作者：Keith Fuller

除Flash程序员和后台工程师外，你结识的人士和你懂的知识一样重要。

这无疑是我开始从事自由职业就知晓的重要知识。提高自己的行业人脉存在某些技巧，但最终还是归结为会见更多人士。

meet more people from spadblog.com

这是社交联系扮演重要角色的年代，所以我不必告诉你怎么做。登陆Facebook、Twitter，更新你的LinkedIn资料，跟进某博客，就新文章发表评论，在线体验游戏，最后一招是面见他人。

我们不乏机会介绍自己。“这是谁谁”已是几十年来的惯用表达，所以大家为何不积极成为他人通讯录上的一员？

也许是出于恐惧。也许你觉得自己没有资格，所以没有伸出友谊之手。我在事业中就是如此。在我刚担任程序员时，迅速结识许多重量级人物，所以我后来开始迎头赶上。大家为何愿意同我联系？

这是原因：因为你是独立个体，总是会对新情境产生新看法。新看法总是值得分享。不要害怕参与论坛对话。不要害怕提问问题。不要害怕介绍自己。任何你联系的人士也曾经和你一样是新手。他们大多记得这点。

也许是出于孤立心态。你满足于自己所认识的人士，自己的工作，自己的公司。也许你已算是其中资深老手（游戏邦：据调查显示，此判断根据是任职6年以上）。所以你感觉良好，觉得没必要探头了解外面的世界，结识行业其他人士。

我在事业中亦是如此。我在公司呆了10年后才发现自己同外面的世界脱节。就自己去年结识的人士来看，我不论从个人角度，还是专业角度都获得极大充实。

我深受新结识人士的挑战、指导和启发，我后悔自己过去多年甘当井底之蛙。结识业内各领域人士对我的事业起到重要作用。

你现在也许觉得自己无需他人帮助，但也许某天解雇、工作室关闭或个人突变会降临到你身上。此时你会庆幸自己结识如此多人。所以不论你现在感觉多好，我建议你结交新朋友。

也许是出于地理位置关系。你并非居住于西雅图、旧金山湾或其他潮流人士常出没的地方。我无法想象身处21世纪的游戏业人士会觉得这是个面见他人的障碍，但若你这样觉得，不妨看看@ReallyVirtual，他通过转发巴基斯坦奥萨马·本·拉登的死讯打破互联网界限。他企图远离这一切，但最终还是变成网络红人。

所以不妨听从我的建议，会见更多人士。你会从中学到新知识，甚至还能给其他新手提供帮助（游戏邦注：即便这无法换得立即回报）。也许在未来事业的某天，你会由衷发出这样的感慨：“我庆幸自己认识那家伙。”（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Opinion: Meet More People

by Keith Fuller

[In this #altdevblogaday-reprinted opinion piece, production consultant Keith Fuller explains why you need to meet more people and make more industry connections, even if you're afraid to or if you're satisfied with your career right now.]

With the possible exception of Flash programmers and backend engineers (because, wow, are YOU guys in demand) it’s still the case that who you know is at least as important as what you know.

This is definitely one of the more crucial pieces of knowledge that has been driven home to me as I’ve started working as a freelancer. I’d love to tell you there’s some magic trick to increasing your network of industry connections, but it really boils down to this: meet more people.

This is the age of rampant social connections, so I probably don’t have to tell you how to do this. Get on Facebook, get on Twitter, update your LinkedIn profile, follow a blog, comment on news articles, play online, and if it comes down to an absolute last ditch do-or-die situation, meet somebody face-to-face.

There’s no shortage of opportunities for introducing yourself, and the whole “it’s who you know” thing has been a cliche for decades, so why isn’t everyone sitting on a nearly infinite contact list?

Maybe it’s fear. Maybe you don’t feel you measure up or you think you haven’t been in the industry long enough so you just don’t reach out. For far too much of my career, that was me. When I began as a programmer I quickly learned of people who were orders of magnitude better than I’d ever be, so I turtled up. Why would anyone want to hear from me?

Here’s why: because you’re an individual and you will always bring a new perspective to every situation. And a new perspective is always worth being heard. Don’t be afraid to jump into a conversation on a forum. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. And don’t be afraid to introduce yourself. Anyone you reach out to was once more of a newb than you are currently. Chances are, they remember that.

Maybe it’s insulation. You’re happy with the people you know, the job you have, and the company where you work. Maybe you’ve even been there long enough to become a grizzled veteran (which, according to a lot of surveys, is six years. Six. Whole. Years.) so you’re comfortable and don’t feel the need to stick your head up and learn about the world around you and the rest of the industry.

For far too much of my career, that was me, too. I worked at the same company for a decade before I started to realize how much of the outside world I was missing. And just from the contacts I’ve made in the past year I’ve been enormously enriched on a personal level as well as from a professional standpoint.

I’ve been challenged, educated, and enlightened by new contacts to such an extent that I’ve been kicking myself for keeping my head in my own cubicle for so many years. And it’s been critical for my business to know lots of people in lots of different niches throughout the industry.

You may not think you need anyone now, but there will likely come a day when a layoff, a studio closure, or a personal upheaval will blindside you. You’ll be thankful for every person you ever met when that happens, so no matter how comfortable you are right now, I encourage you to start making new connections.

Maybe it’s geography. You don’t live in Seattle or the Bay or wherever the hip kids hang out. I can’t imagine anyone in the games industry in the 21st century thinks this is an actual barrier to meeting others, but in case you do, let me just remind you of @ReallyVirtual who almost broke the internet by accidentally live-tweeting the killing of Osama bin Laden from Pakistan. He tried to get away from it all (and in terms of transistors per square kilometer did a really, really good job) and still became a celebrity.

So just take my advice and meet more people. You’ll probably learn a few things, you might even help somebody else come out of their shell, and even if it doesn’t pay off today, there’s a good chance that at some point in your career you’ll find yourself saying, “Man, am I glad I met THAT guy.”（Source：gamasutra）