gamersnexus
patreon
Challenging year (for time), building upfit, plans, & Patreon shipments
🕑 Added 2021-07-18 10:51:50 +0000 UTCHey everyone,
First: Patreon shipments just got sent to distribution. Those will ship out this coming week for reward tiers. Thanks for your patience. The delay is just on me for trying to keep up.
Second: People regularly ask for a link to Discord for Patreon. If you want to join and haven't yet, please follow these instructions: https://support.patreon.com/hc/en-us/articles/212052266-Get-my-Discord-role
I've been slammed nonstop with construction projects on the new space for a few months now, so it's been tough to juggle normal uploads, the build-out, and everything else. We're doing a good job, I think. I'm relying on the team a lot right now to try and fill gaps where possible. I wanted to give an update on everything we're working on, plus some behind the scenes.
Time Challenges
This past year has been a huge challenge for me with timing. Normally, convention travel and conventions help do a few primary things:
1. They keep me personally motivated, as well as most the people on the team. Conventions are a massive competitive adrenaline kick to try and be first and best to cover everything, and outside of conventions, things like our factory tours are just a good break from regular (very hard-fought) content. Factories are also challenging, but for different reasons. We can turn through 1-2 factory tours a day, whereas a review might take a week or 3. That's because we're relying on experts to inform us, so it mostly falls on us to take good notes and ask good questions. At my experience level, that part is relatively easy. Factory tours are also just really invigorating because they show us cool stuff and give us new experiences and new places to go.
2. Travel is a great way to sort of "wake up" and snap-out of anything monotonous from the daily push. I love Taiwan specifically and have felt basically "homesick" for it for about a year now. It's been a second home to me since I discovered it and I can't wait to go back.
3. Conventions give us easy content, but important content: News videos are key around conventions, and doing 4-5x 8-minute videos per day during Computex and CES is a huge amount of fun and not the same type of work as MASSIVELY refining some 30-minute review. In one day of CES of Computex, we can sometimes make up to 8x 5-10 minute videos, all of which go live within a 36-hour period. It takes us a day to EDIT (not counting writing, testing, filming) a single 30-minute video for a normal review at home base. That should give perspective on what conventions are like reinforcements -- it's easy, fun, punchy, informative content that helps keep us excited about new tech without killing us. In-depth review-style uploads are hard to maintain at our quality and pace, but we're doing it.
The result of losing convention travel from COVID took a while to materialize for me, but it eventually did. We've had to stay very creative and we've had to self-motivate nonstop since this all started. I can self-motivate well -- that's why we're where we are -- but it's tough to do that without any external stimulus from meeting industry people, peers, engineers far smarter than us, and seeing new sights. We're doing it, and it's going well, but it's very tiring.
All of that said: My biggest challenge this past year has been just managing time. Our video standards are nearly unsustainably high right now, but we've been able to keep it together by implementing some more quality checks in the pipeline by the rest of the team. That has helped. I've also been tied-up in managing things as simple as picking door knobs for a suite build-out, or choosing what color of carpet we want, so it's easy to see where countless hours feel wasted every week. I want it done right and I'm not willing to task that out, because the building upfit is probably the single most important or expensive thing I'm going to do in the next decade. It's also a one-shot thing -- we won't have to do this again for a long time once it's done. Once that's all over with, hopefully it gets easier.
On the personal side, for anyone who cares: For now, I've only done one biking trip this year, and I really want to do some more. I've normally done 3-4 by now, but again, time is limited with the upfit and with the lack of travel content from COVID. I have added a lot of workouts to keep awake throughout the week and am finally trending a bit healthier, but I miss the bike trips a lot. Hopefully I'll have some soon. I've met a few of you at parks and that's always a blast.
Content Pipeline
Right now, we've just finished a review of a $70 budget airflow case with more than 4 fans (won't specify to not spoil it!), we have the Gigabyte exploding PSU piece done (Patrick Stone did that one) and it just needs my proofreading and input for some sections, we have some embargoed products we can't talk about, and we have the Corsair 7000D review done and ready to go live this weekend.
I really need to find some time to get the streaming machine working again to do some livestreams.
Oh, and Alienware is probably the most insane company in the prebuilt space. Our review of their system is also done and only need a final QC pass and some edits from me, then it'll be ready to go.
The past 12 months have been crazy. I've enjoyed it and I think we are managing very well, and our position has improved and our tools and talents have as well, but I also am looking forward to a reduction in workload. For the past few weeks, if I haven't been in the office, it has basically meant I'm sleeping, taking a food break, or getting an hour of exercise, but that's about it. Normally I have a few more hours than that to do other stuff.
Anyway, overall, things are looking great for end of year: My construction management (just choices of things, we obviously have professional architects and contractors involved) should be over in the next few months and we'll start getting shipments of insanely cool equipment. I'm really excited for it. We have the automated fan testing machine coming in -- one of the same ones that Noctua and Corsair use for R&D -- and we'll be working on spec-ing out a thermal chamber next. I've also been looking at salt spray testers for water block testing. They are, compared to the fan tester, much more affordable -- but probably less useful to us. I'll think about it.
We're all excited about the new space and can't wait to get to work. I have taken a lot of pride in trying to make sure our channel continues its trajectory of getting more and more technical, not less, as time goes on. I think we can make it work and still reach the audience we need to reach without sacrificing quality at all.
I'm excited.
Thanks, everyone.
- Steve
Comments
Your passion and work ethic are self evident in your work. As others have already mentioned, your team and you have plenty to be proud of. Your effort to keep pushing the envelope on transparency and testing methodologies creates a truly invaluable resource for consumers and hopefully, indirectly, to the industry as a whole. Thank you for sharing your experiences, it helps put things into prospective and paves the path for others with outstanding standards and deep passion to embark on their own grand ventures.
Leviathanprym
Seems like the new space is going to be amazing for the new content it will help create. awesome job GN
outworld
Yall keep up the excellent work! Do be weary of burnout however if you push too hard. Leave time for friends and family, your YouTube audience will always be there even if you reduce the upload rate
THANKS STEVE!
Griff
The quality of information you all provide is among the top in the industry. We all appreciate that and the amount of work that goes into it! I can't even imagine how much time and energy building the new office is taking up. On top of that you and your team came up with some killer new products. (mousemat, new modmat and posters designs etc) That is all in addition to the normal workflow, which is very demanding itself. Just please remember that you all are humans and can take only so much before it really gets to you. If you have to shelf a video for a few days or a week so that everyone can take some time off, then please do so. It won't do us or you all any good if people start burning out. I realize that I have no knowledge of the YT algorithm or how a little longer between videos would affect your views. But I would think that the subscribers you've earned thus far will stick with you no matter what. When you have some breathing room to up the video frequency again, I'm sure your channel growth would pick up right where it left off and that's assuming it gets hurt in the first place. Whatever course you steer, just know that we are thankful for the teams effort and look forward to the future content the new office will allow you to make.
GamersNexus
Definitely planning on filming some BTS videos there! Not sure we'll sell anything on eBay unless maybe for some charity drives. We'll have a lot more space.
GamersNexus
Thanks! I really hope construction has a clear "OK, it's done now." I'm trying hard to just put up all the money now to get it done instead of dragging it out forever. It costs more now, but it costs less in psychological cost, if that makes sense. It'll be done and then hopefully I can take a little bit of time.
Michael Kerpan
You guys set the gold standard for in-depth technical videos on computer hardware. I can't wait to see what you come up with in the new studio. Also, when you finally do end up with time to do a bike trip, stay away from those AMD bikes!
Keep up the great work, guys! I know what company-wide growing pains are like, and this past year certainly hasn't been the most conducive for taking a break to regroup. I know we're all looking forward to seeing what you are able to accomplish with the new space!
I can't wait to see all the cool stuff you are going to do with the new space and new equipment! With that said, take care of yourselves and don't get burned out!
I know what getting to that next level looks like. This appears to be that hump you need to cross. You and the team are going to reap what you sow soon enough. I know the vast majority of people on this side of the screen have nothing but the utmost respect for the quality and work ethic coming out of GN and we are here for the long haul!
ITRoy
Great work, guys. You always seem to improve each time. Love the content, but take some time here and there, if you need it.
Stephen Thompson
Steve, you and the team do an incredible job! I appreciate the depth of detail and effort level put into your work. Your content ranks top of the list for me and I watch a lot of technical YouTube (PC hardware, Ham Radio, General Electronics). For your space, I consider Gamers Nexus as a gold standard for empirical data. Keep up the amazing work! Please donβt let yourself burn out. Itβs okay to skip a day/couple of days - especially if it means the difference to you loving or hating your job.
You're crushing it Steve! Absolutely love all the efforts you're putting together with the team. Hyped as hell for the new space, testing machines, and growth the future holds for you. You're appreciated and there's a lot of people who love your content. I don't think people say it enough in general, but its true.
Looking forward to seeing everything finalized and the group in the new place. Thank you for the continual great content, even through all you've been doing to make this move happen. Happy to continue to support as a way to assist.
Brooks Andersen
You guys are all such rock stars, especially you, Steve. I'm sure you get sick of people telling you to try slowing down a little, so I'm not going to do that. π You're enjoying what you're doing and staying excited, which is what's most important. I'm well into my busy season, and my schedule is a lot like yours. It's rough, but I love what I do, which makes it not feel like work. I'd definitely be up for seeing more short, experimental style videos if that'd help with workload. Maybe just some looks and basic testing of really weird and unknown tech things. Like that bizarre "gaming" space heater-face-blower-thing. haha
Thanks for the update! Are you planning to shoot another BTS of the new office to show the progress? It would be cool to see how far it has come even if not close to being complete. Also when you move again have you thought about selling some old stuff on eBay?
Dillon O'Brien
Thanks for the insight as to how things are going! Interesting to hear a bit how covid has impacted yall. Seems like big things are on the horizon! I must say this however: please dont neglect your own right to a little bit of personal time. I know you are resilient and determined, and the team needs you to finish pushing them to a better place, but burnout is real and nobody is immune. Perhaps the completion of construction could be a good opportunity to take a week off or something like that. Of course, what you do is up to you, but I wanted to just throw out there that I think a lot of us would care more about you having at least a bit of personal time to unwind and adjust than measuring the rate you produce content. Either way, love the way you all do things and that is why you have my support here
ZarconDeeGrissom
I can sympathies with the so much going on, had a single project lingering for months longer than I wanted it to, just from life being life, lol. that fan testing thing has been on the "no time for" may-do scroll for so long, and it's very understandable.
Apple Sauce
Appreciate the update. Glad the exploding PSU piece is nearly done, been looking forward to that one since it blew a CAP off camera in another video.
bitpushr
Appreciate the update Steve, and I enjoy hearing about both personal and the business side of things. Drinking tea from one of my few GN mugs at the moment, have been buying a lot of what you guys make because I enjoy supporting your content and team. Excited to see the new space unravel in the near future and to see what comes of GN continuing to grow. Take it easy.
