THE GAME REVIEWS: We are here with Pamela McCracken, who works with Logitech. What’s your exact position?
PAMELA: I’m a public relations manager at Logitech and in charge of our entertainment and communications product lines.
THE GAME REVIEWS: So how did you begin working for Logitech?
PAMELA: I’ve been doing PR for almost 10 years and Logitech was really a dream company, mainly because I grew up gaming, like most people in this industry, and always had an interest and passion for it. Before Logitech, I had worked on the agency side for a few companies that did some gaming peripherals, head sets, and some key boards, mainly more on the OAM side. When Logitech happened to have a position open up, I obviously jumped at it. I love product and gaming PR, so marrying those two, and I have a dream job at Logitech.
THE GAME REVIEWS: Did you just apply or did you know somebody?
PAMELA: No, actually being that Logitech had been a company that was on my radar along with a few others in the Bay area, I was actively looking at them around once a month to see if new positions opened in PR. I was originally hired in 2003 to do the public relations just for the gaming line. Since then, our gaming line has almost doubled with the new consoles we support and the amount of gaming products. When I joined, we did not have dedicated gaming mice and keyboards, and now we do. So it is a very full portfolio we’re bringing. And I also oversee our communications line which includes web cams, head sets, and speakers, for which there is a nice tie-in. Really it’s a nice sweep of products that I feel we’re bringing to the gaming community, from Logitech.
THE GAME REVIEWS: So if you were to recommend anything for somebody who wants to get into the industry, to do what you’re doing or something with Logitech, what would you recommend?
PAMELA: There are a lot of different avenues. One thing that is great about working for a company like Logitech is that you are exposed to so many different parts of the business. Obviously my specialty has been on public relations, which is basically launching products and drafting press releases, but it’s a lot more than that. It’s meeting with the product managers a couple years out, to give them thoughts and testing products along the way. There is a lot to it and now that I have the vision into what the product managers do, I feel like it could be a future career there, if I were interested in doing that. Logitech is a very diverse company, so I encourage people that want to get into this type of job, to find a few businesses or companies that they think would be interesting and are passionate about, and constantly keep looking. What you necessarily start in, might not be where you end up, at that company. With game developing, you can do everything from marketing, game design, all the way to launching products (as in my case). There are a lot of different ways to get in. The key is identifying some companies you think you could bring some value to, that you’re going to be excited to work for. And that’s really what it is about. You have to love your job in this industry, and I think almost everybody does. We’re all passionate about it, so it makes it fun and you know who’s out there and it’s a small community. So once you’re in the community, you meet other people and there’s a lot of movement within the communities as well.
THE GAME REVIEWS: I’m sure a lot of people are going to be happy to hear that. Okay, last two questions that we ask everybody. Favorite game of all time?
PAMELA: That’s a hard one. I’d have to admit the game that originally got me completely hooked into PC gamming was Mist. While I could consider that I wasted two to three years of my life, there was a quality two to three years spent. I was determined to beat that game without looking at a single cheat code, even though there were books out there. I had been doing console gaming long before they existed, but that was the first game that everyday from school, I would come home and want to play, with the intention of beating it.
THE GAME REVIEWS: Did you beat it?
PAMELA: I did beat it, but I do really think it took me close to two years without looking at any cheats. That was probably the one that really got me hooked into long-term commitment gaming.
THE GAME REVIEWS: Tthe last question, which everybody hates is, what is your religion with consoles? PS3, Wii, or Xbox 360?
PAMELA: Alright, so I’ll go old school on you. First off, I’ll bet the cabin that my family owns, that we still have the Atari up there. My father-in-law actually worked for Atari, so we have some games that never even came to market. It’s pretty awesome.
THE GAME REVIEWS: That thing is like worth a million, billion dollars.LOL *j/k
PAMELA: And then, before I get to the ultimate, right now obviously I have Xbox 360, PlayStation3? in my stack and I’m definitely thinking of getting a Wii, but friends of ours right down the street have one, so we just get together and play it that way. They don’t have a PS3 so it’s a good marriage. And then the final thing to really make me a nerd, is my husband and I have built our own cave style cabinet out in the garage on a PC. We’ve got all the old ROMs with everything from ColecoVision?. I can go out there and nerd out to Beer Taper and Burger Time for hours on end in our garage. So, there’s my dedication to the community.
THE GAME REVIEWS: Right on, very cool.
PAMELA: Keeping it old school.
THE GAME REVIEWS: Thank you for your time, Pamela.
PAMELA: Thank you very much for coming by.
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