Dear Professional,

I am thrilled that you have managed to turn what you love into a vocation. Maybe you’re an author who has published a book. Maybe you’re an artist with a studio. Maybe you’re a business-savvy professional who helps other people.

AWESOME.

You may have heard of an event called Speak Out with your Geek Out. It’s taking place from Monday, September 12th through Friday, September 16th. This event began with a post I wrote entitled Calling all Geeks! Post About Your Hobbies and it’s now swelled to hundreds of participants. Bloggers range from fans to pros like myself, Jess Hartley, Matt Forbeck, Brennan Taylor, Matt M McElroy, Liz Danforth, Lynne M Thomas and many, many others. We’ll have an official website up shortly. We have a logo. We have a tagline. We have everything we need to make this happen.

SPEAK OUT WITH YOUR GEEK OUT

Sometime during the week of Monday, September 12th to Friday, September 16th post about what geeky hobby you love. Then, tell us why we should try it, too. Leave your fears (and edition wars) at the door. Forget about your latest rant. Tap into that well of positive energy and share in the excitement of all things geek.

This isn’t just about gaming. This isn’t just about comics or movies or books. This is about taking a stance against negativity and feeling isolated for our interests — whether they be sports, games, music, crafts, whatever — and putting our energy toward being enthusiastic about what we love. This is about people who feel like they’re geeks because of their interest or vocation, and who will stand up and say that’s it is not cool to put them down. They’re not going to be angry about it. Oh, absolutely not. Instead, we will talk about how much they love what they love, what you or I might do for them as pros, and why others should share in this joy, too, in the hopes that others will be more tolerant.

This is not an opportunity to market these people to death. This is not a chance to shill your product or service. Many of these people look up to us because we turned what we love into a hobby or career. This is an opportunity to be a part of the community and lead by example.

I apologize if this post comes off as being a little preachy, but I had a reason to. You see, someone already broke that rule. It was an innocent link, but I want to say something now, before this week of awesome begins. I want to tell you that your fans may be talking about you, and that may be part of the reason why. I want to say that sometimes? People don’t want to talk to a marketer — they want to simply hang out and be themselves without fear that someone is going to sell them something or make them feel bad if they don’t.

Having said that, though, I will tell you that I trust you. I encourage you to show your own enthusiasm for what you do. If that means tying that into a give-a-way to give people the option to participate in your flavor of geek? AWESOME. You have your fans and your audience, and I know you understand the best way to reach them. You are smart and you know that there is a difference between being genuine and throwing sales pitches all over the place. All I’m asking, is that you keep that in mind. In order for this enthusiasm to combat negativity, sometimes we need to remember that community is about multiple people, not one person’s sales.

I look at you, and I see you as a pillar of the community because you are the reason why people love their flavor of geek that much. You are the reason why something like this can happen in the first place. I hope you know how amazing you really are.

Thanks for listening! I wish you continued success in your endeavors. Live long and prosper.

Best,

Monica Valentinelli
Founder, Speak Out with your Geek Out

Author and Game Designer who lurks in the dark
http://www.mlvwrites.com