I am Victoria from reddit. AMAA!

Of all the admins, current and former, who is your favorite?

TRICK QUESTION! I LOVE ALL OF YOU!

and the lord loves you

Praise Cage! May he save us from the bees!

So when can we expect his AMA?

Or are you afraid to organize one because Reddit would crash?

Are you kidding? I've been campaigning for one for ages. The powers that be...know.

she told me recently that I was her favorite.

Wait wait wait. WAIT.

She told me I was her favourite Canadian admin. Now I know why she specified "Canadian."

/goes to cry in the corner.
snobs I thought you loved me /u/chooter sobs

I love you!!

I was expecting you to say Victoria here with Victoria from Reddit!

A lot of people goof off at work by getting on Reddit. What site do you go to?

I like to go to my favorite subreddits also, actually. Shoutout to /r/OneTrueGod, /r/IAMA (of course), /r/aww and all its attendant cuteness... I like mega AskReddit threads that go on for days. I love /r/TwoXChromosomes. I love /r/CrappyDesign.

Flirtiest AMAs? Don't act like it's never happened ;)

JEFF GOLDBLUM.

VIA PHONE.

Richter-scale charm.

EDIT: Also, Antonio Banderas told me a few times that I sounded "tall and beautiful" which I thought was hilarious.

It seems like a lot of redditors are under the impression that your sole job is to type for celebrities. What other duties does your job entail?

Oh my (said in my best George Takei voice). Much more than that. I deal with incoming and outgoing media & press relations, as well as general communications planning internally and externally (like this AMA app launch, for example) as well as presenting best practices to various organizations that want to interact on reddit to hopefully help them do better and have better experiences working with our community (whether organizational, non-profits, governmental, etc).

Basically I'm reddit's personal C-3PO. I am fluent in over six million forms of communication!

What is your education or experience background?

I went to college for communications & triple-majored in advertising, PR and marketing.

Fellow female Redditor here - you're pretty damned cool. If I had a City Mouse version of myself, I'd want to be like you.

My role model when I was a kid was Gadget in Rescue Rangers.

Do you type exactly what people say?

Yes.

Absolutely. Even the ums, errs, pauses, grammatical ticks, "you knows," deep breaths... and I'm trying to include gestures too. But it's hard.

You can even convey tone of voice using formatting!

How many of them actually want to type the answers by themselves? Do you give them options like: A. you type the answers B. I type the anwers C. we switch after a bunch of questions

I give them all the options, yes. Sometimes I've had to switch into typing mode halfway through when talent get tired.

you are the talent!

What?

After reading the Jeff Goldblum and Norm MacDonald AMAs I'm convinced that she types everything word for word.

Thanks - Jeff Goldblum's AMA was AMAZING. You have to imagine his mega-watt charm on the phone - some of those answers took 5 minutes to get through, each - the "hmmmmmmmmmms" were epic.

I would love a video of that.

You can't handle his megawatt charm. None of us can.

She keeps saying megawatt guys. What is megawatt and how can I get some?

Easy. Get a million charm generators set at one watt. Connect in series.

^{EDIT - gold? serious? for this!? thanks! :)}

You! You get it!

Also, if you can, you should totally go check out his jazz nights in LA at Rockwell. They are amazing. He flirts with the entire room.

What sorting do you have switched on during ama question selection?

Usually "Best," and then I switch to "New" about halfway through.

Do you check orangereds at all? To get the followup questions?

Yes.

Why is it that some of the celebrities need to come to Reddit headquarters and others don't need to?

We don't make it mandatory by any means to stop by reddit HQ - instead, it's an invitation we extend to folks that might want to stop by (because they need a place to do their AMA from, during a busy press day - they might not have an office room available, or it might be a convenient stop going from Point A to Point B). Other times talent or their teams might be curious about what reddit HQ look like, or just want the more personal experience of doing their AMA in-person (which can make it more fun). I've helped out hundreds of people via phone, though.

Can I come to the Reddit HQ and meet all the office dogs?!

Sure! Message me and if I can, happy to help show you around.

Oh my God @___________@

I love you Victoria. Hopefully my boss will understand that this is worthy of taking a day off for

:)

Are there office cats, or are you guys racist?

EDIT: who dun gilded me?

I have TWO cats. I don't bring them to work because one of them is derpy and would probably cry and pee in a corner.

If a redditor asks something relating to a reddit-inside-joke do you fill the guest in on the meaning and let them decide to answer or do you just tell them, "you don't have to answer that?"

And do you pick good questions for them or are they on their own?

I fill them in on the background. And I try to help sift through thousands of questions - I'm a speed-reader who's adept in scanning thousands of questions. I type so fast I have 2 computers that I frequently work faster than.

So this is how you are supposed to reddit.

I don't use any sort of artificial enhancement on my reddit. I keep it natural, just the way God made it.

Woody Harrelson..... any chance he might come back for a second try?

I wish! I think he could totally redeem himself. I'd love to help him.

If you had been helping Woody with his first AMA, do you think it would have turned out differently?

Yes. I know it would have turned out differently.

Hi Victoria!

Has any celebrity completely changed your perception of him/her by how they handled their AMA?

Aww that snoo is so cute, thank you!

YES, absolutely. I love that element of surprise when you really connect with someone, or you get to bond with them in a really interesting way. For instance, Gilbert Gottfried is a really sweet guy. My AMA with Terry Gilliam, I was laughing the entire time - we both were, actually. Ben Stiller really went outside of his comfort zone, which was a really enjoyable experience, to speak with him. Tilda Swinton did all her own typing, but I stayed on with her mostly on mute and talking occasionally when she had questions, and she was incredibly sweet, funny and kind. Very cool. I'll come back and add to this answer!

Some more cool surprising ones: Pedro Pascal was awesome. Incredibly humble and down to earth and REALLY nerdy. Really, really awesome guy.

Keanu Reeves is really really smart. And a good soul. Just a really good person.

I don't think it's a surprise, but Morgan Spurlock is really nice.

Sean Bean is totally the type of person you'd want to get a beer with. Really awesome salt of the earth guy. Uzo Aduba is incredibly talented and a really amazing person...

Gilbert Gottfried is a really sweet guy

I read that in his voice...

Let me tell you the story about the Victoria Vagina.

His wife was actually there with him while he did the AMA via the phone!

Did he use his on-stage voice or his normal speaking tone?

He switched about 5 minutes in to his on-stage voice.

Who is someone you feel should do an AMA, but hasn't yet?

I HAVE A WISH LIST.

• Nic Cage
• Christopher Walken
• Wes Anderson (!!!)
• Chris Evans
• Elijah Wood (I want him to do more AMAs! Same with Gillian Anderson, I heart them both. And Guillermo. And John Malkovich. And Jeff Bridges...)
• Ozzy Osbourne
• Stephen Fry
• John Carpenter
• Steven Spielberg
• James Gurney (of DINOTOPIA fame - I did reach out to him a while back)
• Bill Clinton
• The Spice Girls
• Steve Buscemi
• Gwendoline Christie
• Tommy Wiseau (let's add a shoutout to Greg Sestero here - WHO IS AN AWESOMELY NICE PERSON!)
• Amy Sedaris & David Sedaris

So many! I will add to this list.

[deleted]

Also need to type in his brummy accent, or it's just not Ozzy.

(example) Weh me n Sharon wuh walkin don thuh stret when we 'eard a lad crassh.

Edit: thanks for the gold! Here's an update with the suggestions.

Weh me n uh Sharon wuh walkin don thuh stret when we 'eard uh a foogin lad crassh. Naow uh I ad ben mudafookin wazeted buh thz tihm n thuh uh avtuhnoon suh I uhlmust sheet me foogin pans (weird laugh). Tuns oot it wuz wun oov thum beeg foogin pyanos folling lok n thuh foogin cahtunz (weird laugh).

You literally made me laugh.

What do you do if you can tell the interviewer really doesn't want to be there? Like if they're only there because their publicist told them to be?

That sucks. It's not happened very much. 99% of AMAs, the talent are really excited to be there. That positive energy very much comes through in the AMA itself.

I like to think of myself as a lens - I'm not coloring the answers in the AMA, just magnifying that individual person's voice so that you can all experience it.

Hey Victoria! Friendliest person you've had a chance to work with for an AMA?

Oh my goodness.

I remember walking away from Robin Williams' AMA just wanting to spend more time with him. He was incredibly funny and kind. It was like hanging out with some sort of Platonic Ideal of a Dad. He was impressed that i knew so much about his work (he actually said to his publicist something along the lines of "My God! She's an expert!").

Jeff Bridges is seriously lovely. If he ran for president, I'd vote for him - more than once if I could.

Norm MacDonald was incredibly friendly and warm as well. I've told this story before, but i was having a really not-very-good day during his AMA - I'd fallen earlier crossing the street in NYC carrying a heavy box of cat litter and really hurt my arm (like, to the point where 8 New Yorkers rush over asking "are you okay?!"). So I got home, cried, cleaned up my arm, and prepared for Norm's AMA. After talking with him for even 30 minutes, I was laughing so hard I forgot the pain.

Clark Gregg was a really genuine guy. Really sweet and lovely.

I would love to hang out with Guillermo del Toro every day. Not just because my first dream job as a kid was being an entomologist and we were talking about bugs and science fiction and creature design and monsters, but because he's a really great human being and a creative genius.

Eric Idle was really sweet the entire time I worked with him. And Gerard Butler's AMA changed my life. Just for starters. Too many to list, I think, out of 1,400+...

How did Gerard Butler's change your life? 0___o

Well, prior to that, when I would bring up reddit AMAs, people were sort of still at the point of "Hmm, can you explain that some more?"

When I pitched Gerry and his team on doing an AMA, he was like, yeah let's go for it! So we set one up and I will never forget the energy of that AMA. It was like being in a concert. You literally felt the energy of all those millions of people asking questions all at the same time. It was electric. He was really, really inspired by it, and so was I. And so he taped that thank you message. And the rest is history. People started to "get" reddit and why I loved it so much.

My wife wants to know if you got to meet Gerard Butler in person and, if so, how she can get your job.

Edited to add: after seeing you standing next to Sean Bean, she now just wants your job.

Yes, and he gave me a thank you hug (a lot of talent do).

His was one of my favorite AMA's on here. He was so into it and seemed to take the time in his responses it was quite refreshing.

YES YES YES. He was so excited about it! It was amazing.

Or to quote the lovely David Mackenzie whom I just assisted - " thank you to Victoria for being the fingers to my voice and for making the whole thing really cool"

Who were you most starstruck to run an AMA for?

Oh my goodness. I try to get all of the "geeking out" out of the way as early as possible when interacting with people. It helps that to me, everyone is a celebrity in their own way. The people who tend to blow my mind the most are creative individuals who have really pioneered something that's really influenced my life - so Eric Idle, for instance (I grew up on Monty Python the way most kids grew up watching Disney films), or Guillermo del Toro (I love Guillermo's films), or Chris Carter (I am a HUGE X-FILES FAN). I try to get it out of the way at the beginning and tell them I really admire what they've done - and then move forwards as professionally as possible. Makes things easier.

I can totally tell you're an X-Phile because of that look on your face in the photo with DD and GA. Jealous.

Right? That was my birthday gift to myself & all of my fellow fans. I DIED.

Hi Victoria! When you're managing an ama, what's the process of question selection? Do ama guests see the screen or do you read the questions to them?

Totally depends on each person - some folks like to share the computer screen with me (Elijah Wood, for instance), others like to read the questions themselves and dictate their answers to said questions (i.e. "I like this question from SeniorPoopedMyPants - can you find that one? It was something about my favorite video game!"), and still others like me to help them navigate it because they can't look at the screen (For example, Ron Perlman was driving around Los Angeles during his AMA and talking to me on the phone so I was reading him questions).

I'm much more a fan of Daniel Radcliffe...

Haha!

Aw! Well when Elijah Wood did his most recent AMA he was actually really sick, poor kid, so I gave him advil and orange juice and tried to help him through it. He was a trooper.

ALSO: he recognized me from his first AMA. which was really sweet. You have to consider the fact that celebrities meet thousands of people every year.

I wish you were my big sister.

I wish I could help everybody.

I imagine that has to be awkward sometimes.

You're reading down the list on the phone. "let's see, what's next? Hmmm... Muffdiver6969 asked "Why are you such a dirty tramp?". "Do you want to answer that one?"

What's the most awkward question you've ever had to ask a celebrity?

I'm blanking on that- but I am remembering the most awkward response to have to ask about spelling. I remember saying "How do you spell Superjew? for Danny Trejo...

How I picture Ron Perlman answering his AMA questions.

Dude, he basically is Hellboy. He's as cool as you imagine.

Hello Victoria! Tell us something about yourself that we may find surprising ;) !?

Haha! Hmmm... I like to drink lots of tea and listen to classical music while I work. It's like Masterpiece Theater over here!

Other things: I grew up speaking English, French and Italian at home. I read really really fast.

Would you rather fight one admin-sized iama mod or 100 mod-sized admins?

Hahahaha!

I would have to say one admin-sized IAMA Mod. But I'm a pacifist!

What happened with the Rock AMA with him failing to answer more than 10 questions or so?

Unfortunately I can't really speak to that. I helped his team with the basics of getting started but wasn't on after that point. He's a really cool guy from everything I've heard.

Which celebrity is helping you to answer your questions on this AMA? My guess is P. Diddy.

Hahahaha I wish! Or 50 Cent!

Was James Cameron typing his answers on a keyboard or did you have to write all that novel yourself?

I wrote the novel. He was really super sweet though.

Hi Victoria! Thanks for (finally) doing this AMA!

As you know, you have been sentenced to death for a crime you did not commit. What would you choose as your last meal??

OOH such a good question!

I always joke I could live off of beef jerky and mangoes (I know, I'm weird).

Probably a lobster roll from The Lobster Place in Chelsea Market. Or my mom's homemade pasta.

Hello Victoria! A Welcome to reddit lase would probably not be that appropriate for you, so here's a You're my hero lase instead! [Link] Now the question: Is there any specific AMA that you really, really wish could get a do-over?

Awww thank you! Wow!

I wish I had a magical time machine and could help out Morgan Freeman or Woody Harrelson.

What was your experience with Robin Williams like?

It was incredible, and all-too-short. I actually cried when I heard about his passing. One of the AMA mods messaged me that he had passed away while I was on a train trip home from a family trip. I didn't believe it at first, double-checked, and then was in shock for the rest of that day, and week even...

So his AMA took place at CBS TV studios since it was on behalf of THE CRAZY ONES. I actually worked with Robin's team at my previous job at ID, so they were familiar with me and what I did at reddit. When he arrived, he was eating some food and I told him what we were about to do (i.e. this is a freeform Q&A with the internet) and then we started talking and I started typing! He was very funny, very sweet. I remember when we got to the question about Christopher Reeve, it was incredibly moving for him. It really did feel like the light of a million 90's (and 70's and 80's kids - don't want to forget you guys this time) childhoods in one room - all those amazing roles that he did that have moved so many people, it was really gratifying for him to hear the kind things that people had to say about his work, and to joke around, and get to be geeky himself. I loved it when he shared the Mrs Doubtfire story.

It was really sad when we had to go.

Hi Victoria, thanks for doing this. I have a few questions.

• Is there any employee in reddit who doesn't reddit?

• What is your favorite movie and TV show?

• You are at a bar, a person sitting next to you is browsing reddit, you incidentally noticed that while you were looking around. He realizes that you just looked at his phone, he introduces himself and tries to make small talk but doesn't mention anything about the site he is browsing. Now, will you mention anything about reddit or your job to lessen the awkwardness of supposedly eavesdropping on him?

Obligatory request of excuse: I am not a native speaker so.....

No, pretty much everyone who works at reddit reads reddit. We talk about old threads, memes, etc.

My favorite movie? I have so many. I worked in a videostore during high school, so I am a movie nerd. Let's go with a few for starters:

• Mystery Men (this is my totem film. If I were a movie, I'd be this movie)
• The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (I love all Wes Anderson movies)
• The Birdcage
• Pee-wee's Big Adventure
• James & The Giant Peach

For favorite TV show... I'd have to say X-files. It's an all-time classic.

EDIT: and you added the part about the person browsing reddit next to me - I actually would mention reddit, probably!

Just how fast do you type? Did you ever play Mario Teaches Typing?

I type pretty fast. Want to do a type off?

Just how fast do you type?

Also, as a follow-up, do you ever come across any celebrities who type at a higher WPM than you, and if so, do you automatically let them type for themselves in those cases?

Only one, I think, Franz Kranz types as fast as I do!

Hi Victoria!

When people say that they're "here with Victoria," how often are you actually there with them? Do they typically go into the office to meet with you or do you go to meet with them?

Chances are they are with me in person - if it says I'm assisting them, that probably means I'm helping out with their AMA via phone. It depends re: me going to them, or them coming to me - as you can see in some of the pics I shared above, we have had some really fun people come by the reddit office (and DARN I just realized I forgot to include Tim Gunn's photo - our entire NY office LOVED HIM. TIM GUNN IS SUPER SUPER NICE!), and in others, I've gone to them (like Nas, who was also really cool).

Hi Victoria!

Which celebrity has made you laugh the most during an AMA? And; what did you do prior to reddit?

Either Bill Murray or Terry Gilliam or Robin Williams or Norm MacDonald.

Or David Duchovny because him and Gillian together are HILARIOUS. Their WITTY BANTER IS REAL.

What did I do prior to reddit? I worked at a totally awesome PR agency out of Los Angeles called ID. I was in the digital department (which is how I was working with people like Eric Idle, and learning how to work with talent to begin with) and I stumbled across reddit one day and basically went native and fell in love with it. I reached out one day to the random contact email, /u/hueypriest responded, I was like "OMG! wow!" and we sort of kept in contact since that point. I started to suggest reddit AMAs to various celebs, some of whom actually did them... and the rest is history.

You were originally introduced to reddit as,

Keeper of the Tapes.

http://www.reddit.com/r/blog/comments/1gt382/welcome_new_recruit_victoria_keeper_of_the_tapes/

Now your official snoo on the team page designates you as,

Communications Director

http://www.reddit.com/about/team/#sort/new/user/chooter

What caused the title change, and what did Keeper of the Tapes mean?

I worked at a video store in high school and in the reserves department in college. I also collect VHS tapes. So that's where that came from! And I've always been Communications Director. :)

If an ama guest is not eager to answer very much, do you have to talk them over, threaten them or something like that?

No. It's usually because they're shy or holding back or reserved. They usually warm up by the end. Like Mark Ruffalo who was awesome but he started off a bit reserved - by the end we were having a blast.

What's the best experience you've had doing an AMA?

Let's share another one that i haven't shared yet - LeVar Burton. I GREW UP on Reading Rainbow. I'm a total PBS kid. So I did geek out a bit at the beginning, but then he started talking and we really got started answering questions, and it was moving along at a prodigious pace - and then he literally started crying at this question. He was so incredibly moved by the showing of support from everyone online. I was choking up on my end as well. That emotion really came across in the AMA, I think. It was beautiful, and touching, and precious.

Dear /u/chooter,

Can you tell us how you manage to be so awesome?

Love,

/u/rhygaar

Awww! Well first of all you're biased. But thank you.

Second of all, I've always "zigged when everybody else zagged" as per my mom. So do that, and follow the principles outlined by Patrick Swayze in the immortal classic ROAD HOUSE (i.e. "Be nice until it's time to not be nice").

Hi /u/chooter / Victoria,
How do you guys deal with AMA's that didn't go as well as we would hope (like Woody Harrelson and Morgan Freeman)? Any reaction of their PR agents?

Both of those AMAs were before my time.

I try to help out with as many AMAs as I can to help educate people and prevent "Rampart" experiences part 2. There are a few things that can really help boost an AMA's success - devoting enough TIME. Being genuine - you can't phone this in, you have to care.

What inspired you to do your own AMA and why did you choose to do it now instead of some other time?

I wanted to use it to help support something, and the official reddit AMA app just went live. ICYMI: http://redditama.reddit.com/

If you were given the opportunity to have any celebrity/historical figure (dead or alive) help you with your AMA who would you choose?

Roald Dahl would be a dream come true. Winston Churchill. Sacagawea. Marie Curie. Aristotle. George Washington Carver. Nicola Tesla...

Who did you have to suppress your "fan-girl" reaction with the most?

The ones I've already listed out, probably - plus Jeremy Wade from River Monsters. My 3rd dream job (started out wanting to me an entomologist as a kid, then paleontologist, then finally marine biologist with a focus on fish not mammals- and then realized I was horrible at math and had to go into communications) was focused on fish and I LOVED talking with him about his show!

Hi, /r/chooter!

Three questions:

Is the association of Reddit with the leaked nude photos having an impact on celebrity IAmAs?

Do you think we can break reddit today with this AMA?

How do you advise the celebrities about the issue of people coming in to post a question and downvoting all the earlier unanswered questions? I see that a lot. (I go through the zero karma graveyards and upvote them... then wonder who the jerk that downvoted them was.)

All my other questions you already answered in your "stealth" IAmA answers to the request post. So thanks for finally doing this!

Not at this time to my knowledge.

I hope so (in a good way).

I usually tell them that everything will sort itself out and in the cases where outside forces are affecting the AMA negatively, we try to deal with that on a case-to-case basis.

Do all guests approach Reddit to do an AMA or do you ever reach out to celebrities?

Sometimes I reach out based on community requests, but most of it is inbound interest.

what do you do when you first meet a celebrity?

Thanks for your time and also for your hard work!

In what way? Usually I say hello and introduce myself to them politely and ask them about themselves, much the same way I would if I met you. :)

Hi Victoria! Thank for for making otherwise-unintelligible people seem erudite and engaging.

What have been some of the funniest or most awkward "off-camera" moments you've had while helping someone with an AMA?

And what's your background? How did you fall into this honey pot that is reddit AMA stardom?

Sent from the new AMA app on Android.

Yay! you're using the app! :)

And you've very welcome - honestly, I'm not enhancing anything or anyone. I'm just helping them be able to convey their voices more accurately and easily. And when someone's doing solid days of press, or they've been touring for days non-stop - they're exhausted. I like to think of their AMA as being an oasis for them. I don't have an agenda. I'm not here to twist their words or hurt them or try to get a scoop. I'm there to help them express their voice and connect with their fans directly. I care about them as an individual (which means that sometimes I've told people NOT to do AMAs).

Funniest moment - I think has to go to NAS when I kept mis-pronouncing his name. This has happened before.

Do you have any interesting stories about Matt Berry?

Hahaah! You remembered that story!

Well he hasn't done an AMA yet, but back when I lived in Los Angeles I went to a comedy show at UCB for Matt Berry's TV show Snuffbox with my friend Dennis. Post-show, we decided to go next door to La Poubelle (it's a local bar / eatery) and guess who wandered over post show? Matt Berry! He came and sat at our table and i complimented him on his pants. He seemed to find that amusing. It wasn't any sort of in-depth interaction, but his voice is AMAZING.

Have you received any gifts or souvenirs from the celebs you've met? What are some of them?

Yes. Spike Jonze gave me a David Letterman hat. Steven Raichlen sent me all of his BBQ spices, which was really nice of him! Jean Schulz and the Peanuts folks sent me a lovely coffee table book...

Victoria,

As we all know you are an awesome person who is awesome. This has been proven both through comments and in person. My question for you is when are we having the next movie and can there be more booze involved?

We need to reschedule it. I feel bad. We were supposed to watch ONLY THE STRONG and we had to reschedule. I've been dealing with a family medical emergency for the past weekend (I literally spent the entire past holiday weekend at the hospital here in NYC, plus dealing with everything else).

Soon!

Who laughed the most during their AMA?

Terry Gilliam, by far. Literally we were both laughing for minutes. It was delightful.

Who is your favorite musical ensemble, and why is it Chumbawumba?

Hahaha! Bonus points for this one. I am probably the only person who works in PR whose favorite band is Chumbawamba. But they are so much more than Tubthumping!

Which AMA was your favourite to do and why was it Jeff Goldblum?

Haha he was definitely amazing. "My sandwich life" will live on forever.