SC2SEA.com - Starcraft 2 SEA eSports Community Site

So you want to start an SC2 eSports Division.
 

Disclaimer: I am not a professional in any related field - marketing, PR, HR or even management. Please seek further advice. There are people who get paid to do these things for a reason, and there are people with vast eSports management experience that I'm sure would be happy to give advice.

My motivation for this blog is pretty obvious. Recently we've had a few awful attempts by organisations to try and recruit on sc2sea. A friend of mine is looking to join such an organisation, and it's depressing for me to see people making such a poor effort that I'm telling him that he'd be insane to join them.

First up, why are you recruiting on a community website? It reeks of laziness and unprofessionalism. If you're dead set on it, get in contact with the site's admin, asking not only permission to advertise your business, but to check that you're going about it the right way. Don't end up posting in the wrong forum.

Know the game
If you (or your sponsors) are going to give money to someone, how can you be sure you're giving it to someone worthwhile if you don't know how the ladder works? Follow some local tournaments. Read the news on at least sc2sea and Team Liquid. Reddit (/r/starcraft) is also a good way to prepare you for the inevitable lynching when you screw up. Perhaps most importantly, play the game at least once if you don't already.

Not only will this mean that you don't make a post asking for platinum and above players on the Australian server, but it will help you scout for players so that you can approach them personally.

Know that the top tier guys already have teams. This is a saturated market. If you follow the news you might track down good players who are teamless - but find out why they're teamless. Recruiting a player who won a tournament and was caught maphacking isn't going to endear you to the community.

Know the community.
Like any business, you need to know your customers. It might be hard to tell at times, but overall I think SC2 attracts an older, more mature set than FPS and MOBA games tend to. Generally this means that your usual crap isn't going to cut it.

I hate to use the phrase itself, but 'lurk moar' really applies here. You need to understand how a community operates before you start contributing. If you make a bad thread or post on Team Liquid, you will not only be swept away in the flood of other mediocre topics, but you will be crushed by the mods. If this comes as a shock, welcome to the internet.

SC2SEA is somewhat more relaxed and forgiving, but we will still judge the shit out of you. A classic mistake would be to start arguing with prominent community members. If there's an issue then you've probably made a mistake (which could have been avoided by following my advice). If it gets to that point, apologise and explain the situation fully. Don't get drawn into ad-hom.

Be clear on what you have to offer.
Our community is mature, intelligent and very suspicious. People will do due diligence. If you have sponsors, make sure those sponsors know that they're sponsors - if possible have your logo on their website, not just the other way around.

Also: show, don't tell. I don't really care that your Cindy's Magical Treehouse player won the Pan-Pacific championship twenty seven times in a row. Show me a picture of him looking gooood in your team uniform, with champagne spraying his manager, and I'm impressed. If you're not at that stage, figure out a happy compromise.

One thing I never see that I'd like to is referrals from current and past team members. Did you promise to fly a player somewhere, you followed through and they had a great time (even if they didn't win)? Did you have an SC2 player in the past who is no longer with you because he retired? Get them to post.

Be clear on the size of your organisation. Is it just you? If it is and you don't have a profile, get a business partner.

Be professional.
This is pretty broad. Really, being professional comes down to a question that the people you do business with will ask themselves. 'Can I trust this organisation with my money?'

If you can't act like an intelligent, well adjusted example of Homo sapiens, then the answer is going to be no. If you're under 18, really you should be making a clan and waiting until you know a bit more about the way the industry operates.

Names - real name 'nickname' real last name. Note that 'nickname' is not the XBL tag you made when you were 12. You can't be anonymous anymore. While I'm talking about names, your team's name should be googleable, part of which is not changing your name, your players names or the name of your organisation. Artosis cries every time.

Formatting, spelling and punctuation - this should be obvious. Separate yourself from the spam email I just received from from noreply@battel.net asking for my password. Know your BB-code and use it to make your post readable. Have links in your post to your presence on the internet - web, social media, results, press. Show that this isn't an isolated thread, posted on a whim.

Reacting to negative posts - as I touched on above, this is a variation on 'the customer is always right'. Apologise, be transparent and move on. If the issue persists, contact a moderator. Don't back seat mod or get angry. Even if they aren't trolling you, they will be soon if you do react.

Have your website up to date before you recruit. Seriously. If you can afford web design and hosting then it says a lot about your ability to manage a team.

Social media. This is too big to cover, but just saying don't be an idiot should cover it. Don't write anything that you might ever regret. If you did in the past, see above.

TL; DR: If you can't read a page of reasonably readable text, you aren't cut out to run an eSports organisation.