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<blockquote data-quote="Dire Bare" data-source="post: 8254946" data-attributes="member: 18182">After a little more thought, I'm not sure that I am confused or misunderstood your point . . . but rather we have different ideas on what the implications of an industry working within an &quot;old boys network&quot; means . . . and I also (think) I still disagree with you. But either way, I came across a bit strong initially, sorry for that.I'm not really sure there is any difference between a &quot;good old boys&quot; club/network vs just an &quot;old boys&quot; club/network. In fact, I think I just added the word &quot;good&quot; for some odd reason . . . . focusing on the word &quot;good&quot; misses the point.An &quot;old boys network&quot; (good or otherwise) is where folks in an industry use their positions of influence to help their friends in the network to the exclusion of those not in the network. It takes your everyday networking, and adds a layer of exclusivity. Making it harder to break into the industry unless you are one of the &quot;old boys&quot;, or are one of their buddies. The term usually refers to men (specifically) who share an association through a university or a social/professional club . . . but I think it could be extended to &quot;folks in the RPG industry&quot;. Or at least, that's how I understand the term.Just plain old networking is something everyone should be doing in their respective industries . . . getting involved outside your cubicle, getting to know others in the industry, promoting friendly competition, and helping each other out with projects when it makes sense. Nothing wrong with preferring to work with someone you know, if you feel you have a good handle on their work quality, and you enjoy working with them personally. Nothing wrong with promoting the work of others in the industry when you have confidence they do good work.The difference between a &quot;network&quot; and an &quot;old boys network&quot; is the exclusivity . . . which I don't see in the RPG industry. Granted, I'm not a part of the industry (other than as a consumer/fan).WotC struggles with diversity in hiring, not because the RPG industry operates within an &quot;old boys network&quot;, but due to white privilege. IMO, of course. Most of the folks at WotC are, and have been, white, cis-gendered, dudes (EDIT: And so am I). Most of them also see themselves as very progressive and pride themselves in promoting diversity, but . . . . they don't always realize their own privilege, or that it takes work sometimes to find and hire folks outside that white, cis-gendered norm. EDIT: Or, perhaps it would be better to say, they are not always successful in seeing past privilege and habit, they are certainly aware and try to overcome.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dire Bare, post: 8254946, member: 18182"] After a little more thought, I'm not sure that I am confused or misunderstood your point . . . but rather we have different ideas on what the implications of an industry working within an "old boys network" means . . . and I also (think) I still disagree with you. But either way, I came across a bit strong initially, sorry for that. I'm not really sure there is any difference between a "good old boys" club/network vs just an "old boys" club/network. In fact, I think I just added the word "good" for some odd reason . . . . focusing on the word "good" misses the point. An "old boys network" (good or otherwise) is where folks in an industry use their positions of influence to help their friends in the network to the exclusion of those not in the network. It takes your everyday networking, and adds a layer of exclusivity. Making it harder to break into the industry unless you are one of the "old boys", or are one of their buddies. The term usually refers to men (specifically) who share an association through a university or a social/professional club . . . but I think it could be extended to "folks in the RPG industry". Or at least, that's how I understand the term. Just plain old [I]networking[/I] is something everyone should be doing in their respective industries . . . getting involved outside your cubicle, getting to know others in the industry, promoting friendly competition, and helping each other out with projects when it makes sense. Nothing wrong with preferring to work with someone you know, if you feel you have a good handle on their work quality, and you enjoy working with them personally. Nothing wrong with promoting the work of others in the industry when you have confidence they do good work. The difference between a "network" and an "old boys network" is the exclusivity . . . which I don't see in the RPG industry. Granted, I'm not a part of the industry (other than as a consumer/fan). WotC struggles with diversity in hiring, not because the RPG industry operates within an "old boys network", but due to white privilege. IMO, of course. Most of the folks at WotC are, and have been, white, cis-gendered, dudes ([I]EDIT: And so am I[/I]). Most of them also see themselves as very progressive and pride themselves in promoting diversity, but . . . . they don't always realize their own privilege, or that it takes work sometimes to find and hire folks outside that white, cis-gendered norm. [I]EDIT: Or, perhaps it would be better to say, they are not always successful in seeing past privilege and habit, they are certainly aware and try to overcome.[/I] [/QUOTE]

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