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Let's Talk about Failure

2016-09-16 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:38 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Everyday life (also: Projects) · mode: Personal essay · tags: self promotion

Arguing that failure is a taboo topic that people rarely discuss, Hank tells John that NerdCon: Stories 2016 sold about 1,000 of a budgeted 3,000 tickets and will lose him a lot of money, but will go ahead because it is different and special, and asks whether a failure can be one you are proud of.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Census respondents want the brothers' adult lives; nobody talks about failure

  • ★★ Hank says many Census respondents, as he reads through it, want to hear more about the brothers' adult lives doing what they do. — 00:00:00
  • ★★★ Hank says we celebrate our own and others' successes but don't talk about failure at all; it is a taboo topic, hard to ask about or discuss. (hedged) — 00:00:08
  • ★★ Hank says this silence makes failure feel unique, as if no one had ever experienced it, because no one talks about it. — 00:00:21

00:00:28 — Hank's convention company, NerdCon: Stories, 1,000 tickets sold against 3,000 budgeted

  • ★★★ Hank tells John he is in the midst of a failure: his company celebrates nerdy things offline, starting with VidCon, and he started NerdCon: Stories. — 00:00:28 · VidCon
  • ★★ Hank says he started NerdCon: Stories because stories define culture: they are how we decide to talk about ourselves and our world. — 00:00:43
  • ★★ Hank says NerdCon: Stories this year (2016) sold about a thousand tickets, so a large, diverse group will celebrate storytellers and stories. — 00:00:56
  • ★ Hank says the event has lots of community-generated content, so it is about all the attendees, not just the big names. — 00:01:03
  • ★★★ Hank says the conference was budgeted for 3,000 attendees, roughly what it needed to work financially, but it has a thousand. (hedged) — 00:01:13
  • ★★★ Hank says NerdCon: Stories, which he personally owns, stands to lose a lot of money; he can afford it and won't go bankrupt or into debt, but it stings. — 00:01:19

00:01:25 — It stings; why talking about failure feels bad; probably the last NerdCon: Stories

  • ★★ Hank says he is learning a lot from the process but wishes the lessons were slightly less expensive. — 00:01:29
  • ★★ Hank says talking about failure feels bad, which is why people avoid it: we want to look good at everything, but nobody's life is like that. — 00:01:35
  • ★★★ Hank says last year's (2015) NerdCon: Stories was wonderful; he is sad he can't attend this year (2016), especially since it is probably the last time it happens. (hedged) — 00:01:45
  • ★★ Hank thinks this year's (2016) NerdCon: Stories will be a fantastic time for everyone there, and says that is what really matters. (hedged) — 00:01:55

00:02:01 — Attend in Minneapolis if it is a sound decision; discount code DFTBA

  • ★★ Hank invites viewers to attend or check out the event in Minneapolis, offering discount code DFTBA for 20 percent or 20 dollars off. — 00:02:01 · DFTBA
  • ★★ Hank tells viewers who can't go that he understands, and to make sound financial decisions: they are their own first responsibility. — 00:02:06

00:02:22 — Mistakes, pride in the idea, the programme, and why the show goes on

  • ★★ Hank says he is not proud of the thought errors and misunderstandings he made about how the event could go. — 00:02:22
  • ★ Hank might make a hankschannel video discussing all the mistakes, so viewers needn't explain them in comments. (hedged) — 00:02:29 · hankschannel
  • ★★★ Hank says he is very proud of the idea and of what they put together, and glad it will have happened in the world. — 00:02:35
  • ★★ Hank lists the programme: a John Green yoga adventure, talks with authors, live gaming, a live Dear Hank and John without Hank, workshops and panels. — 00:02:42 · John Green, Dear Hank and John
  • ★★ Hank says NerdCon: Stories is a really weird event, which probably doesn't work in its favour and is among the mistakes made. (hedged) — 00:02:59
  • ★★★ Hank says its weirdness is also why they won't pull the plug: the event goes ahead though it will lose him money, because it is different and special. (hedged) — 00:03:07

00:03:16 — Everyone fails; a failure you can be proud of; sign-off

  • ★★★ Hank says everyone will fail and make things that don't work, and asks whether we can drop the shame and make it a failure you can be proud of. (hedged) — 00:03:16

    “make it a failure you can be proud of”

In the description and comments

  • ★★ Hank stresses he does not want to make anyone feel bad for not coming: viewers' work, distance or money were taken into account and are not why NerdCon: Stories failed; he explains the real reasons in a hankschannel video. — video description · hankschannel

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Failure · NerdCon: Stories

Also: Dear Hank and John · DFTBA · hankschannel · Minneapolis · Nerdfighteria Census · VidCon

Only in the description or credits: Mary Robinette Kowal · Patrick Rothfuss

Also centred on Failure: Failing to Follow Up The Fault in Our Stars

Also centred on NerdCon: Stories: Announcing NerdCon: Stories · Book Towers for Miles · Post-NerdCon Haze · Thoughts from Comic-Con (NO MORE CHEETO MEDIA!)

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