Beating Out the Rainy Days of Streaming

With the big hurricane hitting the east coast this weekend, it felt like a fitting time to post about the rainy days of streaming. It's something that every caster faces for various lengths of time, but for the sake of the overall viewer experience it's important to be prepared to handle these challenges and bounce back from them every time.

The immense growth that Twitch has seen in such a short amount of time has come in conjunction with a lot of hurdles that test casters everyday:

• The increase in competition makes it tougher to manage steady growth for a channel. 

• Ingest servers aren't always able to handle so many live broadcasts across the platform. 

• New games may come up short or be frustrating in terms of driving engaging content.

• New changes to the site may benefit only select groups of casters and not your own

• Chat behavior may strike a nerve or trigger anxiety

• Full-time professional streaming raises the stakes of having long periods of consistent quality, which can lead to periods of exhaustion

These are just a handful of obstacles that can ruffle one's mindset towards casting and effect their presence as they go live. Whatever the trouble is, here are a few tips to shake out of a funk and get back on a good streaming groove.

1. Take Time for Inspiration

When streamers get burnt out, taking a break is always helpful to get back in a better frame of mind. Knowing how you respond to being overworked can help you better prepare for this, as everybody handles it differently. Some prefer to take a few regular days off during the week, some find it best to cast sporadically at shorter spurts rather than longer.

One way I find most effective at recharging is taking that time to tap back into sources of inspiration. Whether it's television shows and movies, playing games offline on your own or going out on a personal adventure, whatever activities inspire new ideas can always help to refuel motivation. These new ideas can be fun for your community as well, so the sooner you start bringing them to motion, the better stream experience you can make for everyone watching.

2. Reconnect with Old Faithful

Another great way to be prepared for a rough day of casting is to pull out your rainy day fund. It never hurts to return to a classic game, especially if it's one that improves your mood and you know you can have hours of fun with. It might change up the pace from your usual casting routine, but its well worth it to inject some new life into your channel through playing a game that triggers lots of fond memories and fun traditions. 

I always have a few back-up games ready to go to help get myself back into streaming mode. Since my busy schedule interrupts from my casting quite frequently, it's easier to get back into a groove through games that both you and your community are familiar with as everything comes more naturally. These sorts of games won't help you grow on most occasions but they're always guaranteed to make an energetic cast, which is just what's needed when the going gets tough.

3. Focus on the Fun

One of the natural side effects of dealing with the challenges of streaming is that your mind starts to take things too seriously. It leads to overthinking and overanalyzing every component of your cast, which distracts from the whole purpose of twitch: providing live entertainment through the joy of gaming and other activities.

Even if it's your main source of income, it's critical to not get tied up in all the intricacies of streaming as this makes it too easy to lose sight of your cast's overall value. Instead of striving towards perfection, focus on the qualities of your cast that get great reactions out of your chat. The more fun and memorable moments you create, the stronger connection you make with the community which sets your channel apart to them from everyone else.

And the best part: it's really easy to have fun, all you have to do is not let anything else get in the way.

A lot of times that's easier said than done, and there isn't a direct solution to many of these problems. But the more often you get past the speedbumps that streaming throws at you, the stronger you'll be as an entertainer. 

Burning For Time

Some of the advice you'll most commonly hear across Twitch is the importance of a schedule to build your stream around. It caters to the principle of consistency, which makes a very fair argument: you can't grow your audience if you aren't providing them value in the right timeliness. With so many other casters on Twitch, you risk losing your viewers to other channels every time you miss a show.

While there is definitely substance to that notion, I'll boldly stand by the stance that having a consistent schedule is NOT the most crucial part of building your cast.

What's more effective is having consistent quality in your content.

Part of what makes me speak so strongly against schedules is seeing the struggle of casters who put their main focus on them. A bulk of their effort is made towards starting their stream at a specific time, keeping the cast going for so many hours and preparing themselves for that process 5-6 days a week. At a certain point this may help make streaming sustainable, but one of the biggest issues I see on Twitch is how many streamers get burnt out and lose their edge because instead of prioritizing the values that make their show so compelling, they're worrying about being on time or hitting their quota.

Being live for 40 hours a week does nothing if your cast doesn't make viewers engaged. And starting a cast at 6PM every night won't help if you're zapped out of energy after a long day.

What it all comes down to is what works best for you to put on a cast that you're happy with!

• Are you comfortable and in a great mindset while streaming from 4PM to Midnight everyday? Then go for it!

• Did you wake up early and have lots of time and energy for an extra cast? Give it a shot!

• Are you finding it tough to keep your show exciting all the time? Maybe cut it down by an hour and make up for that lost time with something special on the side!

There's no denying that how often you stream is a factor in growing your brand on Twitch. What's ultimately most important, however, is the experience you create when you ARE live. That's what sets you apart from the thousands of casters who most likely stream just as frequently as you do.

It's impossible to put on the most entertaining show every time you cast, especially if you're pursuing it full time for many hours a day. But if you're noticing your cast getting stale going through the weekly grind, it might be worth sacrificing your schedule in place of having more time to make new content and add more excitement into your brand.

So be aware of that balance of quality content and consistency when you're tackling the "big" streaming schedule. Think about where your cast can grow and make more of an impact. We'll always be limited on time, but there are infinite resources out there to make new sexy experiences that nobody's ever seen!

PAX's Pro Marketing Tips

If you ever get an opportunity to attend a Penny Arcade Expo, you have the chance to participate in an exciting atmosphere celebrating the future gaming with thousands of devoted fans. It's an experience like no other that offers so much that it's impossible to take everything in. Whether you're into smaller indie games, AAA titles, panels from your favorite content creators or just exploring to your heart's desire, PAXes consistently provide a phenomenal forum to breath new energy into the videogame community.

The first thing you'll notice at PAX is that there's a LOT going on! From colorful cosplays to internet friends embracing in the flesh, all of the big crowds and loud noises can be overwhelming at first. But once you adjust to your surroundings, it hits you how many gamers and developers are around to make a thrilling weekend unlike any other! And with that, there's a whole lot of marketing going on! Game booths and developers trying to grab your attention, merchandise bringing our nerdy fantasies to life, local businesses and worldwide brands trying to effectively sponsor such well-attended festivities, and so much more!

Here are the five most effective marketing practices I observed from PAX West this past weekend:


5. Building on Nostalgia

Retro games have been in style for a long time, and the major gaming corporations have recently been capitalizing off of HD remakes of everyone's beloved childhood franchises. While it's not surprising, this was definitely prevalent in a lot of new indie games coming out. Many of the games that stuck out to me had very classic pixelated graphics, much like the SNES and old PC programs I grew up with. Some of the most talked about games this year were either new chapters or remastered versions of definitive series like Tekken, Resident Evil, and Final Fantasy.

When selling a new product or service, the common motive is to be original and different. However, having nostalgic elements is an immensely effective way to connect with consumers through sharing the fondest memories. I'm already looking forward to playing games like Cuphead and Thimbleweed Park that bring back an atmosphere from my favorite games growing up! When it comes to entertainment, especially with videogames, reminiscence of the past is a gift that keeps on giving.

As a streamer, relying too heavily on retro games can potentially trap you into a niche and limit your growth, but finding ways to incorporate nostalgic components into your content is a great way to make an impression on viewers. Whether it's with sound effects, graphics or temporary events, you can always look to the past to find great ideas that your audience can better connect with.



4. Magnetic Appeal

During my first few PAXes, as a shy naive gamer, the only booths I would go to were the ones that were least crowded. It was a lot easier to sit down and play a game right away with no wait, and you'd get more time to learn from the developers without any distraction.

However, once I took the role as a content creator and kept the overall gaming experience in mind, I've noticed that the empty booths aren't being swarmed for a reason. With so many other options just a few feet away, the booths that are attracting the most consistent crowds are the ones that are making the most of their user experience. They're drawing in greater numbers due to more interesting games, more riveting conversations, and offering value that is well worth waiting for your turn.

Part of this learning curve I observed from past conventions I've attended. There were some games I had a blast playing because I had so much time to take everything in, but once they released, their presence and reception online was either nonexistent or very short lived. They're harder for the public to get into because you need to take a lot of time or make a lot of effort to get the most out of the experience. They could be really fun games but 99 times out of 100, consumers will turn to wherever they see a more valuable experience.

And if a large group of people are waiting to get their hands in on the action, you can instantly see how well that brand is drawing people into their realm.These are the games that are more likely to have a greater following once they release, because their experience is already that engaging.

There's a few different ways to build on this from a casting standpoint. One is looking at the game choice equation: playing games that you already know provide an amazing experience have more potential to make a great show than games that aren't so promising. You won't get much growth out of the games at PAX that drew hardly any interest at all. It's also a great tactic to see what trends on Twitch you can tap into to make your stream a better experience. When you see other casters playing a game or doing something that creates a huge favorable reaction in their chat, use that as inspiration for how you can evolve your channel as well.



3. Strength of Community

I've always been a huge fan of creative partnerships because they open the door to many exciting possibilities in marketing. Not only does it help you appeal to multiple audiences, but it gives you a lot more resources to work with as well. It's like Nutella enhancing snacks in the grocery store and even in restaurant chains, it adds new flavor to the whole experience.

At PAX, where I loved seeing this was at the FanGamer booth. I'm already a huge fan of their nostalgic merchandise, and have made it a regular place to check out every convention I go to. This year, they've brilliantly connected with other notable members of the gaming community to add even more excitement to their shop.

First, there were the Super Soul Bros., an amazing jazz trio who played amazing Nintendo covers endlessly throughout the convention. Everyday that you walked by their booth, I would stop by because I heard Gerudo Valley or Rainbow Road right around the corner. Nowhere else at PAX could you hear this sort of music being played, so it definitely made both of their brands stand out to me.

But then on the last day of the convention, they were selling these impressive game guides filled with unique illustrations and charmingly worded info about some of my most beloved franchises like Animal Crossing, Pokemon, and the Legend of Zelda. These were all published by Kari Fry, who also designed many of the shirts the booth was selling that weekend, and she was there that day to sign the book and meet fans. If it weren't for their cooperative partnership, I would've never found out about all her work, and I've been having a lot of fun seein
g new artwork and creative projects on some games that I thought I've already seen it all.

Make sure you check out her site at http://karifry.com/! While you're at it, take a look at http://www.supersoulbros.com/ for some amazing tunes as well! And of course, here's the link to https://www.fangamer.com/ for all your nostalgic shopping needs!

Seeing how incorporating different parts of the community can a far more inclusive experience made me think more of how that can be done more on Twitch. I've always loved seeing teams and a variety of casters take part in collective events, putting on unforgettable shows for everyone. But even beyond that, with our own viewer communities, can you imagine what we could create if we put all of our talents together? Beautiful artwork, imaginative ideas, and crazy experiences could come way more frequently when more people are involved.



2. Bringing Dreams to Reality

Since we spend so much time on the computer in our daily lives, we're used to seeing lots of excitement take place behind the screen. While it's easy to get drawn into games and casts with how accessible technology has made it, everything is still limited to those dimensions.What impressed me the most this PAX was seeing how different companies, from smaller indie devs to huge corporations, are experimenting with new ways to bring their content even more into life.

This is most obvious with Virtual Reality, which a few years ago seemed like a gimmick to me. However, this year I got really excited hearing about the new Rick and Morty VR experience! I never got a chance to play it, as the line was always capped and had a wait of over two hours, but I'm thrilled  just imagining the new possibilities that can emerge now that some big names are really taking advantage of the platform. I remember the days of the N64 and PS1 when games based on TV Shows were horribly made and pretty disappointing. But now that we have the technology to actually put ourselves right there in the TV Show, it adds a whole new element of excitement as it touches upon everybody's childhood fantasies.

But one of my most memorable moments from the whole convention was seeing the merchandise sold from various indie developers, who's games have already been released earlier this year. Specifically, Firewatch, a beautiful game that really draws you into the scenery of a wild forest filled with mystery. In that game, there are some collectible books that aren't necessary to complete the playthrough, but have enough character themselves to stand out from the main storyline. When I saw these little books being sold at Campo Santo's booth, it really took me by surprise! They weren't the full stories, just little notebooks to write in, but seeing these small distinct collectibles from the game being brought to life felt a lot more meaningful than the traditional plush dolls and keychains most vendors sell.



1. Maximizing Memorability

From all of the cool new marketing insights I saw at PAX West, the most important thing I took from came more from what felt absent this weekend. As more conventions go by and the gaming community grows, PAX has become a place where the quality of every individual experience is cut short because so much is happening at once.

Especially as a caster, seeing the Twitch community being focused on such a busy schedule now makes things very different. It's impossible now to spend quality time and make significant memories with fellow streamers because they're being pulled away to network with hundreds of developers and content creators. And while networking can be a great foot in the door, is it that effective when thousands of other casters are busy doing the exact same thing?

These are the growing pains of the gaming industry, and while the abundance of opportunities more than makes up for it, it's still a dilemma well worth thinking about. How are you going to stand out to fellow casters when later that night, hundreds of others will hand them business cards and share their opinion on Fallout 4 just like you did? It's very similar to Twitch, how will you make your cast stand out when thousands of others are live at the same time?

The best solution I found is doing something extra memorable. I had the same sort of feelings last PAX Prime of just fading in with the numbers, so when I went to TwitchCon last year, I went all out! I made it a surprise appearance, not letting anyone I was going until I finally showed up on the first day. I gave out custom made "Twitchland's Sexiest" medals to everyone I met, something many of them still hang proudly by their computer.

And then I had an even crazier idea. I saw a store down the street selling pumpkins for $5. so I bought one, brought a sharpie and walked around asking everyone to sign my pumpkin. It was a pain to carry around, but people thought it was hilarious, and I topped it all off by taking it down by the Golden Gate Bridge, taking a scenic photo of it, and tagging everyone who signed it. To this day, people still talk about my pumpkin shenanigans at TwitchCon, and it's something they all vividly remember despite everything else they came across that weekend.

This PAX, the only handouts I brought were some personalized stickers. While I thought they'd be better than business cards because you can stick them to laptops and other places, they weren't nearly enough to register anything significant in the busy minds of everybody at PAX.

When so many other amazing things are going on, you need to stand out beyond what's around you to make any sort of impact. Taking that extra step to be unique and memorable is by far the best marketing tactic to wield during times with so much activity and liveliness. And as Twitch continues to grow, it's even more important to make your cast stand out. It never hurts to learn from the best, but doing the same things that thousands of other streamers are doing won't be nearly as effective as building an irresistible brand experience of your own.


As TwitchCon comes up, be observant of your surroundings and take note of which moments and experiences stand out the most. Two and a half days will fly by in an instant, so figuring out which components of the convention made a significant impact on you can shed light on some brilliant methods to improve your brand on the ever-growing realm of Twitch.

What to Watch - PAX West Weekend

If you've ever been to PAX, TwitchCon or other conventions, you know exactly why so many streamers go to them! They're great opportunities to meet the community, game developers, and other casters. There's also the excitement driven from upcoming games and software, and enjoying the surroundings with new friends!

Unfortunately for the viewers on Twtich, convention weekends mean a lot of their most watched casts aren't live. But with so many awesome streams on Twitch, though, it's a great time to check out some other streams you may have been missing out on! Here's a list of some of my favorite casters who you can check out this Pax West Weekend:


PrincezzxDiana (twitch.tv/princezzxdiana)

Diana was one of the first streamers I've ever watched, and over the years she's always kept a consistent brand and style to her cast. It's a channel with no gimmicks, but instead focuses on a consistent community, a love of indie games, honest conversations, and a passion for cawfee. It's one of those casts where you truly feel like you're hanging out with a bunch of friends playing games. And those Purple Bwunnies are recognized EVERYWHERE!

HJTenchi (twitch.tv/hjtenchi)

HJTenchi is a caster I met at my very first convention, and he hosts one of the warmest, most welcoming communities on Twitch! He plays a great variety of games, and a lot of times switches them up during the cast to change up the pace. All of his generosity towards the Twitch community is given back from a fun lively chat that makes every stream feel like a party. Once you get a good taste of some pug love, there's no turning back.

YouPickGames (twitch.tv/youpickgames)

If you like casts that have very little boundaries when it comes to conversation, YouPickGames is the place for you! Drew plays a wide variety of games, with viewer polls taking place a few times each month, and his chat is one of the funniest and most interactive ones you'll find anywhere on the internet. Sometimes the discussion will take such unpredictable directions, but all of that makes his channel such a fun place because there's always a new experience every time you watch.

Grawgh (twitch.tv/grawgh)

My personal favorite types of casts are the ones with really high viewer engagement with a focus on funny stories and lots of laughs. Grawgh, one of my teammates on The Arcade, puts on a show that never fails to get me laughing! He just finished a month of the best and worst N64 games, and will be playing many more retro classics leading up to Yooka Laylee's release! His cast also has a great consistent community where you can make lots of great friends! Especially if you're a big Banjo-Kazooie fan like Grawgh and I; but who doesn't love that game?

Samsonite_D (twitch.tv/samsonite_d)

Speaking of casts with fun communities and consistent laughs, check out Samsonite_D, also on The Arcade! Whether he's facing viewers on Super Smash Bros 4, braving the brutal platforming landscapes of Mario Maker, or having fun with GTA 5 or Uncharted 4, his laid back cast always makes for brighter day! One of my favorite tricks is typing out lyrics to get him started on singing (since he's AMAZING at piano as well!). His Pearl Jam cover was incredible! Make me fries!


And those are just a small handful of the many amazing casters who will still be going live these next few days, despite all the events going on in Seattle. Make sure you check them out, give them a follow, and suggest some other cool casts to watch in the comment section below! With so many awesome people streaming on twitch everyday, the least you can do is share the fun!

Inspiration, Inspiration Everywhere!

It may be my newly found hidden talent, but ever since I started studying marketing, I get new ideas from everywhere. Whether it's getting content from tv or radio talk shows or seeing how brands promote their products through innovation, the user experience for consumers in EVERY industry is constantly evolving.

One of the best practices I took from college was in my Intro Entrepreneurial Class. One of our exercises was to come up with 3 new invention ideas every week. At the end of the semester, we'd have over 50 new ideas to build upon, and when one of them fails or gets stuck in the process, its easy to start working towards another one.

This year, I started a idea journal, where I would write down one new idea every day. Although I stopped keeping up with it after I started my new job this summer, I still managed to come up with over a hundred unique ideas to add into a stream. Just by feeling adventurous and keeping that user experience in mind when doing casual things like catching up on Netflix, I created a great resource for myself that's perfect for those days when the creative juices aren't running so well.

Even if you aren't used to thinking in a marketing mindset, here are a few of the most relevant places you can look to start generating different content for your cast:

Cartoons

While I watch a bit more television than just cartoons, the careless and enthusiastic way I like to come off on my stream has a lot of relevance to cartoons and comedy shows. I love making people laugh, so I always take notice when there's a funny inside joke or hilarious situation being built out during a television show. Cartoons are particularly great when it comes to building colorful storylines as well, which can really make a cast memorable to its viewers.

The one show I've drawn the most ideas from for my cast is Rick and Morty. It has a sick sense of humor, much like myself, some of the craziest plot direction you'll find anywhere, but most interesting is how their brand has expanded beyond the TV Screen.

One day, after I spent hours upon hours catching up on the second season, I tweeted out something along the liens of "Somebody help me, I can't stop watching Rick and Morty!". Moments later, Rick and Morty's official twitter quoted my tweet, replying with "Nobody Help Him!" My phone was going off for the rest of the day as hundreds of fans liked and retweeted the post. It was really interesting to see how the show continues its joking outside of it's 30 minute episodes, and how big of response all of their interactive shenanigans get.

Indie Games

Are you a caster that's on a tiny budget trying to appeal to videogame fans? There are plenty of Indie Game Devs in this same exact situation!

What I love about a great Indie Games is seeing how much care they put into product to make sure its an experience a player will find worthwhile. Some games primarily serve get a story across, some games are built to be longer lasting with replayable components or a great amount of content. At the end of the day, it's amazing how different all of these games can be despite being restricted on resources. Each one gives a very distinct experience.

Other Casts and Youtube

As much as I try to be very distinct and exclusive to how I cast, it's difficult not to imitate some aspects of your favorite twitch channels. I instinctively greet viewers and welcome raiders like the casters I watch most often, and am frequently told I sound just like them with my commentary. Part of it's because we share the same laid back approach towards casting, but part of just subconsciously became habitual in my brain from so much exposure to it.

While I think it's good to recognize the great qualities of other streamer's casts, copying them isn't always the best practice because any experience you try to replicate won't match the novelty of the original. This is where Youtube comes in great, as it provides similar entertainment but for a different purpose - to be viewed at any time. Identifying the most remarkable components from Youtube contet and figuring out how to replicate them live can be a great way to get new ideas while putting enough of your own spin on it to make your own.

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What are you main sources for inspiration? Where have you found some of your craziest ideas? Feel free to share in the comments below - some of the best ideas come up when you least expect it!

Who's the Boss

The typical mindset that's advised towards casters is based primarily on the craft. It's the part of your stream that you can fully control: the quality of your video and audio, the substance of your game choice, the style of your gameplay, the overall atmosphere of your brand. Less focus is put on the viewer because they're uncontrollable: they have so many different tastes and behaviors that you can't satisfy everybody. Especially with how many other casts go live everyday, it's common knowledge that most of the new viewers you get may never be seen in your channel again.

But while planning towards such an unpredictable audience makes streaming significantly more complicated than the traditional approach, especially once it grows large enough that it carries a vast amount of diversity, neglecting it makes you miss out on thousands of opportunities for potential loyal fans.

It helps to picture it in a marketing sense: how are you going to hook people into your brand if you don't give them an exceptional experience? It's a lot like the gaming industry: how are you going to get your platformer funded on kickstarter if it doesn't particularly draw interest from anybody? It might do the same things other games like it do, but if its values aren't presented well, people are going to pick the more appealing alternatives.

• So how can you appeal to an audience when their tastes change drastically depending on the games? 
• How can you change up your content while not isolating the audience you already have?
• How can you keep your personal brand steady when you have to re-position your cast for growth?

The answers lie in knowing your current audience, trying to understand your newer audience, and bridging the gap as well as you can with your brand.

Current Audience

First and most important is knowing why your current audience enjoys watching you. If you can figure out what qualities of your cast that appeal most to your regular viewers, keep building on them! These are the strongest components of your brand, what make you stand out from the other thousands of streamers live at the same time. If you keep consistent with those factors, your regular viewers will always enjoy your content. They might drift away if they dislike or don't want to be spoiled by a game, but they're the viewers most likely to come back and watch again.

New Audiences

New audiences can be tricky to strategize for because only a fraction of them will have interest in watching your cast beyond their favorite games. Lots of games have fanbases that will only watch for the gameplay, and sometimes they're overzealous with lore talk that it drives other viewers away. Because of this, it might not be best to fully appeal to new audiences, but if you can get just a few of them to enjoy your brand, you never know if they'll become one of those loyal regular viewers.

Bridging the Gap

The simplest way to tie together new audiences with the brand that your current viewers enjoy is to see where you can blend the game and your brand together. If you focus too much on the game, you'll isolate your current viewers. If you focus too much on your old traditions, you might not connect with the new viewers. But finding a balance not only makes your cast appealing to both viewers, but it also creates a more unique experience than a standard playthrough, 

There are so many things you can do to implement your brand into any gaming experience. You can make graphics, like a flashy overlay or alert notifications, that are relevant to what you're playing. You can come up with a unique theme or purpose for the game that incorporates elements from your channel, like a special marathon cast. And of course, there's more innovative things you can do, from skits to musical numbers. The more elements of your brand that you add to a gaming experience, the stronger of an impression you make on everyone who's watching.

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While your style of casting is never going to please everybody, understanding what regulars enjoy about your channel and learning how you can balance it to appeal to newcomers are important pieces to the viewer experience. With so many alternative viewing options, being able to both spark and sustain interest with your audience is a great advantage to have in the competitive world of Twitch. 

Revitalizing the Twitch Experience

Did you ever think there would be a time where sharing a passion for videogames on the internet could have an immense impact on thousands of gamers’ daily lives? In less than 10 years, Twitch has become a platform where genuine friendships and relationships can be made, charities can raise millions from contributions, and streamers can sustain themselves financially in making career through entertainment.

And it all makes perfect sense from a marketing perspective: the level of interaction and engagement casters provide can make a far more impactful experience for viewers than other forms of media can. These invaluable experiences create a strong attachment between viewers and their favorite streams, to lengths where they aspire to give them support or be more involved to keep those good times coming.

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From my own personal experience, Twitch quickly became my regular source of entertainment over tv shows and social events that used to excite me every week. From all the time I spent procrastinating in different channels, I’ve made some of the best friends I’ve ever had and enjoyed countless memories that I’ll never forget through the platform.

There were those streams like Spaceneener’s where I couldn’t contain my laughter and got in trouble at work while watching the strangest ARK documentary cast you’d ever see.

Then there were those nights in YouPickGames’ channel soon after Mario Kart 8’s release, filled with craziness and trash-talking as I shamelessly picked Rainbow Road over and over during viewer races.

I’ve always enjoyed casts like AndrewArcade’s where hilarious events and stories are made on the spot as he builds more and more life into The Sims.

And nothing will ever replace that time I stayed awake past exhaustion to cheer on Wshand through his 24 Hour Resident Evil Marathon before he tragically gave up 20 minutes from his goal.

With memorable experiences like these and all of the friendships I’ve made both online and at conventions, Twitch has brought more into my life than any other form of media ever will. And just as Facebook, Twitter, and other internet giants are trying to enhance their users’ personalized experience, Twitch can already do this well just from its model of interactive entertainment.

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However, in the past few years, the focus of Twitch and its community has changed quite a bit. While its’ growth and success has opened up opportunities for everyone, the overall experience Twitch now offers hasn’t quite been the same.

The biggest change has been that so many streamers now are concerned primarily about growth over everything else. Their priority is to look professional enough for corporate approval or to create a gimmick that’s “hype” enough to get frontpage attention, rather than nurturing that significant personal experience no other form of media can offer. If it weren’t for those remarkable experiences, I wouldn’t be so connected with the casts I’ve supported month after month. And if it weren’t for those experiences, Twitch would mean nothing more to me than a quick little Youtube video.

My main fear is that the more often streamers fixate on professional growth, the more impersonal their cast will become to their viewers. In effect, the user experience will get damaged and ignored, which is a HUGE red flag for ANY business. If more of the site loses touch with that element of intimacy, Twitch will gradually lose its magic as other platforms close in.

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But part of this fate is in our own hands! While most casters will always be concerned with their numbers to some extent, we can strive even more to support and share those streams that do focus on making an exceptional show for their viewers, both new and old. That’s why I’ve made this blog: to share fun and crazy moments from around Twitch that can inspire new casters to make a more captivating experience than ever!

One of the main hurdles many casters face now is building an audience with so much competition online. The same rules of marketing that apply to my clients’ industries also apply here: the best way to get to a customer’s heart is to give them the ultimate experience. It’s impossible to give everybody the perfect stream all the time, but with so many little factors that play into the overall viewer experience, there are thousands of things a caster can do to improve their craft and get more people hooked into the fun.

Wshand, one of my favorite casters that I mentioned above, always goes by the saying “embrace the chaos”. It ties in perfectly to Twitch because the more wild and imaginative we get with our content and our cast’s communities, the more fun and remarkable our streams can become!

Join me on this blog week by week for new posts about innovative casting ideas, trends in gaming and streaming, and much more!

Also, if you’re looking for more streaming inspiration, follow me on twitch at twitch.tv/lordsquidy13 and check out my amazing teammates on The Arcade for some of the best communities on the internet!