It is that time of year again, the time where all your DKP is counted up and distributed across the ‘Best Community Managers’ of 2014. Here is where we take a look a Mr. Stephen “RockJaw” Reid, Director, Community and Customer Service over at 2K, North America.
Mr. Reid’s credentials span 20 years, working from Aion to Star Wars: The Old Republic, on the community side. He also had several industry roles including a postition at PC Pro as well as a position as Editor-in-Chief for PlayStation.com. Communication runs through every job position he has held within the games industry, honing his trade since 1994 – starting in the UK. Yes, that is correct, Mr. Reid is British!
Some fans hanging with RockJaw, their hero.
I recently had the chance to speak with Mr. Reid, and asked him if he had a message for the community? And what his motivation is to what he does on a day-to-day basis?
My message has always been – half jokingly – “I’d never want to belong to any club that would want me as a member” – to mangle Groucho Marx.
More seriously, it’s very humbling to be recognized in any way for what you do as a job, especially when you get paid and like doing it. While I wouldn’t do what I do for free (rent’s expensive) some days are harder than others, so on those days, it’s nice to be acknowledged in any way.
Motivation? I think I mentioned rent’s expensive. But also, on those tougher days, I guess it’s just a belief that everyone in any community is a human being who ultimately deserves as straight an answer as possible and as good an experience as possible. So I try to give it to them.
Community Managers can be seen in a lot of lights, and a lot of them like to sit in the grey area between the community and their studio. Judging from the Tweet below, Mr. Reid doesn’t do ‘grey’.
Looking around on the internet, the fount of all knowledge, I discovered some testimonies to Mr. Reid. These are directly from his peers.
Stephen understood our community better than anyone and was instrumental in helping manage community unrest whenever a problem arose.
James Ohlen on Mr. Reid during his time at BioWare
During his time at Gazillion Entertainment, Jim Garner had this to say about Mr. Reid’s communication abilities.
Stephen had an uncanny knack for connecting with the community and customers of our game. Not many game communities felt as connected to the developers of a game as ours did. This dedication was best exampled at any of the conventions we had a booth at, as he was there from before opening until well after closing assure that we had best show possible.
There Can Be Only One
So, if Mr. Reid has had a positive impact on your gaming life, if he delivered great news to you about a patch, or swatted down an army of trolls who were invading your thread, now is the time to let your roar be heard.
Voting is open until September 1st, 2014. Click here to wield the power.
