Interview with GlitterKat - ex Habbo UK staff
I had the pleasure of speaking with GlitterKat, an ex Habbo UK staff, on Twitter the other day and of course, I couldn't resist to ask for an interview! Thanks so much to Mandy for agreeing to open up about some really interesting topics - enjoy the read, y'all!
Interview by KrushGear for Habbox :-
Hey GlitterKat! Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview with me. It has been long since you left working with Sulake, almost 8-9 years? How are you?
GlitterKat: Thanks for having me and thanks so much to you and your lovely Habbox followers for the perilous mountain of questions! I'll try my best to answer them all... and not fall asleep too much! Had a late night last night - Blame DJ_Shadow as we were chatting like mentals about random things, till 3am in the .com hotel, eek!
It has indeed been a LONG time - I started working for Sulake as a Moderator from my home in Yorkshire in about 2002-2003,and then moved to London to work for Sulake in their offices which, back then, were on Upper Thames Street near Cannot Street. And you know, those offices have been knocked down now?! Worked for Sulake since late 2003 until late 2006, so about 3 years.
I think everyone has this burning question they hope to be answered - why did you leave as staff in the first place? (Question by @GoldenMerc)
Thanks GoldenMerc – Well, working for Sulake was my first ever proper job. I was very young, and a completely different person back then. Creative, articulate and friendly, but also very immature and sometimes a bit troubled. When you’re young, you handle challenges differently (usually running round the office screaming – joke!). The work was fun, but also extremely, (and sometimes impossibly!) challenging/stressful. I left Sulake, honestly, to grow up. I’d had *the best* opportunity given to me and don’t have many regrets. Can I also mention, that if it wasn’t for people like Dionysus (Mark) and Becs, I’d have never had such a wonderful opportunity, so hats off to them, really! :)
Q: What was working for Sulake like for you? Was it a secure position, good benefits package with ample training? (Question by @HOSKO02)
Thanks HOSKO02 – Fun, but incredibly challenging. Some Habbos may have the illusion that working for Sulake is all plasto and rainbows, but believe you me, it isn’t! It’s genuine hard work. Online safety workshops, meetings, paperwork, contracts, rotas, marketing etc. I don’t remember being littered with benefits aside from the normal X days holiday and all the furni you could possibly eat…but then, we were a small organisation back then… and my brain is like a sieve, haha! Same goes for training. Because of our size, a lot of it was buddying, studying and learning on the job.
What do you miss most/least about working for and with Habbo? (Question by @lawrawrrr)
Thanks lawrawrrr – Omg, I really miss writing Habbo newsletters. Think I may have some old ones knocking about in .txt files actually, from when they were written post edit. Used to love picking articles, poems, songs from other Habbos to feature and know I’d make someone happy. Also, as silly as it sounds, I miss prancing about as SafetyFairy… *DING!* and holding safety quizzes. And most importantly, I miss helping keeping Habbos safe. It’s a dangerous world out there.
I don’t miss the stress of doing 78762464942404 things at once! Oh, and having to run around the Lido, looking for kids with afros and making sure the pool isn’t closed due to… erm, bobba!
Do you have any insider info on internal communications from Helsinki? ;) (Question by @HOSKO02)
Thanks HOSKO02 – No, and even if I did, I don’t have much money and companies can sometimes do this thing called suing, which doesn’t sound like too much fun, LOL! (Ain’t nobody got time for dat!)
Who was your favourite hotel manager during your time in office? (Question by @Kyle)
Thanks Kyle - Becs. I ADORE that woman. She was my idol, inspiration and a woman who taught me how to be strong and not listen to the… (for lack of a better word) bobba.
Do you still keep in contact with any of the old staff members?(Question by @Kardan)
Thanks Kardan - Yes! PrncssDncr/Mags/Megan (she’s my best friend irl), Becs, Sken, Daisy. I still hear from Entmaiden, Lindamerlin, SEC, Lost_Witness, Jibbi & Dionysus on occasion.
What are you doing currently, work wise? (Question by @Mikey)
Thanks Mikey - Something TOTALLY different. I’m selling combs to bald men. Jokes! :p – I work as a Line Trainer for a large pension company. Been there over 4 years and absolutely love it.
Do you regret leaving Sulake?
No. I had my time there and am happy with what has and/or could have been.
It will also be interesting to hear some behind-the-scenes stuff during your time! There are, at the moment, questions raised regarding the fate of ex-staff members - did Jibbi really go to Peru and Bolivia? Why was 'Callie' invented and Impetuous just didn't become the manager? (Questions by @Kardan)
Thanks Kardan – Jibbi did indeed venture to Peru, Bolivia & a whole host of other places. Jibbi’s so lovely and has always had a passion for adventure and travel :) You know, I have no idea why Callie was invented. It never made any sense to me back then, and still doesn’t now. Maybe she wanted a clean slate from Imp? Maybe she wanted a name change? In all honesty, I don’t know. Me and Imp/Callie were never that close, so don’t know much about it I’m afraid.
We were always so busy back in the day, so grabbing food when you’re trying to do a gazillion things is quite hard. Given that fact, the funniest thing I remember from behind the scenes was that Dionysus (Mark), god love him, would eat most things, regardless of how long they’d been in the fridge! I recall him eating some left over takeaway chicken wings once that had been there for about 4 days. How that man is still alive and still has a stomach, I’ll never know!
What was the best (business or otherwise) decision Habbo ever made when you worked there? (Question by @Kyle)
Thanks Kyle - There were a few. Stopping mods worrying about scripted furni and getting them focussed on real issues. Launching the InfoBus. The first ever Talk To Frank campaign, which gave users the chance to speak about drugs, confidentially, to a trained adviser 24 hours a day.
Are there any players you distinctly remember when you were still staff?
Anyone remember RAREBOY? *runs and hides* :p –Wyld-, Spawn_Xe, Crass, Jephyrrr, skankinpixy, TUAT.U, Xander-K, yeaaaahhh, DJMO, sisil, gissberg, Hippy, RedVelvet, lilduckie (RIP Christine <3), Bortwein, cotswoldrob – there are probs a million more, so sorry if I’ve missed you!
What are some things players do that gets on your nerves?
Just people who cause havoc and ruin other people’s experiences. Understand kids will be kids, but just don’t like nasty for nasty’s sake. So, bullies, people who harass, blockers, spammers, begging when it’s persistent etc. Oh and HABBO BABIES. “WAAAA, MWUMMY, WAAAA!” *shudder. No. Just, no.
Are there any controversies you still remember during your time as staff?
That me and Dionysus were dating (say whaaaat?!), then I was apparently pregnant numerous times – I’d have about 15 kids now if the rumors were true, haha! Maannn, there were LOADS! People will make up anything to make them and/or their fansites more popular. It’s proper paparazzi newspaper-stylee madness in that hotel sometimes, lol! :)
Let's move on to modern Habbo - I know you have been on the game recently under the alias iPigi - what do you think of the game now? Which features do you like? (Questions by @Andys)
Thanks Andys - So far, I’m absolutely loving it! Love how customisable everything is, and that you can have things pretty much any colour of the rainbow, and in/out of walls and floors… and best thing, not getting bashed around the head for scripting to do it! :D Also loving that when you reload a room, you get thrown back in, as a pose to the old days when you’d get booted to hotel view and then spend ages trying to remember which room you were in. Only thing I don’t like so far, is that you can’t change your wardrobe around when it’s full.
What is your favourite furni, then and now? (Question by @Kyle)
Thanks Kyle – Have always loved the pod chairs in old Habbo, and I love, love, love the rainbow in new Habbo. So beautiful to have your very own rainbow in your room! I don’t like the Obbah Wobbas though… they freak me out. :/
Habbo has lost lots of players over the years - where do you think they might have gone wrong? (Question by @Andys)
Thanks Andys - From talking to a few old skool Habbos over the past few weeks, it may have had a lot to do with the merge. Also, since the merge, I’ve heard a lot of people mentioning that the user age has dropped drastically, so it’s harder to hold a decent convo. Don’t know how true these things are though, as I’ve only been back to Habbo for a few weeks.
Do you have anything to say or share to our fansites, players and staff, current and old?
Think I’ve shared a lot in this interview as it is, so to wrap up - Thanks so much to everyone for making Habbo the community it is, then and now… and don’t say beep, say bobba ;)
last thing - do you have any further items of memorabilia that can be shared in digital format? Screenshots of in-client, text files of old newsie articles, pictures of the offices etc - all of these would be very helpful to the HabboxWiki and would likely not be found elsewhere online.
I do, but would have to go digging and also ensure there isn’t any personal data or such before sending. Will have a dig sometime soon & will of course let you know what I find.
Thank you so much GlitterKat! Much appreciated!
Thank you too! If anyone ever wants to drop by for a chat, I’m around the .com hotel on username iPigi :) See ya’s for now!
