Erika Kristine: Social Media Coordinator for BioWare

Meet Erika. She is the Social Media Coordinator for BioWare and is from Alberta, Canada! Hired on with BioWare in early January, she is quickly learning the intensity of all that is the video game industry. She is luckily surrounded by incredibly creative and talented people and has one of the the coolest jobs. She is here to bring you the latest and greatest that BioWare has to offer and is always interested in hearing from all of us fans and players! Feel free to engage!

In case you crawled out of a non geeky rock, BioWare specializes in role-playing video games, and became famous for launching highly praised and successful licensed franchises, such as Baldur’s Gate, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and more recently, the Mass Effect series, and Dragon Age(s). Keep Erika and Bioware on your Facebook feed for up to date details on all your favorite BioWare titles!

L: Erika, let’s jump right in and talk about your position. What does a Social Media Coordinator do?

EK: My job is to manage and build fan engagement within the BioWare communities. I create social media plans, campaigns, contests, etc to entice fans to keep coming back to our social sites, get involved, and talk about us. I also manage the measurement and evaluation of the marketing efforts. I share BioWare news, ask for fan reactions and opinions and generally just stay connected to the BioWare community.

L: I noticed you guys had a pretty cool event for the Dragon Age 2 release. Are those kinds of events something BioWare does regularly?

EK: Since I’ve been here (I started in January), we’ve only done one, so I’m not 100% sure if they were a regular thing in the past. The event went over amazingly well and I would be extremely surprised if we didn’t do another one for Mass Effect 3.

L: Any games out there right now that catch your eye (if they’re not BioWare, I won’t tell!!!)?

EK: In all seriousness, I am SO excited for ME3. Everything I’ve witnessed is beyond incredible! I am looking forward to Alice and am pretty intrigued by Journey but I’m not “excited” like I am with ME3.

L: You must get some pretty sweet inside details on upcoming games. Is there anything you’re allowed to share, maybe about Mass Effect3 or Star Wars: The Old Republic?

Mass Effect 3 will be released in the first three months of 2012

EK: Only that they are going to be epic :)

L: Do you come across other females that work in the video game industry or do you notice it to be predominately male still?

EK: It seems like there are more and more women entering the industry but my entire team is men and I think every team is predominantly male.

L: This is my random odd question: If real, honest to God aliens landed in front of you and, in exchange for anything you desire, offered you any position on their planet, what position would you want? I know I’d crap my pants.

EK: Would I have to go?! If I HAD to go, I guess I’d push to be their communications liaison with Earth. It’s time earthlings learned that these alien dudes aren’t so bad ;)

L: Are you a gamer yourself or is everything new to you?

EK: Before I came to BioWare, i was a very casual gamer. I enjoyed playing as a social activity – RockBand always came out during parties – but I never sat down for 8 hours in front of an RPG. Now that I’m in the industry and fully understand and appreciate the art behind video games, I’m totally loving how you can be completely immersed in a story that you are controlling. I have so much to learn, but I am LOVING the process!

L: What’s your favorite part about your job?

EK: This stuff! I love talking with BioWare fans. They are so passionate and unique to one another. I’ve made so many friends just with my Facebook page and have really enjoyed getting to know those who make the effort to talk to me and fight through the mass amount of wall posts. I also love creating strategic campaigns. It exercises my creative side.

L: I do notice you are very involved with your Facebook page, even taking the time out to wish each person Happy Birthday! I think that’s tremendously important and is that something you’ve strived to do?

EK: The Facebook page was actually an experiment. I spent the first couple of months here as an observer and I wondered how it would be perceived if I actually was able to reach out and interact and engage those who are so passionate about our games. I brought up the idea with my boss and he seemed to like the idea. The funniest part of the experience was the very beginning. I set up my Facebook page and put out the announcement on the Mass Effect fan page. “Hey! I’m Erika, the Social Media Coordinator…Bla…Bla…Bla…” And usually when I post something on the page, within seconds I have a few dozen likes and comments. When I posted this one, there was nothing. I hit refresh, nothing. I panicked! Maybe this was a terrible idea! 11 seconds later, my computer exploded. My friend requests were maxed out and I had hundreds of messages in my inbox, so it was an INTENSE few days with having to individually accept all the requests, answer all the messages, etc, but it’s been fantastic! I answer every message unless they are rude or obscene (I’ve only have to de-friend 4 people) and I do my best to keep things current, interesting, and fun. I let my personality flow through my posts and really show my Facebook friends that I genuinely want to know about them and chat. This isn’t a PR stunt. It’s my love to communicate mixed with their love for my company. It’s intense and can be exhausting and the messages never stop, but it’s important and everyone seems to be having a great time.

Erika, I think it’s badass that you have a job with one of the biggest gaming companies out there. I appreciate ya talking to me and letting us little people take a peek in your world! I must admit, I’m kind of jealous!! Thanks to Nesto Rox, who got me this interview.

Feel free to add Erika on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/profile.php?id=100002022307140

and on  her twitter: ErikaTheFemBot

BioWare’s Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/BioWare?sk=wall