Welcome to the Hobbyist Community
The Hobbyist Community was a concept I’ve always had in the back of my mind but never had courage to make a reality. The idea was to embrace my enjoyment in Hobbies in all shapes and forms but to share that with others in various ways, discussing specific hobbies, hobby concepts and trying out new hobbies. The idea was by sharing my joy of this subject matter I would meet those who shared the same interest and could share their Hobby interests and stories with me too.
Although each concept, post and video I make follows that mandate, to give to like minded people and hope they pay it forward in and out of the community I also note that this is my Hobby (one of many) of content creation and that no matter the reach, influence or people affected I will be gaining something for myself in experience, enjoyment and fun.
Maybe our content will give you ideas on how to approach your Hobby in a new light.
I wanted to make my first blog post an introduction to the concept, content and myself I’m always a big believer of inclusion as such I try to make variations of my content so they’re appealing to those with different preferences, needs or wants for e.g. I’ve horrid language, writing and grammar skills but I know there are people who prefer the written word to auditory and visual stimulus as such I wanted to put my heart on paper (or in this case an online blog) and share the experiences and thoughts with an audience.
Let’s have a look what the future holds as we start to building this concept and community together but feel free to note spelling, grammar and other mistakes in a constructive manner as it’s all learning; I prefer 1s and 0s any ways to everything else.
The Hobbyist Series
The core of what I like to do is discussing concept that affect our Hobbies, I call this “The Hobbyist Series” and it’s a mean to take a generic or even specific subject, apply it to our hobbies and discuss how I feel about the matter. I’m no expect in any one field as such every piece of content will be more my perspective and insights but the idea is the viewer takes from it what they will, apply it, develop it or provide their own insights to the community.
“The secret, my friend? Everything is an addiction. Just some addictions get called hobbies.”
- Nuclear Circus
The core idea is we start discussions by me simply discussing something, sometimes the episodes seem to basic and based around common sense but sometimes you could need to hear from somebody else to promote a thought process to act upon the information provided we as a community offer that.
The Hobbyist Series will cover things such as organising, finances, types of hobbies, health around your Hobbies and various subjects simply applied to Hobbies to see how we can reflect on it and maybe we all just discover something new together.
Hobbyist Challenge Series
Challenge Self, Challenge Others
The Hobbyist Challenge Series is a passion project of mine, the concept is to take up a new Hobby, research it, discover it, enjoy it, set myself challenges and fail miserably but then to reflect on the whole experience now although this can be seen simple entertainment at somebody failing at a Hobby that they find so easy themselves but it’s another means of engaging with the community, getting discussions going and engaging with those who do the Hobby themselves so they can offer insights or people might want to pick up the Hobby after seeing me fail so badly at it.
Competitive challenges build character and humility
I’m still working on the layout because there’s a lot to put into one Hobby and that affects the flow of videos and other forms of content, but I also feel separating it would simply remove the point. It’s a journey; sure, there’s some boring theory / knowledge / discussions in there compared to the failing at challenges but each part serves a purpose and the journey in its entirety that allows me to express what I truly think of the Hobby even if simply engaging in it over 4-6 weeks but could also lead to a lifetime Hobby for anybody including me. I hope with time I will get the structure and flow of this content that works for everybody but till then feedback is appreciated as always.
The Hobbyist Stream
I must admit throughout the years I’ve watch people stream games, tournaments and over time the streaming scene has evolved (in some places) to be about engaging with the audience just as much as the content they’re playing some streamers don’t even game they simply chat with their audience.
Now this is a part I wanted to latch on to, a means to engage and discuss topics with my audience live; now don’t get me wrong I can engage in one of my Hobbies (gaming) while doing so but the purpose of these Streams is to engage with those that would prefer to discuss things live with a bit of back and forth rather than “commenting” on blogs and video posts which is nothing wrong with that but again it’s about opening up various types of engagement with the audience and community via various means to suit as many people as possible so they can get the most out of this concept / community.
Nothing overcomes fear like the courage of others.
Now I’m wary of streaming because likely won’t be able to keep a strict schedule, I’m already working full time within my role at the NHS, I’m creating video (short and long form), taking part in various Hobbies and trying to write blogs as such it will be a time and place that is clearly transmitted to those who wish to know when I will be live. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve a rather bland, shy and weird personality but doesn’t make me want to engage any less I just know it might not appeal to everybody but as long as it appeals to somebody, I will keep doing it for that one person if need be.
Art isn't my strong suit, personality isn't either but I'm here and that's what matters.
For now here’s an assortment of clips from the stream being built, currently I’m using rather bulky and plethora of boxes etc (mostly to hide myself) but in the future as my confidence grows may remove a lot of the bulk and opt for a more personable touch and utilise greenscreens to be a bit more involved in the content but for now it’s all I need to simply engage and discuss with my audience.
The show is about to begin...
Game and Engage
We Game Together, We Hobby Together and We Fail Together
The Hobbyist Community coming together LIVE to chat.
Shorts and Verticals
Sometimes we need a taste in a smaller dose.
Now the world has changed from movie length videos delving into concepts and showing process all the way through to short form and vertical content that allows the user quick doses of information and entertainment easily consumed on the go as not everybody wants to consume a 10-minute video while out and about.
Now although I do feel our content requires a certain video length to get points, concepts and share content such as our challenges I realise the potential of short form content to provide insights into our content, provide quick tips and maybe make a userbase aware of what I’m trying to accomplish.
Going Unhinged
The Freedom to Express Oneself
Now the Unhinged video concept was a risk take of mine, as you may or may not known a lot of content I do has a script (although 90% of it I don’t follow, much to my own dismay when I edit it later) this is to make sure I cover the points I’m trying to portray and hopefully keep the video to a decent length but it also almost forces a certain approach and visual appearance to the audience to convey understanding and approachability but alas this isn’t me; now I’m not saying I’m faking who I am to appeal to people but I am toning down aspects of myself and my personality to not off put people. The idea around the Unhinged series was to flip the twitch, minimise the script, maximise the information and simple portray it as I feel in that moment – think of it the Hobbyist Improv? But the subject matter is the only predefined factor.
Freedom comes at cost to oneself
The problem is during the thought process, incarnation, and creation of this channel I’m still coming to terms with the realisation and acceptance of my Autism, not to mention dealing with Depression, Anxiety, health problems and redundancy / new job role (woe is me…) I don’t think I could cope with the stipulations, stigma and comments when it came to portraying an authentic self but this doesn’t mean its not a concept I want to explore in the future (Editing, scripting and masking is exhausting). Yet I think this series will be shown in a members-only type format in which people who truly enjoy and get something out of what I’m doing are more likely to appreciate this content.
The Hobbycast
A Podcast is a means to be your authentic self in a controlled environment.
I’m very much fond of podcasts as it’s a means of providing a lot of information via a format that’s easily absorbed but also that it requires less scripting and allows for a bit more of an authentic self. This is something I want to adopt into the content we provide, I want to connect with my audience and talk to them; we can start discussions about their hobbies, what troubles they’ve faced with their hobbies and how they overcome it.
This is one of the concepts I’m most excited about as it will allow me to direct connect with a community member, get their insights which will teach myself and viewers about their hobby it’s connecting with your audience in the truest form.
Now this is a long term goal as there might not be people queueing up to talk to a amateur content creator but with time I hope people will come forward, I’m hoping for to do a video-podcast in it’s truest form but respect the wishes of others to be either anonymous or simply their voice / text whatever shape or form that person feels comfortable is how that episode will be portrayed as the community members comfort and opinion is at the foremost even vs the consistency and quality of the content otherwise the concept doesn’t work.
If you’re a fellow Hobbyist and this concept sounds appealing to you by all means get in touch and simply ensure “Hobbycast” is in the subject and we can go from there, I’m so excited to be absorbed into the wonderful world of peoples Hobbies. When we do start to shoot the Hobbycast look out for posts on social media, community pages and the blog as I will be asking the community to get in touch with questions you would want to ask a fellow Hobbyist about their specific Hobby.
The Hobbyist Reacts
Now this part of the content slight goes off script as it’s not directly a discussion, proof of concept or engaged around a Hobby (or is reacting a Hobby, let me know your thoughts?) but it’s one of the greatest ways to engage with your audience, the community relays videos / meme / photos etc around their hobbies and interests that are shared with me so I can get into the mindset of my audience and react & appreciate it in all it’s glory or lack thereof.
This won’t become a primary focus of the channel but will be guided by my audience and their want for this content but at minimum it’s a nice relaxing changing of pace, allows me to develop my edit skills in this form of content so it’s engagement of audience and a learning experience can’t complain there.
If this concept sounds appealing by all means get in touch with your suggestions or tag me in videos and where possible simply note “Hobbyist Reacts” where possible and thank you.
Working with the Hobbyist Community
A lot of the future concept involve working with the community, now even if when this project and concept launches it might not be well received but I will still be aiming to go ahead with all the projects listed here today in some shape or form but just know every bodies opinions, suggestions and wants are valid they will be read and digested by me.
I will likely spend more time engaging with people via comments, suggestions and correspondence then I will making content (what could possibly go wrong) but alas it’s amateur content I will improve over time but the opinions, feedback and concerns of my audience are valid soon as they’re portrayed to me in any shape or form which matters the most.
Hopes for the future
