Locations
Welcome back, everyone! Last week, I wrote a bit more than I am going to in the future because I wanted to use two good examples of MTG contributors (Mark Rosewater and Aaron Forsythe), whose contributions are numerous and obvious, in order to make the case for various social media. Now that I feel that I’ve done all I can to convince you all to check all the social media you can think of for contributions by various personalities, I want to make the case for some contributors whom I think you should be following. If you want a refresher, last week’s contribution is here on GatheringMagic, and for a more in-depth look at Twitter as a platform, check out the Twitter-specific article.
I hope you’re all reasonably convinced about the importance of the various social media and will be familiar with them, how they work, and if necessary, have an account ready to go so you can navigate the various sites. Let’s start with one of GatheringMagic’s best friends.
Patrick “Trick” Jarrett
Where You Know Him From: His contributions to Gathering Magic and ManaNation or his current role . . .
Current Title: Editor-In-Chief of DailyMTG.com
Social Media: trickjarrett.com/
Where would Gathering Magic be without the man who launched ManaNation? Though he’s moved on to bigger and better things as DailyMTG.com Editor-In-Chief, he is among the most prolific content providers. Doing the work of any two mortal men (hence the need for two Twitter accounts, obviously), Trick can be found almost anywhere from his personal website/blog to sites such as Reddit.com, where he’ll occasionally link interesting content. Don’t make the mistake of not following at least the Magic-related Twitter account, as he is not shy about chiming in with interesting information during discussions. Hard-working, insightful, and endlessly giving of himself, Trick is a one-man content machine. If you’re not following him everywhere you can, you’re going to miss something big.
Gavin Verhey
Where You Know Him From: Formerly of the MTGSalvation forums (moderator known as Lesurgo), StarCityGames.com, or his work at WotC designing sets; also, moderator of MTGnews as well as Pro Tour appearances
Current Title: Designer/Developer at Wizards of the Coast R&D, writer for StarCityGames.com
Social Media: Twitter
I’ve decided not to even link to private Google+ and Facebook accounts in order to respect the privacy of these contributors, who are first and foremost real people with a real aversion to having a private account spammed with friend requests. Luckily, most contributors with private social media pages are likely to have a public blog or to post regularly on Twitter or Tumblr.
I was lucky enough to participate in a podcast interview with Gavin a while back, and if you’re interested in a story of someone who was determined to work for Wizards of the Coast and did everything he could to ultimately realize that dream, it’s worth a listen. One can scarcely avoid being inspired by him. If you have the inclination to listen to podcasts with Gavin on them, he was a guest on The Scoop Phase and Brain Tapped and probably a lot more! A prolific Twitter contributor, Gavin is someone to follow closely if you are interested in the design process.
There is a lot to go through here, as both of these gentlemen are very prolific contributors, and you could spend literally days reading the archives. At the very minimum, you’ll want to follow both of them on Twitter because if you aren’t, you are missing a lot of valuable insights that people who are purely players or writers won’t come up with.
Hit me up in the comments if you have any requests about specific people you’d like to see highlighted or if you have suggestions for future themes. “Judges to follow,” “Financiers to follow,” “Cosplayers to follow”—the list is practically endless. Meet me here next week for another installment!
