What is Esports Maintenance?
Esports needs structure and stabilization. Are you up for the challenge?
The Story
I took a long winding road to esports. It was honestly for the best. It gave me a wide array of experience that translated well into esports management. My pre-esports experiences brought one big asset to the table as an esports director; the idea of maintaining.
My career trajectory, like many of yours, did not go where I imagined. I wanted so badly to make historical discoveries that would change the fabric of society. I loved Indiana Jones and the treasure hunting, but more than that, I wanted to bring archaeology to the people. I wanted it to be tangible and relevant…so much for that! Archaeology was, and is, a passion of mine. Studying the inner-workings of society as we grow and develop is fascinating to me. The questions of why and how we got here constantly swirl around in my head. But, the answers to life’s big questions don’t just jump out at you. In fact, Archaeology is incredibly meticulous. Some people don’t like digging in the dirt at 1 inch intervals, but there’s something meditative about it for me. It allowed me to think; to get my bearings about life. Some of my top strengths are strategy and ideation, and my ‘working genius’ is innovation, which means I enjoy coming up with new ways of looking at something, and yes it took time and effort to figure out how to use that skill properly.
Clad in my fantastically tan excavation outfit (complete with a nice hat), I would often sit in the 5x5 meter square as I was uncovering 4,000 year old pieces of pottery and let the ideas flow. If I had to have the perfect job title, I think I’d prefer “Professional Dot Connector.” It’s this ability to sit and think that allows me to uncover threads that go unnoticed. In all my time sitting and thinking, the most prominent thoughts always led back to “why don’t people take care of things?” These buildings we uncover could still function most of the time. These buildings that are several millennia old could still be utilized if we started to care for them again. Yet, here we sit and a business innovation that started last year might have fallen apart completely. We’re so focused on innovating the next big thing that we skate by the fact that we never build anything to last. If you want to pick my brain about archaeology, I’m always more than happy to bring that part of my life back to the forefront. For the sake of our readers, I won’t go into that further at this point. I think you get it…there’s a lot of old stuff that’s in great condition…modern items, not so much.
What does that have to do with esports? Well, you’ve probably read my thoughts on the collapse of the esports industry by now, and the fact that there was no major infrastructure to create sustainable value and longevity was a major part of that overall. Everybody in esports was innovating, but almost nobody was maintaining. Consistency and reliability are key when building a business or industry, and esports kept moving to the next title, audience, venue, etc. with no regard for sustainable brand/industry building.
Maintainers
In society, we have people to fix our roads, check bridges, make sure power lines stay tethered. All these things, and more, we need to maintain or else part of our daily life can’t function. In today’s economic climate, we’re so quick to try and generate revenue from the next big thing that we don’t take time to perfect or maintain the base foundations of our business models. From assets to audiences, we often drop projects before they’ve stabilized and matured. To fix this, we need patience, fortitude, and long term vision (Just ask the crime boss I met one time). For esports, that means you have to wait for just a second every now and then. Let’s commit to keeping the lights on before we fuss over changing the bulbs.
When it comes to maintaining, the issue is so pervasive in our economy that there’s actually an entire conference devoted to people who want to maintain things called Mainstream. These people develop the best ideas to drive societal maintenance forward. So, if you ever need some ideas on maintaining your assets, infrastructure, etc. that group is a great place to start.
How To Maintain Collegiate Esports
Mark Your Calendar
Right now I’m listening to my two amazing kids make some pretty crazy noises in the other room. The only word that comes to mind is distraction. As a full time dad, I can tell you that it’s incredibly easy to get distracted. Always someone coming up to me and asking for who knows what. I constantly forget the task I was doing or the thought I was chasing. Other parents out there know what I mean, ha. For esports coaches/directors, your students always need something. There’s always a computer emergency, or, in many cases your athletic director is making you do things far outside the scope of your job. Whatever the case…mark your calendars to make sure you spend time maintaining your facility, roster, recruitment goals, personal health, etc. Things will get away from you, and if you don’t make the maintainer mindset a priority, you will absolutely fall behind and one day notice that half your equipment is failing and your have no recruits. Esports takes dedication and perseverance, and it absolutely needs organization.
Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses
This is something you often hear, but, let’s be real, do you ever actually work at this? It takes time to understand your own strengths and weaknesses. I’m still figuring it out after a solid decade of trying. It’s ok to admit when we aren’t good at something, and that was hard for me, but it opened the door to better collaborations. If you don’t know where to start, I have a few ideas. This doesn’t just just apply to you personally by the way. When was the last time you catalogued the strengths of your esports program? How about weaknesses? Understanding these is crucial if you want to build a proper recruiting and retention plan. Plus, it’s what the RADCL methodology was built on 😁.
Build a Network
Any of us on LinkedIn might hear this way too often, but esports directors need to build a network of support. With no real guide to follow, we are all learning from each other. Scholastic Esports is full of people willing to help out. Take advantage of that. Have people in your corner. When you need something, they’ll be there for you.
Start Slow and Be Consistent
This may be the single hardest concept for esports maintainers. Everyday there’s something new in gaming and esports. Patch notes, new GPUs, better streaming tools, etc. It never ends. When it comes to building something that has longevity, it takes time. Gamers can easily jump ship, and if you don’t build your esports program/team on a set of core values that you can consistently nurture and share, you’ll see cracks form quickly. Maintaining should be one of those core values. Lead by example. Show up for your facility and players, take the time to care for equipment, and build relationships. Being a maintainer is not about being flashy. It’s about being consistent. Take the time to do things the right way. Don’t cut corners. You know the drill. Put it into practice.
RADCL News and Updates
What’s the latest going on at RADCL? I’m changing gears to host everything here and in Discord. I want to foster community the best way possible, and Substack allows the right form of content creation for my readers and esports colleagues. If you’re looking to network with others, jump over to our Esports Incubator on Discord.
Featured Brand
eGame Studio is an Ohio-based company working on innovative solutions for school esports. Their product, Game Lens™, is software designed specifically for esports that allows coaches to simultaneously see all of their team players' gameplay and listen in on team communication in real time. With a click, coaches can focus on one player, talk to individual team members, or address the entire team. This puts coaches in the middle of all the action, making training sessions more effective.
What we like about it: Game Lens allows coaches the ability to safely and securely coach their players online. It’s a great solution for middle school and high school teams. Because it’s a closed system, students can only access the communication channel if the coach is on. No outside interference or random servers for people to get lost in. This puts the student’s safety first.
RADCL Brands I Help
Fantastic Athletes - Next Generation Esports Analytics
Froglet Games - Building Esports 2.0 Mobile Games
Serendipity Gaming - One Source For Everything Esports Director’s Need (site coming soon)
RADCL Esports Consulting - I wouldn’t be good at my job if I didn’t promote myself 😂
Tools I Recommend ⚒
Butter (Most Fun You’ve Had in a Meeting)
Appsumo (Find The Right Tools For Entrepreneurs and Small Teams)
Impulze.ai (Influencer Marketing Made Easy)