Post GenCon PFS GM Prep for next year question

[Summoned Creature]

Ok, I never did any searching because I wasn't really interested in it and my schedule doesn't really allow me to commit.

But a few guys in my area were really bummed that they couldn't afford to go to GenCon this year. While there, I heard that people volunteered for the Con in general or for PFS specifically and got most everything including a hotel room paid for. So only transportation was required.

Is that true? If so, is there a summary of how much or what has to be done to fulfill that? Did they still have free time to be a player and look around or were they busy the whole time? Is it available to anyone (seems like there would be a lot of competition for those slots)? Anything else they need to know?

Basically they heard about it want to know what they have to do to get into the program next year.

[Doug Miles]

Volunteer Tiers and Rewards

Tier 1 GM Volunteers
Tier 1 GM volunteers are invaluable to making the show a success. Tier 1 GMs must select and volunteer for a MINIMUM of 8 slots. Tier 1 GMs may feel free to volunteer for more than 8 slots if they so desire. I only have room for 160 Tier 1 GM volunteers so don't delay in volunteering for this tier. Volunteers will be chosen on a first-come, first-served basis, though I reserve the right to select volunteers who have previously worked for Paizo over new volunteers. Please do not volunteer for Tier 1 if you have any doubts that you won't be able to attend the show. Tier 1 GMs receive:

A FREE 4-day Gen Con 2014 badge
A FREE 1/4 of a hotel room in the Marriott or J.W. Marriott Hotels
A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, usable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions
A FREE Advanced Class Guide hardcover
Four FREE limited edition purple goblin Paizo Publishing Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
A special PFS boon that gives the option of choosing a one-time complete rebuild of any level character OR the choice to create a character from one of the following races: grippli, ratfolk, samsaran, suli, or vishkanya.

Tier 2 GM Volunteers
Tier 2 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 7 slots. I only have room for 120 Tier 2 GM volunteers so don't delay in volunteering for this tier — it fills up very quickly. Tier 2 GMs receive:

A FREE 4-day Gen Con 2014 badge
A FREE 1/4 of a hotel room in the Marriott or J.W. Marriott Hotels
A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, usable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions
A FREE Advanced Class Guide hardcover
Four FREE limited edition purple goblin Paizo Publishing Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
A special Pathfinder Society boon that gives the choice to create a character from one of the following races: grippli, ratfolk, suli, or vishkanya.

Tier 3 GM Volunteers
While the rewards for volunteering for this tier are smaller, the majority of my volunteers will come from Tier 3. Tier 3 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 6 slots. Tier 3 GMs receive:

A FREE 4-day Gen Con 2014 badge
A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, usable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions
A FREE Advanced Class Guide hardcover
Four FREE limited edition purple goblin Paizo Publishing Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
A special Pathfinder Society boon that gives the choice to create a character from one of the following races: grippli, suli or vishkanya.

Tier 4 GM Volunteers
Tier 4 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 5 slots. Tier 4 GMs receive:

A FREE 4-day Gen Con 2014 badge
A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, usable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions
Four FREE limited edition purple goblin Paizo Publishing Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
A special Pathfinder Society boon that gives the choice to create a character from one of the following races: suli or vishkanya.

Tier 5 GM Volunteers
This is the minimum volunteer level to receive shirts. Tier 5 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 4 slots. Tier 5 GMs receive:

A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, usable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions
Four FREE limited edition purple goblin Paizo Publishing Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
A special Pathfinder Society boon that gives the choice to create a character from one of the following races: suli or vishkanya.
Volunteering for One, Two, or Three Slots
A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions
A special PFS boon that gives the choice to create a character from one of the following races: suli or vishkanya.

Man, that was a lot of typing!

[Doug Miles]

The call for volunteers went out on March 3rd. The Tier 1 and 2 GM berths fill up fast, usually within a week of the announcement. With so many volunteers scrambling for a limited amount of positions, Mike Brock (the Global Campaign Coordinator) can be picky if he wants to. One way to stand out from the herd is to earn some GM Stars by running PFS events locally. If I were Mike, I would be leery of giving an at-first-glance green GM a Tier 1 or 2 slot.

[Summoned Creature]

Wow thanks for the quick response Doug!

I will give them this info this evening.

That is potentially a lot of stuff. I hadn't heard about the Paizo credit or the free book (I assume next year would be whatever book is coming out then). Though I did see that they all got a t-shirt.

I think they were planning to work on some GM stars anywho, so hopefully, that won't be a problem.

btw: I think a Grippli riding a wall walking lizard would be hysterical.

[Wabajck]

While the tier 1 and 2 slots fill up quickly they also commonly see drop outs. I had heard a number of tier 1s had to drop shortly before the event this year.