Today’s post is to give you some ideas to blog about. If you want to help, please share your ideas for blog post ideas in the comments below or contact me to do a guest post.

Before I do, I want to share with you one of the debut posts encouraging people to sign on. Read Speaking Out by Gary and maybe you’ll get inspired to write your own story.

List of Positive Blog Ideas for Geeking Out

1. What words of reassurance do you want to share with people who feel embarrassed about their hobbies?

2. Why are you proud to identify yourself as a geek? Can you do this in a way that doesn’t condescend or sound elitist?

3. True confessions: If you have engaged in nerd rage or edition wars, what would you say to someone who said they weren’t going to try your hobby because you were too negative?

4. When was the first time you realized you loved your hobby (or vocation)?

5. For professionals out there, how did you turn your passion for your hobby into a career?

6. Remember a time when someone put you down for the hobbies/vocation you love so much. Now, imagine sitting down to a table and introducing them to your passions and how they make you happy. How would you do it and what would you pick?

7. Is there a hobby or vocation you think you’d be passionate about but haven’t had the time/courage/opportunity to learn?

8. Name someone you admire for their hobbies/vocation. Post an online fan letter telling them how much they inspire you.

9. Teach us something cool about the hobby/vocation that you’re into in a way even beginners will understand.

10. Interview someone you know who’s into a hobby/vocation you know nothing about.

11. Review your favorite book, game, comic or other media in a way that tells us how this property affected you.

12. Come up with your own Speak Out with your Geek Out manifesto. Tell us why this movement is important to you.

13. Talk about something you want or have that represents your hobbies or interests better than anything else.

14. Was there a person in your life who encouraged you or taught you about your hobby or vocation? Write them an online “Thank You” letter.

15. Write a letter to a younger version of yourself. What would you say to inspire you?

16. Share with us the positive aspects of your hobby or vocation on your community.

17. If you’ve dealt with stereotypes and name-calling before because of your hobbies, how did you persevere?

18. Photo bomb! Show us pictures of your favorite geek-or-vocation related activity.

19. Geeks are often stereotyped. Write your own, positive geek stereotype that turns the negative around.

20. Give us ten reasons why it’s good to be a geek.

21. Start an internet meme that tackles your interests. Then tag us to respond.

22. Did you abandon your favorite hobby or interest because you didn’t have the time? Pick a night and dive back in. Then write about it!

23. Dig deep and tell us how your hobby or vocation has made your life, or the world around you, a better place.

24. For professionals: If you have a product, website or service to sell, share with us your passion for what you have created or what you have to offer. This isn’t a chance to use marketing-speak on us, be genuine!

25. For professionals: Sponsor a give-a-way or contest on your blog to encourage people to share your interests.

Q: So, what are you considering a geek?

A: The minute we define what a geek is someone, somewhere will be excluded. The goal of this event is to fight labels and stereotypes that others would use to describe us. So far, people have spoken up that they feel like a geek because they’re devoted to math, science, their children, comics, games and a myriad of other topics. This event is designed to share our passions in a positive way with the community, to give voice to those of us who are normally afraid to simply love what we love and be who we are.

Q: I post about this already. What makes Speak Out with your Geek Out any different?

A: WONDERFUL. Unfortunately, many people out there are afraid of being stereotyped or their love of their hobby/vocation takes on the form of geek cred, edition wars or nerd rage. This week is about happiness, positivity and openness. It’s about inviting those who are shy to step forward and encouraging those who can’t “grok” us to share in what we do. It’s about telling people who have been bullied for their interests that there is nothing wrong with being a geek. It’s about setting aside our differences and focusing on the positive. It’s about doing this for those who can’t and being a part of the geek community.

Q: Is this in response to a specific event?

A: While it was inspired by the latest internet gaffe, there is always another one just around the corner. This week goes beyond that, it’s to think “big picture” as opposed to min/maxing the hell out of the next faux pas. It’s to say that it’s not cool to use geeks to bait us, because we’ll just make our own brand of cool.

Q: How can I participate? I live in a foreign country.

A: The event is virtual, so if you have a blog or website, if you have a social media account, if you’re online? Post away.

Q: Wait, you said you wanted to hit a 1,000 bloggers. How can I be counted?

A: I’m going to make this as EASY as I possibly can. If you want to be “counted” toward that number, then visit this Tumblr or the Facebook event or my website or the official Speak Out with your Geek Out website during that week and add your link to the initial post in the comments below. It will be VERY clear where you can do that. It will also be helpful if you can use the Twitter hashtag #speakgeek and snatch the logo.

Dear Professional,

I am thrilled that you have managed to turn what you love into a vocation. Maybe you’re an author who has published a book. Maybe you’re an artist with a studio. Maybe you’re a business-savvy professional who helps other people.

AWESOME.

You may have heard of an event called Speak Out with your Geek Out. It’s taking place from Monday, September 12th through Friday, September 16th. This event began with a post I wrote entitled Calling all Geeks! Post About Your Hobbies and it’s now swelled to hundreds of participants. Bloggers range from fans to pros like myself, Jess Hartley, Matt Forbeck, Brennan Taylor, Matt M McElroy, Liz Danforth, Lynne M Thomas and many, many others. We’ll have an official website up shortly. We have a logo. We have a tagline. We have everything we need to make this happen.

SPEAK OUT WITH YOUR GEEK OUT

Sometime during the week of Monday, September 12th to Friday, September 16th post about what geeky hobby you love. Then, tell us why we should try it, too. Leave your fears (and edition wars) at the door. Forget about your latest rant. Tap into that well of positive energy and share in the excitement of all things geek.

This isn’t just about gaming. This isn’t just about comics or movies or books. This is about taking a stance against negativity and feeling isolated for our interests — whether they be sports, games, music, crafts, whatever — and putting our energy toward being enthusiastic about what we love. This is about people who feel like they’re geeks because of their interest or vocation, and who will stand up and say that’s it is not cool to put them down. They’re not going to be angry about it. Oh, absolutely not. Instead, we will talk about how much they love what they love, what you or I might do for them as pros, and why others should share in this joy, too, in the hopes that others will be more tolerant.

This is not an opportunity to market these people to death. This is not a chance to shill your product or service. Many of these people look up to us because we turned what we love into a hobby or career. This is an opportunity to be a part of the community and lead by example.

I apologize if this post comes off as being a little preachy, but I had a reason to. You see, someone already broke that rule. It was an innocent link, but I want to say something now, before this week of awesome begins. I want to tell you that your fans may be talking about you, and that may be part of the reason why. I want to say that sometimes? People don’t want to talk to a marketer — they want to simply hang out and be themselves without fear that someone is going to sell them something or make them feel bad if they don’t.

Having said that, though, I will tell you that I trust you. I encourage you to show your own enthusiasm for what you do. If that means tying that into a give-a-way to give people the option to participate in your flavor of geek? AWESOME. You have your fans and your audience, and I know you understand the best way to reach them. You are smart and you know that there is a difference between being genuine and throwing sales pitches all over the place. All I’m asking, is that you keep that in mind. In order for this enthusiasm to combat negativity, sometimes we need to remember that community is about multiple people, not one person’s sales.

I look at you, and I see you as a pillar of the community because you are the reason why people love their flavor of geek that much. You are the reason why something like this can happen in the first place. I hope you know how amazing you really are.

Thanks for listening! I wish you continued success in your endeavors. Live long and prosper.

Best,

Monica Valentinelli
Founder, Speak Out with your Geek Out

Author and Game Designer who lurks in the dark
http://www.mlvwrites.com

Today’s post is by Jess Hartley. Recently, a commenter on Twitter asked why we were using the word tolerance instead of acceptance for our event and I asked Jess to handle a detailed response. She nails the reason why and really gives us all something to think about. In this post, she uncovers not only why I’m not defining what geek is, but also why I’m using the word tolerance. Let’s listen to what she has to say.

I take my interpretation of the word “acceptance” from the Eastern philosophical perspective. If I strive for acceptance in a situation, I seek to experience them without effort to change, protest or remove myself from it. And, while I’m great with the first two for most things, I’m afraid I’m really not up for the third.

One of the great things about being a part of Speak Out With Your Geek Out is that it’s inclusive of all forms of geekery. If you’re a “classic” geek and groove on sci-fi movies, computers, fantasy novels and roleplaying games, that’s awesome. Let your geek flag fly! But there’s also more than enough room for music geeks, history geeks, sports geeks, scrapbooking geeks – being geeky is about being more-enthusiastic-than-the-mainstream about whatever it is that floats your boat, regardless of the topic.

If I were to strive for acceptance of all geeks (by my definition) that would mean I was just as happy sitting and listening to Joe Nascar discuss the average times of his favorite driver as I am listening to folks talk about their White Wolf character. And, not only am I not; I have no desire to be. I think it’s completely cool for folks to be as geeky as possible about whatever their chosen focus is. That doesn’t mean I want to hang out and listen. To me, that is why I don’t use the term acceptance. I don’t believe we all have to be interested in, participate in, or even put our support (ie: expend time, energy or resources) towards a geekery that isn’t our own.

However, I do believe in tolerance of geeks and non-geeks alike. Just because I don’t want to spend an hour at my favorite convention attending a panel on fantasy football leagues doesn’t mean that I want to block a FFL geek from doing so, or that I don’t wish her the best in organizing it. I strive not to insult, look down my nose at, put myself above or in other ways treat other forms of geekery as less valuable, less okay, less valid than my own. To me, that is tolerance, and that is something I can strive for in every interaction I have with other people, whether virtual or face-to-face.

That is why I choose the term tolerance, rather than acceptance, when referring to how I want to interact with other geeks.

Ultimately, however, I think that the choice to use one word over the other is a personal one. I choose “Tolerance” because of what it means to me. If “Acceptance” works better for you, and that empowers you to be positive and inclusive; so be it! Let’s concentrate on that, rather than quibbling about the minutiae of whether one positive word is more appropriate than or should be used in place of another positive one.

Especially for word-geeks like me, it’s hard to fight the temptation to nitpick about definitions and interpretations. (Don’t even get me started on how “ironic” is misused!) But investing energy in that argument, and thus creating an unnecessary and potentially divisive line really detracts from the inclusive intent of Speak Out With Your Geek Out. I want less lines between me and the rest of the world, not more.