New Chapter Leadership and a New Direction

[Kendrik]

Good evening, fellow gamers. For a while, the Wii Chapter has been kind of just sitting here and lacking in an active leader. For months, the Tribe of Judah help wanted page has had the Wii Chapter listed as in need of a chapter leader. Having been around for a little while now, and wanting to contribute to the gaming group, I decided to apply for the position. Mr. Tek7 saw fit to appoint me to the position, so here I am.

If you must, you can call me Big Boss, but I'd rather you just call me Kenny. I've gotten to know some of you at least a little bit over the last few months, but it seems fair to introduce myself a little to y'all. I'm a generally laid back kinda guy. More than anything, I like to enjoy the company of friends, old and new ones alike.

Of course, I'm also a gamer. Fitting, no? I'm something of a fighting game enthusiast, and most of my gaming time is spent playing one of them... or an old-school Japanese RPG. Yeah, I like both extremes of game design. I'm also a game writer. Been at that for years, primarily as a reviewer and editor for Christ-Centered Gamer. Oh... and as ToJ's newsletter editor-in-chief as of the last month or so.

Beyond game land, I'm a college student. I already have a degree in software development and am just about done with my BS in Bible/Theology, but I opted to take a break from that program to get some culinary training while I could still get financial aid for the program. Been a believer for all my life (well... the part I can remember, anyway). I've been part of a variety of ministries, but music ministries have always been my favorite. Gotta love jammin' for Jesus, right?

Beyond that, I try to be a fairly open book. I won't throw a huuuuge wall of text your way on an autobiography. If you want to ask me something, about myself or anything else, feel free to do just that.

So that's a little bit about me. As the thread title suggests, we'll be taking the chapter in a new direction, but I'm going to go ahead and detail that a little for you in a second post. It'll feel slightly less tl;dr that way.

 

[Kendrik]

So, what is this whole "new direction" thing about? Well, the first, and biggest, thing is that we will soon be officially changing our chapter name. Currently, we are listed as Tribe of Judah's Wii Chapter, but that will soon become Tribe of Judah's Nintendo Chapter.

We are doing this for a couple of reasons. The first is because we want to have a place for DS gamers to meet up and game together. If the relatively small amount of forum activity for the Wii Chapter is any indication, a DS Chapter would not likely fare much better despite having a pretty excellent game catalog. By expanding our focus to include all of Nintendo's platforms, DS owners have a place to call home around here.

Another reason we're doing this is to help bolster our chapter activity. Our chapter hasn't exactly been booming activity lately, and including Nintendo's other systems gives us more options for gaming together. (I mean, there's always Pokemon. Not that I'm letting my personal fanboyism get in the way here or anything. >.>)

Additionally, with a new Nintendo system, the 3DS, on the horizon, expanding beyond a Wii focus allows us to be future-ready. That's always a bonus, no?

So, basically, the big part of our change in direction is to expand beyond simply being a chapter focused on the Wii. Instead, our chapter will be a meeting point for people who play games on any of Nintendo's games.

Hopefully, you'll find this new direction beneficial to you.

 

[Kendrik]

So, three messages into the thread, what more can I say? Well, how about a basic outline of a few things that will be happening in the chapter over the next few days and weeks.

First thing that's gonna happen is the starting of a new roster and friend codes sticky. The old ones will be merged and left intact for reference purposes, but they will no longer be maintained. But getting the information into a single, well-organized thread will make keeping it up to date a lot easier.

Furthermore, it will help with the next thing I plan to tackle: A new chapter website. I already have the framework built; it just needs some small revisions and meaningful information. The former will just take a little effort on my part; the latter will be taken care of once the roster and codes lists are up to date.

As we start to get a little more activity going here, and gaming patterns become more evident, we'll try to get regular gaming days/nights happening. Even if that's only once a month at first, it will be a start.

More to come in the future, but this is a pretty solid starting point to be working on right now. Of course, if you have friends that you'd like to get involved in the chapter, be sure to let 'em know about us.

If you have suggestions or ideas, feel free to post them or PM them to me if you'd prefer.

Looking forward to more actively sharing in the Nintendo Chapter with you!
-Kenny

 

[Kendrik]

The new roster and friend codes thread has been started. Just post in that thread to let me know that you're still active. Please include any relevant information. Feel free to copy and paste from the old thread (which will remain a locked sticky for the time being) if you want.

Thanks!
-Kenny