User blog:ReadySetLoot/Welcome Ran Li, Fandom's new Senior Community Partnerships Manager, on the Community Activations team

Hello everyone! My name is Ran Li, I’m Fandom’s new Sr. Community Partnerships Manager, focused on working with major gaming publishing partners in order to build more connections between the Fandom community and the gaming industry. I joined the team in April 2022, and I’m very excited to share a bit about myself with everyone today through my first staff blog and very much looking forward to getting to know the community.

What’s my story?
I’m Ran, and I currently live in central North Carolina, but I consider myself an Angeleno at heart having spent almost a decade previously in LA. If I’m not indulging in my fandoms you’ll find me hiking outdoors, amongst other interests that I’ve acquired from my time in SoCal, including but not limited to my quest to find the best boba tea shop in North Carolina.

The majority of my background has been within the gaming and entertainment industries working with a diverse cast of AAA developers, publishers, and their enthusiastic gaming communities to help create positive experiences and ultimately better games.

What do I do at Fandom, exactly?
I’m on the Community Activations team, where I report to Brian Linder and have the pleasure of working alongside James and Tots on our gaming strategy. I’ll be cultivating and growing Fandom’s relationships with game publishers in the AAA space.

I’m responsible for identifying partnership opportunities with AAA publishers, and leading the charge to establish and grow those relationships. I’ll work closely alongside James to maintain a consistent communications channel with these major publishers, supporting them around activations, and determining ways that we can become better community partners with them.

My favorite fandoms
I’ll begin with the big one: video games. The first on my list has got to be Runescape Classic, it’s one of the first games I’ve played where I’ve spent hundreds of hours maxing my character and exploring the world. I’ve also been playing League of Legends since season 5 and even though NA hasn’t been successful internationally, I've watched the LCS and World Championship religiously with my friends each season. Lastly, I’m a big MMORPG person so if I’m not on League you’ll most likely catch me playing World of Warcraft, Guild Wars 2, or Elder Scrolls Online.

My second fandom is anime. From a young age I started watching anime shows before Toonami really took off in the US. I’ve accumulated quite a large list over the years with over 250 watched series, so It’ll be difficult to pick out a few favorites but I’ll list a couple favorites here: Gundam Wing, Yu Yu Hakusho, Rurouni Kenshin, Dragon Ball Z, Code Geass, and Kimetsu no Yaiba. I also really love and rewatch all of the Studio Ghibli films, most notably | Princess Mononoke and | Howl’s Moving Castle.

I can’t wait to get to know the community more
Now that you’ve learned a little more about me through my first staff blog, I can’t wait to connect with everyone and learn about your fandoms, and the variety of communities you participate in. I’ll be sure to keep you all informed on important updates and activations from our Fandom team and the amazing work we’re doing on the side of gaming. Lastly, I just wanted to say that I’m very excited to be here and to be surrounded by all the creative and positive members in the community. Please feel free to send me a message on Discord (Ran#0791), or leave a message below!