Behind the Crate: Interview with Senior Community Manager Dawn Banks!

Welcome to our latest chat with the folks behind the scenes that help make the magic happen here at Loot Crate!

When it comes to creating awesome social media experiences and connecting with our fans, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team do it better than Loot Crate’s Community Team.  Day in, day out, month in, month out, this team interacts with thousands upon thousands of Looters – sometimes it’s helping to create and support the overall Looter experience in fun and exciting ways, and sometimes it’s to act as another channel for Looters to go to when they have questions or need help.  The team is relatively small, and close knit, so they all have an opportunity to really have an impact – not only on Loot Crate’s social channels, but also on the products as well!  And a perfect example of that balance is Dawn Banks, one of the more tenured members of the Community Team, who took time to sit down and chat with me this week:

Dawn is right at home at Loot Crate, reppin’ her favorite styles and superheroes – often at the same time!

JB: Thanks for taking the time to chat with me, Dawn!  Before we get started, why don’t you tell us who you are and what you do here at Loot Crate?

Dawn: My name is Dawn and I’m the Senior Community Manager of Loot Wear, Marvel Gear and Goods, and the Deadpool Club Merc crates! I basically procure content for the Loot Wear and Marvel Gear and Goods social channels and interact with customers and fans to answer any questions they may have and to create a fun and engaging place for them!

With quite the impressive resume and background that includes social media, modeling, makeup artist, and so much more, what made you want to bring your talents to Loot Crate?  

I wanted to be among like minded people (aka geeks like myself) and work in an environment that would appreciate my geekiness and see that it could contribute to the fun things Loot Crate procures and puts out to fellow geeks with my nerdtastic background. I felt I had a lot to offer the company.

For years now I’ve heard folks speak very highly of what our community team is able to do month in and month out, and they’re amazed to hear how small our team actually is – how are you all able to handle that kind of workload with such a small team?

I think it comes down to coming up with a schedule for yourself and balancing the work load in a way that works best for each individual on the team. Asking for help is also a key factor in making sure everything runs smoothly on our side. If you need someone to cover your moderating shift, someone is always there to be able to assist, which is really great. Everyone has their own strengths and if you’re not familiar with a franchise, there’s always someone on the team you can ask to help you procure content for it. Or if someone is pretty strong with social media growth and engagement, they’re willing to teach you and help you become even stronger in the areas that need a boost.

You’ve been with Loot Crate for over three years now, so you’ve seen a lot of the serious growth and change this company has gone through. What’s been the most challenging part of working at Loot Crate during that time?  The most exciting/rewarding?

Well I started in Customer Support originally, and that definitely had it’s challenging moments, but the Support team is full of really great people and it really helped when things felt a little daunting. I think the most exciting thing is when celebrities stop by and get a tour. It’s always fun to see who shows up randomly while you’re sitting at your desk working away. Or when a viking horde shows up to present someone with a prize they’ve won from a gaming championship (That really did happen, and it was awesome!). Being somewhere when you can be yourself and it doesn’t matter what you look like or how you dress is definitely the most rewarding thing about Loot Crate that I most certainly never got from previous jobs.

Dawn rocks one of the coolest tattoos I have ever seen!

Now, I know we can’t spoil anything that might be coming up, but can you talk at all about any of your favorite Loot Crate products or franchises that we have featured since you started working here?

X-Men anything. They’re the religion I’ve been following since I was 12. You give me comic book X-Men anything, and I’m all over it! The Marvel Gear and Goods and Deadpool crates have had some really fun things in them and have some really great things coming up! I’m a huge Marvel fan.

You have a focus on a few major crate lines – Loot Wear, Marvel Gear and Goods, and Deadpool Club Merc.  What’s it like helping manage and consult on crate lines that are so in your wheelhouse?

It’s actually a lot of fun to be able to flex my knowledge in those areas and it feels good to be able to contribute to things I know so well. I knew all this useless geek knowledge would come in handy some day!

You write up all of our Loot Wear “For Her By Her” pieces that are featured right here on the Daily Crate – how cool is it to be able to connect the way you do with so many incredible artists?

It’s a huge honor actually! The women that we’ve spotlighted in those features are some of the most talented artists out there and a lot of them are so smart and witty and full of life! It’s been so fun getting to pick their brains about who they are and how their artistic process works.

I wish I had an OUNCE of Dawn’s fashion sense!

Speaking of artists, are there any artists we haven’t worked with yet that you’d love to see featured in one of our crates?

Kevin Wada, Marc Silvestri, Ashley Wood, Brianna Garcia, Jamal Igle, Jim Lee, Colleen Doran, Mark Brooks. I could go on and on.   

And now, for my go-to final question for each of my Behind the Crate interviews:  If you could create your very own product line for Loot Crate, what would it be?

Oh man, that’s hard because I love so many things. Maybe a goth box featuring goth icons from music, to comics, to television, etc. First theme: Darkwave.

Thank you so much for sitting down for his interview with me, Dawn!  Any last words for the folks before I let you go today?

Always bless the rains down in Africa.

Stay tuned for more interviews and Behind the Crate content coming your way each month!  And if you want to take a look at some of the amazing artistic work Dawn mentioned, including our Loot For Her subscription, then give Loot Wear a look!