Ravnos Coordinator Election 2010

The Ravnos Coordinator application(s) are included below.

Feel free to discuss the elections and applications with your CM.

The options for your CM to vote in this Election will be:

* Michael Cormier
* Reject All Candidates
* Abstain

~ Jenn Louise Bahrs
OWbN Head Coordinator

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Applicant Name: Michael Cormier
Applicant E-mail: mick7742@gmail.com
Applicant Home Chronicle: Gainesville: the New Confederacy (Gainesville, FL)
Position Sought: Ravnos Coordinator

Support From
Coords:
Cheri Foster - Assamite Coordinator - eldestassamite@gmail.com
Trey Naivar - Setite Coordinator - wnaivar@gmail.com
Dawn Ireton - Archivist - dawn.ireton@gmail.com
Chronicles:
Wasting the Dawn; Berkeley, CA - HST: Alden Shadrick - wtdsts@gmail.com
Gainesville: the New Confederacy - ST/CM: William Cox - gnvsts@gmail.com
Ocala Sabbat: Hell is Taken - HST: John Bullinger - maelfesh007@yahoo.com
Background
My first One World by Night LARP experience was way back in 1999. I played a Malkavian in the East of the River chronicle in Hartford, CT. I played there for only a few months before moving to Gainesville, FL. After moving to Gainesville, I found it difficult to get into the local OWbN game with the small number of people and the cliques that were already present. So I joined the Camarilla Fan Club. I played in the CFC for a few years, until I just became exhausted with the amount of LARP I was experiencing. I served as the HST of a Changeling game, an AST of a Werewolf game, the Domain Coordinator and a player in the Mage and Kindred games. Needless to say I had a lot of LARP going on, so I took a few months off and when I started to get excited about LARP again, a couple of friends of mine convinced me to try OWbN instead of going back to the CFC. I was immediately hooked! The players and the atmosphere were more in line of what I was used to in a LARP experience. I jumped right into the two local games that were in Gainesville (Gainesville: Mysteries in Darkness & St Augustine: On Hallowed Ground). Within one years time I had recruited six new players and joined the ST staff of the Gainesville game. I have been an ST or HST of the Gainesville game for most of my time in OWbN in Florida, and I, along with Geoff Combs, helped transition the Gainesville games' genre from Camarilla to Anarch. Besides different LARP games, I have been role-playing for many years experiencing many various games and genres. My first RP experience was in HS with Dungeons & Dragons, and I was very big into Magic: the Gathering. I can still remember saying "one booster pack of Legends, please". I have played every class, race, clan, genre and been an ST, DM, and GM for dozens of games and groups. I do not claim to know all the rules for any game, but one thing I stand by in whatever game I am playing or running is to have fun. Role-playing, whether live action or table top, is a hobby that people take part in an attempt to have fun while hanging out with good friends. The end result of a long night of role-playing needs to be fun for everyone involved. This past year I have served as the Ravnos Coordinator for One World by Night and it has been a great experience. I have had a few ups and downs, and I stumbled a lot, but there were always other coordinators out there willing to help me out and assist me wherever necessary. I am looking forward to another year working with these great people and especially working with the great Ravnos players!

Official Capacity LARP Experience
2001-02 Assistant Storyteller Werewolf, Gainesville: Poisoned Absynthe, Camarilla Fan Club
2001-02 Head Storyteller Changeling, Gainesville: Poisoned Absynthe, Camarilla Fan Club
2000-01 Chapter Coordinator, Gainesville: Poisoned Absynthe, Camarilla Fan Club
2002 Domain Coordinator, Gainesville: Poisoned Absynthe, Camarilla Fan Club
2004-2007 Storyteller (AST and HST), Gainesville: the New Confederacy (formerly Mysteries in Darkness)
2009 OWbN Ravnos Coordinator

Personal Statement
Coordinators in this organization have a difficult job; there is no question about that. Not only must they do what they are elected or appointed to do, but they must keep a professional, unbiased eye on the players and other coordinators. We all have friends and pals in the organization, but I think that we need to keep a closer eye out for the good of the organization as a whole. As an ST and as a Coordinator, one of my best merits was the ability to look at issues that arose and give a judgment that was fair and unbiased.
Too often have I heard the complaint about coordinators not returning emails in a timely manner. I also hear coordinators complain about frivolous questions brought to them that local storytellers could have easily answered. This past year I have made myself available via email and IM, answering any and all questions within an extremely reasonable time frame, and I have provided players and storytellers the materials they need to answer any questions that have come up concerning clan Ravnos.
Having played a Ravnos for a few years now and served as their Coordinator for the past year, I have a great idea who and what the Ravnos are and what they stand for. I love the clan. I have such a great fondness for the clan that I was willing to put my own Ravnos PC that I have played for just over three years on hold, and am ready to keep him put aside for another year to act as the coordinator for the clan once more.

Last Years Goals
1. I want to take a look at the sub-coord team. I am not certain that a small clan needs as many sub-coods as are listed on owbn.org. I will first get a listing of all PC Ravnos, shelved or not, from the players and ST’s along with their lineage. Depending on the location and amount of these PC’s, will determine how many sub-coords will be necessary. A brief application will take place and my goal is to have a PC list updated along with a newly structured sub-coord team by June ’09.
COMPLETED- There is now one Sub-Coord and a webmistress on the Ravnos Coordinator team.

2. Since playing a Ravnos for the past three years, I have not seen or been exposed to clan plot at all. I will be getting in contact with the Gangrel coordinator and talking about a possible cross plot with the two clans. I have a few dozen ideas about who, what, where, when and how… but I would first like to talk to Teresa and really get something good in the works. With good planning and communication, we can kick something off and have it rolling by the end of the year.
IN PROGRESS- Working on the beginnings of a Ravnos plot now, although the plotline has changed and worked away from Gangrel for now.

3. The Ravnos is one of the few clans without a Genre Packet. I both love this and hate it. The revised clanbook works perfect as a guide and genre packet, but I think that a rules supplement and FAQ packet is in order for all players. This will assist all Ravnos players and storytellers with answers to their everyday questions. Most importantly, I would like a listing of terms and definitions that are all in one place. Clan Ravnos is complex and the words and definitions can be a lot for a new or even an experienced player. I would like to have a completed packet by no later than September ‘09.
COMPLETED- Packet completed and passed through council

4. I would like to have something written down in the newly revised Ravnos OWbN genre packet concerning Sadhana, or Ravnos Sorcery. Right now there is nothing available via the Ravnos coordinators office. Even though there are (to my knowledge) no PC’s with said sorcery, it would be a nice tool to have available in the Ravnos coordinators office and things of this nature are always fun to read through. I would very much like to keep purchasing this sorcery with PC’s at a Very Rare level. This is not a gift that should be handed out to just anybody, if at all.
COMPLETED- Sort of… The decision has been made to remove Sadhana from the Ravnos… look for upcoming plot where this will be happening along with a few other twists, turns and surprises!

5. The Ravnos clan webpage needs to be reworked. I want a location on the internet where players and storytellers can visit and learn about the Ravnos and their place in the OWbN world. I want to see pictures from events and local games, resources, and links. I want to put together a great, fun website that really gives off an aura of what the clan stands for. My goal is to have this finished by the end of 2009, with updates made throughout the year.
IN PROGRESS- The Ravnos Webmistress is working on completing the website within the next few months.

Next Years Goals
1. I am planning to finish the plot summary and tie up loose ends so I can put the plot into play by, hopefully, the end of this year and have it come to a big finish around the time of the tenth year anniversary of the Week of Nightmares.

2. I want to have the Ravnos website completely finished this coming summer.

Whatever else I decide to do will be driven by the players and their responses to what they would like to see. This game is for the players. Without players, no coordinators are even necessary. If they do not have fun and enjoy playing a Ravnos on a local and national level, than it is my responsibility to remedy that situation.

Thank you once again for your time and consideration!

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