Building Communities
Back in July 2014, a small group of podcasters banded together to launch The Gaming and Entertainment Network, a website which aggregated the content of eight independently produced shows. This eclectic group of podcasts covered a range of subjects such as gaming, movies, TV, hats and bacon as well as other aspects of popular culture. The project was conceived and implemented by Braxwolf from the popular blog Gaming Conversations. It was designed to raise awareness of the respective shows, as well promote group collaboration between the content creators. In addition to the website, TGEN (as it was abbreviated to) also had a presence on twitter, Facebook and Anook ensuring that the network was represented on all popular social media. Initially 8 podcasts participated in the project. Aggrochat, Battle Bards, Beyond Bossfights, Cat Context, Contains Moderate Peril, Couch Podtatoes, Massive Failure and Roleplay Domain.
The Gaming and Entertainment Network was intended to offer both convenience and choice to listeners. It was also supposed to foster and promote a collaborative ethos among the blogging community that had spawned it. As well as the individual shows, TGEN also produced its own quarterly round table podcast with a panel made up of members of each show. It was at times a little chaotic but the discussions were always fun due to the diverse spectrum of participants. Overall my memories of my involvement with the show are positive. Simply put they were good times. However, real life often trumps one’s aspirations. After three years, some of the podcasts started to fall into decline or stop altogether. Braxwolf, like so many of us, struggled to find the time to maintain the site while juggling work and family life. Inevitably TGEN finally closed and folk moved on. Not everyone though. Belghast and Scormus still regularly produce podcasts and Battle Bards is still a fixture of the community.
Setting aside the nostalgia, I guess what I really wanted to do was reference an example of collaboration between individuals from a shared community and highlight that such projects can be a success as well as a great deal of fun. I’ve been blogging for one and a half decades now and I was most fortunate to start at a time when blogs and podcasts were beginning to gain wider traction. From 2007 to about 2014 I was involved in such projects as The Newbie Blogger Initiative, the aforementioned The Gaming and Entertainment Network as well as the The Gaming Blog Nexus. All of which proved to be learning experiences and a great opportunity to meet and hangout with like minded people. Sadly, many have come and gone over the years but that is the nature of blogging. It has a very high rate of attrition. Some still soldier on, doggedly writing or producing shows. From time to time, someone long gone returns unexpectedly which is always a great surprise. Unfortunately, some members of the community have tragically passed away and left us too soon.
I really did enjoy the sense of belonging that came from the game blogging community back then. It’s still present today but it is a lot different because things change, especially myself. One can never recapture the events of the past but sometimes you can encourage others to try something, in the hope that they will also have a positive experience. I put a lot of stock in grass roots, community driven projects. So if you are a blogger, YouTuber or streamer and have a hankering to work collaboratively, build a community or simply just hangout with others, then don’t just think about it. Reach out to others and take the first steps. Doing is so much more rewarding than just endlessly planning. Even if things don’t work out at least you’ve tried and learned along the way. But there’s also a chance of creating something of value, finding new friends and making a lot of happy memories.
