Jeff Chausse
Digital Strategy + Design
Blogging Kills!
Part of me can’t believe that this article wasn’t written for The Onion and accidentally printed in the New York Times instead. But, on a serious note, the lesson to be learned by the supposed “blogging deaths” is that the economics of blogging just really don’t calculate unless it is at least partially done for personal enjoyment. Regardless of what you’re being paid, or how, a “blogger” is really someone who’s looking out 24 hours a day for relevant happenings – you just can’t live that way unless you actually enjoy what you’re blogging about.
This will always be the difference between bloggers and journalists. You can be a journalist, covering things you’re not especially interested in, and still be a reasonably happy (or extremely happy, for that matter) person. You have an assignment, you perform that assignment, and then you have personal time that’s all your own. There’s no down-time for a blogger. No matter how often you actually write, you’re always observing, thinking, analyzing. A true blogger is a blogger 24/7. If you don’t love what you’re blogging about, stop now. It’s not worth the stress.
Jeff is Ready to Rock with Harmonix
My apologies for the lack of posts lately, but the past month or so has been a very crazy time for me, in the best possible sense. Unfortunately, I have not been able to discuss what’s been going on until now (for reasons which will become immediately obvious.)
Without further ado, I’d like to announce that I have just accepted the role of Web Director at Harmonix. Harmonix, for those who don’t know, is the game company that developed Rock Band, as well as Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero 2 (plus the cool iPod game Phase, amongst other cool stuff). I’ll be leading the team responsible for RockBand.com, as well as anything else Harmonix does on the web.
I am thrilled beyond belief to have been offered this opportunity. Not only does this role truly encompass my extremely diverse range of professional interests, it has also reinvigorated my somewhat dormant loves of both video games and rock music, long buried under the twin pressures of work and raising a family. Now that I can legitimately play video games in the name of "research," I have no excuse for growing up.
I begin the job on April 14th, at which point you probably won’t hear much from me on this site for a while -initially because I’ll be swamped with getting my head around my new duties, but I will also need to give some serious thought to my personal web presence. It’s not like I’ve been elected pope or anything, but this is a role that will likely attract a lot of attention. Rock Band has sold over 1,000,000 copies and, as an employee of Harmonix, I’ll also be working for MTV and Viacom. While Chausse.org has always been a personal site that "does not represent the opinions of my employer," I’ve never worked for such a high profile employer. I’d hate for one of my snarky comments to be misinterpreted by the wrong person and end up on the front page of CNET or something. Anyway, Chausse.org will likely still be here for a good long time, just give me some time to figure out if any changes are in order.
Meanwhile, strap on plastic guitar, fire up your favorite video game system, and rock out. I’ll see you on RockBand.com.