Comics Bulletin logo
Search
  • Columns
    Random
    • David Rodriguez: Writer, Video Game Designer, Director, Artist and World Conqueror!

      Steven Savage
      January 12, 2005
      Columns, Comics Bulletin Soapbox
    Recent
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 2

      Daniel Gehen
      December 4, 2020
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 1

      Daniel Gehen
      October 30, 2020
    • Comictober 2020: DRACULA MOTHERF**KER

      Daniel Gehen
      October 27, 2020
    • What Looks Good
    • Comics Bulletin Soapbox
    • The Full Run
    • Leading Question
    • Top 10
    • The Long-Form
    • Jumping On
    • Comics in Color
    • Slouches Towards Comics
  • Big Two
    Random
    • Leading Questions: Cue "International Players Anthem (I Choose You)"

      Steven Savage
      April 20, 2017
      Big Two, Columns, DC Comics, Leading Question
    Recent
    • 4.5

      DCeased: Dead Planet #7 Presents a Hopeful Future (Review)

      Daniel Gehen
      January 22, 2021
    • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

      Daniel Gehen
      December 3, 2020
    • Stan Lee

      nguyen ly
      November 7, 2020
    • DC Comics
    • Big Two Reviews
    • Marvel Comics
  • Indie
    Random
    • Valiant Announces the Valiant Classic Digital Comic Book Collection

      Steven Savage
      July 10, 2019
      News, Press Release, Valiant
    Recent
    • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

      Daniel Gehen
      December 14, 2020
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 2

      Daniel Gehen
      December 4, 2020
    • 4.5

      TMNT: The Last Ronin #1 Lives Up to the Hype (Review)

      Daniel Gehen
      October 29, 2020
    • Reviews
    • Archie Comics
    • Boom! Studios
    • Dark Horse
    • IDW
    • Image
    • Oni Press
    • Valiant
  • Reviews
    Random
    • 3.0

      Betty and Veronica Double Digest #196

      Steven Savage
      December 17, 2011
      Reviews
    Recent
    • 4.5

      DCeased: Dead Planet #7 Presents a Hopeful Future (Review)

      Daniel Gehen
      January 22, 2021
    • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

      Daniel Gehen
      December 14, 2020
    • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

      Daniel Gehen
      December 3, 2020
    • Singles Going Steady
    • Slugfest
    • Manga
      • Reviews
    • Small Press
      • Reviews
      • ICYMI
      • Tiny Pages Made of Ashes
  • Interviews
    Random
    • Matt Smith Strips 2000AD to the Bones

      Steven Savage
      October 15, 2012
      Interviews
    Recent
    • Interview: Jon Davis-Hunt Talks SHADOWMAN

      Daniel Gehen
      June 8, 2020
    • Interview: Becky Cloonan talks DARK AGNES and Her Personal Influences

      Mike Nickells
      March 4, 2020
    • Simon Roy

      Interview: Simon Roy on His Inspirations and Collaborations on PROTECTOR

      Mike Nickells
      January 29, 2020
    • Audio Interview
    • Video Interview
  • Classic Comics
    Random
    • Classic Comics Cavalcade: Valiant Masters: H.A.R.D. Corps

      Steven Savage
      May 8, 2015
      Classic Comics Cavalcade
    Recent
    • Countdown to the King: Marvel’s Godzilla

      Daniel Gehen
      May 29, 2019
    • Honoring A Legend: Fantagraphics To Resurrect Tomi Ungerer Classics

      Daniel Gehen
      February 15, 2019
    • Reliving the Craziest Decade in Comics History: An interview with Jason Sacks

      Mark Stack
      January 2, 2019
    • Classic Comics Cavalcade
    • Classic Interviews
  • News
    Random
    • Humanoids Announces Three-Book Deal with Eisner Award Nominated Writer/ Artist Ibrahim Moustafa

      Steven Savage
      July 1, 2020
      News, Press Release
    Recent
    • 2020 Ringo Awards Winners Announced

      Daniel Gehen
      October 26, 2020
    • BAD IDEA Announces 2021 Publishing Slate

      Daniel Gehen
      September 29, 2020
    • A Full Replay of NCSFest 2020 is now Available

      Daniel Gehen
      September 15, 2020
    • Press Release
    • Kickstarter Spotlight
  • Books
    Random
    • Review: 'Prison Island' is a Journey to a Close-by Strange Land

      Steven Savage
      September 7, 2015
      Books, Reviews, Small Press
    Recent
    • Collecting Profile: Disney Frozen

      CB Staff
      November 22, 2019
    • Collecting Profile: NFL Superpro

      CB Staff
      August 31, 2019
    • “THE BEST OF WITZEND” is a Wonderful Celebration of Artistic Freedom

      Daniel Gehen
      September 15, 2018
    • Review: ‘Machete Squad’ is a Disappointing Afghan Memoir

      Jason Sacks
      July 31, 2018
    • Review: ‘Out of Nothing’ is the Antidote to Our Sick Times

      Jason Sacks
      July 23, 2018
    • Review: ‘Bizarre Romance’ Shows Rough Edges in the Early Days of a New Marriage

      Jason Sacks
      July 10, 2018
What's New
  • Collecting Profile: If I win Powerball, I will buy Amazing Fantasy 15
  • DCeased: Dead Planet #7 Presents a Hopeful Future (Review)
  • Collecting Profile: Batwoman
  • Collecting Profile: Daredevil
  • Collecting Profile: Floronic Man
  • Review of Cheetah in Wonder Woman 1984
  • RSS Feed
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Contact Us
  • Write for us!
  • Visit Video Game Break!
Home
Columns

The Power Of Your Professional Hobby

Steven Savage
November 6, 2011
Columns, Mission Professional

Notice something different at Comics Bulletin?  Yeah, it looks different, all slicked up, upgraded, and new.  Pretty impressive, no?

Well it wasn't as easy as you may think.  So I want to call out to the people who made it work – in a progeeky way.

Jason and the entire staff made this thing work.  They tested the code, ran the upgrades, suffered through endless amounts of weird and bizarre issues from "easy" migrations.  They managed to pull it off, and I want to thank them – and thank Jason for sharing his experiences with me.

It's easy to take this stuff for granted because in time the web page runs, the updates work, and everything looks fine.  But we shouldn't, because we forget how challenging it is until next time.

We should also remember what this means for us professionally – everyone that runs this site, everyone that contributes, everyone who may, everyone who may do something similar.  This is a "Professional Hobby."

Imagine as you participate in this or another site, what you'll learn.  You will learn about editing, or art, or insane server config issues.  Your hobby is going to teach you a lot of technical and professional skills – like it or not.

Think of the character-building doing a project like this entails (I can tell you a few stories of my own efforts).  Efforts like running a fansite or a progeek site can really help you grow – or harden you to face adversity.  Working on a website like this can help you grow as a person (if you don't snap).

Finally, in your professional life, an effort like this shows your skills and character.  Running a site, building it, contributing to it – working here or in a similar site is a way of doing professional things as a hobby.  It shows you are talented and committed.

In fact, in the last week, I used the site in a professional discussion on rhetoric and language. Seriously – and it may have netted me an interview for my own site.

So let's remember all the people doing work here.

Let's remember that we can contribute here, or elsewhere, or run our own site, and grow professionally.  Best of all, it's growing professionally while we write about, review, or complain about comics, games, and film.

I'd call that a win-win.
 

Mission: ProfessionalSteven Savage

Share On:
Tweet
Critter #4
Heart #1

About The Author

mm
Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.musehack.com/, publishes books on career and culture at http://www.informotron.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at http://www.stevensavage.com/.

Related Posts

  • You Gotta Read This: ‘Her Eternal Moonlight Sailor Moon’s Female Fans In North America’

    Jason Sacks
    October 5, 2016
  • The Crossroads Alpha Podcast #4: On Auteurism

    Carlos Rodela, Jason Sacks, Jose San Mateo, Serdar Yegulalp, Steven Savage
    April 4, 2015

Latest Columns

  • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 2

    Daniel Gehen
    December 4, 2020
  • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 1

    Daniel Gehen
    October 30, 2020
  • Comictober 2020: DRACULA MOTHERF**KER

    Daniel Gehen
    October 27, 2020
  • What Looks Good for the Week of 10/14/2020

    Daniel Gehen
    October 12, 2020
  • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – Monster Mash!

    Daniel Gehen
    October 9, 2020
RSSTwitterFacebookgoogleplusinstagramtumblr

Comics Bulletin is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for website owners to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, audible.com, and any other website that may be affiliated with Amazon Service LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate, Comics Bulletin earns from qualifying purchases.

All content on this site (c) 2018 The Respective Copyright Holders