Raychel Rich

“The Sexiest Gray Haired Brown Bearded Man The World Has Ever Seen” Answers Questions! This week I was given the chance to ask Aaron Bleyaert some questions. Aaron is the web extraordinaire at CONAN. He started as an intern at Late Night with Conan O’Brien and kept moving up throughout the shows… they seem to have a volatile relationship but it’s enjoyable! Make sure to follow Aaron on Twitter @BigBley and Tumbler! 1. Where are you from and how did you get interested in comedy? I am from the great state of Michigan; specifcally Ann Arbor. Or, as it’s known to the locals, “A Squared”, the “Ace Deuce”, or “The Birthplace of the Sexiest Gray Haired Brown Bearded Man The World Has Ever Seen” I got interested in comedy at a very early age. Both my parents are social workers – and I think to do that job, you need to have a great (if black) sense of humor. Also, growing up as a fat nerd, you have to develop some sort of coping mechanism, and comedy was that for me. It wasn’t until after my sophmore year in college that I realized I might be able to do comedy for a living (and currently my “living” is mostly eating PB & J every night and spending my weeknights watching a lot of Big Brother After Dark) 2. Was entertainment your original career choice? If not, what led you to take the internship at Late Night? I didn’t really have an “original career choice” – and I think that was great. That’s what college is for: To figure out what you want to do. When I started at the illustrious Michigan State University, I had been studying politics, through no real choice of my own. Luckily, a roommate of mine got a crush on this girl who was on a college TV station, and that’s how I ended up getting sucked in: By being his wingman! Ha ha. A terrible wingman, actually – they never even went out on a single date. As for how I found out about the actual Conan Internship? A friend of mine had done it before me and thought I’d like it! AND OH, HOW I DID. 3. What is your first memory of meeting Conan? Hmm… I don’t know if I actually remember meeting him, per se. Weirdly though, one of the first times I talked to him I actually thought would be the last time I would ever see him! It went down like this: At the end of people’s internships, everybody always asks to get a photo with Conan. Of course. Obviously. HOWEVER, at the end of my internship, I was like “Fuck that. I’m not asking Conan to take a picture with me.” I am weird and contrary and passive aggressive and superstitious, and… I don’t know. It just seemed weird to get a photo with him just because it was him, you know? It’s not like I really worked for him at all during my internship. I actually wanted photos with people who meant something to me during my time there. I got photos of people who I had become friends with on the staff, like Head Writer Mike Sweeney, Jason Chillemi, Roey Hershkovitz, Brian McCann, Brian Stack, Paula Davis, Frank Smiley, Dan Ferguson, Nicole Savini, etc etc. Anyway, so my last day as an intern came and went. When it was over, I left 30 Rock – and on the walk to the subway, I realized I had forgotten something in the office. I turned around, and as I was walking back into 30 Rock, Conan was coming out! I was like “Hey man” and he was like “see you soon!”… And I remember specifically thinking to myself “No you won’t, dude. You won’t see me soon. You won’t ever see me again.” And I went back up to the office, got my umbrella, and left. But then I was an employee literally two weeks later, so maybe he knew something I didn’t. 😉 4. What made Conan start using you as a punching bag? Great question! Conan comes from a large family with a lot of brothers, and he’s told me I remind him of a brother of his. Writer Matt O’Brien gets the same treatment. 5. What’s your favorite part of your job? Least favorite part? My favorite part is that I get to work with my best friends. Our office is exactly as fun and insane as people imagine. The least favorite part is the hours: I work pretty much every day, all the time. I have zero social life. But whatever, right?! As long as I end up on a porch in a rocking chair drinking moonshine out of a mason jar, it’ll all be worth it! And so far, I’ve got everything but the rocking chair. 😉 6. What is your favorite thing to see in rehearsal? I was a huge fan of Conan before I started working here, and one of the drawbacks of that is that I don’t get to enjoy the show like I used to. So that’s what rehearsal is, to me: It’s the first time we all get to experience the comedy bits, etc of that night’s show – rehearsal IS the show. And my favorite things to see in rehearsal are what we put out as scraps – so you guys actually get to exactly see my favorite things that happen in rehearsal! To me, as a fan, that’s the coolest thing, ever – the fact that Conan lets us put that stuff out there in the world for all to enjoy. 7. Team Coco is on pretty much every social media platform available, what do you find to be the most effective social media platform? Which one is your favorite? Well, we’re actually NOT on every social media platform available – and that’s a conscious choice. You shouldn’t be on every platform. I think that’s bad social media strategy. You should figure out how you want to push your brand, and what makes sense – then decide what works best for you, and program for those platforms. I think it’s more important to pick a few and fully utilize those, rather than spread yourself too thin and let 85% of your social media outlets languish. As for which is the “most effective”, that’s kind of an impossible question to answer: Which of your limbs is the most effective? Your right arm or left? Your left leg and right arm? It all depends on what you’re trying to accomplish. For us, it’s the sum total of our social media presence working together that’s effective, and certain pieces are more useful than other pieces depending on what we’re trying to do. As for my FAVORITE social media platform? I don’t know. They’re all great in their own way and also terrible in their own way. IT’S LIKE ASKING WHICH OF MY CHILDREN I LIKE THE BEST. And my answer to that is: I have children? 8. Part of your job is writing, and reading comments from fans. Do you have a grammar pet peeve? I am admittedly terrible at grammar, so me having a grammar pet peeve is like chucking boulders out of the window of my glass hut. BUT, that being said, anyone who doesn’t know the difference between Your/You’re or There/They’re is a fucking idiot. I mean, seriously. There two completely different things. 9. What is one of the most important things you’ve learned about effectively communicating online? The most important thing I’ve learned is that people like to feel special. That’s what we do with our fans: Try to make them feel special. Either through asking them for their fantastic fan art, their great takes on jokes, or simply just talking back to them and opening a dialogue, everyone wants to be a part of the action. That’s why bits like “Terrible 20” and “Fan Corrections” are so powerful and popular; our fans are literally a part of our site and our show and are driving some of the comedy. Giving people a voice and being able to talk right to them are two of the most magical things about the internet, and two things that we are always striving to do more of. Another part of making people feel special is uniquely programming for your different social media outlets: There are things we do just on Twitter; other things we do just on Facebook; other things we do just on Tumblr, etc. Knowing the likes and dislikes – as well as the communal behavior – of each social media platform and catering to those preferences and that behavior is another way to make people feel special, while also making sure that your communication is as effective as possible. 10. What did you do to make sure the fans stayed connected and interested in Team Coco during the off time? Our goals were to try and give back to the fans a fraction of the incredible love and support they gave to us. I mean, they supported us all through the tour, and got us back on our feet!