Kyle,

I wanted to wait until you've had a month or so in the job before I hit you with this.  I emailed Kevin back in February about the poor showing I've had here in San Angelo, Texas since our sole retail supporter closed its doors in September 2002.

The bottom line is that I haven't been able to meet the minimums since then, and have been waiting for news of a possible new store opening.  I asked Kevin if was willing to keep me along as an Ambassador until this situation cleared itself - one way or the other.

As you can see by the email thread - Kevin was willing to keep me on as long as I kept up the effort on my part.

Since you're in charge now - are you still willing to keep me on?

Thanks,

Matt Clouser
STCCG Ambassador, Ronara Region
San Angelo, Texas, USA


In a message dated 02/05/03, Matt Clouser writes:

>> Kevin,
>>
>> Thanks for your kind words - I appreciate it.
>>
>> Your suggestions about phone numbers and emails are spot
>> on - and I have been using them shamelessly.  About a week
>> out from each of my Hastings demos, I sent out a mass email
>> to my list, then a short reminder email the day before.
>>
>> The two serious obstacles I have to get over here are 1) no real
>> interest, and 2) no real place to rebuild a player base.
>>
>> As I mentioned in my email yesterday, most of my 1E players
>> have no interest in shelling out any more $$$ on a new STCCG
>> when the majority of them felt that 1E wasn't broke.  Alot of that
>> has to do with the fact that we generally played for fun and tended
>> to stay away from the formula decks - like Vic or Cyrus.  As a
>> result, we saw very little of what the rest of the STCCG community
>> saw.
>>
>> As to my "ambassador-ship"... based on your comments, I will
>> glady stay on as Ambassador as long as there's hope for growth
>> here.  But I wanted you to understand that I will be going through
>> a real lean period here, and to ask that you be patient with me.
>>
>> Thanks again for your support.
>>
>> Matt Clouser
>> STCCG Ambassador, Ronara Region
>> San Angelo, Texas, USA


In a message dated 2/5/03 8:20:18 AM Central Standard Time, kevin.reitzel@decipher.com writes:

If you're not willing to give up, please keep at it Matt. Just as long as
you do your monthly reports and keep trying.

It sounds like you may have to regroup and start over with a new player
base. Or just re-organize your current players.

I have a suggestion. Do you still have phone numbers or emails from your
players? You can access those from your old score sheets and TD data base. I
would also always take the names and emails of new people you demo to. I
suggest hosting a weekly game night. If you don’t run it at a store, try a
pizza place or bookstore. Some people may feel more comfortable with casual
play than the intimidation of a tournament. New players like to learn
through casual play more than tournaments to.

Use your email list to inform your player base every two weeks or so of
upcoming events. Do this consistently so people know that’s it going on.
Maybe they wont show every night. But they will know about it and possibly
spread the word.

You know, I've been to San Angelo. I was there doing a Young Jedi demo tour
a couple of years ago. I remember doing an event at Hastings and one of the
local shops. Its a cool town. I think causal play may be the thing to
concentrate on in the time being. Word of mouth helps too.

My fellow co-worker and friend Kyle Heuer are from Santa Barbara CA. We set
up a weekly game night at a local pizza place back in 1995. Its still going
strong to this day. The pizza place loves us! :-)

Let me know if you have further questions Matt. I hope things turn around.

In a message dated 02/04/03, Matt Clouser writes:


>> Kevin,
>>
>> I'm in a real quandry here in San Angelo, and wanted you to be
>> aware of what's going on.
>>
>> When our local game store shut down in September, it literally
>> pulled the plug on any organized CCG gaming.   In the five
>> months since then, most of my 1E player base has moved on,
>> moved away, or has otherwise disappeared.
>>
>> I tried running an organized demo program at Hasting, a local
>> entertainment superstore - in their cafe area at least once a
>> month since October.  I had about 5 of my old players show up
>> for the first demo, but no one has attended since.  The ONLY
>> STCCG activity since then has been friendly play at the
>> apartment of one of our 1E players who has NO interest in
>> spending any more money on a new game.
>>
>> And, as I mentioned in my January report, Hastings is
>> focusing it's support to a Yu-Gi-Oh league that one of their
>> employee's is trying to start up.
>>
>> My attempt at demos at the Nemesis opening were equally
>> dismal, topped off by my being called away for a work-related
>> emergency.
>>
>> The only hope I've got on the horizon is the possibility of a
>> new store opening up in the next couple of months.  To be
>> brutally honest, I give this new store about 50-50 odds of
>> them opening their doors - their financial position is very weak.
>>
>> What this boils down to is that I have NOT met the minimum
>> requirements for an Ambassador since September - and it
>> doesn't look like I'm going to be able to make a serious stab
>> at rebuilding a player base until the new store opens (if it opens).
>>
>> So the question is - are you and Decipher willing to keep me on
>> as an Ambassador until then??
>>
>> If not, I certainly understand - and I'll hand in my resignation
>> without arguement, and reapply for a position when (and if)
>> this new store becomes a reality.
>>
>>
>> Matt Clouser
>> STCCG Ambassador, Ronara Region
>> San Angelo, Texas, USA