Achievement Unlocked - Life dream comes true

When I first started working in production, I set my sights on a big goal.

Today,  I can say with much gratitude that I have made it! 

But first, how I got there -

At the end of last year, I wrote about how I wanted to take some time to get my priorities in order and discover my true passion. What I found was that some things never change. When I was nine years old, I was a huge geek who loved everything about the culture - entertainment, gaming, movies, comics - you name it.  I also knew that I wanted to be able to make shows that were as awesome as my favorite genre at the time, news magazines. My family and I would gather around the television to watch 20/20 every Friday night. I loved thinking about the stories they told and how they were presented. I thought I wanted to be Barbara Walters but as I grew older, I knew I wanted to be the person writing the words that came out of her mouth, the person who thought about how it should all be packaged for the viewer at home.

When I was 19 years old, I interned at Tech TV. That's where I learned this "person who throws it all together" is called a producer. I saw ladies like Morgan Webb and Sarah Lane not only hosting, but writing and researching segments.  I thought about how it would be a dream to work at Tech TV after I graduated college but a network called G4 cut that dream short. I found great places to work that would let me be my inner Nerd Bird after college - all places where I got my chops. 

Fast forward to 2010, when I was working at IGN Entertainment.

I joined IGN as a part of the business unit that runs IGN Video. I learned a lot but knew I needed my job to be more of a creative outlet. David Ting recruited me to help him manage and produce promos for an upcoming online tournament. At the time, I was still working full time in business ops by day and volunteering for the pet project by night/weekend. I coordinated and conceptualized a multi-day shoot involving players from all over the world, and before I knew it, I was joining a "new, experimental division" called IGN Pro League, full time. I'm not going to outline all of our accomplishments but let's just say there was a lot of hard work that went into creating a league and new standard of production in the competitive gaming industry. 

This week, IPL announced that they will be part of Blizzard Entertainment. I can't say how proud I am to have built a division that is worthy of joining the creators of some of the greatest games of all time. 

And now, for my big news-

Later this month, I will be joining CBS Interactive as their Executive Producer, Games department. I am beyond excited about this opportunity and am in disbelief that I will be working for such an amazing and established brand. Some of you may remember that I started my career at CNET which is now CBSi. So yes, I have come full circle but older, wiser, and more geeky (Games dept. FTW!!) Funny story is that when I first was recruited by CNET, I asked if I could work for GameSpot. At the time, there were no jobs there but I'm really glad that a perfect spot opened up 7 years later!

I hope to keep you posted on what I'm working on via Twitter and Facebook. If you are a fan of GameSpot.com,Giant Bomb, GameFAQs, I would also love to hear what you want as a viewer.

I am so happy to be working in games media again and hope to accomplish great things at CBS Interactive. Good things really do come to those who wait (and work really hard while they are waiting). Thrilled for my next big step!