Greetings,
My name is Samson Talmadge (he/him) and I am running for a seat on the RFR board in the upcoming election. I played in Port Katherine as Rhett Emile Locklan II from Winter of 2019 until the game’s conclusion and enjoyed every single second of it. Despite my desire to do so, I have been unable to crunch at Witchwood or Entanglement due to currently living in the far-off lands of Philadelphia, PA, but I eagerly look forward to being more involved in this vibrant community in the near and distant future.
I am very new to LARP and the greater LARP community, but collaborative story-telling is not novel to me; in fact, it is something that has woven itself into every aspect of my life in one way or another. I have successfully run a story-intensive TTRPG campaign for four years and greatly enjoyed organizing, planning, and communicating all the small pieces of it that bring our table together. Professionally, I am a baker and pastry chef with a bachelor’s degree in food service management. I have worked in the food industry for over 12 years in management roles, customer service roles and as members of both large and small cooperative teams and enjoy being a part of the decision making process. For the past three years, I have managed a small cupcake and custom cake shop. In my day to day, I facilitate the store operations, including delegating tasks, managing output and finances, and assisting staff with handling their workload, stress, personal and professional growth. Our small LGBTQIA+ staff and their happiness and success is always my primary goal and it is my honor to serve them as a team leader every day, just as it would be my honor to serve the RFR community.
As a member of the RFR board, I would love to offer a space where staffers, players, and members of the RFR organization can feel heard, supported, and safe to express themselves. As a new player, my experience with Port Katherine was an extremely good one and I want to facilitate that experience for future new LARPers and members of this growing community. Tapping into the creativity of make-believe as adults is a magical experience and one I think should be shared and accessible to everyone who wants to participate.
You can contact me on Slack (Samson Talmadge) or through my email sammie.talmadge@gmail.com if you have any questions you would like to ask me in relation to my candidacy for the board. Thank you to those that encouraged me to run and to this community for being one I want to protect and keep forever. I look forward to continuing to play games with all of you in the future.