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Thursday May 05, 2011
So you want to work at SEGA? (Final Entry)“Has it really been three years?” Watching the crowds slowly pass amidst the sunlit bustle of the Cherry Blossom Festival last month, it was hard not to think back to just how much has changed since I first started here at SEGA, then a young man of only 19, who had just dropped everything to pursue his lifelong dream. I still remember sitting down at my new desk, bright-eyed and full of excitement, and writing one of my very first blogs. I called it “So you want to work at SEGA?“, and inside detailed, from my own perspective, what it was like getting to work at the place I’d always wanted to be.
It seems fitting, then, that what began as a message from one fan to others should, ultimately, end in the same way. This will be my final blog as a member of the Community Team here at SEGA. I’d like to thank each and every one of you out there, as fans, for always being there to support us, and for making these last three years some of the best and most rewarding of my life. But this bittersweet news is good, not bad. Starting tomorrow, I’ll be assuming a new role here at SEGA, as an Associate Brand Manager assigned to Sonic Generations. This means that while you won’t see as much of me here on the blogs or in the forums, I’ll be working with our teams behind-the-scenes to help the greater efforts as we work to make all of our Sonic games even greater successes. Personally, I’m honored to have this opportunity, and excited to see what new challenges lie on the horizon in the world of the blue blur I once idolized as a child.
The original team during our first big community event, PAX 2010. I feel that it’s always important, especially when moving forward, to stop sometimes and appreciate the past, and everything that brought you to where you are now. On that front, I find myself immensely thankful to have two of the best teammates and mentors I could have ever asked for: Clumsy, who has helped guide and support me since the first day I set foot here, and Kellie, who was always there to help, regardless of when or where. The lessons learned thanks to these two have helped me grow and improve more than I’ll probably ever realize. Thank you, both, for all of that – but moreso, and most especially, for being true friends. To those reading the blogs, the fans supporting us, and the many, many people I had the pleasure of meeting these last few years, both internally and also as fans – thank you, sincerely, for always being there to give us feedback, to yell at us about Sonic’s eye color, or even just to cheer us on and support us. To those who one day dream of working at SEGA, regardless of your age – I challenge you to never stop pursuing that goal. With enough work and a little luck, you might just be surprised at how quickly you find yourself, resume in hand, at the company’s front door. Writing this entry ended up being a lot harder than I thought it would. But this is far from a farewell; only a change in paths, all ultimately heading in similar directions. This is not the end of an era, but rather of a chapter in a book which holds countless chapters. I’ll also be around still, here and there. (…even if it requires sneaking into the background during Free stuff Friday filming!) Thank you, all of you, for making these last three, blast-processing fueled years something that was, truly, at the next level. Until next time! – Aaron | ||
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Comment # 1
Congrats man and enjoy the new job. :]
Posted by -nSega54- on May 5th, 2011 at 9:49 pm
Comment # 2
Congratulations on the promotion, Aaron!
Posted by Supa on May 5th, 2011 at 9:55 pm
Comment # 3
They grow up so fast. ;_;
Posted by Sky on May 5th, 2011 at 10:01 pm
Comment # 4
Congrats man. That is awesome. I’m so envious! Do all those who can’t live our dreams of working with a Sonic game proud. We live vicariously through you! Don’t be a stranger!
Posted by Steve on May 5th, 2011 at 10:02 pm
Comment # 5
as I said to you on twitter. You will be missed! You’ve done so much for SEGA fans. I’m worried about Valkyria, Phantasy Star, Yakuza, etc now. I hope there is someone else who will be pushing those smaller franchises internally that don’t get as much attention as Sonic.
Posted by ShadiNeko on May 5th, 2011 at 10:04 pm
Comment # 6
Whew, I thought we almost lost you there Aaron, but I’m glad you’re still part of the team. Congratulations on the, as Robotnik would say, “prrrrrrrrrromotion” and I’m sure you’ll be a great asset to the team and fans a like as much as you were on the Community blog team. I hope the next guy will be as dedicated and helpful as you, because if not, we’re going to need you back! j/k Anyway, lastly, I’d like to say thanks for putting up with us Sonic fans! XD
Posted by danl on May 5th, 2011 at 10:08 pm
Comment # 7
Damn. Going to miss reading your posts. : (
Congrats on the brand manager job though, at least you still have a hand at SEGA. Hopefully your passion rubs off on some of the higher ups.
Posted by AngelComa on May 5th, 2011 at 10:11 pm
Comment # 8
Is SEGA hiring any Canadians? ;P
Posted by XD375 on May 5th, 2011 at 10:16 pm
Comment # 9
Congratulations and good luck Ruby!
Posted by CrimsonBlazer on May 5th, 2011 at 10:22 pm
Comment # 10
Firstly – why are you in the office at 9:45, I will not sign your timesheet and thus will not allow you to leave into the brand team!
Joking aside, Aaron, you have been an amazing addition to our team and I have always known good things would come from you ever since you started as our moderator on PSOBB. This is a day to cherish. Congratulations, my friend, we are extremely excited for you and your achievemnts, both Kellie and I are looking forward to the fun we can create with you in Brand. Imagine the possibilities.
With that, I wish you the absolute best. You’ve been the best person I’ve ever had the joy to manage and I cannot wait to see what we can get into going forward. To Aaron!
Posted by Clumsyorchid on May 5th, 2011 at 10:31 pm
Comment # 11
Time flies and next thing you know, you’ve reached the next step on the ladder. Much congratulations, and although I’ve only recently commented on the blogs, my thanks for keeping us fans up to date with the blogs (and putting up with a lot of them :P). Godspeed.
Posted by SestrenNK on May 5th, 2011 at 10:45 pm
Comment # 12
*lmao* OH man, that’s hilariously well timed on all accounts XD; Will mail you later.
CONGRATS! 😀
Posted by TRiPPY on May 5th, 2011 at 11:21 pm
Comment # 13
Congratulations on your prrrrrromotion!!
You know, you made me believe again in SEGA dreams with you showing us how you managed to be with the blue blur himself
Make sure Sonic Generations get managed at best and we hope to see you write here again sometime later on ;).
Posted by David on May 6th, 2011 at 12:12 am
Comment # 14
Congratulation on your promotion Aaron!!! I hope whatever road you take will be successful!!! Oh man…i’m really gonna miss you. You are a fantastic person. Really glad i talked with you a few times.
Θέλω να ξέρεις ότι το ονειρό μου ήταν και είναι να δουλέψω για την Sega και να ακολουθήσω στα δικά σου βήματα. —>Greek translate to—->English
Posted by frokenok3 on May 6th, 2011 at 1:41 am
Comment # 15
Damn, really happy to see a company i love moving up a great individual. Congrats Aaron! Make the most of it man, and keep us in the loop when you can.
Posted by IrishNinja on May 6th, 2011 at 1:51 am
Comment # 16
Aaaah dude, so many congratulations! I am insanely jealous. I, like you, have always wanted to work at SEGA. Ever since I first played the original Sonic almost 20 years ago. I hope to one day get my chance too.
Go forth and make the most of this amazing opportunity you have been given. If you make sure Sonic Generations is as perfect as it seems, I will have to send you some more English sweets!
Posted by DarrenIndeed on May 6th, 2011 at 3:26 am
Comment # 17
Congrats!!!
We will really miss you. Too bad you didnt manage to answer my SA2 port question:( But still thank you for everything.
And please make SG as great as possible;)
Posted by SA3 2011 on May 6th, 2011 at 4:52 am
Comment # 18
Congratulations Aaron! I’ve always been very happy to know that a fan like you (and like us) worked at SEGA.
Posted by DJ Fob Fresh on May 6th, 2011 at 4:57 am
Comment # 19
Congratulations! Keep on enjoying life!
Posted by Poxuz on May 6th, 2011 at 5:01 am
Comment # 20
Good luck Aaron!
Posted by Copley Hill Zone on May 6th, 2011 at 5:52 am
Comment # 21
Aaron (BDJ :P)! I saw this post on one of my feeds and read the news! CONGRATS! You totally deserve this next step in your career. I know that you will be so missed on the Community end (J & K – what the are you guys going to do?!), but I KNOW that you and Judy are going to do BIG THINGS for Sonic. I have faith in you guys and can’t wait to see what happens next! All the best for SEGA Community and Sonic…
Posted by Marj on May 6th, 2011 at 7:04 am
Comment # 22
Congratulations! You always had interesting blogs on here. I enjoyed reading them. Have fun and good luck! ^.^
Posted by ChaoticOverdrive on May 6th, 2011 at 7:44 am
Comment # 23
Aaron, we are going to miss you on the forums. I remember when you first came to the forums so many years ago. And then that surprise move to California to join Sega, you little rascal. And now you are moving on to the next level, almost like a real life video game. Good luck with your promotion and new job. Don’t be a stranger, I expect to see you pop in on the forums once in a while to mingle with us commoners.
Posted by momonpso on May 6th, 2011 at 7:44 am
Comment # 24
I hope you enjoy your promotion Ruby, it’s quite a feat to be promote at the tender age of 21. 😛
Posted by Starlight Rage Zone on May 6th, 2011 at 8:31 am
Comment # 25
Yes I Really Really What To Word At Sega Because Im A Hage Fan!
Posted by Shawndell Rivers on May 6th, 2011 at 8:36 am
Comment # 26
extreme congratulations =)
Posted by victor campos on May 6th, 2011 at 8:51 am
Comment # 27
Good luck Ruby! I’m honored I was able to play PSU with you ^^
Posted by Noob Saibot on May 6th, 2011 at 9:02 am
Comment # 28
Nice one bro!
Posted by Ryan/Sharky on May 6th, 2011 at 9:16 am
Comment # 29
even though I am kind of new to the blogs , I’d still like to say congratulations . I know if a fan like us is working on generations I don’t have to worry about the game . good luck . and cheers .
Posted by seth Liengod on May 6th, 2011 at 10:08 am
Comment # 30
Congrats man! We all wish you the best of luck with your promotion!
Posted by Naxal710 on May 6th, 2011 at 10:53 am
Comment # 31
Congrates! Wish u the best of luck!
Posted by Tony2Sonic on May 6th, 2011 at 11:09 am
Comment # 32
Associate Brand Manager, huh…awesome! This means very good things for Sonic on the marketing side, and what better guy to help lead the charge than ol’ Ruby from the Community. I can see this move being played well for Sonic Generations, and hopefully, future Sonic games.
Good move, Sega, and Happy Prrrrromotion! 😀
Posted by blu on May 6th, 2011 at 11:21 am
Comment # 33
As Robotnik would say, you just got a prrromotion!
Posted by Dan on May 6th, 2011 at 12:50 pm
Comment # 34
Well, I guess if you want to move on in life, you just have to..
*puts on glasses*
give something intern.
YEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHH!
Posted by Captain Belmont on May 6th, 2011 at 2:30 pm
Comment # 35
Cheers!
Posted by chunkybeef31 on May 6th, 2011 at 2:36 pm
Comment # 36
One day SEGA…. i will work for you, and all will be well in the world.
Congrats on the promotion RubyE
Posted by Kolma on May 6th, 2011 at 2:49 pm
Comment # 37
Congrats on the promotion dude! I enjoyed our chats about Sonic and NiGHTS and such. So I suppose you’ll be mingling with Sega’s Japan team about Sonic Generations now, eh?
Posted by Mark on May 6th, 2011 at 2:51 pm
Comment # 38
Wow dude, that’s awesome. Though I must say, I’m not that surprised–you’ve always stood out, ever since I first decided to pop onto this fine establishment of a website. You’ve stood out among the fandom, not in just in the way that others recognize you, but they like you, and that is really something special. So Congrats to you, Ruby, you totally deserve it dude.
Posted by Goodman on May 6th, 2011 at 3:23 pm
Comment # 39
Thanks for the hard work, RubyEclipse and congrats on the promotion. Who’s in charge of the VC community now?
Posted by Giolon on May 6th, 2011 at 4:26 pm
Comment # 40
Good luck Ruby and many thanks for the past years. I’m sorry I cn’t say much as I’m going through a difficult time right now.
Thanks again Ruby.
Posted by C.J on May 6th, 2011 at 4:54 pm
Comment # 41
We shall all miss you.
Posted by C.J on May 6th, 2011 at 4:54 pm
Comment # 42
It was a pleasure to talk with you that one time during the Project Needlemouse giveaway. I will miss you.
Posted by BinaryP0wnage on May 6th, 2011 at 6:23 pm
Comment # 43
Congratulations Aaron! 😀
good luck for your future
Posted by LordSpeed on May 6th, 2011 at 6:35 pm
Comment # 44
We’ll be watching your career with great intrest.
Posted by Captain Belmont on May 6th, 2011 at 7:50 pm
Comment # 45
Aaron gongrats on your promotion! What a great entry and a inspiring story to read. I’m glad to have met you a few times in person from the great events hosted at Sega HQ. I’m totally grateful for your work on the Phantasy star series and Yakuza. You’ve helped the fans obtain as much content as possible with both series, that in itself is an invaluable contribution that won’t be forgotten! Wish you the best and hope to someday see you again at a future event or on PSO2! 😀
Posted by Jonathan Lee(Krupp) on May 7th, 2011 at 12:27 am
Comment # 46
We willl miss you!!!! I remember that help you gave me through Sonic 4, We will miss you a ton, But Congratulations…
Posted by K2SonicFan on May 7th, 2011 at 5:18 am
Comment # 47
I still haven’t figured out why people talk about sonic eye color. I know I don’t. But, anyway Congrats, Aaron!
Posted by unknown on May 7th, 2011 at 7:51 am
Comment # 48
Brand Manager at SEGA! Congratulations, Ruby! You deserve it!
I wish much success to his professional career. Good Luck!
**Seriously, I’ll miss you in the forum and here in Blog**
That’s it! level up, mate! you still have a ways to go.
Posted by ConcepArt on May 7th, 2011 at 11:09 am
Comment # 49
Hey how old do you have to be to work at SEGA? I’m 15 so I’m guessing that’s still young.
Posted by sonic52789 on May 7th, 2011 at 11:31 am
Comment # 50
Congrats Aaron on the new position at SEGA, looking forward to see what awesome swag come out of Sonic Generations and the path that this brand will take. Well done on everything you have done so far for all us fans. Still a dream for me to work at sega in some manner 😀
Posted by no1phil on May 7th, 2011 at 12:24 pm
Comment # 51
You did a great job as a community manager here, Ruby. Thanks for all you did with the team to help reach out to the fans of Sega to help make a more tightly-knit community.
Best wishes for your new job position.
Posted by Treacher on May 7th, 2011 at 3:40 pm
Comment # 52
I would love to work at Sega!! How can I go about getting a job as part of the team!!
Posted by John on May 7th, 2011 at 4:54 pm
Comment # 53
ALRIGHT AARON! Rock on man, the day I saw you at the Sonic colors event I already knew you had powers man. It’s cool that you’re getting a promotion. You are the fuckin’ man, dude! anyway I believe we are all glad that you’re NOT leaving SEGA, just reviving a higher position. Enjoy and make the fans proud!
Posted by Todd Milhouse on May 8th, 2011 at 12:28 pm
Comment # 54
Big ups to ya, Mr. Webber. Congrats on your new position. You most definitely deserve it.
Posted by RandomBlogReader on May 8th, 2011 at 12:55 pm
Comment # 55
Congrats!!!!! Well deserved Aaron, you were always passionate about your line of work and displayed nothing but positivity and enthusiasm when dealing with us fans. I want to take this moment to say best of luck with Sonic generations and may you continue to be successful in the future!
Posted by Terra on May 8th, 2011 at 1:00 pm
Comment # 56
Congratulations Mr. Webber! It’s great to have a true-blue Sonic fan in charge of Generations marketing. Bring out some cool merchandise, why dont’cha! BTW, once Generations is over, what will you do? Promote the next Sonic game?
Posted by SonikkuForever on May 9th, 2011 at 4:39 pm
Comment # 57
@Todd Milhouse
Gosh, potty mouth… giggidy.
Posted by unknown on May 9th, 2011 at 6:22 pm
Comment # 58
Congratulations!
Posted by cubedtothex on May 11th, 2011 at 11:03 am
Comment # 59
You lucky schmuck, how does 19 yr old little snot nosed brat end up working for such a great noble company like SEGA and do nothing but post worthless blogs and photos of european cuisuine get promoted. You are garbage you never even let me win any Free Stuff Friday deals EVER! Haha I’m just playing, good luck with the new job, I got a feeling we’ll be seeing alot of good stuff to come!
Posted by arterimal on May 17th, 2011 at 6:23 am
Comment # 60
I have Ideas for a sonic saga that has humans in it as regular characters,But it also brings in all of the sonic characters in the new games,With powers from a martual arts Unit called Kaibone-Aruu,And i made a couple of sonic characters with a great storyline on the other hand.
Posted by Marcus Burnette on May 18th, 2011 at 3:31 pm
Comment # 61
My dream is to work at SEGA …. but .. i am only 14 years old… too bad i am still young
Posted by SONIC on May 20th, 2011 at 1:57 am
Comment # 62
Congrats man! While I’m not a true part of the “fan community”, I’ve been reading ur blog entries and watching ur free stuff videos lol. thats amazing u were 19 when u started at sega (just turned 18 monday, and have had a longshot of a dream to work for sega/sonic team one day). Just congratulations, thats awesome, and since u r an associate brand manager assigned to Sonic Generations, can u give us any more details on the game???? jk
Posted by Bobby H. on May 20th, 2011 at 1:23 pm
Comment # 63
Congrats on the new responsibility, Aaron, hope you enjoy it. Personally I hate the idea of working at Sega because they’re totally lame. Furthermore Sega of America and Sega Europe are just powerless subsidiaries that have no jurisdiction over the video games or the developers – all they do is advertise, sell merchandise and track Sega’s money.
I doubt they even have the authority to forward our comments to the corporate offices of Sega Japan for consideration. Now Nintendo and Microsoft on the other hand sound like a much better gig if given a choice.
Posted by Bishop on June 10th, 2011 at 7:33 am
Comment # 64
i just want to say that SONIC 4 EPISODE 1 IS IT ON PS3 OR WII OR XBOX 360 LET ME KNOW I LIKED THAT GAME HOPE ITS ON PS3?
Posted by musharraf on November 14th, 2011 at 2:53 am
Comment # 65
This is very inspirational Aaron.
It’s been my dream to work at SEGA ever since I was introduced to Sonic when I saw my brother playing Sonic Adventure 2. I was three years old at the time. Now I’m fifteen, and have been a devoted fan throughout the years. This give me hope that one day I will be able to work for SEGA.
Now for one small question. How did you manage to contact SEGA to get an interview in the first place?
Posted by Tuscany V. on December 4th, 2011 at 2:56 pm
Comment # 66
Inspiring post.I’m from Romania (EU) and here we have offices for Gameloft and Ubisoft as main entertainment software producers.Almost every gamer in my country, be that mobile console, phone or home console, wants to work at these companies.Most of them, including me for a while, apply for a job in Quality Assurance and some wind up working for these companies.I didn’t get a job as QA mostly because I’m old for this business (30) and the pay was marginal at best for a beginner in this line of work.
This is not all I wanted to say mainly but it serves as an introduction to what I’m about to write onward.
I bought a Sega Dreamcast for my birthday on March 2014 mostly because I’m passionate about collecting artifacts that made history. It’s not just a compulsion to posses the games that populate the console gaming, but a compulsion to look into the technological advances that made all the game titles possible.
I’m not sure if I’m being clear but it’s like the Days of Future Past, because I see in my game collection games spread across all the platforms I have, I see details in game engines, textures, framerate, glitches in rendering, texture compression, shadows, environment effects, all of these rendered by my Xbox classic, Dreamcast, Playstation 2, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360 and I can’t understand WHY our present isn’t different in terms of how the world of gaming is. Why the engineers at Sega made all those tech advancements that weren’t enough to compete with Sony’s marketing and Nintendo’s. Now Nintendo is in Sega’s place because they stick to the PowerPC architecture which just like Sega Saturn stuck with dual CPU architecture that was hard to program at the time.
The internet entertained an idea of Dreamcast 2. I presume it’s fiction even though a merger with Nintendo would in theory make this possible. Thinking of the ‘collaboration’ between Sony and Nintendo entertains the idea of fiction.
I played recently Quake3Arena and Unreal Tournament Classic on the Dreamcast. The idea of having a keyboard and mouse support with configurable keys in FPS games is brilliant. This would have made a huge difference in the past because most computer gamers think that consoles are for casual gamers only. I relinquished PC gaming after finishing Crysis 3 and Metro. I am now a casual gamer and I got the glimpse of brilliance in every retro console I have.
It’s not fair what happened to Sega’s console division. The work done with Microsoft in the Xbox classic is not enough. Why the system’s engineers didn’t foresaw this ? I’ll tell you why, it’s because they’re incapable of thinking outside the box, outside the boundaries…I could have done more
Posted by Cristian Tudor on March 18th, 2014 at 11:59 pm