OUT OF OFFICE
IN THE
HOT SEAT Darren Roberts, Razer Razer’s regional sales manager for UK and Ireland reveals his most embarrassing moment at work and why he loves Taylor Swift What’s your most embarrassing moment in the trade? It was recently, actually. On a conference call I decided to tell a colleague about what I thought of another colleague’s attitude during a call. I didn’t realise I was sharing my screen at the time and the colleague in question could see my thoughts in all their glory on the huge projector screen. To be fair though, I stood by my thoughts and later told him in person. Any pet hates? Slow internet and phone coverage – especially in this day and age. Plus it affects my gaming, ahem, I mean work. What’s going to be the next big thing in tech? Virtual reality is making some huge strides forward. Razer’s lead on OSVR (Open Source Virtual Reality) is standardising platforms and pooling knowledge and resources for the benefit of everyone. Consumer-level VR (that doesn’t need a powerhouse PC to run it) is just around the corner. Favourite TV show? I’m a sucker for reality shows like Deadliest Catch, Fast and Loud etc but I am loving Ray Donovan and Arrow right now.
WHAT A KNIGHT THIS YEAR’S PCR Boot Camp North had a mix of talks, panel sessions and opportunities to do business – as well as fighting knights and giveaways, of course. Headline partner Microsoft gave away free Office 365 subscriptions to all delegates who visited its stand. Terra Computers director Neil Jensen gave away a TERRA MOBILE 1513 Notebook to the fastest driver on its F1 Gaming Experience (Leigh Hempsall of Xgates Computers, pictured bottom-right), while Agilitas give away an iPad Mini to Adrian James from ComputerBits (top-right). Centerprise Distribution handed out a CAT S30 rugged mobile handset; James Pilling from Midland Computers won a Rosewill Viper-Z gaming case from VIP Computers; and Gavin Holder from GHI Computers clocked Network Group’s fastest lap time (right), winning a gaming bundle. The event took place at The Royal Armouries in Leeds, so PCR couldn’t resist finishing the day off with a good ol’ medieval battle. In the after show party, attendees were treated to a fancy sword fight, and played around with the armour.
What are your guilty pleasures? Taylor Swift, although I blame my two children for that. Cheesy music is always on in my car – my kids and I are always listening to Kiss FM. I also find myself watching Twitch a lot nowadays, watching people stream games or “geeking out”, as my wife puts it. How competitive are you? Working for a gaming company, you have to be competitive. And as a gamer myself, I am very competitive inside and outside of work. Where do you see yourself in the next five years? A lot can happen in five years. I have been with Razer now for seven and it has flown by. I still see myself being involved in gaming peripherals and hardware. Would you like to nominate anyone for our next ‘In the hot seat’? Carly Cheshire from BenQ.
64 | PCR December 2015
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