I love managing gaming communities and helping developers create a social media presence that stands out.
Lately I've been working with Hi-Rez Studios on their global esports brand, the SMITE Pro League. Over the course of 5 years, I've completely transformed their brand voice on social media, helped create 20 sub-brands for their competitive ecosystem, and led the esports community through numerous times of crisis.
Radical Transparency: My Approach to Community Management
Gaming communities are notoriously finicky. The volatile nature of the games industry often makes gamers hypervigilant and hyperreactive to change. A full-blown community crisis can emerge in the blink of an eye if you're not careful.
That's where radical transparency comes in. Being proactive in communicating with your fans can prevent disaster before it starts. Very simple outreach initiatives -- creating in-depth community reports, hosting roundtables & AMAs, and responding candidly to fan questions or concerns -- can make a huge difference in how your community interacts with your brand.
True transparency can be scary, and often risky, for any studio. But when done right, it can ensure that your fans will trust you enough to stick with you through anything.
Irreverence is Good, Actually: My Approach to Social Media
Let's face it: the Wendy's Twitter account changed brand social media forever. Memes are king -- but only if you know what you're doing.
Leveraging irreverence in a brand-friendly way can make your brand feel more authentic and help your fans better connect with you. Taking a more light-hearted approach demonstrates that you don't take yourself too seriously, and can even encourage fans to laugh with you (not at you) when you mess something up.
This type of irreverence can help you differentiate your brand voice from others in the space, and gives you room for a more radical and memorable approach to marketing & sponsor activations.
Humans are weird. Gamers are weird. Life is weird. So it naturally follows that your social media can be a little weird too. Doing it any other way usually comes off as excruciatingly disingenuous.
I also have experience in editing, web publishing, brand development, and more.
