A Note From Your Friendly Neighborhood Editor in Chief
- Thread starter Encaen
- Start date
I have a question, ever feel like you've been tossed in the middle of a minefield and asked to make a map of it?
Good luck.
Good luck.
Congrats on getting the job, I like your vision and I hope you'll be awesome.
But whilst I love the aim for optimism, I'm going to be pessimistic just for a second
But the truth is Defy Media decided to cut costs by firing half it's staff and making the rest do even more work than they were already by working across the multiple sites it owns. That's not ramping up to something. Greg Tito was an awesome guy and I'm pretty sure he got pushed out because of the cost-cutting rather than him leaving because he wanted to move on.
His leaving statement [http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sk5tel]
But that's not on you of course. That's a sucky business decision from Defy Media that might even have been necessary for the business for all I know. It's just a sad situation
But whilst I love the aim for optimism, I'm going to be pessimistic just for a second
Is spin. Using 'ramp' to make things sound like they're increasing is smart.
But the truth is Defy Media decided to cut costs by firing half it's staff and making the rest do even more work than they were already by working across the multiple sites it owns. That's not ramping up to something. Greg Tito was an awesome guy and I'm pretty sure he got pushed out because of the cost-cutting rather than him leaving because he wanted to move on.
His leaving statement [http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sk5tel]
But that's not on you of course. That's a sucky business decision from Defy Media that might even have been necessary for the business for all I know. It's just a sad situation
Good luck! Hoping you can keep the site rolling as it always has been. Even with recent events I'm still optimistic that everything will turn out alright.
"Moving forward, The Escapist is eschewing the "curmudgeon" mentality that is so pervasive these days in favor of the "enthusiast" mentality that we want to foster among our community, and geek culture at large. We want to focus on finding the good in the geekspace, rather than focusing on the bad. We want to facilitate enjoyment, rather than disparagement. We want to talk more about the things we love, and less about the things we hate."
thank you for this and best of luck in the new role!
thank you for this and best of luck in the new role!
Well this should be interesting.
Could we perhaps get an official statement on the twitter convos revealed here-in: http://www.alienpickle.com/2015/01/defy-media-cuts-staff-at-escapist.html
But I guess it'll be interesting to see how many bridges will be burned over the next few days.
Could we perhaps get an official statement on the twitter convos revealed here-in: http://www.alienpickle.com/2015/01/defy-media-cuts-staff-at-escapist.html
But I guess it'll be interesting to see how many bridges will be burned over the next few days.
Funny. Zero Punctuation is a curmudgeon style. And it panders. Infact, just the name, no? Defy Media. Defy...
This whole front was supposed to be a home for the critic, cynic and sarcastic. A relaxation of sort from mental gymnastics of the day and just throwing casual dismissive wit onto the air, blowing some vents.
Remember the first articles with Lord British ripping into EA? Yeah. Good times.
I am neither pessimist nor optimist. I am a pragmatist.
What this all reads to me is: the trend of these operations "not getting it" and losing their audience finally reached a point where they can no longer support themselves at their current structure. Hence: termination of jobs. 'Consolidation'
"This brand not fit? go visit the other brand!"
Heh. No.
I am no longer wanted in The Escapist. And that is fine with me.
Long ago it became clear that the few rare times I visited I only came to watch Croshaw's and Sterling's material anyway.
I have no qualms over this.
Your business. Take it wherever.
I'll show myself to the door.
Good luck and have fun.
Congrats and good luck with the new gig, Josh!
Very surprised that we're getting a new CM, but considering all the behind-the-scenes shuffle I would probably shouldn't be that shocked.
In any event, glad to see you're moving up in the world.
Very surprised that we're getting a new CM, but considering all the behind-the-scenes shuffle I would probably shouldn't be that shocked.
In any event, glad to see you're moving up in the world.
Damn, Editor-in-Chief seems to be an extremely temporary position here at The Escapist. From Pitts to Butts to Arendt to Tito and now to Vanderwall...this is the 5th one in the the years I've been coming to this site.
I think it's a damn shame that Tito wasn't allowed to write some kind of goodbye letter to the readers of the site, he's been here a damn long time, always seemed like a cool guy, and I liked his work. I realize he was let go as part of this wave of rationalization (which is hardly a good omen for the future of the site) but I think letting him say his goodbyes to the readers would be the decent thing to do.
Either way, I'm gonna see how things develop, but with so many good people leaving, they're gonna have to prove that The Escapist is still worth coming to. It hardly has anything left to do with with what it once was, and has been in a never-ending state of constant change. Whether it changes to something I'm still interested in...we'll see.
I think it's a damn shame that Tito wasn't allowed to write some kind of goodbye letter to the readers of the site, he's been here a damn long time, always seemed like a cool guy, and I liked his work. I realize he was let go as part of this wave of rationalization (which is hardly a good omen for the future of the site) but I think letting him say his goodbyes to the readers would be the decent thing to do.
Either way, I'm gonna see how things develop, but with so many good people leaving, they're gonna have to prove that The Escapist is still worth coming to. It hardly has anything left to do with with what it once was, and has been in a never-ending state of constant change. Whether it changes to something I'm still interested in...we'll see.
So the site is going to move away from the sometimes messy and personal aspect of gaming and instead focus even more on being a spread too thin something for everyone and everything's just hunky dory site? Ehhh... well, at least the forums will still be here I guess.
In an entirely different direction, how have you had an account for more than 3 years and never done anything with it? This one comment and the most basic badges makes me think you haven't signed in ever (even just watching shows would get you something). I'm not upset at the fact, just baffled.Ori Klein said:
OT: Good luck to Vanderwall, I guess. Any position of authority seems to be chewing up employees like nobody's business, and between that and the hemorrhage of content creators I'm thinking it's more on Defy Media's approach than anything else.
EDIT: Also, apparently we're losing Ross Lincoln, Elizabeth Harper, and Carly Smith as well?!? That's not the kind of thing people who just read the official statement from the new EIC should be finding out through forum posts by people in the community. Can we get a flow chart about who's getting axed, who's moving into their old jobs, and when they kill the tabletop section entirely for only drawing a small number of fans who like the pretty solid, non-clickbait coverage they do there?