Mary Kish x 1,000,000

I'm voting for the guy in the chat that wanted the job. It's time chat infiltrates the staff.

This thread is teetering on the edge of being unwelcome. I'd greatly appreciate it if people could say who they'd like to see without resorting to knocking down others. <3

What's Swery up to these days?

Do they still have Chris with the White Car's contact info? He could probably bring greater insight and answers that GB just hasn't had in the past.

Bwahaha definitely Ryckert Sr.

Just gonna say, Paul would be a pretty funny addition.

These threads are bad and they always are. If someone says they need to not hire a dude and your response is "they should hire who's best," you're saying that you think someone who isn't a dude can't be best. There are going to be a number of candidates who all fit the bill, and all other things being equal, you should give a POC or someone who isn't a dude a shot.

Also I voted Cara, despite that fact that she now works on games themselves, because she is great.

I will not respond to any replies to me in this thread, because they will most certainly be garbage.

Giant Bomb should buy Waypoint and bring Patrick and Austin back into the fold. /checkmate

They try to get out but the GB life keeps pulling 'em back in

Person A: They shouldn't drink tea.

Person B: They should drink whatever's best.

Person A: So you're saying only tea can be the best?

Yeah, that's kind of a crazy way to interpret Person B. What's being dismissed is the specifying of a gender (or beverage in my example), not the specific gender itself. If you said "they need to not hire short-haired women" and someone else replied "they should hire who's best," that just the same wouldn't be an affirmation that any woman who doesn't have short hair couldn't be "the best."

If someone fundamentally disagrees with the notion of gender absolutely not mattering when it comes to ideal applicants for this job, then fine, they can talk about that shit. But they shouldn't misrepresent someone who does agree with that by using a ridiculous interpretation of what they're saying in order to suggest they believe the opposite.

@nicolenomicon: This was a very unnecessary and rude comment. First you decide that people are sexist if they don't care about the politics of a hire, then you declare that all opposing view points are garbage and not worthy of your time.

I mean, at that point, why even bother to write a comment at all? This stuff is so toxic, and I really hope it results in a reaction from the moderators. Also, be kind and open minded. It's a pretty awesome way to live.

Honestly dont care. Didn't know who Austin was before his hiring and he became my favorite staff member. I want to be surprised in a similar way - I wanna be introduced to someone I haven't heard of who's awesome.

They've only let me down once with Patrick Klepik (just lacked charisma), so that's a pretty good track record. They seem to stick to hirees that are both knowledgeable in the field of video games yet also charismatic.

Exactly. It's amazing that type of notion is believed by any person who proclaims it. It should never need your analogy to prove how ludicrous it truly is. They should pick whoever they think is best. I voted for Mary Kish. I didn't vote for her because she's a woman; I voted for her because she's the best. People who make decisions on who to deem worthy based on gender, race or sexuality have no interest in equality.

I defer to Jeff's judgment on this one. I've enjoyed everyone he's brought on since starting the site. Well, everyone except for Dan.

Mary!
Would also be happy with Paul or Danny too!

@theht: Let's be real here, "the best" on a personality based website means absolutely jack shit and nobody ever uses it except as a counter to somebody proposing they should hire someone that'd bring more diversity on board. It's just a short way of saying that they want somebody who doesn't challenge their views. The funniest thing is that in reality a distinct personality would actually be the best possible hire so they're disagreeing with an argument that agrees. While the Beastcast is still good, the Bombcast direly needs some fresh perspective. Bombcast devolves too often into just five white dudes in their thirties agreeing that they're not out of touch and it's the kids that are wrong.

I personally think that since they're looking for a replacement for Austin (a point which everybody seems to be ignoring in this thread), they should try to find someone with a very clear voice. Someone who makes points that usually go ignored in video game discussion. Someone to fill that void Austin left. Finding someone to fill Austin's shoes is going to be hard, but saying they shouldn't even try is ludicrous.

Oh and your analogy is wrong. It's more like:

Person A: They should try the tea.

Person B: No, they should drink what's best!

Person A: So you're saying you don't think tea is good?

Person A is just using basic logic to infer that person B doesn't think tea is very good. Person B should also be more willing to try new things instead of just drinking soda all day, every day until he gets diabetes. That's just what I think, I'm not going to say Person B wouldn't be happy living life the way he does. On the other hand, look at how happy Dan is now that he's started trying new things.

Thing is being a staff member for Giant Bomb means being good at a number of things but most importantly being good on camera. GB has always been a primarily video focused website and that means being good on camera and having good chemistry with the rest of the staff. Bringing a fresh perspective is totally part of it as well, look at what Dan brought to the site alone (Metal Gear Scanlon, Mario Party Party, etc). Those are all things the other staff would have never thought of doing. But Dan was already a friend of the staff (to varying degrees) and has experience with working on camera. I imagine it's incredibly hard to hire someone for this site, they need to be a jack of all trades but most importantly to be basically be friends or at least know the existing staff to some degree before coming on board. You can't have things be awkward or weird on camera and as much as some people might want to, can't have it be too politically driven or diversity driven. As that's at the end of the day, not the main goal of Giant Bomb and could potentially alienate too many fans (as awkward of a statement as that is to make). I would totally not be surprised of the new hire is another straight white dude that is in some way already friends or known to the existing Giant Bomb staff. I don't think there is anything bad about that. At the same time Austin was hired as a news editor as I take it but quickly started to join in on Quick Looks and on camera stuff like Playdates etc, and he was fantastic at it. But Austin was also a teacher and had a lot experience speaking in public and the like before joining GB so that must have played a role in his hiring. Just someone having a unique perspective and voice is not enough I think, not even close. You have someone like Mary who seems to have a great chemistry with the rest of the staff but then at the same time....I don't know what perspective she would bring to GB, she doesn't seem like the most opinionated person to me. Whoever it's going to be, following up on Austin is going to be super difficult, I honestly think he was one of the most capable staff members this site has ever seen. He is smarter and more well spoken than Jeff (though not funnier) and has as much on screen charisma and appeal with other staff members as Vinny. He was too good for his position as a news editor, him running his own website now shows that I think.

As for my pick: MAX SCOVILLE

Waluigi

@retris: I really dislike when people credit me with opinions that aren't mine. I don't give a damn about the politics of a hire, and because of that I apparently don't want to have my views challenged. OK then.

As for the whole part about white people in their thirties... Wow. First, it's racist. Second, it's ageist. Third, it's wrong. I mean, do you really not see the double standard? I'm going to blow your mind now; even white people can have different opinions, no matter their age. If you think Dan's opinions are no different to Jeff or Jason or Brad or (especially) Drew, then I don't know what to say.

I mean, have you listened to the bombcast ever? Anyway, I hope you grow up and realize the fault lies with you. Have a good one now.

A clone of Dan that eats figs

None of the above. John Drake

Promote Mary and Peter to the big leagues.

None of them.

@dharmabum: Jeff Green fo' life!

@bojackhorseman:There's too much to unpack in their post for someone as lazy as I but I'll throw them a bone for one thing. While the duders all being white and in their 30's doesn't mean they're all the same people with the same opinions they really are very similar perspectives with often very similar opinions. That doesn't have to be racism that wants someone with a different background and different perspective.

To be clear they totally shouldn't hire someone because they're one race/gender/sexuality or another but it can/should be one of many factors when looking for another voice at Giant Bomb. Their background isn't meaningless.

You know, while I have really fond memories of staying up until 4 AM every day for a week the last time we had threads about hiring, I don't think either I or the mods have any interest in babysitting a thread like this just yet. It's going to be a while before we hire anyone, so there's no need to start slagging or debating the qualifications of games industry people or journalists who may never even apply for the position. If you can't keep this thread going in the positive and light-hearted direction it seems to have started off in,please don't contribute. If you have super-strong opinions about this position, feel free to PM Jeff with them, but for the moment let's keep the arguing...somewhere else.

Never going to happen, but it's a fantasy draft, so Patrick Klepek returning to San Francisco is my selection.

Patrick had a solid platform on which to build his particular brand of journalism at Giant Bomb, belonged to the golden era of the site, and brought a great dynamic to the staff. Unfortunately for him, the Kotaku move ended up being a step down the ladder, and I'm not convinced by Waypoint. I miss his presence on the site.

Jim Fucking Sterling Son. 'Nuf Said.

Let's really be real here, "the best" means "whoever they want." Stretching that into "well what you really mean is that you just don't want x, y, or z" is in essence presenting a strawman that seeks to vilify anyone who disagrees with the reduction of whole individual persons to mere gender identities.

Unfortunately, my analogy is closer to the case I was quoting. So if you think it's fundamentally different from yours, then yours is technically less accurate. An analogy that would be most accurate (because I did soften Person A a bit) would be:

Person A: They need to not drink tea.

Person B: They should drink what's best.

Person A: You think a drink that isn't tea can't be the best.

"Is good" is different from "can't be." Your analogy suggests an interpretation where someone thinks Person B doesn't like tea, and this is where the analogy falls apart because not liking tea is a fair thing to do, as opposed to not liking a specific gender, which to be clear isn't fair (and funnily enough is my bigger point here). My analogy shows the interpretation where someone thinks Person B believes it's absolutely impossible for tea to be "the best." It's a much stronger interpretation, which was the point the analogy in the first place: to show that such a severe reading of that simple statement is kinda crazy.

At the very least I appreciate the extra difficulty we can have understanding meaning through very particular arrangements of words with regards to charged topics, and in context to others, but to recklessly foist an accusatory interpretation categorically onto a group, and especially in light of clarification, veers towards intellectual dishonesty and social toxicity. Conversations typically grow more barbed and obstinate from there, unless course-corrected and with both parties wanting for genuine engagement.

Either https://twitter.com/teanah or https://twitter.com/ShawnElliott . Since this is fantasy and not reality.

Mike Ross would be hilarious or even the combo of Mike Ross and Gootecks. We would have the original PogChamp on lock.

Anyways, just as long as they hire people that can take their jokes and antics in stride. Then I am A-OK with who they pick.

Whomever Jeff wants.

♪♫♪♪
"The Mission got it's hipsters
The Union Square got it's bums
235 Second Street got big Jeff Gerstmann
He's a 'VR Playin' son of a gun
Yeah, he cuddly and tall as a man can come
And he stronger than a country hoss
But when the e3 folks all get together at night
You know they all call "Big Jeffery" boss, just because
And they say

You don't tug on superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask off that old lone ranger
And you don't mess around with Brett..."

"Some Irishman wandered in off the street and offered us drugs. We had to hire him. I think his name is Boylt."

I genuinely do not understand why some people are so against employment equity, and after reading some of the recent arguments here I still don't.

@berfunkle: Maybe I'm the only one, but some of Jim Sterling's demeanor, the way he speaks and his sort of dry comments remind me of Ryan in a weird way.

It also got me thinking that I've always wanted someone with a British accent on staff.

Steven Seagal. A God amongst men.

@magmamud: I'm someone whose politics fall more towards the other side than your typical millennial or Californian (even though I am a millennial), and it's frustrating sometimes to feel as if your position is under attack without people really understanding what it is. Basically, the feeling is that any discrimination in favor of a minority could be discrimination against a potentially better majority hire. Equal opportunity means do not discriminate for or against; hire only on merit. I will grant, the Giant Bomb position as an entertainment personality is a bit more unique than your typical job in that merit can be tough to quantitatively determine.

The other position is affirmative action, which is the preferential selection of historically disadvantaged minorities in order to correct an overrepresentation of the majority. Ideally, they want the makeup of any organization to represent the demographics of the county as a whole, even if that means deliberate discrimination during hiring to achieve the desired quotas.

So the whole conversation is politics really, and I can understand why, after the election, the staff are tired of seeing it. On the flip side, I can also understand why users are so fired up about it. I won't derail the thread any further, but I did want to try and neutrally lay out what people's feelings are and where they're coming from.

Since it's a fantasy draft, I vote for Stuart Ashen! He would bring all that European gaming knowledge. I think him and Jeff would make a great combo too since they are around the same age and have roughly the same interests. It's not going to happen in a million years, but still.