This is a specific call out to creators of new media. That means blogs, podcasts, video casts, comics…the whole nine yards. If you’re looking for a place where you can be a part of a growing community, have the ability to network with others and, get your media promoted then we’re looking for you.

Here are the categories we are looking to fill out;
- Music; We’re looking for two more music related Affiliates. You could be an independent musician or composer, have a music related blog or podcast or video cast.
- Comics; We’re looking for web comics or, media about web comics. If you have your own comic or, you have some media dealing with comics we’d be happy to talk about affiliation. We’re looking for 3 Affiliates in that category.
- Culture; That’s our “general geek” category. If your media is about everything under the geeky sun then that’s a place for you! We’re looking for 3 new Affiliates in that category.
- Tech; We’re looking for 2 new tech related Affiliates. Everything super tech, super geeky and web 2.0-centric!
- Charities; TGM is always on the look out to support a charity that we can back. Currently, we heavily support Trade ins for Troops and, Child’s Play Charity. If you’d like to talk to us about your charity and, see what we can do to help please e-mail us.

At this time, we are accepting no new gaming related media. Keep an eye on TGM’s site and we’ll let all you gamers know when new gaming related media is going to come in.

If you want to talk to us about Affiliation, write us at TheGeekMedia@gmail.com !

A lot of you visit the site regularly but, one thing you don’t know is the people behind everything we got going on here. Because of that, we’ve got a series coming out called “Meet the Geek”. We’re interviewing our Affiliates so you can meet them and find out a bit about what they do.

First on the hot seat is PJ from Gamertell!

TGM. Let’s start with an easy one. Tell us who you are and what you do.
PJ I am PJ Hruschak, the Editor for Gamertell. It’s a freelance and essentially part-time position, although it probably takes up more time than your average daily shift at Burger King. I am also a freelance writer for various publications including Geek Monthly Magazine and GamesRadar. I sometimes design web sites and produce Flash videos and graphics for clients as well.

TGM.So you are an Editor for Gamertell. How many articles do you edit a day? How often do you write for Gamertell?
PJ I edit every article that comes through our queue with the exception of some of the articles by the two Assistant Editors, Jenni Lada and Danielle Riendeau, who have the freedom to post their own material. Most of my time on the site is spent finding topics and suggesting article ideas for writers. In some instances, I’ll work with a writer to fine-tune a post. I like to draw on a writer’s strengths and help them improve their craft. It’s good for them and for the site. The site typically has seven to 10 new posts per day, with big news days or events bringing hat average way up.

The amount I write for Gamertell really depends on what needs to be covered and how much time I spend editing writers’ articles. On a good day I can get three to five posts written although most days I have only one, if any. If I’m working on a review it can be even less frequent. I also have a dozen half-written drafts of feature articles waiting to get fine-tuned that I peck away at between editing and higher priority posts. That doesn’t even count other projects.

TGM. How tough is it to come up for content for all those articles?
PJ It’s often difficult to come up with truly engaging content. Standard game news, which is the majority of the content, is important and interesting but it doesn’t get the enthusiastic reader response like a good feature story or truly well-written column can. Plenty of inspiration can be found in various game blogs but the best stuff usually comes from random thoughts or a quick comment made by a friend, writer or reader.

TGM. Do you have sources you rely on or, do you rely on your own powers of scouring the net?
PJ There are a few gaming news sites I regularly check but I like to make sure I get to the fringe blogs as well. I rarely check a forum because it’s just too time consuming to weed through pages of tangents of useless personal insults.

Otherwise, with more than a dozen years of entertainment writing experience I have decent direct communication with some game companies.

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Warning: This is a post dealing with politics. If you don’t like politics..don’t read it.

This was a story that I read here on Technosailor. I clicked on a few links to get the full story. It wasn’t very hard at all. Two US Congressmen; John Culberson, a Republican from Texas and, Tim Ryan, a Democrat from Ohio are both coming under fire for using social media.

The two of them regularly use Twitter and Qik to speak directly to the public. A new proposal has been written, requesting to restrict member content outside of the official US government websites. This proposal would keep those two Congressmen from being able to directly interact and speak to their public using social media.

Congressman Ryan and, Congressman Culberson were not directly mentioned in the proposal. However, it is obvious the two are fueling this fire by reaching out to the public in real time using these tools of social media.

Congressman Culberson has a story on his own website with a bit more information. The first story linked also has a letter drafted meant to nip this proposal in the bud.

Normally, I wouldn’t put something like this up because politics are so controversial. However, let’s keep in mind two different Congressmen from both parties are coming under fire here. There is no “taking sides” in this specific case. Both parties and, Government Officials who are actually reaching out to the people of the United States are affected by this proposal. If you don’t agree with us, that’s fine.

Update: As this story is unfolding, we could have all been very mislead by the “tweets” of a few people in the Government itself (yet, we aren’t surprised by this) and, the information on their blogs and websites. We’re not certain yet but, it seems like social media could have been used to actually sway people towards the decision of a certain political party without telling the whole story. If that’s the case…what crap. Keep checking this story and Technosailor’s website for information. This could get more interesting then we anticipate. Also, here is a more in-depth look at things from Open House Project . The people involved here have some link ups to the “decision makers” (Thanks to John from Friend Feed for giving us this)

Recently, The Geek Media was speaking to a small “dot com” company on the verge of their big launch. Some coverage on the launch was worked out and, some definite hype was generated about this company. However, on launch day everyone was in for a huge surprise. This company had nothing like anyone expected. It left us and, the people looking forward to this launch sorely disappointed. Because of that, we give you 5 very basic fundamentals when launching a new web based business.

I’m sure many of you are thinking “people know this already”. Actually, you would be surprised how many companies I have worked with that do not. Many people launching their sites are new to the business world or, new to the “dot com world”. These are simple mistakes a lot of first-timers make.

#1. Don’t confuse people: Stick to the nature of your business: The specific company we were talking about is a perfect example. The beginning of their hype was an attempted viral marketing campaign geared towards sending a “message” to Twitter. This lead many people to think this company had something to do with social networking. Their main focus was on the message being sent to Twitter and, not on the company itself. When the company launched, they turned out to be a company offering simple applications for Windows. Wait…what?

#2. Research what you are offering: Many companies upon launch offering a wide variety of products and services to their public. However, some companies don’t think this through. Research the products you are offering. If you are improving on an existing product or service, make sure that yours has a unique spin on the existing. Make sure no one else is doing it. Be certain what you have can somehow improve on the competition. Put as much time into research as you need to and, don’t be afraid to change things around either.

#3. Make sure what you are offering is something people need or want: Let’s take for example a company who is offering a Windows application that is a password generator. It’s a free download that anyone can use. Well, that would be a great idea except for the fact we can find hundreds of those online requiring no download. After you do your research on your product or service be certain this is not something that is widely available. Do people really want this? Would you want this? Would you use it everyday? Don’t be afraid to ask friends, family and business contacts their opinions.

#4. Be available: This is a large mistake for small companies on launch. I have seen quite a few companies launch their site and business then, not be available for questions from the public and the media. Be certain that you or someone designated is available to speak to the public about their questions and concerns and, speak to the media. A press release and some basic marketing using social networks and social media will also help.

#5. Make sure your site is “good to go”: Sites are going to be buggy. Especially new sites. However, some basic testing with members of the team will help your site run smoothly when it launches. Get the live site up and, let people go at it. Have people look over for spelling mistakes, grammar issues, bugs, broken links, pages not working…the whole nine yards. Stress testing your server is also a very good idea.

I was going over to WoWHead for the first of many times today as I normally do, and I noticed they had the little birthday skin up on their front page. WoWHead’s a fantastic resource, originally starting with the very basic talent calculator that was so popular (even Blizzard changed theirs to a very similar style, and still are that way to this day) in December of 2005, and evolved into the full out website in late June of 2006. Happy Birthday WoWHead!

Curse, widely known as one of the best online MMO resources, will have two different live streams from the Blizzard Worldwide Invitationals in Paris, starting tommorow morning at 6:45 AM EDT. The times on their page are all in Paris’ time, so to get the EDT calculation, just subtract 5 hours. After going over the schedule for their feeds, it’s impossible to tell when specificly the game announcement will take place, one can only assume it’ll be on the main floor feed, though, not on the tournament feed. You can read more on this as well as watch the feeds right here:

http://news.curse.com/details/11212/

If you’ve ever even thought about stand-up comedy, then chances are you’ve heard of the wit and power that’s behind George Carlin’s retinue. From the Beatnik era all the way to just a few months ago on XM comedy, he was constantly active and striving to create laughter with his cerebral and intelligent humor. Nothing any of us can write here, no matter how long winded, over the top, and full of praise, could lead up to even half of how great he was, and how much fun people that have worked with him say he was. We’ll never have another George Carlin, no matter how angry, Beatnik, or drugged comedy gets, and for that we take the time to remember George and all he did to bring us back down to Earth.