Interview with Raczilla [Epic Games Community Manager]

Every day my twitter feed is filled with gaming info from different communities. But how well do you know these community managers? What do they do? Ever wonder what your desk would look like at Epic Games? My friend Will Kinsler took time from his busy schedule to answer some questions that might interest you. Will is one the best community managers from the involvement with the current project to his hobbies and life, he makes you feel like you know him and he reminds you that he is just like you. From gaming, strike force and football, his wide range of connections give him opportunity to connect with people on different levels. Also, I have never ever seen a community manager respond so quickly and frequent to their community. Absolutely a great piece of Epic Games! For this we wanted Will for our first community spotlight.

What made you choose Community Management as a career? Anyone influence/support you?
I started working on a sports gaming site called MaddenNation.com in 2003. Building that site helped me discover that I had a passion for building communities. At some point I made a conscious decision that not only did I want to work in gaming, but I specifically wanted to go down the path of community management.

There were quite a few people who helped me out. In particular Mike Johnson and Jon Long. They were doing community management at EA before it even had a name. They helped me out tremendously early on in my career and I still call on these guys for advice to this day.

Which online communities have you managed in the past?
There was the MaddenNation website that I co-owned with a friend, and then I started managing communities for titles like Madden NFL, NCAA Football, and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR over at EA SPORTS.

Today I’m at Epic Games where I’m fortunate to work on the Gears of War community as well as titles like Infinity Blade and Bulletstorm. I’ve had the opportunity to work on amazing communities with extremely talented people everywhere I’ve been.

What is your goal as a Community Manager?
I want to reach as many fans as possible and invite them to be a part of our Epic Games community. We have incredible support from our fans and as big as our community is it still feels like a tight knit family. I like introducing new people into that mix any way that I can.

How many hours does a Community Manager work?
I don’t think most Community Managers work a core set of hours. The thing about communities is they don’t have an off button. Fans are always ready to engage. I think most people who are in this sort of role do it in part because of how much they love interacting with fans. Ideally that’s something that can happen all of the time. As much as possible anyway!

What does your desk/office look like?
I’d describe it but that wouldn’t be much fun. Instead here’s a crudely captioned picture of my work area.

What are three things you do to start your day?
Let’s see. I almost always start by grabbing some food on my way up to my desk. Then I try and get caught up on email and see what’s happening on our social channels. That’s more or less the morning ritual before I get into some of the other things that happen during the course of the day.

What excites you on working with the Gears community?
The passion of our fans! Look at our Facebook wall. It’s plastered with pictures of Crimson Omen tattoos, Gears Swag collections, replica Lancers. Gears is a series that really resonates with people and it’s a good feeling when you come into working knowing you’re going to talk to fans about a game that means so much to them. You can’t beat that.

What is the best part of working at Epic Games?
The best part is the people I get to work with. They not only possess unbelievable talent but the degree to which people care about that quality of our games is something that’s always impressed me. When I come into the office I know I’m going to collaborate with some great people.

Recently, in the video put out called “Crescendo,” Epic Games called the game personal. Do you connect with any of the characters? How so?
It’s probably a bit cliché but I’ve always liked Cole Train because of the sports connection. Plus he’s got a lot of swagger and enthusiasm. He doesn’t do anything half assed. That’s something to aspire to no matter what it is you’re doing.

What is your favorite event to attend in the industry and why?
I don’t know that I could pick one specific event but I will say that some of the most fun I’ve ever had is at events that are run by fans. I attended Gamertag Radio’s Community Vibes event about a year and a half ago and the feeling you get going to events that are run for fans by fans is second to none. There’s a real sense of community and that everyone has a place; that people are connected by their shared passion for gaming.

Another great example of this is the Gears of War meet up a couple of months ago at E3. Our friends at GCON ran the event. A lot of the Epic team attending but it was cool seeing the Gears community pull that together for their fellow fans.

For the readers reading this, what would you want them to take away from Gears of War 3?
I hope that fans can sense the effort the team has put in. They’ve done everything they can to make this the deepest, most compelling experience possible. We’ll see you all online September 20th!

Thanks Will for your time again and hope other community managers see how you interact and take a few notes from you to better interact with communities. Raczilla you are top notch. Thanks for your service to the Gears community. If you want to ask Will anything feel free to post here or on twitter give him a shout.