Greg Laird is the CEO of Chaos Esports Club, the organisation formerly known as Digital Chaos. He’ll be speaking at ESI New York on April 23rd, discussing “From ‘basement dwellers’ to global superstars: the ever-changing perception and responsibilities of top esports players” alongside Barry Lee, Agent at Evolved Talent Agency, Kashan Khan, professional Smash player for Team Liquid, Scott Smith, Esports Veteran, and Saira Mueller, Founder of Women of Esports will moderate.
You can find out more about ESI New York and secure your ticket here. We spoke to Laird about why he decided to get involved with ESI New York and being somewhat responsible for his players’ perception.
Esports Insider: Why did you decide to speak at #ESINYC?
Greg Laird: As someone who has worked in many different areas of the industry (Player Manager, Caster, Biz Dev Manager for a Startup, Sponsorship Sales Director for a TO, and now team CEO) I feel I have a wide breadth of experience to share from on several topics. I have worked at the grassroots level of both an esports tech startup (Vulcun) and an esports tournament organiser (Beyond the Summit).
“There is absolutely a balance to still allow a player’s personality”
ESI: As a team owner, do you feel a responsibility to brief your players on how to behave both in and out of the game?
GL: Absolutely. It is my (and the general managers) responsibility to set very clear expectations around behaviour both in and out of game. Our contracts do lay out a pretty extensive list of things they definitely can’t do, but it’s also important to make sure they know that we still want their personality to shine through. There is absolutely a balance to still allow a player’s personality to be apparent while still maintaining appropriate behaviour.
ESI: How has the rebrand from Digital Chaos to Chaos Esports Club helped the perception of the organization?
GL: Most importantly we’ve established a brand that is easier to be a fan of. Our aim is to create a brand that fans can be proud to represent while away from the keyboard. This means clothing that doesn’t scream “I’m a gamer”. Chaos has a wider mainstream appeal. It has also helped establish our organisation goals and make them apparent to investors, helping us complete an acquisition by a new parent company recently.
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