Twitter | Twitch | Discord: zolloz89
- What is the origin of your username?
I wanted something short, so it's just a palindrome of zol (or 3 mostly random letters from quite a few attempts).
- How long have you been streaming on Twitch?
I've been streaming since 2012, and my first stream was in support of Extra Life and Children's Miracle Network.
- How did you get started in charity streaming and what is your favorite part about streaming for charity?
I got started in charity streaming when I worked in retail. I was recruited on a gaming forum with the specific point that 'some companies will let you have days off for charity work.' Since then, things have gotten quite out of hand, and Extra Life is an inseparable part of me. My favorite part of what we all do is the lifelong friends that have come into my life while doing something good, and I take pride in the fact that I've only streamed in support of charity work.
- You raise money for Extra Life each year. Tell us about one of your favorite moments.
There are so many moments that make Extra Life what it is for me. Last year, I hit $25,000 lifetime raised for my local hospital and talked about what that meant to me recently. Now, especially in the current pandemic life we all live, staying connected and playing games with some of the friends from Extra Life has been a solid cornerstone in my weekly routine.
- You created the Extra Life Statistics tool to help empower fundraisers. Tell us about the tool and why you created it.
I decided to begin development on this tool because I saw an opportunity. During the day, I study and model parasitic infections in wildlife and humans to predict outbreaks. A lot of the tools the community has built are those that help streamers during a stream; I wanted to be able to help streamers after a stream. It's difficult to comb through downloaded data from their fundraising pages, know what to do to improve, or how to tell if something is working. The statistics tool uses the DonorDrive API to grab a participant's donation data for the current year and presents it through time. Additionally, it attempts to fit a few simple models to try and predict fundraising for the rest of the year. The tool can also provide summary statistics regarding the number of donations, the average donation size, and more. The analytics also works on fundraising teams for donation and participant metrics. Hopefully, anyone that wants this information can see it clearly laid out and help increase funds raised! It's also in active development and will support any future API updates.
- Do you have any tips or advice for other charity streamers?
My practical advice is to test things constantly! Philosophically, you've got to be passionate about what you're doing; if you're streaming games for charity, the most important thing is to actually have fun doing it! You can't drive fundraising without a compelling story, reason, or drive to do so.