YO!
Hey! My name is Luke, but people on the internet call me Frost. I am a streamer, content creator, community builder, and nerd culture missionary. I’ve spent the last few years making valuable connections and building relationships with like minded streamers and content creators. I am the Stream Team Lead for Love Thy Nerd, and I stream on LTN’s Twitch channel every Monday at 8 pm eastern time. Over the past year, I’ve been reaching nerds and nerd culture by streaming and building community on Twitch, traveling to conventions to connect and encourage gamers/publishers/developers, hosting game nights, and connecting with those who feel disconnected.
Love you!
Frost (aka Luke)
CONVENTIONS
There are countless nerdy conventions that happen each year, from ComicCon, to GenCon, to PAX, covering things like Comics, board games, and video games. Thousands of people will attend any of these conventions, including fans and people trying to make it in the industry. You’ll find anyone working on games from developers to publishers to artists trying to make a big break on the game they’ve been working on. There are cosplayers walking around dressed up as their favorite video game/anime/movie character. And there are just people there to find the latest hot game, build their board game collection, or just to meet and play games with people. There are three major ways I can love and serve at these conventions:
The first way is by volunteering with game developers and publishers. This mostly consists of being plugged into their booth by demoing their games, stocking shelves, and answering questions. Personally, I try to go over and above and do things like bring coffee in the morning, pop into the booth and see if they need anything when I’m not scheduled, and just talk, learn, and get to know the people there.
When I’m not working in the booth I’m usually walking the show floor meeting other game developers and striking up a conversation around their game, getting to know other people looking at a game I am also interested in, or networking with like minded nerds. Passing out some Love Thy Nerd swag is another easy way to connect with people. Usually people stop me and ask about the bright, eye-catching lanyards I have on my bag ,and it is an opportunity to give them some free stuff and talk about the mission of loving nerds and nerd culture.
Last but not least, I simply play games with people. Typically at these conventions there is an open gaming floor where people can demo games they are interested in before buying, play test new games that might not be available yet, or just learn a new game for fun. This is basically an open invitation to either share a game I know and love with others or be able to teach a game and save someone from having to read the dreaded rule book.
CONTENT
Content can be a very broad platform to discuss. When I talk about content, it refers to everything from streaming to Twitch, to sending a simple tweet on Twitter, and everything in between. We all are guilty of mindlessly scrolling through Facebook, twitter, or Instagram, just to consume content. I try to be thoughtful, engaging, and community driven with everything I create and post, that way no matter what the first point of contact is when someone discovers my content, they immediately get an Idea of who I am and what I’m about. One piece of content could be the gateway into my community for someone. Here are some of my key platforms:
TWITCH
I have one goal on Twitch, and that is to love and encourage gamers by connecting with those who feel disconnected. (you may have heard me say that before.) My outreach there is two-fold. First of all, I aim to create a safe place for anyone and everyone to come together and feel community. I keep it family-friendly, toxic-free, and chill, in order to create a welcoming environment for all. I try to play multi-player and co-op games to include anyone and everyone. Not only do I stream personally, but I try to hang out, interact, or lurk in other like-minded streamers chats. I know what it’s like to have a dead chat with no one talking, and having someone there could make a world of difference, even just being there to chat, holding a conversation.
Twitter doesn’t seem like a major spot to create content, however It’s one of the platforms I post too most. There I try to interact with fellow content creators, streamers, nerds, gamers, you name it! I post random thoughts that others may relate to, opinions on a game I’ve been playing, share helpful videos or articles I’ve found, or just post my latest updates or going live notifications. I’ve met and developed so many relationships with others through this platform.
TIKTOK
TikTok is a platform I never thought I’d get into. Well, you know what I say, when trying to reach someone you go where the people are, and the people are on TikTok. I started on this platform by sharing short videos of “cool things I have in my stream room,” and it kind of took off. After that, I continued to try and create relatable content for people to interact with and share. This provided helpful tips and resources and brought new people into a positive community, all because of a 60 second or less clip. I’ve had many conversations with people in the comments just helping and encouraging them on their streaming journey, and many of them have engaged in streams or follow on other platforms looking for more love and encouragement.
