I applied for the CEO position...

[lordbrooks]

Here's my letter to GW. If you agree with me, send a message to [email][email protected][/email] and tell them to give me an interview!

Brooks Call


To the staff of Games Workshop:
The business of tabletop gaming is evolving at an incredible rate. Interest in the tactile, immersive experience of physical games played with friends in person is increasing as though to rebuke the rise in the electronic, impersonal experiences that were expected to supplant them. For many, the analog experience is superior to the digital. Games Workshop is one of the most respected names, and the most storied, in the history of ultra-specialized gaming experiences that are meant to be mastered to truly enjoy them – a master of the analog in the looming digital age.
I was introduced to the 40K universe in the best possible way – by a dedicated brand ambassador who is also a customer. The passion that collecting and modeling figures in the Citadel range had imparted in him was infectious. Over the course of a few months spent assembling, modeling, learning and playing in the Necromunda universe, the next step was clear. He generated six new customers – Dark Angel, Necron Overlord, Blood Angel, Hive Mind, Farseer, and myself, a warmaster of the Damned Legions; this initial interest has spread to pull at least twenty people back, or further into their investment in the game. This human interaction and brand sharing I see as the traditional cornerstone of Games Workshop sales growth. However, this highly effective operation is ultimately limiting – it requires established social connections and physical outlets to flourish. It was a completely analog experience, accomplished in real space and time.
We are moving towards a time when the creators are becoming as popular as their products. Fans demand an ongoing engagement with the creative process, expressed through an open communication by the creators. Games Workshop from the outside is a nearly closed system. There is little direct engagement with fans. The most ardent of your fans typically view the company as an ivory tower. While the culture of a tight group of artists creating and shaping the universes of Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40K is a noble one, it no longer fits with the desires of your audience. Games Workshop must move to directly engage with established customers, and reach out to engage potential customers.
More nimble competitors are emerging to take market share. Games Workshop is and will for the foreseeable future remain the biggest player in tabletop wargaming. The quality of models, publications and accessories produced remains at the highest tiers in the industry. However, competitors are beating Games Workshop with customer engagement in almost every way. Emerging companies communicate directly with fans while designing factions, rules and even worlds before production even begins, providing experiences that directly reflect customer desires. Established competitors provide a constant stream of errata and updates that balance and enhance the game digitally – that is, immediately. While no competitor can offer the brick-and-mortar experience of the Games Workshop stores, this experience is produced for them at no cost and in direct conflict with Games Workshop in the vital cornerstones of gaming communities – Independent Game Stores.
With the cessation of tournament support and the resultant slowdown of IGS involvement, the analog spread of Games Workshop has been deeply slowed. The free, excited, effective brand ambassadors like the one who pulled me in are disappearing, heading of to different sci-fantasy worlds, selling their armies. Every customer lost is two customers lost if they sell their models, a new or established player side-stepping the webstore, IGS display rack or Games Workshop location and making a year's worth of purchases in the secondary economy. Keeping customers happy keeps them customers.
I propose a new direction for Games Workshop – one that focuses on customer engagement to champion the analog experience while using the tools of digital networking to enhance customers brand experience. Look at any of the popular Games Workshop dedicated websites, blogs or YouTube channels and you will see dedicated individuals who deeply desire a connection to the company and the future of the hobby. These are your best salesmen. They're all working for free. Actually, they're paying you. If we can empower the incredible passion that the rich universes that Games Workshop has grown over the decades has inspired within these individuals, they will in turn make more brand ambassadors, growing the universe of Games Workshop fans.
I am highly interested in overseeing the transformation of Games Workshop into a customer centric business that inspires individuals to become deeply invested within the company, emotionally and financially. This must come with some loss of control over the intellectual property and the set-in-paper mentality that currently dominates. Just as hobbyists “kit-bash” or combine multiple model sets in ways unforeseen by the designers, so too must the rules, universe and future of the universes be fluid and affected by the community.
I want to see your designers Instagramming pictures of their work-in-progress models, your writers tweeting story teasers. Then I want to see them responding to the fans. I want to see the narratives move forward, affected by the results of tournaments that see exponential growth year-to-year. The essential uniqueness that has been created within the Games Workshop universes need to be showcased in ancillary products such as electronic games. Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40K both have incredible ideas and strange races that break the mold of generic fantasy and science fiction – these are the game changers that will bring new customers into the full spectrum of the Games Workshop product line. Bold moves into higher-quality licensed products such as animation or film can utilize these differences to excite complacent audiences.
I don't have the traditional resume of a CEO. I have a Bachelor's Degree in Teaching the Language Arts and an undeclared minor in Business Administration. However, many of the most successful companies in the tech sector have had success with CEOs that were highly passionate about the product and invested in it's production. I play in tournaments and have fully modeled and painted over 5000 points of Chaos. I actively sell the Games Workshop experience to everyone I meet who might have the slightest interest. I want the hobby to flourish, and for this to happen, Games Workshop must add a engaged digital presence that leverages the most important business resource available: the players and hobbyists.

Thank you for your consideration,

Brooks Call

[Blood Shadow]

Nice read, really liked the "one customer who sells his army is two customers lost"

I think you would certainly need to expand on your future plan, but your objectives are solid.

[daboarder]

good read, pretty much all the major problems of the game.

I doubt will get the position (unfortunately) but I hope they at least take note

[Path Walker]

Are people just using this CEO posting as a chance to whine about how they think the company should be run?

This is far, far too long and has no mention of your abilities in any relevant areas, you've not shown how you'd be good at being a CEO, rather you've pointed out what you view as problems with GWs current business model with some, pretty daft, solutions. You've shown no prior experinece with solving issues or driving forward a business.

Also "i play in tournaments" would pretty much show you as not being passionate about the part of the hobby GW really care about, showing a deep lacking in your understanding of how they operate.

[daboarder]

If bombardment of their job applications is what it takes to get them to acknowledge it then its what it takes.

Similar action has been taken in Australia recently concerning government policy for youth job seekers.

it worked

[Lexington]

This is far, far too long and has no mention of your abilities in any relevant areas, you've not shown how you'd be good at being a CEO

Which according to their current CEO, is absolutely irrelevant to their job selection process. Shows good reading comprehension on lordbrooks' account. I think the man's a lock.

[eldargal]

I think you're underestimating how hard being a CEO is, especially since martini luncheons went out of fashion...

[Deadlift]

I thought it was a good read myself and exactly the kind of thing Kirby previously stated he wanted. CEO experiance was irrelevant but passion about the hobby and a vision to see it grow was a must. Ticked the boxes for me.
If you don't try you don't get, good luck matey.

[Gotthammer]

I, for one, welcome our new unqualified overlord.

[Path Walker]

If bombardment of their job applications is what it takes to get them to acknowledge it then its what it takes.

Similar action has been taken in Australia recently concerning government policy for youth job seekers.

it worked

This won't, its a business, not a government and so has no mandate to listen to the people no matter how stupid their ideas are unlike a government. GW don't have to listen to the will of the people if the people would run them into the ground in a heartbeat with thier half grasped ideas of how they think a business should work.

Which according to their current CEO, is absolutely irrelevant to their job selection process. Shows good reading comprehension on lordbrooks' account. I think the man's a lock.

Prior experience isn't necessary, some sort of basic comprehension of how a business operates is or even what a business is.

Which puts most people complaining about GW out of the running.