welcome the director of Organized Global Play from Wizards of the Coast, Helene Bergeot!!
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RT: Welcome to the Hot Seat Helene, I'm really looking forward to asking questions from
someone as well travelled and closely related to MTG, thanks for stopping by!
HB: Thank you for inviting me!
RT: For those of you who don't know, Helene has been a big presence on twitter and is intimately
involved in running Magic's big events. My first exposure to Helene and feeling directly connected
to WotC's staff was through twitter and her accessibility at the incredibly Modern Masters event in
Las Vegas! I believe this was your first real life "exposure" to the guys from Heavy Meta too?
HB: Correct. Natasha (Lewis Harrington) and Heather (Dawn Lafferty) convinced me to stop by at the “podcast house” where many podcasters were staying during the Grand Prix; it was a great opportunity to meet many members of the Magic community I had interacted with only online so
far.
RT: Where did you get your start in Magic?
HB: I playtested Magic back in 1994 (I was at that time Games Brand Manager for Kenner
Parker, a subsidiary of Hasbro) and loved the game immediately. When Wizards of the Coast
opened their office in Paris a year later, I immediately applied.
RT: What fuels your interest in Magic? (Outside of work)
HB: The people! Magic is first of all a community and it gives me the opportunity to constantly
meet awesome people; it’s an amazing source of inspiration.
RT: What do you think of the growth that magic has experienced over the last few years? What
do you attribute that to?
HB: I believe it’s a combination of different factors; Duels of the Planeswalkers has brought lots
of new players into the game while the annual sets continue to get better and better. Additionally, over the past five years, stores have started to run events more regularly, creating these
incredible community hubs for Magic.
RT: What does the sense of community mean to you in Magic? Do you have a local spot? Is
there anything that WotC is planning to do to strengthen the community aspect of the game?
HB: There’s a strong sense of community and ownership in Magic that makes Magic much more than a game. I don’t really have a particular local spot—you can feel that sense of community
at many different levels, including online. With that said, I particularly enjoy Grand Prix events
because each one brings its share of amazing community-related stories.
As the sense of community and ownership is so important for Magic, it is critical for us to listen
to the players. Feedback is absolutely vital. Another priority is to make sure that Magic events
are welcoming to all and we’re constantly looking at ways to meet this goal - it is an on-going
process!
RT: You organize major magic tournaments all over the globe, what's it like traveling and seeing
different cultures all sharing the same interest in Magic?
HB: You touch on a very important point here, which is the global nature of Magic and its community. Every time I travel, I get the opportunity to better understand the specificities of that country as well as the expectations of the local players; I therefore make sure to not only attend large events but also spend some time in store visits. It’s a great way to keep a fresh perspective on how to provide the best possible experiences to all players.
RT: Do you have a favourite place you've travelled for magic? Anywhere you'd like to visit?
HB: Hard to tell as I’ve had the chance to visit lots of exciting places, but I would probably say
Moscow when we organized an Invitational event to launch the Russian edition of Magic.
My bucket list is still pretty long :)
RT: Is there anything you're specifically excited to experience in Magic's future?
HB: There are a lot of growth opportunities for Magic, specifically in Asia and Latin America;
creating events that will contribute to the expansion of local communities in these areas is an
extremely exciting prospect for me.
RT: What do you think regarding the future of MTG in paper vs its digital future?
HB: I strongly believe that the future of Magic is intimately tied to the strength of its community,
whether it is online or in-person.
<Lightning Round -- We play red, you knew this was coming>
RT: Favourite colour to play
HB: Red.
RT: Favourite card
HB: Splendid Genesis (I received one directly from Richard Garfield, and it’s therefore a very
special card to me)
RT: Favourite figure in Magic (Player and/or character)
HB: I’ll pass (I cannot play favourites here!)
RT: Favourite Set
HB: Theros! I’ve been waiting for such a setting for ages (my first name is Greek, I’m a big fan of
mythology and took 5 years of Greek)
RT: Do you listen to MTG podcasts?
HB: Only very occasionally as it’s difficult to find the time
RT: Do you play any other games?
HB: Copy-paste of previous answer :)
<Grabs fire extinguisher>
RT: A number of new companies appear to be moving into the competitive card game market,
none of them at present have the depth of MTG but a lot of them incorporate a lot of interesting
new takes on the structure of the game. Are there any new angles you've seen with games like
Sol Forge and Hearthstone that you think MTG could adopt or do differently?
HB: My role being focused on Organized Play, I look at other games from a very specific angle; particularly, what makes events exciting and engaging for the players. It’s always very interesting to see how other games approach a given goal! Right now, we’re looking at ways to add more engaging elements to various levels of Magic events.
RT: What do you think is the best way to introduce new players to the game and help them get
started in the Magic community?
HB: As much as there are many ways to start playing Magic (with Duels of the Planeswalkers, with a friend, at a local gaming store), we’re focusing our efforts to make Friday Night Magic the best way to get introduced in the Magic community. I like to describe FNM as being the glue of the local communities :)
RT: My MTG community started in England but has since expanded across the globe through
my travels and with social media (Twitter, Youtube, and Facebook). The core thing I've seen
no matter where I've gone, is a shared interest in the game and the rich social experiences that
it creates. On that note I'd like to shout out the Heavy Meta Podcast and it's army of listeners
(#HMSVU) around the globe for fuelling my interest when I've been away from home!
RT: Do you have anyone you'd like to shout out?
HB: Yes, but the list is going to be long!
RT: Is there anything else you'd like to add?
HB: Just a quick reminder about how important it is for us to receive feedback about the events you attend. We’re all committed to constantly look at ways to improve Magic events, you’re in the best position to tell us how things are going!
RT: Thanks again Helene, your accessibility over social media has been fantastic, looking
forward to continuing our conversations!
HB: Thanks again for inviting me, I hope we’ll have the chance to meet in person eventually!
RT: :D
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Stay tuned for more BIG players in the MTG community :)
#MTGConnections
#HMCommunity
#SVUgrowth
Shout out to the SVU podcast! If you haven't checked it out see the link above :)
ALSO, I am looking for submissions for your best BURNINATOR decks. Leave a comment or catch me on Twitter :D (There may be prizes involved)
@Ricostravels
