Last January, I put out a call for helpers and asked for players willing to take on extra responsibility as series honchos. Those organizational roles were filled and the honchos have expended great energy in building their parts of the company whole. As always, they do need more help, as much as they can get. I'll save the pleas for more volunteers for another time, suffice it to say, if you can help, contact the honcho of the system(s) you like.

Decentralizing this company is an important goal for me right now. For more than 10 years before January, I was the cog of the machine (some might say clog, instead). Everything came through me before you saw it. Any rules work, art work, question answering that needed to be done, I did it. Sure some tried to help (especially Demko, who has been pulling the yoke of the magazine for years now), but in all the cases where the rubber met the gaming road, I had to be there. If I got sick or injured, the train derailed until I was back in the saddle. All the eggs were in the proverbial one basket. This was no way to run an on-going concern.

Establishing the honcho system shifted the bulk of the prerelease testing, development, and system support out of my hands. What this does is allows me to concentrate on my long range concerns as well as the many day-to-day matters that come up all the time (and get in the way). While I'm doing these other things, the honchos are busy making sure that a fully developed and tested game is sitting on my doorstep at the end of each year ... one in each series ... so that I can do the final checks, artwork, and prep the thing for release. This has a lag built in (so that I have time to catch any issues that might still be in the game). As time goes on and the system shows its stuff, there is room to speed it up some. I'll be playing this by ear.

The honchos also have authority to work on the series rules if they choose to do so. For example, Lee Forester (TCS) is working up the TCS Armor supplement rules. Anders Fager (NBS) is chalk-full of ideas about Napoleonics (though he understands that the series needs additional stability to catch on).

Part of the honcho set up is the trust I need make sure they understand I have for them. Decentralization comes with it the potential of mistake and to be actually decentralized (as opposed to an authoritarian set up that pretends to be flat), I must support their efforts with a minimum of interference. I'm in the position of having to support their efforts, guide them (loosely), and (on occasion) bite the bullet if they do something that doesn't turn out so well. I must do this so they can grow into their jobs.

Organizationally, the system works well for its purpose of game design, development, and testing. What Is lacking is convention and graphic support. Neither of these are in the purview of the honchos, not in their job description as it were, so this is no critique of their efforts, rather it is a call for additional support volunteers.

GMT is lucky to have the dedicated services of Bill Alderman as convention support. Bill is always busy, always making sure things are going well, always on the look-out for new and better ways to make their company's presence at the cons a better experience for all concerned. Not only does Bill strawboss the con demo and play area efforts, but he also represents the company at shows that others from the firm cannot attend. If anyone out there has the drive and interpersonal skills Bill shows and is willing to do such a job for The Gamers, let me know. I'd like to set up several such people (regionally in nature) with the emphasis on local convention support. (The biggest being California.) Let me know if you want in.

I'm also in the process of setting up the support group for the WBC show in Baltimore (Don Con). Here Alan Murphy is the honcho and is tasked with coordinating the efforts of those willing to run events and such within the framework of the BPA. If you are interested in helping him out, contact me and I'll get you in touch with his commo chief (Alan doesn't have e-mail).

Graphically, guys are needed who can support the honchos in making semi-finished game artwork for testing and submission purposes. Guys interested in working on artwork for final production will need to be in touch with me so I can see examples of your work, etc. As this is a critical portion of the final product my company puts out, guys willing to work up final artwork with me will need some experience and be able to work with FreeHand on a Mac. I can start those interested off small and groom you to be full-fledged company graphic artists. Naturally, I need to keep this in the labor of love zone (so as to not break the bank) ... but in time (as you show your stuff) this can change into a paying matter.

Honcho support graphics need not meet the standards of the artwork for printing guy, but if the quality is high enough this could be an excellent way to show your stuff looking toward a call up to the major leagues later. Let me know if you are interested in this level of artwork support and I'll direct you to the appropriate honcho.

My effort to flatten this company is a hand to all of you to come on-board to widen the talents of the company as well as to lighten the load for all involved. Come participate with us and share the excitement.

Remember: Good Planets are Hard to Find...Please Recycle