The Mind of Mierow

Last month I was lucky enough to be able to attend a meeting of people at the Minneapolis Central Library. This group, Social Media Breakfast – Twin Cities, has been meeting for the past few months now. It started out with about 10-15 people and has grown into a healthy 50-60 people locally, plus many others from around the country. I consider myself to be blessed to have found this group of people. They have helped expand my knowledge and understanding of not just social media, but any number of topics that one could dream of. I encourage you to check out the group and come to a meeting. It is truly a unique experience.

Now that I’ve gone off topic far enough, let me try to bring it back on course. At the last meeting Paul Saarinen (@taulpaul on Twitter) was talking about how online gaming taught him everything about social media. He gave a wonderful presentation about various aspects of gaming: board games, ccg, rpgs, minis, MUDs, FPS, RTS, MMO’s. If you don’t know any of those acronyms, don’t worry. You only need to know that they represent different types of game styles. I will gladly admit that I have played them all and still enjoy them to this day. Even the Mrs. has come to enjoy some of them.

While many people see those acronyms the first few thoughts may typically involve the words geek, nerd, dork, anti-social, etc. I’m proud to be a geek. I believe that everyone is a geek. I just happen to be a geek of technology, while my brother is a geek of hockey, or a friend is a geek of scrapbooking. When it comes to games (particularily if the games involve a computer or dice that are not six sided) people get a misconception about those who play those games.

I’ve been thinking alot about Paul’s talk my own reason for keep playing these games. For me it really is about the social interaction that I get from others involved. I don’t care if I’m playing a game of pinochle, Settlers of Catan or World of Warcraft. We had some friends over the other night and ended up playing Triva Pursuit for the next 2 hours. It was a blast because of the interaction between everyone. I personally don’t lose that interaction when I switch to an online game. I still have to deal with frustrations and complaints as well as enjoy victories and jokes. I make it a purpose to make sure that I’m a) enjoying the game and b) playing with others. Any other game is just a game of solitare in my mind. Of course being a gamer I do enjoy a game of solitare everynow and then.

So if you’re ever in the mood for a game, just let me know. Chess? I’m there. Magic: The Gathering? Well, I gave away all my cards, but I’ll gladly pick up any deck you give me. Mario Kart? I’ll add you to my friend list and we’ll race the night away. If you happen to be in Azeroth anytime soon, you’ll find me here.