Where the Magic Happens: Behind the Scenes at Community Team

Have you ever thought to yourself, where do these “Community” people come from?  Are they interfacing with a complex hologram based supercomputer, answering your questions and creating new content from a 99th floor office in a skyscraper, or are they toiling away in a damp cave somewhere, adding and subtracting Friends For Sale coins on a rudimentary clay-bead abacus created with the bones of the fish they eat raw? The answer, dear reader, is something in the middle. Serious Business is based in beautiful San Francisco, California and we don’t have holograms (yet), but we’re not sending messages by telegram either. Our offices are located in what’s known as the Financial District, in a moderately tall building on Market Street, a historic street that was one of the cities first major roads way back in the 1840′s. So, without further ado, here’s a short photo-essay I’ve put together to give you guys a sneak peek into our world.

Right hand returns mean business.

The view that launched a thousand ticket solutions.

Here’s David’s desk. The head honcho, the big man on campus, he requires a certain level of utilitarianism in order to keep his resolve. A bastion of service and support, David’s desk means business. Serious business.  He has no real decorations to speak of, only a fan to cool his fingers, lest they catch fire from typing too many epic answers or case studies. This is dangerous stuff, folks, make no mistake. David’s desk is centrally located and is widely regarded as the best seat in the house. Lest the job, or desk placement go to his head David also has the office phone on his desk and we make him buzz people in the building.

This is what God-tier moderation looks like.

This is what Terri looks like when she bans cheaters.

Next up is Terri. Terri’s desk is a reflection of her fun, outgoing personality. Unlike David, Terri has complex decorative requirements in order to be able to moderate, support and engage our communities: among those include at least one form of Nerf weaponry, an adorable animal and some kind of bad-ass action figure.You can also see a growing collection of stickers, a side effect of Terri’s insatiable desire for online shopping. She also has one of our custom made Serious Business blankets to protect her from the bracing San Francisco cold.

Plants thrive when surrounded by this level of productivity.

It looks clean, but you don't want to see inside the file cabinet.

Tom’s desk, while slightly less visually interesting than Terri’s has its own minimalist charm. He generally varies between two extremes, aseptically clean or completely buried in paperwork, notebooks, post-its and pens that don’t work. Tom’s time spent as an elite hacker in the jungles of Panama has conditioned him to a certain level of greenery, so Terri was kind enough to get him this lovely lucky bamboo which he has reportedly given a secret codename he refuses to reveal.

I hope this journey through Community Land has been both informative and exciting for you guys, but remember, it takes a lot of technology, plenty of paperclips and great communication skills to do what we do over here, but most important are the people. We wouldn’t be here without you guys, so keep playing and we’ll keep helping out!

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