Are you interested in getting paid to play games during work hours and receive free tickets to Dreamhack 2014? Does spending a summer by the beach in a beautiful Swedish town talking to companies about how they can better connect with gamers sound good to you? Well maybe you should take part in a competition being run Destination Jönköping in cooperation with Dreamhack and Science Park Jönköping called Best Gamer Job.
They’re looking to find two ‘Gaming Mayors’ for Jönköping to promote the city by blogging about their experiences of mixing work and gaming. Of course that’s not all they’ll be expected to do, other tasks given to these mayors will be to act as gaming experts during 10 workshops with local companies, to introduce gaming profiles whom Jönköping should get to know, and introduce gaming conferences that Jönköping might like to host.
The city of Jönköping has been hosting Dreamhack since 2001 and they seem to be using this competition as a way to increase awareness of the city. For those who may not have heard of it before Dreamhack is one of the largest eSports events in the world. Hosted biannually it draws in around 30,000 visitors to the city and millions more watch the live streamed broadcasts over the internet. The latest event kicked off yesterday on the 28th November and will run through until 1st December, as eSports players and teams from all over the world converge to compete against each other across eight different titles, these include Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, StarCraft 2, and League of Legends. Each competition has its own impressive prize purse ranging from €11,000 for the likes of Quake Live and Battlefield 4 to more than €180,000 for the Counter-Strike tournament, so the incentives to compete and win are high.
That’s not all Dreamhack is though, the 4 day event also features; an expo where many companies will come and show off their products; a merchandising store where gamers can pick up all the latest gadgets, hardware and software; a live stage that will host guest speakers, crazy competitions, and live music in the evenings; a stream called Kreativ, which offers a wide range of competitions for all interested in being creative with computers, video camera, photo camera, and more where the DreamHack audience becomes the judge.
So there’s a lot to be tempted by with just a free ticket on offer to Dreamhack, but the two winners will also be a paid a salary of €5000 for the job, be put up in a hotel or apartment, have an office space to work from and a computer to work on. The deal starts to sound even sweeter doesn’t it. So what’s in it for the city?
Camilla Littorin, the Enterprise Manager of Jönköping Municipality said, “This is the start of a long term process to raise Jönköpings appeal through emphasizing its place in the gaming industry.” She was also able to justifiably boast that, “There are many cities looking to gain from the gaming industry and eSports. After 12 years with Dreamhack in Jönköping, we’ve developed a symbiosis with the gaming industry, which we plan to take advantage of in future enterprises.”
They hope that the two months job will raise the city’s status as a hub in the international gaming community. That the gamers’ input, whether it be through introducing potential gaming panels and conferences for the city to host, or through potential gamer profiles the city can collaborate with, will achieve that goal.
So what are you gamers waiting for? You’ve got the opportunity to earn money, get free tickets, and build a great summer story, all while playing and talking about games. I think that’s worth the effort of entering a free competition don’t you?
