Dad's Log - A Glimpse Into The Mind Of A Broadcaster

Last night, the creative juices were flowing after a friend of mine posted an idea for a podcast on Twitter. I immediately and almost frantically, started writing questions and ideas down for implementing the idea and running with it. It was an example of one of those "yahtzee" moments, where something in a creator's head just clicks, and you take off like a SpaceX rocket after an idea. Creators, take full advantage of these moments, because when they come around you have an opportunity to create something so special, don't let something like needing sleep stifle your creation process (I say that jokingly as it was about 30 minutes before I was going to bed when this brainchild happened, don't sacrifice your health peeps). Point being, when opportunity comes knocking, be sure you're ready, and chase after it like your life depended on it. God bless!

Mixer was down last night. Effectively, most of Mixer's services were down and we ended up calling it about 90 minutes into my cast. Which, as a broadcaster who only gets to cast 3 to 4 times a week, really stinks. But, instead of complaining about it and just logging for the night, we made lemonade out of lemons, got creative, and had a blast! We opened up the voice channels in Discord, and hung out with a bunch of folks and just enjoyed playing video games! It was refreshing, an opportunity to hang and chat with folks we don't normally get to, and it gave me an idea for our family nights that I'm looking forward to implementing. My encouragement for you, regardless of what you do for a living, is to find the silver lining in an otherwise bad situation, get creative, and make some phenomenal lemonade out of lemons. God bless!

So many emotions today that I can't articulate. We hit 1000 Legion strong last night, which is an INCREDIBLE milestone to hit less than a month in to being on Mixer. But while that's super exciting, I'm also disheartened to see so many other great content creators feel stuck on platforms that are doing NOTHING to support their growth and their needs. I have some very good friends on Twitch that are facing a hard decision to stay with a platform that they've spent years building their communities on or to move to platform where they have a chance to possibly accomplish the goals they have for their community. My ask is that if you are a broadcaster, do your research and evaluate your goals and whether the platform you are on supports your goals / needs. If you are a viewer, consider the impact you have on content creators if you choose a platform over supporting them moving. It's a simple ask, be kind to one another, put yourself in each others shoes, and love. God bless.

It's amazing to see Mixer starting to make moves in the broadcaster space, I was in Angry Iceberg's stream and there was chatter about how Mixer has approached some Twitch partners about making the move to Mixer. This to me shows that Microsoft is taking the next step and getting serious about making Mixer a contender to Twitch in terms of streaming services and competition. And what we saw this morning is that viewers are willing to go where their favorite content creators are. I'm extremely excited to see what the future holds for the Mixer platform, and how the influx of new viewers will drive Microsoft to accelerate innovation on the platform and to bring some things up to par with Twitch (emote size...). It's an exciting time to be a Mixer broadcaster!! God Bless!

After last night I absolutely had to talk about how important it is to surround yourself with a solid team. We nearly hit the 1k mark for member of the Legion, and I couldn't be more excited and humbled by the support and love we've seen from the Mixer community. But it's worth noting that this would NOT have been possible without the strong support from my team, my Mod Squad. Finding people who align with your vision and purpose for your broadcast is extremely important, even as a small broadcaster, because those are the folks who will be with you in the trenches, day in and day out, making sure your chat stays informed, aligns with your purpose and values, and ultimately helps you entertain and enrich the lives of your viewers to the best of your ability. The value they bring to the table rivals your own, so make sure you appreciate them and make sure you surround yourself with them. God Bless!

Today I talked about learning. A lot of times, we as people, actively want to avoid learning new things either because we're in school and we're forced to learn, or we're told by a figure of authority that we have to learn. Today I want to encourage you to go out and learn about something you WANT to learn about. I have a saying that I've told people for years, I've always said "The day you don't learn something new, is the day you die". Becuase whether we consciously or unconciously do so, we're always learning. My encouragement would be to go out and learn something today because you want to learn it. You'll be a better person for it. I appreciate each and every one of you that has stopped by and listened to the podcast, have a wonderful rest of your weekend and God Bless.

It's Friday! Today is normally a day where I start to reflect on how the week has gone, and this week is one of those weeks that I would define as "the grind". I didn't really have any of those "adrenaline" moments where we got a big raid, or we were featured or anything, but it wasn't a bad week either. The Legion saw really solid growth, we've got new fam joining the fold, and it was just a solid week. I think it's important to acknowledge these types of week, and most importantly to be grateful in the grind. It's easy to become disheartened when things aren't at their peak, especially if you're coming off of one of those peaks or hitting a plateau, whether it's in broadcasting or whatever you're doing. But be grateful that you have another day to have a positive impact on someone. Life is too short to let the grind get you down! I hope you're ready for a great weekend, I appreciate you, and God Bless!

So many thoughts running through my head in this dad log, it was really hard to put them all together in a coherent thought. But waking up to a Twitter-storm about Ninja and Drake is a pretty fun thing to wake up to. Huge congratulations to Ninja, from what I've heard, this has been a long time coming. To get to a point where you can say "I've played video games with Drake" is pretty impressive, and shows what hard work and perseverance can do. So big-ups dude. Second, the result of this cultural event has brought the best and worst out of people. The worst is when others see the success of someone else, and say they don't deserve it, or that it never would have happened if not for Drake. Not true. So make sure that you celebrate the success of your fellow streamer, regardless of how big or small. You'll be a better person for it. That's all I've got for you, have an amazing Thursday and God Bless!

Today I want to talk about priorities, whether it's stream related or otherwise. Had a chat with a good friend about getting things setup for their stream, and something that came to mind is the fact that it can be hard to decide, with limited time, what to work on and put the time into vs what you you don't put the time into. There are always the basics of making sure that you have basic commands setup for common things people want to know as they engage with your content. When you start looking at more complex items, the level of effort and complexity is far greater, which leads to more time. The main point I'd leave you with, is that from a streaming perspective, make sure that no matter what you prioritizing, that it lines up with the values / purpose / content of your channel. Every creator has a unique value prop they bring to the table, make sure that you prioritize the experiences that will bring value to your viewer. Thanks for listening, God Bless!

My wife and I had a date night last night, and sat down to finish up Thor: Ragnarok (great movie BTW, best of the three Thor movies in my opinion). At one point in the film, it's said that Asgard is a people, not a place. And it struck me, have I been thinking about the Dad Cave all wrong? Originally the Dad Cave, named by my son, represented the place where my office / streaming setup is. But the Dad Cave isn't just a physical or virtual space, it's made up of the Legion. The people who engage with me and with each other in many different places and in many different ways. It's easy as broadcasters (and in other professions) to focus on numbers. But if you lose sight of the people, then you need to take a step back and get some perspective. Ask yourself how you're having a positive impact on people, because if you have a positive impact on people, then your numbers will fall into place. Take encouragement knowing you have people supporting you, and focus on them. God bless!

First, before we dive into today's Dad Log, I have to say thank you for all the love and support that everyone has shown me and the fam. We have been on Mixer for a little over 2 weeks now, and the Legion is 600 strong. 600! When we left Twitch after 4 SOLID months of casting, we were at 750 Legion, so we have almost reached the point we were on Twitch from a fam perspective. Absolutely incredible. So for today's Dad's Log, I want to cover something broadcaster related, because last night was just silly. What I talk about today is etiquette. Do yourself a favor casters, and make friends with the casters you would like support from. They will find out you're a broadcaster, eventually check out your content, and support you. It's that simple. Be patient, be kind and considerate, and support the content creators you want to support you. Don't ask for handouts, it's unbecoming of you and puts the caster in an awkward position. I appreciate each and every one of you, God bless!

Props to those who create content on a daily basis. I'm tackling this one head on, because I woke up this morning drawing a blank. Creating content daily is tough! Especially if you're creating content that isn't really "based" on other content. I don't know if I was just tired, or perhaps maybe I'm just that boring, but I was struggling with what to talk about. I guess my musing for the day is, if you have a favorite content creator (other than me) that creates daily content, go like / share / subscribe / follow, support them in whatever way you can. They work hard on the content create, and if they do it, day in and day out, then give them as much love and support as you possibly can. Love you all, God bless, we'll see you soon!

So I didn't really think this whole thing through, it's really easy for me to get these done in the morning during the week because I can pop down here before work and get them knocked out before work. However, on the weekends, these may be a bit more delayed than normal. However, today it was a really good thing because this morning I got up, got dressed, had breakfast, and went to the zoo with the fam. We got some nice fresh air, felt the sun on our face, and spent time together as a family. I've talked to many full time broadcasters who have described their days, and at no point do they get outside, even for 5 minutes, to see the sun and get some fresh air. As someone who's brother and father both suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, I know how important the sun is for our mental health. So I encourage you, get outside, even just for 5 minutes each day, and get your daily dose. I am going to attempt to do the same. God Bless!

Today I woke up incredibly thankful for the opportunites that I've been given and that I have another day on this Earth. I'm grateful to everyone who I've interacted with over the last 6 months, whether that's been on stream or off stream, through DM or through the Discord, wherever I've met you. One of my wrestling coaches tragically passed away yesterday while working on a lake up in my home town, and it was a gut check for me that no matter the circumstance, be grateful that you're alive and have the chance to love a little longer. That's not a typo, LOVE a little longer. Take the time to tell people you love them, be kind, be patient, be love. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 - Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always persevere

I was up WAY TOO late last night, but I had an amazing conversation with a fellow broadcaster on the Mixer platform. It's really encouraging to know I'm not alone in the struggles to create the best content I can on the limited schedule I have. That running yourself ragged, burning the candle at both ends, does have some reward in it. I had someone reach out this morning and share that they are inspired by the content I make, and that they are starting to create their own content. It amazes me every time someone reaches out and tells me that I inspired them to start making content, I've been in this for all of 6 months. And seeing that impact, seeing the impact I have on people, is one of the most rewarding things about creating content and creating community. I hope you watch this and find yourself encouraged and inspired to chase your dream, no matter what it is. Love you all, have a great day, and God Bless!! MIXER https://mixer.com/dadxgotxgame TWITTER https://twitter.com/dad

I wanted to take a moment to share some things that have been weighing on me lately, conversations I've had with people in my life, including my wife and other broadcasters. I'm looking at the Dad Logs as a way to get out some of my feelings on things going on in life, they are completely unscripted, off the cuff emotions and happenings. Let me know what you think, and if this is something you'd enjoy more of! MIXER https://mixer.com/dadxgotxgame TWITTER https://twitter.com/dadxgotxgame FACEBOOK https://facebook.com/dadxgotxgame INSTAGRAM https://instagram.com/dadxgotxgame