作者：Ryan Wolniak

面见陌生人并展示自己可能会让人感到害怕。有人会担心，如果有人无视你的存在怎么办？或者更糟糕的是，如果别人觉得你很乏味怎么办？

人脉并不一定会令人产生如此可怕的念头。在本系列文章中，我将探讨为何人际交流是个绝妙的想法，向你提供需要的工具，向你展示要怎么去做（游戏邦注：所需的都是普通的技能），然后给你提供些许在何处找到新人脉的想法。（点击此处阅读本系列第2部分：盘点游戏开发者需具备的交际工具）

networking At Conference(from freelanceflashgames)

首要要讨论的问题是，何谓人脉？

不同的人对人脉有不同的定义。

对于某些人来说，人脉意味着拥有更多联系人。对于另一些人来说，人脉意味着与其他人有着更深层次的联系。我觉得，将这两个定义混合起来较为准确。不管怎样，人脉指的都是面见和了解新的人群。

在本系列文章中，人脉指的是开启或构建你与他人关系的任何互动。

但是我是一名游戏开发者。对我来说，人脉意味着什么呢？

作为游戏开发者，你可能会将大部分工作时间花在设计游戏和编程上。只要游戏足够有趣，至于你认识谁还有什么关系呢？

固然，你可以待在开发工作室中，不与其他人联系。你只需要：制作游戏；与赞助商谈判；修正粉丝发现的漏洞。

这些做法也可能让你制作出很棒的游戏。但是，这种做法不会让你结交到朋友。当需要推广新项目、与他人协作或学习新东西时，没有人能够给你提供帮助。

幸运的是，你有个新选择。我很高兴多数游戏开发者都已经这么做了，那就是选择融入游戏开发社区。

如果你还为做出这个选择，以下这些原因可能会引导你重新考虑自己的想法。

1、建议

如果我们有大量的私人专家的话，谁还需要书本呢？这便是你加入社区并认识其中的人群所能够产生的成果。

当我在为自己的站点设计logo时，我得到了许多可供考量的选择。因为我的能力还不如设计师，所以对于选择哪种颜色或设计毫无头绪。我原本可以去从某些设计文章和书本中寻找答案，但是这要耗费很多时间。幸运的是，我通过博客认识的一个朋友有个设计师好友，他很快就帮我选出了最棒的图标。

建议是双向的。我喜欢有其他人帮助我解决编程或设计问题，我也喜欢帮助其他人脱离困境。

所以大胆前行吧，与他人接触，寻求帮助，别独来独往。

2、品牌

如果你想要长期开发游戏的话，打响名气是非常重要的。如果你有个可为众人识别出的品牌（游戏邦注：无论是你的名字还是开发工作室），赞助方会对你的游戏更感兴趣，粉丝也会在门户网站上给你的游戏评更高的分。

那么，人脉与品牌有什么关系呢？

retail Politics(from freelanceflashgames)

这可以用零售政治（Retail Politics）这个词来解答，这个术语通常指的是总统候选人将精力放在某地的选举人身上。

作为一名拥有人脉的游戏开发者，你可以将零售政治运用于职业生涯中，与其他游戏开发者、赞助商和玩家构建起个人关系。通过你发送出的每封邮件或回复的每个评论，你正在丰富的不仅是联系人列表。你正在创造真正粉丝群体。这些人会赞扬和推广你的游戏，这会带来更多的粉丝和品牌意识。

3、机会

你认识的人越多，你能够获得的机会也就越多。这些机会可能以许多种形式出现：

Is that an opportunity I see in the distance(from freelanceflashgames)

信息

当某个联系人听说一个新比赛、网站或伟大的想法时，他也会告知你。

协作

假设你希望在下个大型项目中与某个美工合作，但是不知道要找谁。如果你没有人脉的话，可能需要耗些时间从候选人中找出值得信赖的人。但是如果你有人脉的话，你可以从自己的联系人中寻找有这方面经验的人。虽然你仍然需要从中筛选，但是他们可都是已有实战经验求职者。

反过来，如果你有了自己的人脉，你的联系人可能也会邀请你加入他们的大项目中。

无论是何种方式，协作都是融入社区并提升团队技能的绝妙方法。

专业人员

如果其他有趣和令人兴奋的机会对你没有吸引力的话，可能我能够用生意这个方面来满足你的诉求。

虽然构建品牌和制作优秀游戏很重要，人脉可以成为你开始职业业务（游戏邦注：如游戏合同、演讲机会和交易预定）的推动力。这是构建你的可信度和扩大人脉的绝佳机会。

4、有趣

除了我之前提到的所有那些职业生涯推进原因之外，不要忘了最重要的一点：趣味性！

如果你体验过的话，就会发现了解粉丝和同行是个很有趣的体验。

如果你仍然认为人脉很可怕的话，那么你应该记住，你不只是在构建联系人列表。你正在创造的是友谊。而且我最后要强调的是，友谊很有趣。

游戏邦注：本文发稿于2011年2月28日，所涉时间、事件和数据均以此为准。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Networking for Game Developers Part I: Why Bother?

Ryan Wolniak

Meeting new people and putting yourself out there can be intimidating. What if someone ignores you? Or even worse, what if you’re boring?

Networking doesn’t have to be such a scary thought. In this series, I’m going to cover why networking is a great idea, give you the tools you need, show you how to do it (no extraordinary people skills necessary), then give you some ideas for where you can put your newfound networking skills to the test.

First of all, what is networking?

Different people have different definitions of networking.

For some, networking means having as many contacts as possible. For others, networking means having a few, deeper connections with people. I find it’s good to have a mix of both. Regardless, networking is all about meeting and getting to know new people.

For the purpose of this series, networking is going to mean any interaction that starts or builds upon your relationship with another person.

But I’m a game developer. What good is networking for me?

Let’s face it, as a game developer you probably spend most of your work time designing games and coding. As long as the game is fun, does it even matter who you know?

Sure, you can sit holed up in your development studio without ever connecting with others. You just: Make your game; Negotiate with sponsors; Correct the bugs your fans found.

You’ll probably make great games too. But you won’t make any friends doing that. And when it comes time to promote your new project, collaborate with others, or learn new things, no one is going to be there to help you.

Luckily, you have a choice. And it’s one I’m glad to say most game developers have already taken: the choice to embrace the game development community.

If you haven’t made that choice yet, here are some reasons you might want to reconsider.

1. Advice

Who needs books when you can have an arsenal of personal experts? That’s what happens when you join a community and get to know the people within it.

When I the nifty looking logo for my site designed, I was given a number of choices to choose from. Not having a designer’s eye, I would have been clueless as to which colors or design to go with. I could have researched some design articles and books, but that would have been time consuming. Luckily, one of the friends I have gotten to know through blogging had a designer buddy, who quickly helped me choose the best variation.

Advice is a two way street though. While I enjoy it when someone else helps me solve my coding or design problem, I love it when I help someone else out.

So go ahead, network; ask for help. Just don’t be a leech.

2. Branding

Building a reputation is important if you want to develop games for the long haul. When you have a recognized brand (whether it be your name or a development studio), sponsors will be more interested in your games and fans will rate your games higher on portals.

What does networking have to do with branding?

It comes down to retail politics; a term typically used to describe a presidential candidate who focuses on the local level of voters.

As a savvy, networking game developer, you can apply retail politics to your career by focusing on building individual relationships with fellow game developers, sponsors, and players. Through each email you send, or comment you reply to, you are creating something more than a contact list. You are creating a group of true fans. These are the people who will go out of their way to compliment and promote your games; which brings in even more fans and brand awareness.

3. Opportunities

The more people you know, the more opportunities that are going to come your way. These opportunities could come in many forms:

Information

When one of your contacts hears about a new contest, website, or big idea, they let you know about it.

Collaboration

Suppose you’re looking to collaborate with an artist on your next big project, but don’t know who to work with. If you haven’t been networking, it could take some time weeding out candidates and finding someone trustworthy. But if you’ve been networking, you can just ask your contacts who they’ve had a good experience with. You’ll still be weeding out candidates, but they’ll be higher quality candidates with a proven track record.

On the flip side, when you have a network, your contacts might ask you to join up on their big project.

Either way, collaboration is a great way to get involved in the community and hone your teamwork skills.

Professional

If the other fun and exciting opportunities don’t appeal to you, perhaps I can appeal to your business side.

While establishing a reputation and making great games is important, networking can be the push you need to start getting professional gigs (like game contracts, speaking opportunities and book deals) coming your way. These opportunities are a great chance to build your credibility and network even more.

4. It’s Fun!

Besides all those great, career advancing reasons I’ve mentioned, don’t forget the most important one: fun!

Getting to know your fans and peers can be an enjoyable experience if you let it be.

If you still think networking is too intimidating, insincere, or just plain icky, remember that you’re not just building a contact list. You’re creating friendships. And last time I checked, friendships are fun. (Source: Freelance Flash Games)