I had the amazing privilege and opportunity to give a TEDx talk about ESPORTS and SC2 at my university, UC Irvine. It was very nerve racking but such an amazing opportunity to share my passion for the StarCraft and eSports community. I did a general overview of StarCraft and eSports and how it has affected my life. Hope you guys enjoy it, and feel free to leave your honest comments.
Please be sure to "like" and leave comments to the organization, TEDxUCI. Huge thanks to my speech/talk coach Barbara Seymour Giordano who kept an open mind about ESPORTS and helped shape my talk.
Hey man - i really liked it; it looked like a pretty cool opportunity and i think you sold it well. The only thing for me was i think you played the nerd card a bit too hard
This may sound random and uninformed - but what's the purpose of TEDx (as opposed to TED?) and how many people were there? That can be pretty daunting talking without prompts
You gave a good talk, shindigs. Raising awareness of ESPORTS in an academic setting is a very good thing and I'm honored to have been able to help out. Gonna go link this to a bunch of people now!
you presented this like a boss, only stumbling over a few lines. I have all the respect in the world for you. I think you did a great job and explaining an introductory lesson about everything starcraft related, not being too shallow or too in depth.
People like you are the reason the community has grown so much. Keep it up and you'll get the recognition you deserve.
This is awesome. I hope someone talks e-sports at my universities TEDx next month!! Gonna have to bug the guys in charge to see who the speakers are o.O
On March 28 2012 13:07 bkrow wrote: This may sound random and uninformed - but what's the purpose of TEDx (as opposed to TED?) and how many people were there? That can be pretty daunting talking without prompts
TEDx is an independently organized even with the TED name/branding. TED sends some videos and materials over to the organizations, but this event was all run by student volunteers.
On March 28 2012 13:09 itsjustatank wrote: You gave a good talk, shindigs. Raising awareness of ESPORTS in an academic setting is a very good thing and I'm honored to have been able to help out. Gonna go link this to a bunch of people now!
PS: Are you going to be at IPL 4?
I'll be at IPL 4 for sure. Thanks so much for your pictures.
Loved this man. Recently gave a informative speech in my Intro to Communications class on Day9 and I remember going into it thinking, "I am about to tell fifty people about something that I truly love, and they will have no idea what I am talking about."
I'm going to be doing a similar presentation soon at a convention (Con Quest) at Umass Amherst, any objection if I use some material from your video? I really liked where you went with a few of the parts.
On March 28 2012 13:09 itsjustatank wrote: You gave a good talk, shindigs. Raising awareness of ESPORTS in an academic setting is a very good thing and I'm honored to have been able to help out. Gonna go link this to a bunch of people now!
PS: Are you going to be at IPL 4?
I'll be at IPL 4 for sure. Thanks so much for your pictures.
No problem. IPL 4 is gonna be great, see you there!
Nice presentation and passion! You are the one of the heroes of esports, I am so happy that we have people like you promoting and doing better work in it than blizzard. Keep your passion going!
On March 28 2012 13:27 Whitewing wrote: I'm going to be doing a similar presentation soon at a convention (Con Quest) at Umass Amherst, any objection if I use some material from your video? I really liked where you went with a few of the parts.
of course! just be sure to link the video back here because I'll want to see it.
Awesome video, you did a great job, maybe threw down the nerd card a few to many times, we get it you are nerdy. Besides that you did fantastic and it was very well put together.
On March 28 2012 13:46 Froadac wrote: Wtf. Very nice. How did you get this opportunity?
Would love to meet this baws. Hopefully I'll be at MLG Anaheim.
I auditioned during an open call. It was more of an interview of what I would talk about. Then I did draft after draft of the talk, which was more like an outline in the end. I was only one of two undergraduates selected - the rest were Irvine community members, profs, or grad students.
That was awesome! Really well done, I try to cover all of these bases when I'm making "the pitch" to people that aren't into esports and you did an amazing job in front of an audience!
Really great video man, I enjoyed it. I know its not always easy to give a talk like that, you did a great job speaking to a crowd that may not have a great deal of knowledge about esports.
I'm just wondering. I'm a friend of Aubrey de Grey who does a lot of TED talks about technology, is this the same organization? If so, thats's really impressive that you made the opportunity to represent that, its not a small thing.
On March 28 2012 14:20 Torte de Lini wrote: I love this, I just watched the iNcontrol's interview, but this is amazing just as much!
Lol i also watched this after the iNcontrol interview and i feel so happy with such amazing content =)
iNcontrol is a seasoned performer in front of the camera and speaks mainly to the esports fan; i loved shindigs delivery to the general population; it was pretty good in terms of covering material and selling esports to the regular bystander
Well done! You were a bit nervous at times but i can forgive that. I'm sending this to my dad in hopes that he'll appreciate my gaming a bit more... but I sorta doubt that. I would have liked to see more videos during the presentation (maybe to help people understand a little bit more of just how deep the game gets). But overall great presentation! Would love to see more of this.
What a well constructed talk...sometimes I feel like a lot of people on the inside of this eSports bubble don't have a pragmatic way to explain how they feel about it. Judging by the crowd reaction at the start to the end, I feel like you gave them an inside view of the StarCraft scene without presenting it as a fringe hobby. Obviously, the game isn't mainstream at all but the talk has a great tone which says, "Hey this is honestly something everyone could enjoy if they wanted to give it a try." It wasn't focusing on anything which would make it feel like it's just a waste of time and energy to play this game and you deserve a lot of respect for pulling that off. Games still have some stigma even if a ton of people play them. For instance, you still get people who even play SC2 that will BM you in game telling you that you must have no life and all you must do is play all day. This stigma, that playing video games is mindless and counter-productive, stems from all the negative press about games in our culture but you made the case that it's both social and worthwhile.
On March 28 2012 14:20 Torte de Lini wrote: I love this, I just watched the iNcontrol's interview, but this is amazing just as much!
Lol i also watched this after the iNcontrol interview and i feel so happy with such amazing content =)
iNcontrol is a seasoned performer in front of the camera and speaks mainly to the esports fan; i loved shindigs delivery to the general population; it was pretty good in terms of covering material and selling esports to the regular bystander
I personally feel like you made a mistake describing professional FPS and the fighting game community (or perhaps how you chose to not describe them). They shake hands, are mannered, etc. at their events too. Other than that, I think you did a good job on bringing awareness that such a scene even exists, which is what I think what you were trying to do.
Nice work! You looked a bit nervous, but it came out pretty well. I think you could've done a better job "hyping" the game for the people who don't know it by showing it on screen for a bit and explaining, but I understand the time limit. Congrats anyhow!
Great talk. The whole collegial league segment was very interesting as I didn't know it was this big and this intense. You can be sure I'll keep an eye out for events like these.
You really sold the competitive aspect but didn't really touch the spectator aspect. I would have liked a bit more on what the spectator sees and why it's thrilling (asymmetric information, seeing behind the mind games, casters...). Also, I don't know if this was supposed to be a SC2 only talk, but if it was about esports as a whole, a bit more information on FPS and fighting games/arcade would have been great.
I really like the huge segment on the collegial league as it can encourage people to play even if they are not the top players of the world, you could build a league of "lesser players" and have a great competition.
Overall very pleased with this. Such a huge field to cover with so little time, you did great. Hope you get to do another one, or two.
On March 28 2012 13:27 Whitewing wrote: I'm going to be doing a similar presentation soon at a convention (Con Quest) at Umass Amherst, any objection if I use some material from your video? I really liked where you went with a few of the parts.
Hey, I go to Hampshire College and I would love to see this presentation! Can you link some information to this event?
As a passionate about speehes, maybe I would change quite a few of the things you said to a better explanation, but that would be getting into too much detail. One tip tho, walk around the stage, dont leave your feet rooted to the ground. If you move around, you will own the stage and feel better, it also gives you time to think and breathe. Otherwise it looks like you are trapped. Keep going
On March 28 2012 13:27 Whitewing wrote: I'm going to be doing a similar presentation soon at a convention (Con Quest) at Umass Amherst, any objection if I use some material from your video? I really liked where you went with a few of the parts.
Hey, I go to Hampshire College and I would love to see this presentation! Can you link some information to this event?
Execllent talk. Only complaint I have is the whole stereotyping you seem to be doing, for instance against the "jock" culture in FPS games. I agree, absolutely, but it kind of makes you seem like a nerd, heavily biased.
Other than that I think this was amazing, and I really applaud you for having this talk. I don't know how big the crowd was, but I had issues holding lectures for a small class of 20, so I can only imagine what this was like for you.
On March 28 2012 12:53 bkrow wrote: Hey man - i really liked it; it looked like a pretty cool opportunity and i think you sold it well. The only thing for me was i think you played the nerd card a bit too hard
Otherwise really cool presentation =)
Pretty much my though, you presented it well and made it sexy (especially the part with the photo with the guys and his team mates behind me, that's ESPORTS yeah !) but i think you went a little bit overboard with the nerd card. Like you said, we all hope one day esports will be looked at like any other regular sports and that's why we have to step out of our comfort "nerdy" zone.
Great job overall, i've always taken every opportunity i had to talk about esports, wether it's an class doing a presentation or while being to drunk at a party and forgetting that this girl asking about it doesn't want to hear a full 15min speech about how awesome esports is. I hope this gets a lot of views on TED.com, keep raising the awareness of ESPORTS !!!
On March 28 2012 13:27 Whitewing wrote: I'm going to be doing a similar presentation soon at a convention (Con Quest) at Umass Amherst, any objection if I use some material from your video? I really liked where you went with a few of the parts.
Hey, I go to Hampshire College and I would love to see this presentation! Can you link some information to this event?
damn! you speak out for me, truly a e-sport hero! I mean it's people like you and day9 and other people who speak out about e-sport that are gonna change the stereotype of the gaming community
I bet this took a lot of guts to get up there and do, not knowing what kind of reception you would receive. Thanks for taking initiative and helping spread ESPORTS!
On March 28 2012 13:27 Whitewing wrote: I'm going to be doing a similar presentation soon at a convention (Con Quest) at Umass Amherst, any objection if I use some material from your video? I really liked where you went with a few of the parts.
Hey, I go to Hampshire College and I would love to see this presentation! Can you link some information to this event?
On March 28 2012 12:53 bkrow wrote: Hey man - i really liked it; it looked like a pretty cool opportunity and i think you sold it well. The only thing for me was i think you played the nerd card a bit too hard
Otherwise really cool presentation =)
Pretty much my though, you presented it well and made it sexy (especially the part with the photo with the guys and his team mates behind me, that's ESPORTS yeah !) but i think you went a little bit overboard with the nerd card. Like you said, we all hope one day esports will be looked at like any other regular sports and that's why we have to step out of our comfort "nerdy" zone.
Great job overall, i've always taken every opportunity i had to talk about esports, wether it's an class doing a presentation or while being to drunk at a party and forgetting that this girl asking about it doesn't want to hear a full 15min speech about how awesome esports is. I hope this gets a lot of views on TED.com, keep raising the awareness of ESPORTS !!!
I felt really bad for you when you were nervous in the beginning and stumbled on the words some, but then you completely aced it! Informative and funny, nice work!
Started off a little shaky but I think you definitely found your groove as the talk went along. Very nice speech and I hope you inspired some non-eSports people to check out the scene.
On March 28 2012 12:53 bkrow wrote: Hey man - i really liked it; it looked like a pretty cool opportunity and i think you sold it well. The only thing for me was i think you played the nerd card a bit too hard
Otherwise really cool presentation =)
Pretty much my though, you presented it well and made it sexy (especially the part with the photo with the guys and his team mates behind me, that's ESPORTS yeah !) but i think you went a little bit overboard with the nerd card. Like you said, we all hope one day esports will be looked at like any other regular sports and that's why we have to step out of our comfort "nerdy" zone.
Great job overall, i've always taken every opportunity i had to talk about esports, wether it's an class doing a presentation or while being to drunk at a party and forgetting that this girl asking about it doesn't want to hear a full 15min speech about how awesome esports is. I hope this gets a lot of views on TED.com, keep raising the awareness of ESPORTS !!!
if you think that we're not nerds, you are crazy
I do not call myself a nerd and I'm certain there are a few more who wouldn't call themselves one either.
On March 28 2012 12:53 bkrow wrote: Hey man - i really liked it; it looked like a pretty cool opportunity and i think you sold it well. The only thing for me was i think you played the nerd card a bit too hard
Otherwise really cool presentation =)
Pretty much my though, you presented it well and made it sexy (especially the part with the photo with the guys and his team mates behind me, that's ESPORTS yeah !) but i think you went a little bit overboard with the nerd card. Like you said, we all hope one day esports will be looked at like any other regular sports and that's why we have to step out of our comfort "nerdy" zone.
Great job overall, i've always taken every opportunity i had to talk about esports, wether it's an class doing a presentation or while being to drunk at a party and forgetting that this girl asking about it doesn't want to hear a full 15min speech about how awesome esports is. I hope this gets a lot of views on TED.com, keep raising the awareness of ESPORTS !!!
if you think that we're not nerds, you are crazy
Obviously we're nerds. I think his point is saying it so many times just downplays the whole thing. Like it or not, people don't really associate "nerd" with awesome, so I think it's better to leave it out of this kind of thing when it's directed to a broader audience.
On March 28 2012 12:53 bkrow wrote: Hey man - i really liked it; it looked like a pretty cool opportunity and i think you sold it well. The only thing for me was i think you played the nerd card a bit too hard
Otherwise really cool presentation =)
Pretty much my though, you presented it well and made it sexy (especially the part with the photo with the guys and his team mates behind me, that's ESPORTS yeah !) but i think you went a little bit overboard with the nerd card. Like you said, we all hope one day esports will be looked at like any other regular sports and that's why we have to step out of our comfort "nerdy" zone.
Great job overall, i've always taken every opportunity i had to talk about esports, wether it's an class doing a presentation or while being to drunk at a party and forgetting that this girl asking about it doesn't want to hear a full 15min speech about how awesome esports is. I hope this gets a lot of views on TED.com, keep raising the awareness of ESPORTS !!!
if you think that we're not nerds, you are crazy
Obviously we're nerds. I think his point is saying it so many times just downplays the whole thing. Like it or not, people don't really associate "nerd" with awesome, so I think it's better to leave it out of this kind of thing when it's directed to a broader audience.
no i think it's good that he mentions the nerd thing. we're not trying to fool anyone. we are nerds. we know we are nerds. we don't care what other people think... maybe you guys are missing the point of the talk. he's not trying to "convert" people. he's making people "aware"
It was a great presentation, I only wish you went a little more in-depth about Starcraft specifically, so that people might get a glimpse of its complexity. It seemed like you glossed over it and the audience probably had little idea of what Starcraft really is. Only pointers I would give, which I'm sure you know and have been told already, are to pace around a little, don't say "like" or "you know" a lot, and use hand gestures in a less random way.
Can you give a speech like this to the kids at my school? They need it.
Great Job, definitely enjoyed it. This kind of thing was what I was looking for when I visited the TEDx Conference in my area. But, nothing. Thank you for spreading the love of eSports. This should've been on the TL eSports bracket. (Too bad that came before this)
He's the hero this community needs, and the hero this community deserves right now... so they'll call him supernerd, because he can take it. Because he's not a hero. He's a TeamLiquid member, a watchful protector of the swarm...an eSports freedomfighter.
-- Great speech, man. Loved the passion and loved the courage you showed through it. People like you are the exact reason why I'm proud to be a part of this community.
more and more i start to hate that Nerd expression. People that are used to esports seem to be proud of it, just because they know what it means to be passionated about these great games - especially sc2 but esports in general. The people that dont know esports at all just take it as an expression for other people that "have no friends", "are into a useless thing", "barely wash" - to keep simple: they dont understand because all their presumptions are entirely wrong. I wonder if TV had the same status when it was first introduced which i see as "more people doing it", "less communicative", "equally entertaining". Or football? I really dont get why gaming was getting a kind of subculture. Why there is this feel of shame about telling people that you are interested in playing/watching games? And this feel of relief occurs when you find out that the one you rarely know is also a gamer and you are allowed to nerd-talk?
Last thing, i feel like its time for science to research the subculture of gaming in other ways than aggression felt during first person shooter games!
Good talk although you were a bit nervous it seems. But its time for nerds to liberate and it's a good thing to start it this way!
Wow I did a powerpoint presentation about esports in my English class last semester in front of 15 people... but I would never have had the cajones to do this. Thanks for spreading the good word!
I had the amazing privilege and opportunity to give a TEDx talk about ESPORTS and SC2 at my university, UC Irvine. It was very nerve racking but such an amazing opportunity to share my passion for the StarCraft and eSports community. I did a general overview of StarCraft and eSports and how it has effected my life. Hope you guys enjoy it, and feel free to leave your honest comments.
*affected :D affect = verb or you could say "had an effect." effect = noun
Dude, when i'm having my next demonstration of subject i choose, can i show this to everybody 'cause i'm doing it at e-Sports and i think this should be perfect opening for it. Why? Because this was just so FREAKING GOOOOOOOOOOOD!
Good job! I just took a military leadership course that made us give three speeches over the length of the course.
One bit of advice, try not to move your hands around so much. I was distracted by your rapid hand movement. I thought you were signaling an airplane to land or something.
Other than that, I thought the E-sports speech was bad ass!
You were a bit shaky at the start and in between when you let the beamer tech irritate you. But all in all I think you did well. What was the reception in the audience? Were they predominately new to e-sports?
"..because what really matters is how this game, how this community and how people around us have impacted us, shared our passions and just kept us letting us know that it's worthwhile to go 100% in anything you believe in; no matter what other people say!" - shindigs
I will echo those words shindigs because they are TRUE - and this is coming from someone who instead of sleeping immersed himself in the StarCraft community for ten years. I will miss those years fondly the rest of my life. gj, gg you did absolutely great!
Very awesome opportunity for you! TED talks are always awesome, and this one was great too. Thanks for sharing, I bet you felt great after getting off the stage haha
It's been just about a week since this video has been released, and its garnered 18k views! It's the most viewed video on the TEDxUCI channel and I have everyone in the community to thank for inspiring the talk and showing support. Give the opportunity to speak again, I'll definitely take time to improve my speaking abilities.
Although it takes quite a bit of balls to even speak on such a stage, it seemed that Tim here had a battle with his own nerves from beginning to the end. It was a decent job, but more practice on the speech could've been made.
Am I alone to find this speech crap as hell ? It remind me some teenager speaking about the new shoes he damn wanted. It only talk about how SC2 is great and how the dude enjoyed it and esport. Try something, replace each sc2 or esport occurence by anything you want, like...cinema or youth camps, it works !
I tought one could at least have some explanations on exactly why sc2 is so great...
Am I alone to find this speech crap as hell ? It remind me some teenager speaking about the new shoes he damn wanted. It only talk about how SC2 is great and how the dude enjoyed it and esport. Try something, replace each sc2 or esport occurence by anything you want, like...cinema or youth camps, it works !
I tought one could at least have some explanations on exactly why sc2 is so great...
Are we watching the same video?
Although it wasn't mentioned, there are strict time limits on these talks. The speaker had to effectively explain the game, the community both here and worldwide, how it has affected his life, and what he and the community have been doing to spread the passion in 12 minutes (the actual time limit was something like 8-10 minutes, but it obviously ran over.) Although some parts of the talk were a bit shaky and he was clearly nervous, he was able to use concrete examples (large-scale tournaments in addition to CSL events and LANs that he co-coordinated and helped run), as well as tell his own story in that time limit. I would be interested to hear what kind of examples you would've used instead.
Am I alone to find this speech crap as hell ? It remind me some teenager speaking about the new shoes he damn wanted. It only talk about how SC2 is great and how the dude enjoyed it and esport. Try something, replace each sc2 or esport occurence by anything you want, like...cinema or youth camps, it works !
I tought one could at least have some explanations on exactly why sc2 is so great...
Are we watching the same video?
Although it wasn't mentioned, there are strict time limits on these talks. The speaker had to effectively explain the game, the community both here and worldwide, how it has affected his life, and what he and the community have been doing to spread the passion in 12 minutes (the actual time limit was something like 8-10 minutes, but it obviously ran over.) Although some parts of the talk were a bit shaky and he was clearly nervous, he was able to use concrete examples (large-scale tournaments in addition to CSL events and LANs that he co-coordinated and helped run), as well as tell his own story in that time limit. I would be interested to hear what kind of examples you would've used instead.
I think, in a sick and twisted way, that he was trying to say that there was content there, but the presentation was lacking.
I personally thought that the presentation was shaky at best; however; given someone more articulate, the topic could have really shone.
That being said, I still think it was incredibly well put together, all things considered.
Am I alone to find this speech crap as hell ? It remind me some teenager speaking about the new shoes he damn wanted. It only talk about how SC2 is great and how the dude enjoyed it and esport. Try something, replace each sc2 or esport occurence by anything you want, like...cinema or youth camps, it works !
I tought one could at least have some explanations on exactly why sc2 is so great...
Are we watching the same video?
Although it wasn't mentioned, there are strict time limits on these talks. The speaker had to effectively explain the game, the community both here and worldwide, how it has affected his life, and what he and the community have been doing to spread the passion in 12 minutes (the actual time limit was something like 8-10 minutes, but it obviously ran over.) Although some parts of the talk were a bit shaky and he was clearly nervous, he was able to use concrete examples (large-scale tournaments in addition to CSL events and LANs that he co-coordinated and helped run), as well as tell his own story in that time limit. I would be interested to hear what kind of examples you would've used instead.
I think, in a sick and twisted way, that he was trying to say that there was content there, but the presentation was lacking.
I personally thought that the presentation was shaky at best; however; given someone more articulate, the topic could have really shone.
That being said, I still think it was incredibly well put together, all things considered.
Meh, I don't disagree when people criticize the presentation or the speaking because I personally think that it could have been a lot better as well (IF SOMEONE PRACTICED MORE ಠ_ಠ), but his reply was hardly constructive criticism...or understandable.
Am I alone to find this speech crap as hell ? It remind me some teenager speaking about the new shoes he damn wanted. It only talk about how SC2 is great and how the dude enjoyed it and esport. Try something, replace each sc2 or esport occurence by anything you want, like...cinema or youth camps, it works !
I tought one could at least have some explanations on exactly why sc2 is so great...
Are we watching the same video?
Although it wasn't mentioned, there are strict time limits on these talks. The speaker had to effectively explain the game, the community both here and worldwide, how it has affected his life, and what he and the community have been doing to spread the passion in 12 minutes (the actual time limit was something like 8-10 minutes, but it obviously ran over.) Although some parts of the talk were a bit shaky and he was clearly nervous, he was able to use concrete examples (large-scale tournaments in addition to CSL events and LANs that he co-coordinated and helped run), as well as tell his own story in that time limit. I would be interested to hear what kind of examples you would've used instead.
I think, in a sick and twisted way, that he was trying to say that there was content there, but the presentation was lacking.
I personally thought that the presentation was shaky at best; however; given someone more articulate, the topic could have really shone.
That being said, I still think it was incredibly well put together, all things considered.
Meh, I don't disagree when people criticize the presentation or the speaking because I personally think that it could have been a lot better as well (IF SOMEONE PRACTICED MORE ಠ_ಠ), but his reply was hardly constructive criticism...or understandable.
Which is why I described his "criticism" as done in a "sick and twisted" way. He was probably just bashing the video, but I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt.
I wasn't bashing the video, I just put my feelings. I was watching it while being more and more bored by the guy saying no more than :
"Sc2 is so great ! there is a so huge community uit's... WOAAA I mean it's WOA, WOAAAA It's so amazing, the game is so great !"
Also, the argumentation is empty. Everybody here act as if it was a good speech but it wasn't. If I do this for my phD I get fired xD People don't care Sc2 changed the life of a silly boy who play video games, they want to know WHY. Esports did not changed his life because there is a lot of tournaments or a huge community : there is a lot of tournaments and a huge community in many many many many sports and games. People who don't know Sc2 or esports could not learn anything from this speech except "WOAAA MY GOD Sc2 is so great and there is tournament"
Don't you understand the fact that, just when the guy say "it changed my life" people don't f*****g care ? why should I care something changed the life of this young gamer if I'm not even concerned by the same thing. He should have concern people and try to convince them a lot more that esport is gonna come to them (= he should have made a real presentation, not a teenager euphoric state ode). He should have presented the game, explain why it growed, how it is growing and why it will continue to grow. he should have talked about the aptitudes you can get while playing competitives sports...
You can't just say "in Korea there is professional teams and sponsors" and conclude your sentence by "It's wild over there !", it's just pointless and ruin the entire argument you could have bring (like statistics and/or perspectives). He should have quantify things rather than stay all long in an etheral world of things happening somewhere. People had to know which part of the reality all of this is and which part of their reality it's coming to be, if it's not already.
The only fine moment was when he talked about the inter-universities tournament, what a pity his only conclusion was "like... WOAW... THIS IS INSANITY" My god...
Also, Why the f**k did he talked about the finalist nerd of his tournament and presented a poor picture with him on a poor chair playing on a poor table with geeks watching around ? Why did he not put some salyer's boxer pictures and talked few seconds about the success of his life, bringing esport to high level then creating his own team...
And sorry for this add, but the fact that nobody here was capable to see the actual (and real) mediocrity of this presentation shows that gamers are not matures enough for something as big as they except. Criticism is the key to progress and Starcraft community badly need that to grow and get big/pro/WOAW.
I'm french dude, it's kind of a hard task to translate what I really think in english (+ without losing what i'm thinking about hy trying to translate)
On April 05 2012 07:07 Aken wrote: Also, Why the f**k did he talked about the finalist nerd of his tournament and presented a poor picture with him on a poor chair playing on a poor table with geeks watching around ? Why did he not put some salyer's boxer pictures and talked few seconds about the success of his life, bringing esport to high level then creating his own team...
That was an actual photo from the actual tournament-- it wasn't him in that picture, but one of the players from the university. There's no point of putting up a picture of Boxer when he's explaining how one match meant so much to one team and his support system. Also, the theme of TEDxUCI was "Under Construction Indefinitely" and the sub-theme of this section of the talk was "building school pride", hence the topic and photos of CSL and not Boxer. The audience would probably rather hear about what is happening at schools in the state and in the nation than the life story of a foreign player.
On April 05 2012 07:07 Aken wrote: If I do this for my phD I get fired
Well I hope you get fired.
On a more serious note, this isn't an oral exam or thesis for a PhD. It's a talk at a university by a non-profit organization run by students for students to build school pride and spread the idea and passion. It seems like you're focusing too much on the technical aspects of the game, statistics, and what's happening on the other side of the planet when it's really not the purpose of this talk.
On April 05 2012 07:07 Aken wrote: And sorry for this add, but the fact that nobody here was capable to see the actual (and real) mediocrity of this presentation shows that gamers are not matures enough for something as big as they except.
Almost 20K, this grew much larger than I had expected! Thanks everyone!
There are a lot of criticisms about what pictures I showed for the talk. I actually haven't watched it from start to finish as a whole (because I hate watching myself talk) but I know that the video does not display all the pictures I showed to the live audience. I had pictures of the crowd shot from GSL and from MLG, which I don't think were shown. I was really particular of what pictures I wanted to show, so its unfortunate the entire deck didn't make it to the final cut of the video.
On April 05 2012 08:08 J.E.G. wrote: If i get accepted to more than one college for fall 2012, i'm definitely checking to see who's got the best CSL team
Wouldn't it be a dissertation for him instead of a thesis if he's going to get a doctorate and not master/bachelor?
He was like stuttering for awhile and it seemed like he had more to say but forgot some things or perhaps he just didn't know how to put it together nicely. It's like a lot of ideas but randomly put strung together. Less hyperbole the better...
On April 05 2012 09:54 nalgene wrote: Wouldn't it be a dissertation for him instead of a thesis if he's going to get a doctorate and not master/bachelor?
He was like stuttering for awhile and it seemed like he had more to say but forgot some things or perhaps he just didn't know how to put it together nicely. It's like a lot of ideas but randomly put strung together. Less hyperbole the better...
This is what I was trying to say before. Good ideas, not articulate.
^glad you bumped this thanks I must have missed it a few times.
I think you did a great job! It has been a goal of mine to improve my play enough to help my university team since I first heard of the Collegiate Starleague. Great closing statements as well I am impress!
Wow, well done and this is really huge for esports...I can honestly say that you are not killing esports, you are making it more vibrant. I wish more people representing us could be as vibrant as you are when talking about it!
Great job, you had good composure in making sure you kept moving through the presentation even though there were clearly some nerves at play. Honestly, good, lucid, points are way more important than a great speaking or salesmanship ability to me (although I too am an "uber nerd"). That is, as long as you aren't trying to sell something or speak to a company board.
This is fantastic. The juxtaposition created between the idea of you being a "nerd" and the fact that you're clearly an articulate, passionate person (almost everyone has nerves on stage, and I don't think a slip-up here and there disqualifies you from being articulate) reinforces that esports isn't necessarily the province of a group of social outcasts.
Will it ever be mainstream? To echo you, I don't think it matters. You're helping to make it easier to come out of the esports closet, regardless of whether or not the majority of our peers share the same passion. Thank you.
On April 11 2012 05:34 shindigs wrote: Yeah that's me, lol. So embarrassing. I work for Tt eSPORTS now so I'm using a the black switch Meka G1 keyboard
Oh cool. Not a bad job dude.
But look at it this way instead. You actually helped me to stay away from the Das because i was looking for a video of it and your "review" of it made me realize it's way to similar to my current Black Widow Ultimate because of the glossyness and the fact that i don't like that kind of "wing" in the upper right corner.
It seemed to just be you talking about e-sports for an audience who was already aware of it, and with no real point to make about it. I don't like sports -> I'm a nerd -> I play video games -> video games are competitive -> here's a video game that is competitive -> here's a competition you have some connection to. Why were you talking about it?
Don't take this the wrong way. I enjoyed it, but it was just a display of emotion and passion. There was no focus to it in my opinion. I would suggest that if you are expecting, or wanting, another opportunity to discuss gaming you try to discuss more of the social and cultural impact of video games, and how e-sports is a surprising and optimistic turn of events for the media. Read some Marshall McLuhan, or Neil Postman for a kind of example of this kind of argument. (Although they argued that Television was bad for, well, a lot of things.) Something more about the traditionally solitary habits of gamers and how e-sports is (in the US at least) a social movement towards mature interaction in a communal setting as opposed to solitary embarrassment. I don't know, this is just an initial impression. I feel like you wanted to discuss this sort of thing, but didn't really express it that well. It goes back to my earlier question; why are you talking about e-sports?
Also in terms of public speaking, try to never say "umm", "like" or "you know." I know its an obvious point, but I suggest you consciously remove these words or phrases from your daily vocabulary. It's not easy but it makes a huge difference.
With all that said however, it's more than I have ever done for e-sports. I have great respect for what you have done in talking about this on a large platform, and for what you have done in organizing a collegiate starleague competition. I hope you understand my admiration of you even though I am suggesting a fairly disrespectful question for you to ask of yourself.
I dislike the term eSports. When you are trying to explain "eSports" to someone you not only have to explain the nature competitive gaming but you also have to define your made up term which actually doesn't suit the definition very well and not only that; it also sounds pretty nerdy. I don't know where the term came from but instead of legitimising the idea of competitive gaming it actually just makes it sound like a bad attempt at coming across as being a real sport.
Competitive gaming has much more in common with poker, chess and go than it does with any sport and we don't refer to those games as tablesports or any other type of sport.
I'd much rather people just call it competitive gaming; it's immediately understandable because a shit load of people play games and they'll be able to relate to it. Everyone's sons, daughters, husbands and wives play games and instead of trying to distance yourself from what you fear they might think are silly little video games you should be trying to latch onto those games that they already do play and use them to connect the dots.
The point is that calling it an eSport appears strange and already creates a point of contention (the idea that competitive gaming is a type of sport) that is completely uneccessary. Why have an extra barrier to entry on an idea that someone may already reject?
Anyways, just a thought.
On another note, it would have been cool if you had got in contact with Husky or someone and got them to do a super basic cast of a game for the audience to see, though I doubt you would've had time for that in your talk.
For me it is a real Sport and don't just attempt to be one. Its a Question how you define Sport as a term. Sport isnt just movement, using your Body, work out. Sport is always competition on high levels and casual fun on low levels.
If you dont define Sport that way Chess or racing wouldnt be accepted as Sports.
I think competitive and sport as terms can be handled equaly but gaming tends to be not that seriuos as eSports is nowadays. With all this huuuuge Competitions, Legaues, Tournements, Pro-Teams organizied with Managers, Sponsors (one of the biggest things) and thos insane Pricemoneys. eSports is way to professional as to be called "just" competitive gaming the only Problem is, that its even with thos sponsors and huge privemoneys and media still in a little Bubble and isnt breakin through to be viewed by a broad publicum. For that thoose events like the TEDx talk are good for. Also I think that its a matter of Time, most big sports like Baseball, Football , american Football (not to say Egghand ) are really old.
When we all grow older and introduce more and mroe friends and later on kids to it the scene will become bigger automatically.
Wow, never thought I would see starcraft as a topic on a TED talk. But to the OP, very well done on being able to explain starcraft to the layman. I especially like the analogies between esports and traditional sports, and this really does live up to the standards of the typical TED talk.
To those discussing about whether esports is really a "sport", I don't think this is really relevant here. The main idea of the talk is to introduce the scene to people who totally don't know anything about it. The link to sports just makes it easier to relate to for most people.
I must admit i had nerdchills when you showed that map of the US with every college participating to CSL. Awesome presentation, thanks for sharing the video!
I am totally sending this to my family to give them a glimpse at what I am passionate about. I think you should play up the salary numbers next time. My husband always sells his family that this is a real sport by showing how people are making so much money playing games as pro-gamers.
EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Ap9v2.jpg)
ur a boss 
