Filling in the Ranks

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Illustration by Craig J Spearing

I was always taught to deal with bad news first and then move on to good news. It is with a heavy heart that I announce the resignation of Doug Miles, the Detroit Venture-Captain. Doug was Pathfinder Society’s first five-star GM. He has been an avid supporter of Pathfinder Society and he will be sorely missed. I had the pleasure of meeting and GMing side by side with Doug at Dragon Con two years ago and was able to take some observations of watching his GMing style and incorporate it into my own. On a positive note, Doug has some very exciting life changes he is preparing for in the near future and the Paizo and Pathfinder Society wish him well.

"It's been a privilege to see Pathfinder Society grow year after year, and to have promoted a game that has exceeded expectations on so many levels,” said Miles. “If it weren't for the support and encouragement of the players and GM volunteers in this campaign, I would have never come as far as I have. I am most grateful for all the friends that I have made through the campaign, both in person and on the messageboards. Although I can no longer live up to my Venture-Captain obligations, and thus am stepping down, I hope to stay in touch with PFS and look forward to watching its popularity continue to expand."

It also saddens me to announce we are losing another member of the Venture-Captain team in Mark Garringer from Indianapolis.

"Due to family and personal reasons, I have to take a step back from my involvement in Pathfinder Society," said Garringer. "I believe in organized play and where Mike is taking things, and I want to thank him for all he has done already. I thank Paizo for the opportunity and friendships I've been able to make."

This is not the only change to our existing Venture-Captain corp. Bob Jonquet is moving south of Chicago to the southern area of Illinois. This does create additional opportunities for Pathfinder Society, however, as I have created a new region—Central & Southern Illinois. Bob has been named the Venture-Captain of this new region and I look forward to seeing how he can grow Pathfinder Society in a new area.

A final change to our existing Venture-Captains is the stepping down of Dane Pitchford in Seattle. Due to his life becoming even more busy and hectic, he did not feel he could devote as much time to the position as it deserves. I did not want to lose Dane from the Venture-Captain family and so I offered him a new position that he graciously accepted. He has been reassigned to his new position, Venture-Lieutenant (Seattle).

We are also adding 13 new Venture-Captains in 10 new regions! Please welcome the following:

Boise, Idaho – Clarence Garrett
Portland, Oregon – Alex Greenshields
Las Vegas, Nevada – Doug Daulton
Seattle, Washington – Chris Jarvis
Salt Lake City, Utah – Eddy & Stephanie Roberts
Central/Southern Illinois – Bob Jonquet
Chicago, Illinois – Rene Duquesnoy
South Carolina – Del Collins
Wisconsin – Sean Hanlin
Winnipeg, Canada – Scott Young
Perth, Australia – Callum Prior
Sydney, Australia – Alistair Rigg
Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia – Zrinka Znidarcic

For another exciting change, I am also instituting the Venture-Lieutenant program. As Venture-Captain in Atlanta, I learned quickly I could not run everything on my own. Trying to spread myself among nine stores, with more than 240 square miles, and still maintain a life was impossible. So, I choose to handpick store liaisons, or Venture-Lieutenants, to help me. They were my right-hand people who helped me ensure Pathfinder Society continued to grow, while meeting these needs of the players in the different stores. Each was assigned to a store or area in Georgia I could not get to regularly. This paid huge dividends in that we had tremendous growth in the region.

So, I have worked with the Venture-Captains to choose Venture-Lieutenants to assist them in their regions. If the region is spread out among many miles, or has more game locations than they can handle, I have let the Venture-Captains choose two Venture-Lieutenants to assist them.

This is not an inclusive list as more will be added, but as of the writing of this blog, the following have been chosen as Venture-Lieutenants:

Arizona – Jason Leonard
Atlanta, GA – Joseph Caubo and John Compton
Austin, TX – Bill Oppenlander
Chicago, IL – Garret Gottschalk
Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX – Marcus Mayes
Des Moines, IA – Derek Boobyer
Denver, CO – Scott Crosson
Dunedin, FL – Kristy Schweyer
Indianapolis, IN – Tracy Windeknecht
Missouri – Michael Von Hasseln
Omaha, NE – Clint Blome
Raleigh, NC – Joe Jungers
Seattle, WA – Dane Pitchford
Toronto, Canada – Robert Trifts
Winnipeg, Canada – Myron Pauls
Croatia – Maja Skvorc

Each of these new Venture-Lieutenants, as well as any chosen in the future, will receive a messageboard title to identify him or her as such. It is encouraged that you still work with your regional Venture-Captain for all of your Pathfinder Society needs.

We are still in need of additional Venture-Captains in some regions and you can find the list here. If interested in applying, please contact me after reviewing the application process in the previous link.

Good-bye to an old friend and welcome aboard to all my new captains and lieutenants!

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator