Issue #6 - October 2013
(Help us keep our newsletter Free,
visit our on-line Collectibles, Baseball & Athletic Gear Store)
**
Interview with Adam Rosen,
Strat-o-matic Game Co.**
(interview with Adam Rosen, the
Marketing Director of the Strat-o-matic Game Co.,
this is an email interview where Adam
answered our questions that we sent to him.)
(Notes from the Wolfman:
It is a great honor to finally be
able to present to our members some insights and updated
information from a representative of the Strat-o-matic Game
Co. We are so grateful to Adam for this opportunity to share with our readers what it is like to work
directly for the Game Co. I first had a chance to meet Adam
in 2012, when I received an email from the Game Co. about an
opportunity to sell the actual games and cards to others. I was
interested to know more and had a chance to speak to Adam about
this. Although doing one-on-one sales wasn't really the correct path for me at that
time,
I did discuss with Adam about the idea of doing an SOM Baseball
newsletter and about six month later this became a reality.
We wish to acknowledge Adam for his support to help us announce the upcoming
October on-line convention and honoring the work that goes in to
make this newsletter happen. I think Strat-o-matic is
lucky to have this young man as their Marketing Director, as he
is helping to to take Strat-o-matic into new and innovating ways
to let people know about the game we love!! )
|
Adam
Rosen
Marketing Director, SOM |
Wolfman:
We are very very honored today to finally be able to speak to a
representative of the game we all love, from the Strat-O-Matic
Game Co. itself. I wish to acknowledge Adam Rosen,
the SOM
Marketing Director
for
giving us this opportunity to share with our readers his special insights about
the game company and answering a few questions. Adam, Welcome to the Ultimate Strat
Baseball Newsletter!
SOM: No problem! Glad to take the time and thank you guys for
your support and loyalty to Strat over the years.
|
Wolfman:
If I recall correctly, the first SOM Baseball Game was
developed in 1961 by Mr. Richman, based upon the National League
and American League All-stars. We have had now over 50 years of gaming including
not only a baseball game but games for all the other major
sports
as well. So Adam, how does it feel to be working at the Game Company
today? What is it like and how many total people work directly for
the game company?
SOM: It is
awesome working for Strat! I grew up playing Strat-O-Matic
Baseball with one of my best friends when I was younger. He now
covers the Mets for the Wall Street Journal and I work for
Strat-O-Matic, so we both get to be around baseball everyday,
which is cool. There are 10 full-time employees at SOM, not
including our various game testers.
Wolfman:
What would you say is your most popular game and why? I would
think it would be the baseball game due to it being out the
longest? What is the second most popular game?
SOM:
Baseball is definitely the most popular of our games. The fact
that it was the first game the company created is certainly a
factor, but I think the sport of baseball in particular places
such a strong emphasis on statistics and probability that it
naturally translates well to Strat-O-Matic. Football is our
second most popular game.
Wolfman:
For the Baseball Game: Now that you have both a table game and
a computer game, which version is the most popular today and why?
SOM: Society
as a whole is obviously trending more towards digital products,
however, there is still a lot of demand for our board game as
well. There is something about the face-to-face interaction you
get when playing a board game that a computer game can never
match, which is why I think there will always be a market for
the board game. That awesome feeling of waiting for the new
cards to arrive in the mail and then opening them up with all of
your friends is also an experience that a computer will never be
able to replicate.
Wolfman:
What is Mr. Richman's current position with the game company? Has
he retired or is he still involved in major decisions for the
company going
forward? Is his son involved with the company in any
capacity? Who is
the main managing officer since Mr. Williams retired?
SOM: There
is a long-running joke that Strat-O-Matic was Hal’s third child
(or his first child- as his wife has joked), so I don’t
know if he will ever truly be 100% retired. Strat-O-Matic is a
labor of love for Hal. Nowadays he is usually in the office a
few days a week and is still involved with all major decisions
within the company. For those who are anxious to meet him, he
still attends Strat-O-Matic Opening Day every year in early
February!
Wolfman:
Which MLB players have had the closest or best relationship with
the game company over the years? Do you know which MLB players or sports announcers have
actually played the SOM Baseball Game? Have any of these
professionals discuss how playing the game and the strategies
they learned about managing MLB players has affected their
careers?
SOM: Keith
Hernandez has always been a huge Strat-O-Matic fan and
constantly makes references to the game during Mets broadcasts
on SNY. Doug Glanville (former Phillies outfielder who now works
as an analyst for ESPN) is also a Strat lifer and came to speak
at our 50th Anniversary Convention two years ago.
Some other notable Strat-O-Matic celebrities include: Cal Ripken
Jr., Lenny Dykstra, Bob Costas, Jon Miller, Drew Carey and Spike
Lee. There is a countless number of current players, former
players, managers, baseball executives, broadcasters and media
members who have played Strat-O-Matic at one point in their
life, and so many of them have attributed the game to giving
them a better understanding of the sport and helping shape the
careers they have today.
Wolfman:
Are there any new projects coming up for the Game Co. that you
are able to discuss with our readers such as a new game perhaps
or some enhancement to an existing game? If there is some new
features that
you are working on and are exciting, can you please tell us?
SOM: Since I
work on the marketing side as opposed to product development, I
can tell you about the current big promotion we are running: a
Strat-O-Matic Scavenger Hunt! Essentially, we have put together
a checklist of 27 Strat-O-Matic related tasks that participants
must complete. The first person to complete all 27 items OR the
person with the most tasks accomplished by Strat-O-Matic Opening
Day 2014 wins a $250 merchandise credit with the company. This
is a great opportunity to get involved with social media,
compete against other Strat-O-Matic fanatics and have fun! Who
says adults are too old to do a Scavenger Hunt?! For more
information, please visit:
http://www.strat-o-matic.com/community/announcements/strat-o-matic-scavenger-hunt
Wolfman:
Are there any specials stories linked to
the 50th anniversary in 2011 that were interesting or unusual
that might be of interest for our readers? I was not able to attend
this key event but I did hear a report of a few interesting stories, here and there. How did the
celebration go? What was the most memorable part of this
celebration for the game
company?
SOM: I think
the most memorable part of the 50th Anniversary
Celebration was just the incredible turnout. Over 700 people
showed up from all across the country (and some from out of the
country too!). It is heart-warming to see what a positive impact
Strat-O-Matic has had on so many people’s lives and the amount
of friendships the game has helped forge. As far as the event
itself- the speakers, panels and our emcee Bill Daughtry could
not have done a better job, and I think everyone enjoyed all of
the booths we had downstairs as well. The event was a tremendous
amount of work to put together, but I think we are all very glad
with how everything turned out. Let’s just say I didn’t get many
hours of sleep in the days leading up to the event. ;-)
Wolfman:
How can we, your loyal game players,
help Strat-o-matic? What help or support for the game company
can we offer in our gratitude for the great joy
and pleasure the SOM games have given to us over the years?
SOM: We have
so many incredible long-time customers whose loyalty over the
years has helped keep the company thriving. In terms of how you
can help the company moving forward, I would say the best thing
you can do is to continue spreading the word about Strat-O-Matic
games, especially to our youth. If you have any children,
introduce them to the game you have loved playing for so many
years. If they enjoy playing, have them introduce it to all of
their friends. While videogames are extremely popular today,
there is something special about playing Strat-O-Matic that you
can only understand after trying it for the first time.
Hopefully we can get our games into the hands of as many young
kids as possible, and from there, we are confident that the
games will be able to sell themselves.
Wolfman:
Since you are an employee for the game company, you have had
opportunities to meet and get to know Mr. Richman. How would you describe
him as he is the
creator of the game we love? What is he like in person?
What is he passionate about linked to his games? Is Mr. Richman happy with
the current format of the baseball game and his other games
after enhancing and tweeking the play of the games to be more
realistic? Is Mr. Richman open to suggestions from his
loyal fans how to improve a specific game? Does
Mr. Richman feel that he has accomplished his life work or does
he have more to do? Does he
have any regrets about how his company and the games have turned
out?
SOM: Hal is
a super nice guy! Loves watching sports and loves his family
(though not in that order!). Having graduated from Bucknell, he
is also very passionate about the Bucknell men’s basketball
team. Most of our staff meetings during the winter months
feature at least one Bucknell basketball update. He is a smart
and honest businessman, which I think is reflected in how long
the company has been around for. Personally, I think he is a
borderline genius for inventing the game itself, let alone at
such a young age. I think he is very happy with how his games
have turned out, but of course, we are always open to
suggestions for improvement. :-)
Wolfman:
Is there anything else the game company would like to share with
us that they feel is important for our readers to know which was not asked in the previous questions?
SOM: As the
Marketing guy at Strat, I would encourage everyone to get
involved with social media, if you haven’t done so already. In
particular, you should “Like” us on Facebook and follow us on
Twitter. Social media is an invaluable form of communication
that allows us to connect with our customers, and allows Strat
players to communicate with each other. We use Facebook and
Twitter for promoting discounts, making company announcements,
sharing cool photos, and many other things. Those who only check
the Strat-O-Matic homepage or who don’t use a computer at all
are definitely missing out on an important part of the
Strat-O-Matic community experience.
Wolfman:
What is the best way for our readers to contact you directly
(email or phone)? We all know about the Strat-o-matic website
but are there some special features on your website that you
recommend for our readers to check out. How can our readers follow
what is the latest news for the Game Company (if
they are not already) on Facebook and/or Twitter?
SOM: You can
reach us by phone Monday-Friday 8:30am-4:30pm ET at 516-671-6566
or 1-800-645-3455. On Wednesdays we open the phone lines at
10:30am instead of the usual 8:30am. We have three corporate
email accounts:
corporateinfo@strat-o-matic.com,
customerservice@strat-o-matic.com
and
techsupport@strat-o-matic.com.
If you send an email to any of those three accounts, it will
always get forward to the appropriate person.
Here is the direct
link to our Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Strat-O-Matic-Games/184660618996
Here is the direct
link to our Twitter page:
https://twitter.com/StratOMatic
Wolfman:
Once again, we are so so grateful for this chance to finally
speak to a representative of
Strat-O-Matic, thank you for your time Adam. I am sure our readers
are excited to have this chance to visit with
you. All of us of course wish for the game company continued
success and are so grateful for all that you do to provide for us
the best sports games on the planet.
SOM: Thanks so much, Wolfman! This was fun. Thanks for all that
you do in helping to promote our games.
(Final Notes from the Wolfman:
So dear readers, if there is a way
you are able to let other friends or associates know about
Strat-o-matic I am sure this will be well appreciated by the
Game Company and help to continue to support the high standards
and quality of realism that each SOM game has adding to our
playing pleasure. Again, we are grateful to SOM through Adam's
help, to put out announcements about our Convention coming up at
the end of October. You may wish to view the latest page about
the Convention as we introduce a revolutionary new way to offer
a Strat-o-matic Baseball Tournament. Hopefully in the future we
will have more chances to chat with the dedicated staff at SOM.)
