Honestly, it's an art. Most ambitious people mess it up, and the people that need it most are dearly lacking in ability or willingness.
Art is subjective to most people, and creating it is a lot of work. It's something that can (and honestly, should) be practiced. Working at networking- practicing- is difficult.
Networking as an art form uses people in relationships as its medium. Relationships by nature are organic- messy, loose, and disorganized.
Relationships don't follow rules, or listen to a DM, or work better with specific HQs. They don't make insane OP combos or buff the tank with gear and spells. In effect, relationships are the opposite of what most gamers are familiar with in their hobby activities. Relationships are fluid and ever changing, without anyone in charge and no clear directions.
Explaining the art of networking is just a fine thing as practicing it, but it's worth attempting so that budding designers or new sculptors might have some sense of how to approach things when pitching a project.
Something I've noticed this and the previous Intelligent Design series is that there are folks who flat out ignored my requests for interviews. There are also those that said yes, but gave very limited answers. These folks didn't seem interested in networking or expanding their reach (to me).
It appeared to me that the folks that were interested in networking asked me as many questions as I asked them, and inquired where the articles were being published, and shared my work as much as I shared theirs.
Networking is a zero sum game that is mutually beneficial. There's no keeping score or tracking; it's sharing knowledge or talent just to get your name, idea, or work presented to others. Every time you talk to a new person is an opportunity to find a good fit for them and what they might need. It might be a new author, a new designer or a friend who needs a job; passing on that name is being intuitive and being helpful to people you encounter.
This kind of activity builds you an invisible sort of credit, where your word and mention mean more as your helpfulness and referrals increase in value. As your reputation grows, others are more likely to help you in return, and a kind of synergy grows in your interactions with others.
Applying this art isn't just like slapping a sticker somewhere. It's something that requires a lot of judgement and intuition; and it takes active listening. Having a good memory for people and their ideas, projects and directors of them, talents and who has them- is invaluable. Passing on a little hint here and there is a huge benefit if you want people to remember and value you.
Once you've got your name into the cycle of networking, and you're working on a project; you'll find it much easier to gain recognition and see your ideas moved forward by others than if you're a "nobody".
Another explanation on how to do this, as described in my interview with Ed Healey:
What advice can you give to someone trying to connect to and grow a game and its brand? How do you build a following and community around your game?
Ed: The best way to do this is to think about community engagement before you publish anything. If you want a game that will become part of a lifestyle for your customers, you need to bake that into your product.
Being engaged in the community. Being part of the networking process already.
It's not always who YOU know; sometimes it's who your father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate knows- AND that they know about you.
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