Anyone work in the industry?

[Jon]

So I'm out of uni and after starting my degree intending to go into teaching (English), that's something I've left university with no intention to do whatsoever. I guess it always was the 'easy' answer to what my future career would be without giving it any real thought, and now I'm at the crossroads it's a direction I really don't want to pursue.

Lately I've been more seriously considering applying for jobs in the games industry, my education on the surface doesn't exactly lend itself to the option though and aside from a few skills with html/php/sql I'm no programmer or artist. What I have been looking at though are jobs in the customer side of the field, game master positions, community management and so on, with the opportunity to progress into more specific production roles further down the line.

I guess what has spurred me into considering this as a real option is my position as founder/administrator of what has become a rather successful fansite for an upcoming MMORPG, one which is frequented by developers and pretty much established as the best destination to visit for the title. I've been running it for about 28 months now, and in that time built it from a population that consisted of a couple of friends and I, to a community of 4000 members and quite a lot of activity, with a few bumps along the way to make sure it wasn't the easiest of rides. Suffice to say in that period I've gained a lot of 'experience' dealing with the community following a product and collectively managing it, as well as other duties such as producing newsletters and so on. I'm hoping this experience would provide a decent base to stick on any resume I fire off to production houses.

Now, I have a rather good relationship with the developers of the game my site covers, and they don't have their own dedicated community manager or game masters yet as the game is still some time from release and apparently, we're doing a good enough job containing the community that does exist in the meantime. So perhaps there might be some opportunities there in the future, though they are a US based studio and I'm in the EU, so I'm unsure about that. Basically, I'm just wondering if anyone out there with similar aspirations, or who has any experience from the otherside of the fence, from within the industry, who could tell me about getting into it and such. Hopefully, it's something I'll manage in 07!