SpiderMonkey Posted July 15, 2005 Hmm, how to write this without sounding like a corporate mouthpiece? Shacknews, the quite excellent gaming website where I normally hang out, is looking to hire a new writer. http://www.shacknews.com/docs/press/hiring.x http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/37789 Why do I think you guys should care? Because Shacknews is looking to move from being a link machine into homegrown content, but to do it without turning into a GameSpy/IGN-alike. And because if I had to pick just one example of non-IGNSpy excellence, I'd pick the Thumb everytime: I think there's potential for a good match to be made. It's perhaps a bit perverse to be posting here, since you could argue that recruiting away from the Thumb would harm it (maybe this thread will be met with a swift from the Emperors around here, in which case I apologise in advance) . But I'd like to think that if you went on to Shacknews, you'd be helping to spread the Thumbs message to a wider audience and to grow the size of the voice that it represents. On top of that, it'd maybe be a worthwhile career move for those of you for whom this is only a part-time thing (or indeed, only a forum-loitering thing)? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Roderick Posted July 15, 2005 I think it should be a nice prospect that you'll have a say in shaping the site and its articles, but of course, the Thumb is pretty... well, not to say avant-garde, but not quite the way a big commercial gamejournalism site would go. Still, 25 to 50K a year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marek Posted July 15, 2005 Thanks. I think one or two of our US staffers might apply. I like ShackNews but I'm glad they're planning to expand beyond link-and-quote news (and the occasional hard to spot article). I look forward to seeing what they have in store. Regarding the final bonus bullet point, is Maarten Goldstein Dutch? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SpiderMonkey Posted July 15, 2005 Yeah Maarten comes from, and updates the site from Holland, which allows him to do the "morning" updates at a suitably relaxed time in the day for him. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
loonyboi Posted July 15, 2005 If anyone wants advice on getting the Shacknews job, feel free to ask. That is, after all, my old position you're filling. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spaff Posted July 15, 2005 you should apply to confuse them heh seriously though, lets all apply as one entity LNC by Idle Thumbs we can spend the money on drugs and pie Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spaff Posted July 15, 2005 also thumbs has a bunch of secret readers woot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marek Posted July 15, 2005 Yeah Maarten comes from, and updates the site from Holland Oh man, awesome. It's nice to know there's other Dutch editors/webmasters working on international English game websites. Seems like a rare thing. It's hard not to feel inferior to a guy with gold in his last name though. Like, bronze-string? Gold? GET IT? LOLZROFL. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nsps Posted July 15, 2005 Speaking of jobs, I'm currently working on a new biweekly (hopefully eventually weekly) A&E publication in my city and am looking for a Video game columnist to contribute some smart, thoughtful content. I've been having trouble finding someone good locally and thought, as long as we're talking jobs, I'd mention this one. It wouldn't pay much to start, but with the paper's growth would come wage increases. Of course, writing for an art & entertainment publication would require a little more background information and accessibility since not all the readers will be gaming experts, but I still think we can do some thoughtful, intelligent pieces—and reveal the possibilities of gaming to those who don't already know it. A thumbs staffer could probably tackle the same subject both for Idle Thumbs and for a broader, less game-savvy audience. And if a staff member writes it, we could throw in a plug for Idle Thumbs at the end of the article. At this current stage of development, I'm afraid I can't give out all the info on a public forum, but please pm me if you're interested and I'll tell you more. Thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
loonyboi Posted July 15, 2005 Oh man, awesome. It's nice to know there's other Dutch editors/webmasters working on international English game websites. Seems like a rare thing. I'm going to let you in on a little secret........ Every major English language site has some crazy dutch guy working for them. Or Belgian. Or occaisionally Norwegian. Every site i've ever worked for or been in contact with has someone from that part of the world on their staff. Frans from 3D Gamers lives out there, and we worked pretty closely together on Blue's News back in the day (he still provides news for Blue's, although his primary work these days is on 3DGamers). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kolzig Posted July 16, 2005 I hope the new guy/gal at Shack will be someone who is Shack-worthy, I really didn't like Matias at all. Kraziness of Ken Kutaragi etc. Oh man, awesome. It's nice to know there's other Dutch editors/webmasters working on international English game websites. Seems like a rare thing. It's hard not to feel inferior to a guy with gold in his last name though. Like, bronze-string? Gold? GET IT? LOLZROFL. The guy behind the ja.zz comments system at shack is also Dutch. His name is Sander Pilon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marek Posted July 17, 2005 Hee, I forgot all about Frans. Not such a rare thing then. By the way, what is the history between Blue's and Shack? I used to read Blue's in the old days from about late 1996, but I never really followed Shack until recently. I guess they were the two big Quake sites out there. You worked for both? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
