This is my opening statement for the NAF Presidential Election – please have a read, and if you are a NAF Member and agree with what I have written I would appreciate your vote – thank you!

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Hi, my name’s Mike Davies, my NAF name is sann0638, and I would like you to vote for me as your next NAF President.

I want to be NAF President so that I can make the organisation of Blood Bowl around the world as good as it can be. Over the last few years I have implemented idea after idea, from free provision of NAF OBBLM to online NAF tournaments to the Blood Bowl survey, and as President I would be able to drive forward bigger and better ideas. The next couple of years are make or break for Blood Bowl, as Cyanide’s Blood Bowl 2 beds in, Games Workshop take a fresh look at the game, and the NAF’s long-awaited new website becomes reality, along with managing the process to choose the next World Cup. These events need someone who has a love of Blood Bowl combined with the ability to get things done, and I have shown both of these in my work as NAF Media Officer.

During my Presidency I plan to focus on two things: delivering on a number of bold and ambitious projects and dealing effectively and efficiently with matters that arise. A revamped website has been repeatedly promised, but I have consistently delivered on any BB project in which I have been involved, and as President I would be able to push this forward. I would also build on my Media work to deliver a continued improvement to the way the NAF communicates, including expanding the NTO role, to make a real and responsive network of BB players across the world, so that they go from National Tournament Organisers to Regional BLOOD BOWL Ambassadors. I believe this could be critical in making the NAF a stronger organisation, which could then hopefully feed into a productive working relationship between the NAF and Cyanide/Focus, Fumbbl and, hopefully, Games Workshop.

A vote for me is a vote for an active and passionate Blood Bowl player. On tabletop I have been playing since 2^nd Edition, playing all 24 races in NAF tournaments, almost all with teams I have painted myself. I have set up and been commissioner for a longstanding tabletop league (Cakebowl) and I ran the scoring and results processing for the largest Blood Bowl tournament ever (the NAF World Cup 3 in Lucca, Italy).

I have a lot of online Blood Bowl experience too, going back to PBEM. I have played extensively on Fumbbl, including making a series of introductory YouTube videos for Fumbbl that are used in the “newcomers pack”. I have played extensively on Cyanide’s BB1 and BB2, including organising the “Road to the NAFC” tournament on BB1 which was the first Cyanide/NAF interaction, and being a closed beta-tester on BB2. I have also built a good relationship with the Focus Community Managers. I have also provided consultancy on using Score for numerous BB tournaments, including the largest Eurobowl/Europen event ever.

I have dedicated hundreds of hours to developing the NAF and the wider BB community in lots of of ways. I wrote 90% of the words on thenaf.net, bringing together resources from across the Blood Bowl world, and incorporating contributions from other NAF members. I have organised two TFF legacy teams. I took the initiative to provide free OBBLM hosting for leagues by the NAF, which has now been taken up by 20 leagues from across the world and has been taken on as a developing project by the League Director, delivering improvements that will benefit all OBBLM users, not just those we host.

I am an admin on the BB Community group on Facebook, looking after it as it grew from around 280 to around 2800 members. I run the NAF Facebook and Twitter accounts and Newsletter, producing a regular stream of BB content. I produced over a year of NAFcast podcasts, featuring interviews and BB news from around the world. I instigated and developed the NAF Survey, the biggest ever survey of BB players. I have been on NAF committee since June 2015 having been Media Officer since March 2013, so am familiar with the structure of NAF Committee. I took minutes since joining the committee, which have been published within a week of each meeting.

It is clear to me that over the next 24 months there are a number of opportunities and challenges facing the NAF, including possible development of a new box set from Games Workshop, possible new releases and rule changes from Cyanide, the production of a new NAF website, and the choice of hosts for the NAF World Cup 4 in 2019. I am well placed to lead on all of these fronts, as I am already involved in the development of the new website, and have open lines of communication with Cyanide, including negotiating the change of name for the main matchmaking league.

I ran the weekend of World Cup 3, I have supervised communication with members, and I have been a Games Workshop customer for 25 years, so will look forward to leading on all these fronts. These issues will dominate NAF business for the term, and will require a clear vision and confident action, but I have also consistently shown that I can deal with developing issues and turn them to our advantage.

Thank you for considering me for your vote. Given the challenges and opportunities ahead, I believe that my experience, vision and enthusiasm make me the best person to be NAF President for the coming term. I hope you will agree.

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Here is my Q&A thread, pop in and ask a question!

Here are the election details on thenaf.net:

Presidential Election