Kenneth Burns
Tim Gerritsen of Big Rooster and Keith Fuller of Raven Software.
When it comes to bringing in high-technology employees, the Badger State can be a tough sell. "There's this vision that Wisconsin is Siberia," said Keith Fuller, a producer at Middleton-based video game studio Raven Software.
Fuller drew the frigid analogy last Thursday, when he spoke at a suburban Milwaukee meeting of the Wisconsin Innovation Network. Also speaking at the meeting, held at Brookfield Suites Hotel and Convention Center, was Tim Gerritsen, founder of Big Rooster LLC, a Fitchburg game developer.
In remarks to a group of about 50 -- students, politicians, businesspeople -- the two discussed their firms' histories, the future of video game development, and what West Coast sophisticates really think of Wisconsin and its people. "I've encountered this mentality from California folks," said Fuller, "of 'You're from Wisconsin, but you can understand complex concepts?'"
Both men gave what amounted to recruiting talks, which was fitting -- would-be employees attending Milwaukee Area Technical College and the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design were there. So, too, was a very nice high school student from Elkhorn, who over a light lunch of cold cuts and melon told me that he had just built a beefy PC gaming rig. (His absence from school was, he assured me, excused.)
The two firms are starkly different. Founded in 1990 by brothers Brian and Steve Raffel, Raven Software is a wholly owned subsidiary of industry giant Activision, which is in the process of merging with Vivendi Games, another titan. Raven's 150 employees produce megaselling titles like Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.
Big Rooster, meanwhile, was formed just last year. It is a small company, and does much of its work consulting for other entertainment firms. Wisconsin native Gerritsen previously was CEO of Human Head Studios, another Madison-area video game developer.
Gerritsen and Fuller agreed that Madison has much to offer potential employees in the video game industry, including cultural amenities and cheap housing. "A house that costs $1 million in California costs $200,000 here," noted Gerritsen. Even so, when Fuller showed a slide of Raven's four-year-old headquarters in Middleton, he playfully pointed out that the picture was taken in summer. "We don't use photos from winter when we're recruiting in California and Texas," he said.
The weather likely would not bother one potential employee who attended the talk, Madison native Alayna Lemmer, who is studying illustration at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. A life-long gamer, she has on her arm a tattoo inspired by the Suikoden series of console role-playing games.
She had brought her portfolio to the talk, and she clutched it hopefully as she told me, "It's my dream to work for one of these firms."
