Last month, we began our Who’s Who series with the Warehouse Crew. Now we’re highlighting the two people in charge of wrangling the Warehouse Crew and keeping your games shipping smoothly.
Meet Jodie Wagner, our certified Warehouse Manager and our “Shipping Princess”. She’s also the mother of our warehouse robots and the unofficial IT department for the office. Her job involves a lot of planning while ensuring all the parts involved in the warehouse keep running and working together to avoid slowdowns, errors, and frustrations.
And meet Matt Kroll, our Inventory and Convention Manager. Matt’s job entails a little bit of everything: data entry for new products in our system, managing warehouse staff day to day, meetings meetings meetings, a little game development, and a lot of convention prep. In Matt’s words, “Whatever GTG needs. I fix things”. He’s also the guy to go to with any Dune questions.
What’s one of your favorite things about working in the GTG warehouse?
J: The best part of GTG is, and has always been the people. Beyond that, the warehouse gives me a wide array of problems to solve on a regular basis. It lets me stretch my creativity and problem-solving skills in rewarding ways.
M: The crew, let’s be honest, putting things in boxes and moving pallets around the warehouse is exhausting, stressful, and not the most fulfilling, but getting to work with the second family I have at GTG makes it a dream job.
What’s your favorite way to unwind after a busy day?
J: Riding my bike home, cooking dinner, eating with my family, taking a walk, enjoying a drink, and playing a game or reading a book. It sounds really specific, but I’ve just been adding to a list of things I really enjoy ending my day with. Soon, I’ll be able to return to aerial circus, which I’ve missed dearly since the pandemic began. It’s my old go-to for unwinding, when I can.
M: Pre-pandemic? Going out to all our great local breweries and restaurants. Currently? Video games.
What’s one thing you wish people knew or understood about working at the GTG warehouse?
J: Logistics problems require a lot of attention to detail. And they will always deviate from plans in some way, and sometimes that’s catastrophic. So it’s best to plan as thoroughly as you can as soon as you know as many relevant details as possible.
M: Shipping is hard. It’s hard to do it right, it’s expensive, there’s a lot of red tape, it’s hard to do it efficiently, and it’s hard to get carriers to do what you want or need. We work really hard to get your stuff to you.
If you could snap your fingers and become an expert in something, what would it be?
J: Computer programming. I want to be able to automate away all of my problems effectively and efficiently.
M: Video production so I can become the internet celebrity I was born to be. Also, I watch a lot of YouTube.
If you could trade places with anyone for a day, who would you choose?
J: Laura Jane Grace would be a fun one for a bit. Get to be a rock star. Seems like exactly the amount of being a rock star I’d want… one day only.
M: Adam Savage, he seems like he’s having a lot of fun.
If you could only have three apps on your smartphone, which would you pick?
J: A podcast app, navigation, messaging. Use those things all the time.
M: Chrome, Google Maps, Camera. That seems like a meta-game answer, but I think that covers all my bases.
What’s the most unique food you’ve ever eaten?
J: I make a pretty good vegetarian Reuben sandwich that I’ve never seen anywhere else.
M: Philly Taco. What’s up, Rae?
If you could choose a superpower, what would it be?
J: Can it be all of Spider-Man’s powers? Because that’s a great power set that would be useful for work and for aerial circus.
M: Teleportation because airports are the worst.