I don’t really like to get too personal on these posts. Usually about as far as I go is with my personal connection to some games and I’ll continue those, but this one is a bit more personal, but still has to do with the show and IGC as a whole.
As some of you may know, IGC isn’t a day job for any of us. It’s this thing we do around our day jobs and brings in nothing financially. Also, as likely most of you know, I work at and for the same radio station we broadcast IGC from. In June of this year, right after I got back from E3, I was informed I’d be let go from my day job. Immediately being informed of this my thoughts went straight to the show. Which still feels odd now, that I would be more concerned for it than I would be paying my own bills in the coming months. But I had just gotten back from E3 talking with publishers and developers and having lots of hope and promise for the show in the weeks and months ahead so my mind was focused on it. Plus, it felt like we were back on our feet again as a show.
Before getting back on the air regularly we’d spent a few years in a limbo like state of just doing the show when it was convenient for all of us, and from my couch no less. Hell, we’ve done more episodes this year being back on the air than we did in the past two years combined. I can remember in January of this year when I drove over to James’ house to drop off some yard tools or whatever and, as we normally do, we started talking of when we’d be doing another episode. He finally said what we were both thinking – it’d be really great if we were on the radio again. We talked it over a bit outside his house and finally decided that I would go in on Monday and ask if we could go back on the air. If we got the all clear for it then great! We’d take whatever time slot they offered and go from there. If they denied us, then we’d try to find a way to wrap this all up and get out of it. We enjoyed doing IGC, but we didn’t like how we were doing it or how it was being presented to you. So there it was, all out on the table. If we get a “yes†we continue and if it’s a “no†we end it.
To the surprise of all of us on the show and a few of you out there, they let us back on the air and the rest is exactly what you know of it and also brings us up to speed so far. I’d been told my last day would be the end of July and then I’d be paid for another 2 months of work and that would be it for me and the company. Except that isn’t what happened. Due to an overwhelming amount of support from coworkers, things shifted enough that I was able to stay on as an employee but the pay was drastically cut as were the hours. I was okay with this simply because it meant we’d still be able to do a show and I’d have a ton more time to devote to it. Again, the show came first for me in this scenario and this really worked out well in that regard. This set up the opportunity to get more time in with games, set up pre-recorded interviews with folks who just couldn’t join us live and, lately, start doing posts like these you’ve been seeing. It did not, however, work out very well for me on a personal basis since the money just wasn’t there to cover my month to month expenses as I thought it would be (contracts and auto-renewals are bastards, by the way).
It was looking bleak for a moment there. In the event I couldn’t find a second job or would have to get another full time job somewhere else, the ability to do the show at the radio station was in question. I felt it was very likely it would have to go away since I wouldn’t be employed there and would also not fall under any regulations of being on the air and operating the equipment. It would be more a rule/CYA situation for the company rather than anything personal between me and them. Keeping some kind of employment at the station was crucial for me so that the show could continue.
Like the last few minutes of a sports movie, the winning point was scored and due to specific circumstances, I was given my old job back. There were a few tweaks, but it was, for the most part, back to normal for me. However, as you may can tell from the lack of posts we’ve gotten out recently, my time for IGC has been cut back a bit. It isn’t anything drastic but there’s less time than what there was before. Incidentally, there’s more time now, however, than what there was before this all happened after E3.
Regardless, we didn’t lose the show. We didn’t lose the ability to do the show or come to the point where we’d have to stop doing the show. But we came pretty damn close. Twice this year. None of us like to NOT do a show. We all have jobs that can sometimes force us away from some episodes – Matt never likes having to miss an episode and wouldn’t if he could help it. Dennis is the same way and does a ton for us during the week in show prep because he can’t make it there on Saturday night due to his job. Jeremy has children. James and I don’t understand that part, but from what we’ve been told it’s…like a job. ArJay is hardly never there and usually when he isn’t it’s because of video game tournaments he takes part in. As for James, unless he’s deathly ill or has a prior commitment to his day job, he’ll be there. And, as some of you may remember from earlier this year, we’ll even reschedule ourselves so he can be there and do the show. We all love to do this, because this is exactly what we do when there aren’t microphones in front of us, and we are continually amazed by the support we get and the ever growing amount of people who enjoy listening to us.
I realize this post isn’t really going anywhere specific, if only to mention a few things that have happened that some of you may not know about and a reason or two in explanation of the lack of updates here and there. I suppose at the end of it all, what almost happened in losing my job made me realize what was bound to happen in reenforcing just how much IGC means to me and the rest of us. We’re grateful to be able to do this and to have the people like you reading this to do it for and have that kind of support. So, from all of us on the show, off the show, show’s past and show’s to come – thanks for emailing us, tweeting us, liking us, supporting us, promoting us, and as always…thanks for listening to us. Means a great deal more than I can put in any of these posts, I assure you.