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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rel" data-source="post: 7652438" data-attributes="member: 99">The past couple weeks have been all about helping friends.  It suddenly occurred to me that all these friends were gaming friends.  When I look around, that's who most of my friends have become.  But then I began to notice that it's not just my friends "circle" that is mostly comprised of gamers...[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]I have mentioned before in my column that our gaming group is...long standing.  The “new guy” has been gaming with us for over 18 years now.  I’ve been gaming with my best friend since I was 12, which is (sigh) now 30 years ago.When that same friend needed to move this past week, it was no surprise the group who showed up to help out was primarily our gaming group.  In fact, since he’s currently GMing, we just called off last week’s game night and spent the evening hauling boxes and furniture instead.  It was kind of like looting a dungeon, except you don’t get to keep any of the loot.I was also contacted last week by another friend who wanted to talk to me about some coaching.  We had lunch yesterday and discussed her needs and goals.  There is a lot I can do to help her achieve those and she hired me.  This is another person whom I have gamed with over the years.These events got me thinking about how much of a gateway gaming is into the other social circles in my life.  In the last decade the group of people I’ve met through gaming has continually, rapidly expanded.  A large number are folks I liked, but whom have simply remained “people I’ve enjoyed gaming with.”  Many others have become friends.  A few have become close friends.Back before about the year 2000, this was not how I operated.  The group of gamers I knew was small and fairly static.  We gradually added about three new friends to our gaming group over a period of almost ten years, which was fine with me since I was making new acquaintances in other areas of my life (mostly at work).  From a gaming perspective, I had a tight knit group who got along well.  Why would I need to add more people to it?Then I discovered ENWorld.  I met people online.  Then I started the NC Game Day and met some of them in person.  That was followed by my starting to attend other regional game days and GenCon.  Suddenly, I had so many people flowing into my circles it was a struggle to assimilate all of them.This didn’t just change my social life but also that of my family and friends..  My wife now spends the majority of her vacation days going to various game days.  Our daughter knows and games with many of the same people.  My circle of close gamer buddies from “back in the day” have had the chance to meet some of the NC Game Day crowd.  This year, my best friend, my wife, and my daughter are all attending GenCon for the first time.The threads and connections that started with gaming run through nearly every facet of my life.  I have two business partnerships currently underway with people whom I met through gaming.  Most of my clients have been gamers or people recommended to me by friends who are gamers.Those kinds of relationships run the other direction as well.  When I have need of a service or product, I of course follow the marketing trend of buying from those I “know, like, and trust.” Gamers are vastly overrepresented in those categories from my perspective.  My website was built by a gamer.  My next website will be built by a gamer.  I have two editors working for me.  They’re both gamers.Perhaps you’re thinking that I’m limiting myself by only putting energy into a single network.  But it’s reached a critical mass where it is expanding on its own and feeding back more energy than I’m putting into it.  That’s exactly the sort of structure I try to build into my life.  It makes the notion that gamers are anti-social nerds fairly ludicrous.My weekly gaming group is comprised of the best friends a guy could ask for.  The kinds of friends who will help you move everything you own and maybe the occasional body.  I’ve had those friends forever and wouldn’t trade them for anything.  But I’ve also got tons of new friends, from all over the globe.  I wouldn’t trade them either.  They are increasingly connected to all aspects of my life and it’s awesome.Who is in your gaming circles?  Are they friends or people you only game with?  Do they overlap into other circles in your life like business or family?</blockquote>

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