Casual Fridays: Stuart & Mr. Caffeine
For this Casual Friday, I’ve decided to take a departure from previous posts and talk about something I hated, rather than something I truly loved.
This is the story of the worst keynote speaker I’ve ever seen.
One thing I’ve noticed in my time here at Big Fish is the entire team shares a love for video games. Between the frequent blasting of 90’s music, ridiculous YouTube videos, and actual work, gaming is a common topic at our office. We all have our own tastes, opinions, and input to give on a topic we’re all passionate about.
Brandon likes Mario games. Phil has finished The Last of Us a dozen times. Rob can’t decide whether or not to buy Destiny. Gus is a Legend of Zelda fan. Kenny loses to his sales intern in Super Smash Bros on a daily basis. We all have our preferences and fandoms, but they stem from something we all have in common.
So what’s my biggest problem with these multi-million dollar companies that develop the games we all enjoy?
Their presentations.
When the suits at Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony or any other company get on stage, their stage shows become awkward, cringe inducing, and nearly impossible to watch.
The worst of the worst happened at a Ubisoft conference in 2011. In the video above, you’ll see some highlights from Aaron Priceman, AKA Mr. Caffeine. It’s a terrible attempt at a pitch and, despite having some cool games to talk about, this guy bombed.
I find it shocking that with all of the money these companies have at their disposal, they pay for people who are downright unwatchable.
But watching these yearly events made me realize something: hating something and wanting to fix it can often lead to something great.
In fact, Big Fish was started after the founders sat through the worst presentation they’d ever seen and decided to do something about it. Similarly, when I saw some of the worst public speaking coming from these companies I had otherwise known and supported since childhood, I felt compelled to reach out to the guys at Big Fish, which eventually lead to landing this awesome job.
From the same origins of truly disliking something, we’ve ended up doing something we all enjoy.
Share your opinion.