Will & Adam… from UKGE to card in STEERY
Well… not ALL the people… that’s a bit much. In fact don’t imagine it, check it out. The first part of the next section of the website is now live. PEOPLE joins EVENTS and PLACES and which people are we starting with? Well, we’re on t’web so why not start with our local neighbours… those that create ‘content’ be it pictures, word, videos… Stuff to see and go ‘oooo…’ and ‘aaaaah!’, things to make you go ‘hmmm’.
It just so happens that I had an evening out this week with such an individual. I had the pleasure of being invited round for a long overdue games night with the ‘Ever so Excitable’ Adam of Die Rollin’!
We’ve been in each others orbits for a while, whether it was supporting the makers of the party game ‘Steery’ at UKGE or winning the board game quiz together in TOGcast’s 100th episode at Airecon, people may assume we were close friends, in truth we just know similar people.
This occasion was an evening playing a couple of games that he has preview copies of and was gonna make content for them before they go to crowdfunding. We shot a video of them being played and also chatted a bit about what he does and how he got where he is…
Adam has been making videos for a good 5 years now and has clocked up over a thousand on his YouTube channel in that time. What started as a project with a friend changed to a solo endeavour as, as can happen, ‘life got in the way’. Along the way he has used Facebook and Instagram as well although plans to change how he works are currently afoot, it is after all a game of balancing life and hobbies and work.
Born to be winners… TOGcast 100th Quiz
The evening went without a hitch, at the start we exchanged war stories about Legacy games we had played and he is now one of the few people who had a better ‘Risk Legacy’ story than me. Perhaps exchanging these tales before a bluffing and deception game was a poor idea as we maybe didn’t trust each other quite as much due to them…
I could tell you all about ‘Curiosity Killed the Cat’ and ‘Tap10:Inventions’ but they’re not Birmingham related so not really part of this site (although I would encourage you to check them out when you get a chance, perhaps on Adam’s channel?) and instead I got a few answers from Adam from a few choice questions…
Will: ‘What kind of gamer are you?’
Adam: ‘I'd say I'm a medium to heavy gamer who is more focused on the enjoyment of the game than getting all the rules right. I don't play games to win, I just enjoy the simple joy of sitting down and playing a game and socialising.’
Will: ‘If you could tell a newcomer to content creation just one thing to help them, what would it be?’
Trigger warning…
Adam: ‘Comparison is the theft of Joy, never compare yourself to other people. When you begin your journey you will naturally look around you at others on the same journey, whether you start following other people or already are, it’s natural to do so. You will connect with others and then look at what they do and think “Gosh! Why are they succeeding where I’m not? They’re doing so well but I’m not getting that traction” ’
‘Here lies a potential downhill spiral, you need to stop and just focus on what you love and, in time, your audience will find you and natural growth will occur. You may never reach a million followers but as long as you enjoy yourself and not hurting anybody, it’s all good.’
Will: ‘After a recording is made, how long does it take to be uploaded to your channel?’ (not that I was thinking when my debut on his channel would be…)
Adam: ‘Oh, how I wish it was a quick turnaround! It all depends, on average if I edit it straight away, I can generally have it done in a couple of days although normally it takes a good week to find the time.’
‘There might also be other things I need to do like, source music, check rules, reshoots, etc. all this and a long shoot and when I’m having a busy time sometimes the process takes up to a few weeks.’
Will: ‘What’s the best thing about the Board Game Scene around Birmingham?
Adam: ‘It’s 100% the people, there are some lovely people that I've met through board gaming. When I got into board gaming as an adult it’s because I wanted to have social interactions with people that weren't through a screen. I met so many people around the Birmingham area and beyond. So many have been welcoming when I moved into the area, I didn't really know anybody and so I went to a board game cafe which is sadly no longer there, I met some people who now have become my regular gaming group. There are lots of meet-ups. It's really easy to find your own people if you know where to look.’
So there you have it, an ever so excitable chap who is doing his content when he has the time to do it and living his normal life when not. Just a person, just like everyone else we’ll be listing as we expand our site to cover more and more people from all parts of the scene.
