don't know any other way to survive in this world. I can change jobs trivially, but every job I find is worse than the one I have. If I go someplace new, I'll also be expected to actually work, which will be even worse. Best case I go somewhere else the same as what I have now. What's the point? I take a big risk just to sit in a different office for the same 40 hours?
One workaround some people seem to have had success with is to find and recruit a romantic partner from the mass of people who don't seem to mind working, and who has sufficient disposable income to support your living expenses as well as their own. What constitutes "sufficient disposable income" may be less than one would guess, as the living expenses of two people are often far less than double the living expenses of one person.
Do you have the ability to negotiate a partial Work From Home schedule? Half the people in my department only show up in the building 2-3 days a week, because the ability to work from home when they aren't needed in the office is an easy perk for the management to provide that doesn't cost them a dime.
One workaround some people seem to have had success with is to find and recruit a romantic partner from the mass of people who don't seem to mind working, and who has sufficient disposable income to support your living expenses as well as their own. What constitutes "sufficient disposable income" may be less than one would guess, as the living expenses of two people are often far less than double the living expenses of one person.
I can't even find a romantic partner who will sit around and live off of my income.
Do you have the ability to negotiate a partial Work From Home schedule? Half the people in my department only show up in the building 2-3 days a week, because the ability to work from home when they aren't needed in the office is an easy perk for the management to provide that doesn't cost them a dime.
I have tried negotiating much. I did once interview for another job that was going to agree to let me work four days a week. But they were a poisonous startup that probably wanted me to work more than 8 hours a day. The person I had to work with was going to get into the office at 3 and leave very late. They also asked me to take a programming test, which I absolutely refuse to do.
Become an indie game dev and make your own hours? While the average income of indie game devs is probably quite a bit lower than what you make now, you might turn out to be a much better game developer than average. I know a number of indie devs who seem to be doing alright even in the (expensive) SF Bay area with projects across the whole spectrum of apparent popularity.
Become an indie game dev and make your own hours? While the average income of indie game devs is probably quite a bit lower than what you make now, you might turn out to be a much better game developer than average. I know a number of indie devs who seem to be doing alright even in the (expensive) SF Bay area with projects across the whole spectrum of apparent popularity.
Wow, such a great idea! I'll quit and start working on a game tomorrow.
There are probably places you can find where you can just sorta leave as you want. The place where I work now they basically don't care. Just let other people know. Or you could just find a WFH job and "work" 40 hours a week. Or there is a subset of people in Seattle who do contract work for 6 months to a year then take another year or so and file for unemployment or just live off that money. Then they take another contract, rinse and repeat. Seems kinda stupid to me but I'm sure they have a lot more free time to do whatever. I also don't know if that would work in NYC.
Google doesn't care about when you're in the office (as long as you don't miss the meetings where your presence matters), but would definitely expect you to work more.
When you say you "don't want to work," do you mean that you don't want to engage the market at all; or that you'd rather "be your own boss," so to speak?
Personally, I can't see myself not "working" in some capacity. I have a dream of retiring and running a bar/tavern. Serve people beer, idly chat with anyone and everyone, and generally keep the place clean.
...Personally, I can't see myself not "working" in some capacity...
Yeah, my feelings are similar to this. For me, If I'm even on vacation for more than a week or two, I start to get stressed out seeing everyone around me going about their normal workday routines, and here I am idling, contributing nothing. I actually *really like* having a mission to pursue from day to day.
Sabbaticals are essential I think. In some cases should be mandatory. It allows an individual to de-stress, but also grants opportunity for life experiences that have intangible value.
That value can feed back into the work culture.
For example if a digital artist for a game studio, finishes creating all the necessary assets, the game has shipped; they take 6 months off holidaying, Visiting different countries, taking in the sights. Take on some comprehensive tours of power stations, cargo ship construction sites.
That's plenty of time to acquire a wealth of insight and inspiration to inject directly into new art.
That's a small example out of infinite. The point is most people can't afford that much time off 'work'. The lack of culture absorption is a reason there's little to no diversity in many industries. Diversity in terms of creative solutions and perspective. Not necessarily, but I think there are many upsides to having that agency.
I am in a somewhat similar position to Scott. I stay for many reasons, but there are many negatives as well. Since I am happy, I am not actively looking for a change.
Let me be clear though, putting aside all of the companies that take advantage of their employees by overworking for them, I would absolutely put in 60 or 70 hours in a week if my job was doing what I loved. We shit in workaholics all the time, but if it is someone creating something awesome, and they want to burn the candle at both ends because it is their passion, well then fucking go for it! You could be dead tomorrow. Do what you love.
Comments
Another model, which I will say right up front will not work for PAX, is the BGG.CON model. The main event sells out very quickly now, so they started holding two BGG.CONs in the same convention center, six months apart. For the Fall convention it is 18+ only, while the Spring convention is all ages.
The Fall convention is the original, and publishers are willing to book space in the Spring con just to make sure they get their spot in the Fall. When this started two years ago, Spring was purely a locals-only thing as a result, but this year, I noticed a bit of "couldn't make the Fall, might as well check out Spring."
This is a unique situation to board games, of course. BGG.CON tops out at around 2,800 attendees. The publishers are willing to do whatever it takes for that show because they know that more than half the people in there are influential in some way, whether they be a big reviewer, YouTube personality, podcast host, or even just a very active BGG & forum user. It's safe to say the show is stuffed with tastemakers, so the entire industry goes out of its was to support not one, but two small shows in the middle of Texas.
Mostly cus you'd know it'd have good internet.
If you want to PAX year round you just need to get hired by PA.
Even amongst just our friends, I don't think many people are crazy workaholics, but everyone seems to work way harder than I do. People seem to actually care about their careers and do actual work at work all day.
There are literally weeks where I sit here and do nothing. I'm not upset that there isn't more work to do. I'm upset that they won't pay me if I leave and come back later. They insist I sit in the office in order to get the money, even though I could do the same amount of work in just maybe two days instead of five. They have never expressed dissatisfaction with the amount of work I get done, even though I have specifically asked if they think I'm doing a good job. I keep getting raises every year.
I'm nearing the end of my rope in how much I can deal with sitting in an office for forty hours a week. The problem is that I don't know any other way to survive in this world. I can change jobs trivially, but every job I find is worse than the one I have. If I go someplace new, I'll also be expected to actually work, which will be even worse. Best case I go somewhere else the same as what I have now. What's the point? I take a big risk just to sit in a different office for the same 40 hours?
Post-labor society can't come soon enough.
Personally, I can't see myself not "working" in some capacity. I have a dream of retiring and running a bar/tavern. Serve people beer, idly chat with anyone and everyone, and generally keep the place clean.
That value can feed back into the work culture.
For example if a digital artist for a game studio, finishes creating all the necessary assets, the game has shipped; they take 6 months off holidaying, Visiting different countries, taking in the sights. Take on some comprehensive tours of power stations, cargo ship construction sites.
That's plenty of time to acquire a wealth of insight and inspiration to inject directly into new art.
That's a small example out of infinite. The point is most people can't afford that much time off 'work'. The lack of culture absorption is a reason there's little to no diversity in many industries. Diversity in terms of creative solutions and perspective. Not necessarily, but I think there are many upsides to having that agency.
Let me be clear though, putting aside all of the companies that take advantage of their employees by overworking for them, I would absolutely put in 60 or 70 hours in a week if my job was doing what I loved. We shit in workaholics all the time, but if it is someone creating something awesome, and they want to burn the candle at both ends because it is their passion, well then fucking go for it! You could be dead tomorrow. Do what you love.