WoW guild master apparently a really good qualification for running Best Buy
by Fox Van Allen 
Mar 11th 2012 at 2:00PM
I'm not sure I've ever heard of the guild that Gillett leads, but it's probably a really awesome one. And I bet that Lisa Poisso will be grabbing him for a 15 Minutes of Fame column soon. Still, it's cool to see a press release actually treat World of Warcraft as something to be proud of, rather than a really embarrassing thing you have to hide from your date because you're afraid she'll think you're a nerd.Gillett, an avid gamer, is widely considered one of the most innovative Guild Masters in World of Warcraft, the massive multi-player online role-playing game where millions of gamers enter a virtual world creating guilds, engaging socially, questing and celebrating achievements.
Filed under: Guilds, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Chris Gonzalez Mar 11th 2012 2:30PM
I had a conversation with someone on a plane once. His mother worked as an HR rep for IBM, and he was telling me how she's encouraged to interview people who play WoW or other similar MMOs because it builds leadership skills if you're a guild/raid leader and some social skills. I always thought it was pretty interesting; nice to see that other companies are recognizing its value.
Rubitard Mar 11th 2012 8:34PM
But they will ninja the last slice of pizza/cake/barbecue at any official function w/o rolling on it first.
Snuzzle Mar 11th 2012 2:33PM
That is actually fairly cool. I couldn't help but notice though, that they focused on the social aspects of the game and made no mention of killing internet dragons :P
Minstrel Mar 11th 2012 2:44PM
Sadly, dragon slayers have been marginalized in today's economic workplace.
Nathanyel Mar 11th 2012 2:35PM
"widely considered one of the [superlative]" sounds... well, like baseless bragging. Maybe they just pinpointed something "geeky" that would make the guy more relatable to customers. "Hey, he plays WoW, too! Let's all buy tons of stuff at Best Buy!"
Namssob Mar 11th 2012 3:22PM
I sort of agree with this. And I, too, copied the quote, "is widely considered one of the most innovative Guild Masters in World of Warcraft" to post it here. Widely considered by whom, his own guild? LOL! Unless most of us have heard of him and his guild, this is simply marketing. I'd also like to read about his innovation. Maybe he runs guild events! or maybe he provides cool contests for his guild?!? ;-)
kabshiel Mar 11th 2012 4:11PM
Do they have a tabard?
Lugh Mar 11th 2012 5:12PM
How many bank tabs to they have? Oh, and are they going to start raiding soon once they get enough people to level cap?
Celton Mar 11th 2012 2:47PM
Short as this article was, it was pretty difficult to read, it must have been rushed or something with so many repetitive words... "Normally" and "usually" used in the same sentence... "I'm not sure" "I'm sure" and "I'm totally sure" used right after one another. And "soon" used twice in the same sentence.
Noyou Mar 11th 2012 4:31PM
Good thing the world doesn't revolve around you?
lanceg Mar 11th 2012 2:49PM
The couple of times I even mentioned WoW on a job interview it was a disaster. In less than an instant I went from a possible candidate to a reject. I could see it in their eyes.
Now I never mention WoW or any type of video gaming.
Perhaps this corporate closed mindedness is beginning to turn.
Khirsah Mar 11th 2012 2:56PM
As Hardison would say:
"Age of the geek, baby."
Martin Mar 11th 2012 2:58PM
I am a nerd, and I wouldn't date anyone that thought that was a bad thing. Seriously, the nerds are taking over, it's time to be empowered by such things and not embarrassed.
Jeff Mar 11th 2012 3:21PM
Best Buy is a slow-motion train wreck. I'm not sure why anyone would be surprised that "You lead a guild once?" would be considered sufficient qualification at this point....
Crimpshrine Mar 11th 2012 4:16PM
Agreed. I don't know if anyone could envy the holder of any executive job at Best Buy between now and when it finally crashes. Or even in the past few years of loss and setbacks. It truly is a slow-motion trainwreck displayed openly for millions to see.
dmberreth Mar 12th 2012 2:55AM
I received my current management level job largely based off the open admissions that yes, I play WoW, I lead my guild there, and I actually make many managerial type decisions on a daily basis with them. They believed I had the right personality and leadership qualities for the position, and told me my WoW experience was what gave them that impression.
Sign of the times, I say.
Rem Mar 12th 2012 11:07AM
I'm head of the Young Adult department at our local library and while hiring for new part-timer positions, I definitely gave an extra ear to people that played WoW and other MMOs and were generally familiar with gaming and gamer culture. We have our own media center here with an Xbox and a Wii (and an HDTV and Bose surround sound, awwwyeah), and what our young patrons (grades 6-12!) are usually doing on the computer is playing free browser games. I've made it my goal to look into getting WoW and other F2P games installed on our computers, so the more my staff knows about them, the better!
But this does take me back to my first job at Circuit City (oh, those were the days) where pretty much all of the staff, up to and including the store manager but excluding me, played WoW. We had the game installed on our demo computers, so the very first raid I ever sat in on was oldschool Onyxia, watching a coworker run it with his guild while on his lunchbreak.