When members express an interest in a new chapter, I tend to immediately respond that we'll need a Chapter Leader first. Most members then ask, "What does a Chapter Leader do?"
The short answer
The Chapter Leader takes responsibility for the chapter.
The long answer
The Chapter Leader is responsible for the establishment, development, and maintenance of the chapter and all its resources (e.g. forums, servers, TeamSpeak channels, etc.) as well as appointing and managing chapter staff and posting monthly chapter reports (an informal 1-2 paragraph post summarizing the status of the chapter, including problems, progress, and plans) in the ToJ Staff Forum.
No Chapter Leader is an island
It's important to note that the Chapter Leader has the full support of the ToJ President, Staff Manager, and other staff members. Furthermore, no Chapter Leader is expected to manage a chapter alone. I advise all Chapter Leaders to appoint chapter staff to develop and maintain a chapter web site (if applicable), moderate chapter forums, manage chapter game servers, and handle other tasks.
Put another way: Establishing and developing a ToJ chapter takes time and effort and no Chapter Leader is expected to do that alone.
For example: Chapter Leaders are expected to moderate the forums for their chapters, but Elihu (as ToJ Staff Manager) or I set up the chapter forums and configure chapter staff access as requested by the Chapter Leader.
Another example: Chapter Leaders are ultimately responsible for the web site for their chapter, but Elihu or I create the FTP account for the Chapter Leader (or the Chapter Web Developer he or she appoints) used to upload web pages to the ToJ web site.
Taking responsibility for a chapter is a serious commitment, but Chapter Leaders can rely on the full support of other ToJ staff. An infrastructure which includes web hosting, VOIP (in the form of Ventrilo or TeamSpeak channels), forums, and other resources has been built over the course of 11 years; Chapter Leaders are not starting from the ground up.
Yes, serving as a Chapter Leader is a lot of work, but you'll never work alone.
Chapters AND guilds
And no, I didn't forget that I included Guild Leaders in the thread title. Chapter Leaders and Guild Leaders share the same responsibilities with only a few minor differences. Guild leadership tends to be more demanding as MMORPGs tend to involve more conflict resolution than your average FPS chapter but doesn't involve managing dedicated servers.
Both Chapter Leader and Guild Leader roles are vital to ToJ's continued success and growth even while involving different day-to-day tasks.
Conclusion
So, there's the long-awaited official answer to a frequently asked question.
EDIT: If you're interested in volunteering to lead a ToJ chapter or guild, please send a PM to Elihu and me.
Any questions?
The short answer
The Chapter Leader takes responsibility for the chapter.
The long answer
The Chapter Leader is responsible for the establishment, development, and maintenance of the chapter and all its resources (e.g. forums, servers, TeamSpeak channels, etc.) as well as appointing and managing chapter staff and posting monthly chapter reports (an informal 1-2 paragraph post summarizing the status of the chapter, including problems, progress, and plans) in the ToJ Staff Forum.
No Chapter Leader is an island
It's important to note that the Chapter Leader has the full support of the ToJ President, Staff Manager, and other staff members. Furthermore, no Chapter Leader is expected to manage a chapter alone. I advise all Chapter Leaders to appoint chapter staff to develop and maintain a chapter web site (if applicable), moderate chapter forums, manage chapter game servers, and handle other tasks.
Put another way: Establishing and developing a ToJ chapter takes time and effort and no Chapter Leader is expected to do that alone.
For example: Chapter Leaders are expected to moderate the forums for their chapters, but Elihu (as ToJ Staff Manager) or I set up the chapter forums and configure chapter staff access as requested by the Chapter Leader.
Another example: Chapter Leaders are ultimately responsible for the web site for their chapter, but Elihu or I create the FTP account for the Chapter Leader (or the Chapter Web Developer he or she appoints) used to upload web pages to the ToJ web site.
Taking responsibility for a chapter is a serious commitment, but Chapter Leaders can rely on the full support of other ToJ staff. An infrastructure which includes web hosting, VOIP (in the form of Ventrilo or TeamSpeak channels), forums, and other resources has been built over the course of 11 years; Chapter Leaders are not starting from the ground up.
Yes, serving as a Chapter Leader is a lot of work, but you'll never work alone.
Chapters AND guilds
And no, I didn't forget that I included Guild Leaders in the thread title. Chapter Leaders and Guild Leaders share the same responsibilities with only a few minor differences. Guild leadership tends to be more demanding as MMORPGs tend to involve more conflict resolution than your average FPS chapter but doesn't involve managing dedicated servers.
Both Chapter Leader and Guild Leader roles are vital to ToJ's continued success and growth even while involving different day-to-day tasks.
Conclusion
So, there's the long-awaited official answer to a frequently asked question.
EDIT: If you're interested in volunteering to lead a ToJ chapter or guild, please send a PM to Elihu and me.
Any questions?
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