TERRY BAILEY, SR.

JONESBOROUGH, TN

Profession:  Computer Support Specialist
Gaming Since:  Earliest Memory
Favorite Game:  The one currently on the table!
Least Favorite Game:  Once Upon a Time.
Type of Games Preferred:  New ones!
Type of Games I Avoid:  Word Games.
Most Memorable Gaming Experience:  Playing Werewolf at the Gathering of Friends.
Favorite Gaming Quote:  "I am NOT a werewolf!"  Response:  "Are you sure?"

Comments:   I started gaming as a child and continued into adulthood. I have always played games.  I can't remember a time when I have not played games.

KEVIN BENDER

KNOXVILLE, TN

Profession:  Computer programmer
Gaming Since:  1979
Favorite Game:  Twilight Imperium 3
Least Favorite Game:  Chaos Progenitor
Type of Games Preferred:  Games with variable player powers, multiple victory conditions, and well thought out themes.
Type of Games I Avoid:  Deduction style games, while I am usually good at such puzzles, I do not enjoy this as a multiplayer experience.
Favorite Gaming Quote: 
“What are you doing?”
“Playing a card.”
“Well, you played it wrong.”
(Rhonda ‘correcting’ me during a game of Coloretto.)  It was a very funny moment ... okay, maybe you had to be there.
Most Memorable Gaming Experience:  Helping secure victory in Shadows over Camelot the first time I met many of the members of the ETG. It was a terrific beginning and signaled what I hope will be years of great games shared with good friends with the ETG.

Comments: 

I was the smallest baby to survive (1 lb, 15 oz.) at St. Joseph’s hospital (or in the state until that time) in 1965, but that didn’t stop me from thinking big the rest of my life. I taught myself how to play chess (badly) at 8 and program a computer when I was twelve. Games were a big part of my entertainment, and by High School I was playing Squad Leader and was a member of the chess team.  I gravitated toward reading and playing games rather then sports or causing trouble. I have been fortunate to have jobs that I enjoy because they related to my interests: Bookstore Clerk, Movie Theater Manager, Computer Software Store Manager, Computer Technician and, most recently, Computer Programmer.  Rhonda, another member of ETG, and I married in 2002 and life has been just about perfect ever since.

RHONDA BENDER

KNOXVILLE, TN

ALISON BLAKE

KNOXVILLE, TN

DIANA BLAKE

CHURCH HILL,
TN

MARC BLAKE

KNOXVILLE, TN

PAUL BLAKE

CHURCH HILL, TN

DAN CALHOUN

SEYMOUR, TN

STEVE COBB

SEYMOUR, TN

NATHAN COPE

KNOXVILLE,
TN

JIM FERGUSON

KNOXVILLE, TN

Profession: Computing Professional
Gaming Since:  5-years old, when Dad taught me Chess moves
Favorite Game:  Srat-O-Matic Baseball and El Grande
Type of Games Preferred:  Any game with friendly and competitive opponents
Type of Games I Avoid:  No particular type seems bad at all
Favorite Gaming Quote:  "Looks like its time for Alternate Plan Q"

Comments:  I've helped run a winter gaming convention in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois for several years.  Winter War (www.winterwar.org) is a regional gaming convention that celebrated its 35th year in February, 2008.

I've made and nurtured several friendships through the years over the gaming table and I am excited to find this great group of people in East Tennessee to continue that.

RICH
LEE

KNOXVILLE, TN

Profession:  Designer / Developer
Gaming Since:  2003
Favorite Game:  Caylus and Puerto Rico
Least Favorite Game:  Fury of Dracula
Type of Games Preferred:  Fantasy, Building Games, Card Games, Role Based games
Type of Games I Avoid:  Bad games!
Brief Biographical Background:  Born in Iowa, raised in East Tennessee.  I went to Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio, and secured a job back in Knoxville, which led me to Hampton Roads area of Virginia. I stayed there 8 years, and recently moved back to Knoxville, where my wife and I are happily planted for some time!

BYRON MCDANOLD

KNOXVILLE, TN

Profession:  Tool & Die Maker
Gaming Since:  Age 8ish?  Ask my dad!
Favorite Game:  Outpost
Least Favorite Game:  I haven't found one that I absolutely do not like at all.
Types of Games Preferred: 18xx in the past, but more recently German-style games.
Types of Games to Avoid:  Games with too much luck involved.
Most Memorable Gaming Experience:  Attending "JimCon" with my dad a few years back in Florida.

Comments: I first started playing computer games when I was 8 or 9.  My first game was Civilization on PC.  Later I got into the 18xx games board games with my Dad, and the rest is history.

JIM MCDANOLD

KNOXVILLE, TN

Profession: Retired Engineer
Gaming Since:  The time of Moses
Favorite Game:  St. Petersburg
Type of Games Preferred:  18xx and Strategic, non-dice, multi-player games
Type of Games I Avoid:  2-player & Dice games
Favorite Gaming Quote:  "Europe! Or is that "You're Up?"

 SHEILA MORTON

GREENVILLE, TN

Profession:  Professor of English, Tusculum College
Gaming Since:  I was a child, but introduced to European-style games in 2000
Favorite Game:  Puerto Rico
Least Favorite Game:  Trivial Pursuit
Type of Games Preferred:  Lots of bits and parts; trading; auctions; longer games with involved themes and the objective to earn victory points; games such as Settlers, Puerto Rico, Caylus, St. Petersburg, El Grande, Power Grid
Type of Games to Avoid:  Abstract strategy games
Most Memorable Gaming Experience:  No single experience comes to mind, but I always get a game or two for Christmas (Santa still loves me!), and my seven siblings and I (and now their spouses as well) play and play all Christmas day.  So playing new games always has that exciting, Christmas feel for me.

Brief Background Info:  I'm originally from Utah, where a lot of gamers are to be found, and my large family is no exception.  I've been playing games my whole life, and if I could do nothing by play games and still turn-up the resources to pay rent and food, I'd do it!  If I can't make a living playing games, then teaching literature is the next best thing!  My only family in Tennessee is a little Yorkshire Terrier, but she is not much for board games, so I'm grateful to have found the East Tennessee Gamers. 

ASHER
POWERS

MORRISTOWN,
TN

GAIL SCHLOESSER

TALBOTT, TN

GREG SCHLOESSER

TALBOTT, TN

Profession:  Insurance Sales
Gaming Since:  Always.  Seriously since high school.
Favorite Game:  Close between El Grande and Torres.
Least Favorite Game:  Global Survival.
Type of Games Preferred:  Strategy games with lots of agonizing decisions.
Type of Games I Avoid:  Monster wargames or games that go on and on and on ...
Most Memorable Gaming Experience:  Gosh!  There are SO many, and all are precious. 

Comments:  Gaming is such a HUGE part of my life.  I have made so many wonderful friends around the world as a result of my involvement in the hobby.  I have been truly blessed. 

MARK SLIWOSKI

COSBY,
TN

RYAN SLIWOSKI

COSBY,
TN

CARL SMITH

SEYMOUR, TN

MARK SMITH

MARYVILLE, TN

Profession:  CPA
Gaming Since:  Since a kid.  I've loved games as long as I can remember.
Favorite Game:  Varies with my mood.  The most frequent occupants of the top spot on my list are Euphrat & Tigris and Age of Steam.  But there’s not a huge gap between those two and probably a dozen others.
Least Favorite Game:  There are very few games I don’t like, but my kids’ Wizard of Oz and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory games are pretty bad.
Types of Games Preferred:  Decision-rich games with scarce resources and the glaring need to do many more things than you are able to, due to either rules or resource constraints.  I also like games that require each player to frequently adjust their strategy because of what their neighbor just did.
Types of Games I Avoid:  I’m not a luckophobe, but I don’t like games in which success or failure seems more due to favorable card draws or die rolls than superior strategic or tactical play.
Favorite Gaming Quote:  I was going to pick Allison’s “You are my gaming nemesis,” but Kevin’s reply that “Mark is everyone’s nemesis” is the clear winner.
Most Memorable Gaming Experience:  Long-term memory:  The first time I played Acquire, which opened my eyes to a world of gaming beyond what I had played and enjoyed as a child.

More recent memory:  Winning Bang! as the Renegade.  The Sheriff is Dead!  Long Live the Sheriff!
Brief Biographical Background: I was the kid who was always pestering family members to play games, who grew into the adult who was always pestering family members to play games.  I’m the guy who brings a stack of appropriate titles to family gatherings or on vacation – “just in case.”  I’m glad I’ve found you guys, and I’m pretty sure my family is, too.  Still, I’ve got 4 kids at home, and I’m striving to raise as many gamers as I can.

SCOTT WAISNER

NEW MARKET, TN

JACK

KNOXVILLE, TN

Gaming Since:  As long as I can remember ... which is about 10 seconds ago.
Profession:  Nothing ... I'm a dog!
Favorite Game:  A Dog's Life
Least Favorite Game:  Alles für die Katze
Type of Games Preferred:  Any game that involves dogs, or contains large, fluffy pillows.
Type of Games to Avoid:  Any game that involves me taking a bath.
Favorite Gaming Quote:  "It's the Pizza Man!"

PRETZEL SCHNITZEL

TALBOTT, TN

Note:  Pretzel passed away in October 2005.  She was a wonderful dog and great companion.  She is sorely missed, but fondly remembered.

Gaming Since:  Birth.  LOVE those orange balls!
Profession:  I must be a king -- I live to be served!
Favorite Game:  Hot Dog
Least Favorite Game:  Cat Attack
Type of Games Preferred:  Games involving food.
Type of Games to Avoid:  Same as Jack:  Any game that involves me taking a bath.
Favorite Gaming Quote: "Time to Eat!"

RANGER D. DANGER

TALBOTT, TN

Gaming Since:  Since I was adopted by the Schloessers in May 2006.
Profession:  Attention-seeker. 
Favorite Game:  Walk the Dogs
Least Favorite Game:  Ab die Post.  I hate anything involving delivery men!
Type of Games Preferred:  Games that require people to constantly pet me.
Type of Games to Avoid:  Quiet games where folks can ignore me.
Favorite Gaming Quote: "I've gotta go to the bathroom" -- because I get to yap my fool head off!

LEONARD BECKER

SEYMOUR, TN

CHRIS BLESSINGER

KNOXVILLE, TN

RUSSELL DeCASTONGRENE

KNOXVILLE, TN

ALISON
DOUGLAS

FOUNTAIN CITY, TN

JONATHAN
DOUGLAS

FOUNTAIN CITY, TN

Profession:  Theatre marketing for independent films
Gaming Since:  As long as I can remember
Favorite Game:  It is just too hard to choose!
Least Favorite Game:  My wife's cheap knockoff of Yahtzee
Type of Games Preferred:  Games with fairly simple mechanics that allow a wide range of strategic options.  World domination games are always fun; however, I have recently become addicted to cooperative-play games
Type of Games to Avoid:  Games based entirely (or mostly) on luck.   
Favorite Gaming Quote:  "This is the round that you can begin accusing a player of being the traitor -- Hint! Hint!"  My 8-year old cousin who couldn't wait to reveal that he was the traitor in Shadows over Camelot.
Most Memorable Gaming Experience:  Inventing game after game to play with my brother when we were kids.

Comments:  Allison and I are both very happy we've found an awesome group of people to spend our Thursday evenings with.  We feel very lucky to count you all as friends.

 RACHEL
ELY

KNOXVILLE, TN

RENEE
HARRIS

KNOXVILLE, TN

DON LANZA

FARRAGUT, TN

Profession: History Professor, Roane State Community College
Gaming Since:  1978
Favorite Game:  Advamced Civiliation
Least Favorite Game:  Probably the 18xx railroad games, but I would still play them if one of my gaming friends asked me to. I’m generally very flexible with the games I play.
Type of Games Preferred:  Multi-player historical simulations. (Advanced Civilization, Pax Britannica, 7 Ages)
Type of Games I Avoid:  Abstract games that have very little basis in reality (in other words, poor simulations – Tigris & Euphrates, Liberte)
Most Memorable Gaming Experience:  A seven or eight player game of Advanced Civilization that I played about 20 years ago.

CHARLES LICATA

KNOXVILLE, TN

Profession:  Researcher, PhD Student, System Analyst
Gaming Since:  A few years old, thanks to my dad!
Favorite Game:  After the Holocaust
Least Favorite Game:  Civilization (Eagle Games)
Type of Games Preferred:  Any game.  Really!  Any game!
Favorite Gaming Quote:  "Any monk who does not carry a flask of oil will be henceforth known as 'Stinky'" -- Gooble & Efims Guide to Adventuring.
Memorable Gaming Experience:  First gaming convention in Orlando, FL at the "Warzone".  Played until my former wife called the police to find out what happened to me!

Brief Background Info: 
Was a System Analyst.  Decided to get a PhD.  Now I am broke!

 BO LINK

KNOXVILLE, TNProfession:  Grad student in Information Science
Gaming Since:  Since I was 6 or 7, but have only been playing European-style games since 2005 
Favorite Game:  Ticket to Ride, and most recently Power Grid
Least Favorite Game:  Phase 10.  I feel like it's sucking my will to live when I play it.
Type of Games Preferred:  Games with lots of options and not much
player elimination. It's not fun to be playing one minute, and then
be watching the next because of one bad move.
Types of Games I Avoid:  Any game that doesn't allow for choice or diverse strategy options. I don't enjoy games where everything is the same game after game.
Favorite Gaming Quote:  One thing my wife, Amy, always asks me when I
introduce a new game to her is, "Do we have to build a village in this game? I hate building villages!" Needless to say she's not too high on Settlers or San Juan.
Memorable Gaming Experience: Right now, I think it would have to be meeting up with the East Tennessee Gamers. I tried to play regularly in Nashville for a bit, but it was almost an hour drive across town, and they only play till 9 p.m.. I never thought that there would be an even bigger gaming group here in Knoxville, but I am glad to be a part of it.
 
Brief Background Info: 
I'm a Nashville native, which is becoming increasingly rare these days, who's recently moved to Knoxville to
attend the University of Tennessee in order to get my Master's in
Information Science. Before leaving Nashville, I worked for a company
called Cardinal Health as a Graphic Designer. I also have a beautiful
wife named Amy, and I hope to get her out to a game night sometime soon.

GREG LULL

KNOXVILLE, TN

Profession:  Software Engineer
Gaming Since:  3rd Grade
Favorite Game:  Dungeons & Dragons
Least Favorite Game:  Apples to Apples
Type of Games Preferred:  Role-Playing, Strategy, Euro Boardgames, Card Games
Type of Games I Avoid:  Games that require a strong ability to manipulate or read other players (Diplomacy, Apples to Apples, Balderdash, etc…). 
Most Memorable Gaming Experience:  The first D&D campaign I ran after an 8 year hiatus.
Brief Biographical Background:  I moved to Knoxville to follow the girl of my dreams and have never looked back.  I’m now working as a software engineer and love every minute of it!

DYLAN MEGGS

KNOXVILLE, TN

ROBERT MILLER

KNOXVILLE, TN

Profession:  Retail Manager
Gaming Since:  1996
Favorite Game:  Euphrat & Tigris and Formula De
Least Favorite Game:  Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot
Type of Games Preferred:  Anything I can play on a regular basis, or a campaign game.
Type of Games I Avoid:  Anything with a long rule book that I have to read!
Most Memorable Gaming Experience:  I was playing Texas Hold 'Em with some friends and had "pocket aces".  An ace came on the flop and on the river.  I slow played the entire hand and it worked beautifully.  My first four-of-a-kind!

Comments:  Lived in Texas for the first 10 years of my life before I moved to Tennessee.  Picked up gaming way back in the 8^th grade when a friend of mine got me playing Magic the Gathering and AD&D.  After that it was games of Risk with my parents and Axis and Allies with my friends.  I moved into Warhammer 40k in high school and ditched the old classics.  Picked up the Settlers of Catan during my freshman year of college and the rest is gaming history.

TOM
MORRIS

KNOXVILLE,
TN

ERIN PENDLETON

KNOXVILLE, TN

JARED PENDLETON

KNOXVILLE, TN

RAY SHARP

KNOXVILLE, TN

KEITH STUMP

KNOXVILLE, TN

Gaming Since:  Early childhood.
Profession:  Director of Knoxville’s local government Geographic Information System (GIS)
Favorite Game:  Sinking of the Titanic and Time's Up
Least Favorite Game:  Chess and Dungeons & Dragons
Type of Games Preferred:  Relatively light games, with nice components and lots of theme. 
Type of Games I Avoid:  Games with too many rules or that require several plays just to understand the rules.  Also, if it is too quiet around the table, then I probably won't like it. 
Favorite Gaming Quote:  "Do you guys even LISTEN to your show?"  -- Mark Jackson during his interview on GeekSpeak.
Most Memorable Gaming Experience:  Playing "Spoons" with my family at the dinner table, with everyone diving and clawing and scratching to get that last spoon.  And then the added humiliation when one wasn't able to get a spoon on three different occasions of having to crawl around the floor and snort like a pig!

Comments:  Native Kentuckian having grown up in Hatfield & McCoy country. Have five brothers (one of whom is my twin) and a sister. Received a Geography degree from Univ. of Kentucky. (I have enjoyed maps my entire life). Lifelong Presbyterian (although recently joined Methodist church), along with my wife of 11 years: Karen. Have 7-year old daughter McKenzie and two 4-y.o. twin boys: Keegan and Konnor. Used to hike and run, albeit not much during the last several years. Also love to read (sub-Saharan African history, reformed theology, Battle of Antietam).

JENNIFER STURGIS

LENOIR CITY, TN

Profession: 
Gaming Since:  1993 school.
Favorite Game:  Times Up and In Between
Least Favorite Game:  Trivial Pursuit
Type of Games Preferred:  A good mix of creativity, luck and skill
Type of Games I Avoid:  Games that eliminate players
Most Memorable Gaming Experience:  Paying Time's Up - all of the sudden Dad jumps up from his seat, runs to the back door, swings it open and rushes into the back yard.  Everyone is mystified - what could he possibly be doing out there?  From the window we see him hurry towards a rock, lean over and then jab his finger at it a couple of times making sure we see him.  He then runs as fast as he can back inside and to his seat - completely out of breath.  His hard work paid off when his partner correctly guessed the name on the card - which was (of course) Rock Hudson.  There must have been an easier way to get the clue - but not a funnier one!

Brief Biographical Background:  Born in Georgia, raised in Iowa.  Left the midwest at age 20 and lived just about everywhere else - going back to the midwest periodically.  Have worked many and various jobs - including (but not limited to):  corn detasseler, waitress, optician, kennel worker, hotel auditor, veterinary technician,  small web retail store owner/operator, yoga instructor, game designer, game company owner/operator.  Most important jobs - trophy wife and playmate of 2 nutty border collies and 2 fussy cats (are there any other kinds?).

PAUL STURGIS

LENOIR CITY, TN

Gaming Since:  Chutes & Ladders, circa 1973
Favorite Game:  Stop Thief!
Least Favorite Game:  Yahtzee
Type of Games Preferred:  Games where all players are interested and involved throughout the game, not just during their turn.
Type of Games I Avoid: Games with elimination (monopoly). Themeless, luckless, abstract strategy games (Chess). Games that typically take longer than 3 hours.
Most Memorable Gaming Experience:  Teaching Jennifer Magic:The Gathering in college, her loving it, and me realizing “This one’s a keeper!”.

Brief Biographical Background:  My shaping influences have been Quantum Physics, Lucid Dreaming and Out of Body Experience research, Walt Disney World, the words of Jesus, Muhammad, Lao Tsu, Gautama Buddha, Yoda, and other wisdom teachers.

Comments:  “If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it. Anything you want to – do it. You can change the world – there’s nothing to it”.

SUSAN WAISNER

NEW MARKET, TN

MARK WATTS

KNOXVILLE,
TN

FRED 
WILSON

JEFFERSON CITY, TN

TERRY BAILEY, SR.

JONESBOROUGH, TN

Profession:  Computer Support Specialist
Gaming Since:  Earliest Memory
Favorite Game:  The one currently on the table!
Least Favorite Game:  Once Upon a Time.
Type of Games Preferred:  New ones!
Type of Games I Avoid:  Word Games.
Most Memorable Gaming Experience:  Playing Werewolf at the Gathering of Friends.
Favorite Gaming Quote:  "I am NOT a werewolf!"  Response:  "Are you sure?"

Comments:   I started gaming as a child and continued into adulthood. I have always played games.  I can't remember a time when I have not played games.

KEVIN BENDER

KNOXVILLE, TN

Profession:  Computer programmer
Gaming Since:  1979
Favorite Game:  Twilight Imperium 3
Least Favorite Game:  Chaos Progenitor
Type of Games Preferred:  Games with variable player powers, multiple victory conditions, and well thought out themes.
Type of Games I Avoid:  Deduction style games, while I am usually good at such puzzles, I do not enjoy this as a multiplayer experience.
Favorite Gaming Quote: 
“What are you doing?â€
“Playing a card.â€
“Well, you played it wrong.â€
(Rhonda ‘correcting’ me during a game of Coloretto.)  It was a very funny moment ... okay, maybe you had to be there.
Most Memorable Gaming Experience:  Helping secure victory in Shadows over Camelot the first time I met many of the members of the ETG. It was a terrific beginning and signaled what I hope will be years of great games shared with good friends with the ETG.

Comments: 

I was the smallest baby to survive (1 lb, 15 oz.) at St. Joseph's hospital (or in the state until that time) in 1965, but that didnâ't stop me from thinking big the rest of my life. I taught myself how to play chess (badly) at 8 and program a computer when I was twelve. Games were a big part of my entertainment, and by High School I was playing Squad Leader and was a member of the chess team.  I gravitated toward reading and playing games rather then sports or causing trouble. I have been fortunate to have jobs that I enjoy because they related to my interests: Bookstore Clerk, Movie Theater Manager, Computer Software Store Manager, Computer Technician and, most recently, Computer Programmer.  Rhonda, another member of ETG, and I married in 2002 and life has been just about perfect ever since.

RHONDA BENDER

KNOXVILLE, TN

ALISON BLAKE

KNOXVILLE, TN

DIANA BLAKE

CHURCH HILL,
TN

MARC BLAKE

KNOXVILLE, TN

PAUL BLAKE

CHURCH HILL, TN

DAN CALHOUN

SEYMOUR, TN

STEVE COBB

SEYMOUR, TN

NATHAN COPE

KNOXVILLE,
TN

JIM FERGUSON

KNOXVILLE, TN

Profession: Computing Professional
Gaming Since:  5-years old, when Dad taught me Chess moves
Favorite Game:  Srat-O-Matic Baseball and El Grande
Type of Games Preferred:  Any game with friendly and competitive opponents
Type of Games I Avoid:  No particular type seems bad at all
Favorite Gaming Quote:  "Looks like its time for Alternate Plan Q"

Comments:  I've helped run a winter gaming convention in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois for several years.  Winter War (www.winterwar.org) is a regional gaming convention that celebrated its 35th year in February, 2008.

I've made and nurtured several friendships through the years over the gaming table and I am excited to find this great group of people in East Tennessee to continue that.

RICH
LEE

KNOXVILLE, TN

Profession:  Designer / Developer
Gaming Since:  2003
Favorite Game:  Caylus and Puerto Rico
Least Favorite Game:  Fury of Dracula
Type of Games Preferred:  Fantasy, Building Games, Card Games, Role Based games
Type of Games I Avoid:  Bad games!
Brief Biographical Background:  Born in Iowa, raised in East Tennessee.  I went to Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio, and secured a job back in Knoxville, which led me to Hampton Roads area of Virginia. I stayed there 8 years, and recently moved back to Knoxville, where my wife and I are happily planted for some time!

BYRON MCDANOLD

KNOXVILLE, TN

Profession:  Tool & Die Maker
Gaming Since:  Age 8ish?  Ask my dad!
Favorite Game:  Outpost
Least Favorite Game:  I haven't found one that I absolutely do not like at all.
Types of Games Preferred: 18xx in the past, but more recently German-style games.
Types of Games to Avoid:  Games with too much luck involved.
Most Memorable Gaming Experience:  Attending "JimCon" with my dad a few years back in Florida.

Comments: I first started playing computer games when I was 8 or 9.  My first game was Civilization on PC.  Later I got into the 18xx games board games with my Dad, and the rest is history.

JIM MCDANOLD

KNOXVILLE, TN

Profession: Retired Engineer
Gaming Since:  The time of Moses
Favorite Game:  St. Petersburg
Type of Games Preferred:  18xx and Strategic, non-dice, multi-player games
Type of Games I Avoid:  2-player & Dice games
Favorite Gaming Quote:  "Europe! Or is that "You're Up?"

 SHEILA MORTON

GREENVILLE, TN

Profession:  Professor of English, Tusculum College
Gaming Since:  I was a child, but introduced to European-style games in 2000
Favorite Game:  Puerto Rico
Least Favorite Game:  Trivial Pursuit
Type of Games Preferred:  Lots of bits and parts; trading; auctions; longer games with involved themes and the objective to earn victory points; games such as Settlers, Puerto Rico, Caylus, St. Petersburg, El Grande, Power Grid
Type of Games to Avoid:  Abstract strategy games
Most Memorable Gaming Experience:  No single experience comes to mind, but I always get a game or two for Christmas (Santa still loves me!), and my seven siblings and I (and now their spouses as well) play and play all Christmas day.  So playing new games always has that exciting, Christmas feel for me.

Brief Background Info:  I'm originally from Utah, where a lot of gamers are to be found, and my large family is no exception.  I've been playing games my whole life, and if I could do nothing by play games and still turn-up the resources to pay rent and food, I'd do it!  If I can't make a living playing games, then teaching literature is the next best thing!  My only family in Tennessee is a little Yorkshire Terrier, but she is not much for board games, so I'm grateful to have found the East Tennessee Gamers. 

ASHER
POWERS

MORRISTOWN,
TN

GAIL SCHLOESSER

TALBOTT, TN

GREG SCHLOESSER

TALBOTT, TN

Profession:  Insurance Sales
Gaming Since:  Always.  Seriously since high school.
Favorite Game:  Close between El Grande and Torres.
Least Favorite Game:  Global Survival.
Type of Games Preferred:  Strategy games with lots of agonizing decisions.
Type of Games I Avoid:  Monster wargames or games that go on and on and on ...
Most Memorable Gaming Experience:  Gosh!  There are SO many, and all are precious. 

Comments:  Gaming is such a HUGE part of my life.  I have made so many wonderful friends around the world as a result of my involvement in the hobby.  I have been truly blessed. 

MARK SLIWOSKI

COSBY,
TN

RYAN SLIWOSKI

COSBY,
TN

CARL SMITH

SEYMOUR, TN

MARK SMITH

MARYVILLE, TN

Profession:  CPA
Gaming Since:  Since a kid.  I've loved games as long as I can remember.
Favorite Game:  Varies with my mood.  The most frequent occupants of the top spot on my list are Euphrat & Tigris and Age of Steam.  But there’s not a huge gap between those two and probably a dozen others.
Least Favorite Game:  There are very few games I don’t like, but my kids’ Wizard of Oz and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory games are pretty bad.
Types of Games Preferred:  Decision-rich games with scarce resources and the glaring need to do many more things than you are able to, due to either rules or resource constraints.  I also like games that require each player to frequently adjust their strategy because of what their neighbor just did.
Types of Games I Avoid:  I’m not a luckophobe, but I don’t like games in which success or failure seems more due to favorable card draws or die rolls than superior strategic or tactical play.
Favorite Gaming Quote:  I was going to pick Allison’s “You are my gaming nemesis,†but Kevin’s reply that “Mark is everyone’s nemesis†is the clear winner.
Most Memorable Gaming Experience:  Long-term memory:  The first time I played Acquire, which opened my eyes to a world of gaming beyond what I had played and enjoyed as a child.

More recent memory:  Winning Bang! as the Renegade.  The Sheriff is Dead!  Long Live the Sheriff!
Brief Biographical Background: I was the kid who was always pestering family members to play games, who grew into the adult who was always pestering family members to play games.  I’m the guy who brings a stack of appropriate titles to family gatherings or on vacation – “just in case.† I’m glad I’ve found you guys, and I’m pretty sure my family is, too.  Still, I’ve got 4 kids at home, and I’m striving to raise as many gamers as I can.

SCOTT WAISNER

NEW MARKET, TN

JACK

KNOXVILLE, TN

Gaming Since:  As long as I can remember ... which is about 10 seconds ago.
Profession:  Nothing ... I'm a dog!
Favorite Game:  A Dog's Life
Least Favorite Game:  Alles fÃr die Katze
Type of Games Preferred:  Any game that involves dogs, or contains large, fluffy pillows.
Type of Games to Avoid:  Any game that involves me taking a bath.
Favorite Gaming Quote:  "It's the Pizza Man!"

PRETZEL SCHNITZEL

TALBOTT, TN

Note:  Pretzel passed away in October 2005.  She was a wonderful dog and great companion.  She is sorely missed, but fondly remembered.

Gaming Since:  Birth.  LOVE those orange balls!
Profession:  I must be a king -- I live to be served!
Favorite Game:  Hot Dog
Least Favorite Game:  Cat Attack
Type of Games Preferred:  Games involving food.
Type of Games to Avoid:  Same as Jack:  Any game that involves me taking a bath.
Favorite Gaming Quote: "Time to Eat!"

RANGER D. DANGER

TALBOTT, TN

Gaming Since:  Since I was adopted by the Schloessers in May 2006.
Profession:  Attention-seeker. 
Favorite Game:  Walk the Dogs
Least Favorite Game:  Ab die Post.  I hate anything involving delivery men!
Type of Games Preferred:  Games that require people to constantly pet me.
Type of Games to Avoid:  Quiet games where folks can ignore me.
Favorite Gaming Quote: "I've gotta go to the bathroom" -- because I get to yap my fool head off!

LEONARD BECKER

SEYMOUR, TN

CHRIS BLESSINGER

KNOXVILLE, TN

RUSSELL DeCASTONGRENE

KNOXVILLE, TN

ALISON
DOUGLAS

FOUNTAIN CITY, TN

JONATHAN
DOUGLAS

FOUNTAIN CITY, TN

Profession:  Theatre marketing for independent films
Gaming Since:  As long as I can remember
Favorite Game:  It is just too hard to choose!
Least Favorite Game:  My wife's cheap knockoff of Yahtzee
Type of Games Preferred:  Games with fairly simple mechanics that allow a wide range of strategic options.  World domination games are always fun; however, I have recently become addicted to cooperative-play games
Type of Games to Avoid:  Games based entirely (or mostly) on luck.   
Favorite Gaming Quote:  "This is the round that you can begin accusing a player of being the traitor -- Hint! Hint!"  My 8-year old cousin who couldn't wait to reveal that he was the traitor in Shadows over Camelot.
Most Memorable Gaming Experience:  Inventing game after game to play with my brother when we were kids.

Comments:  Allison and I are both very happy we've found an awesome group of people to spend our Thursday evenings with.  We feel very lucky to count you all as friends.

 RACHEL
ELY

KNOXVILLE, TN

RENEE
HARRIS

KNOXVILLE, TN

DON LANZA

FARRAGUT, TN

Profession: History Professor, Roane State Community College
Gaming Since:  1978
Favorite Game:  Advamced Civiliation
Least Favorite Game:  Probably the 18xx railroad games, but I would still play them if one of my gaming friends asked me to. I’m generally very flexible with the games I play.
Type of Games Preferred:  Multi-player historical simulations. (Advanced Civilization, Pax Britannica, 7 Ages)
Type of Games I Avoid:  Abstract games that have very little basis in reality (in other words, poor simulations – Tigris & Euphrates, Liberte)
Most Memorable Gaming Experience:  A seven or eight player game of Advanced Civilization that I played about 20 years ago.

CHARLES LICATA

KNOXVILLE, TN

Profession:  Researcher, PhD Student, System Analyst
Gaming Since:  A few years old, thanks to my dad!
Favorite Game:  After the Holocaust
Least Favorite Game:  Civilization (Eagle Games)
Type of Games Preferred:  Any game.  Really!  Any game!
Favorite Gaming Quote:  "Any monk who does not carry a flask of oil will be henceforth known as 'Stinky'" -- Gooble & Efims Guide to Adventuring.
Memorable Gaming Experience:  First gaming convention in Orlando, FL at the "Warzone".  Played until my former wife called the police to find out what happened to me!

Brief Background Info: 
Was a System Analyst.  Decided to get a PhD.  Now I am broke!

 BO LINK

KNOXVILLE, TNProfession:  Grad student in Information Science
Gaming Since:  Since I was 6 or 7, but have only been playing European-style games since 2005 
Favorite Game:  Ticket to Ride, and most recently Power Grid
Least Favorite Game:  Phase 10.  I feel like it's sucking my will to live when I play it.
Type of Games Preferred:  Games with lots of options and not much
player elimination. It's not fun to be playing one minute, and then
be watching the next because of one bad move.
Types of Games I Avoid:  Any game that doesn't allow for choice or diverse strategy options. I don't enjoy games where everything is the same game after game.
Favorite Gaming Quote:  One thing my wife, Amy, always asks me when I
introduce a new game to her is, "Do we have to build a village in this game? I hate building villages!" Needless to say she's not too high on Settlers or San Juan.
Memorable Gaming Experience: Right now, I think it would have to be meeting up with the East Tennessee Gamers. I tried to play regularly in Nashville for a bit, but it was almost an hour drive across town, and they only play till 9 p.m.. I never thought that there would be an even bigger gaming group here in Knoxville, but I am glad to be a part of it.
 
Brief Background Info: 
I'm a Nashville native, which is becoming increasingly rare these days, who's recently moved to Knoxville to
attend the University of Tennessee in order to get my Master's in
Information Science. Before leaving Nashville, I worked for a company
called Cardinal Health as a Graphic Designer. I also have a beautiful
wife named Amy, and I hope to get her out to a game night sometime soon.

GREG LULL

KNOXVILLE, TN

Profession:  Software Engineer
Gaming Since:  3rd Grade
Favorite Game:  Dungeons & Dragons
Least Favorite Game:  Apples to Apples
Type of Games Preferred:  Role-Playing, Strategy, Euro Boardgames, Card Games
Type of Games I Avoid:  Games that require a strong ability to manipulate or read other players (Diplomacy, Apples to Apples, Balderdash, etcâ€). 
Most Memorable Gaming Experience:  The first D&D campaign I ran after an 8 year hiatus.
Brief Biographical Background:  I moved to Knoxville to follow the girl of my dreams and have never looked back.  I’m now working as a software engineer and love every minute of it!

DYLAN MEGGS

KNOXVILLE, TN

ROBERT MILLER

KNOXVILLE, TN

Profession:  Retail Manager
Gaming Since:  1996
Favorite Game:  Euphrat & Tigris and Formula De
Least Favorite Game:  Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot
Type of Games Preferred:  Anything I can play on a regular basis, or a campaign game.
Type of Games I Avoid:  Anything with a long rule book that I have to read!
Most Memorable Gaming Experience:  I was playing Texas Hold 'Em with some friends and had "pocket aces".  An ace came on the flop and on the river.  I slow played the entire hand and it worked beautifully.  My first four-of-a-kind!

Comments:  Lived in Texas for the first 10 years of my life before I moved to Tennessee.  Picked up gaming way back in the 8^th grade when a friend of mine got me playing Magic the Gathering and AD&D.  After that it was games of Risk with my parents and Axis and Allies with my friends.  I moved into Warhammer 40k in high school and ditched the old classics.  Picked up the Settlers of Catan during my freshman year of college and the rest is gaming history.

TOM
MORRIS

KNOXVILLE,
TN

ERIN PENDLETON

KNOXVILLE, TN

JARED PENDLETON

KNOXVILLE, TN

RAY SHARP

KNOXVILLE, TN

KEITH STUMP

KNOXVILLE, TN

Gaming Since:  Early childhood.
Profession:  Director of Knoxville’s local government Geographic Information System (GIS)
Favorite Game:  Sinking of the Titanic and Time's Up
Least Favorite Game:  Chess and Dungeons & Dragons
Type of Games Preferred:  Relatively light games, with nice components and lots of theme. 
Type of Games I Avoid:  Games with too many rules or that require several plays just to understand the rules.  Also, if it is too quiet around the table, then I probably won't like it. 
Favorite Gaming Quote:  "Do you guys even LISTEN to your show?"  -- Mark Jackson during his interview on GeekSpeak.
Most Memorable Gaming Experience:  Playing "Spoons" with my family at the dinner table, with everyone diving and clawing and scratching to get that last spoon.  And then the added humiliation when one wasn't able to get a spoon on three different occasions of having to crawl around the floor and snort like a pig!

Comments:  Native Kentuckian having grown up in Hatfield & McCoy country. Have five brothers (one of whom is my twin) and a sister. Received a Geography degree from Univ. of Kentucky. (I have enjoyed maps my entire life). Lifelong Presbyterian (although recently joined Methodist church), along with my wife of 11 years: Karen. Have 7-year old daughter McKenzie and two 4-y.o. twin boys: Keegan and Konnor. Used to hike and run, albeit not much during the last several years. Also love to read (sub-Saharan African history, reformed theology, Battle of Antietam).

JENNIFER STURGIS

LENOIR CITY, TN

Profession: 
Gaming Since:  1993 school.
Favorite Game:  Times Up and In Between
Least Favorite Game:  Trivial Pursuit
Type of Games Preferred:  A good mix of creativity, luck and skill
Type of Games I Avoid:  Games that eliminate players
Most Memorable Gaming Experience:  Paying Time's Up - all of the sudden Dad jumps up from his seat, runs to the back door, swings it open and rushes into the back yard.  Everyone is mystified - what could he possibly be doing out there?  From the window we see him hurry towards a rock, lean over and then jab his finger at it a couple of times making sure we see him.  He then runs as fast as he can back inside and to his seat - completely out of breath.  His hard work paid off when his partner correctly guessed the name on the card - which was (of course) Rock Hudson.  There must have been an easier way to get the clue - but not a funnier one!

Brief Biographical Background:  Born in Georgia, raised in Iowa.  Left the midwest at age 20 and lived just about everywhere else - going back to the midwest periodically.  Have worked many and various jobs - including (but not limited to):  corn detasseler, waitress, optician, kennel worker, hotel auditor, veterinary technician,  small web retail store owner/operator, yoga instructor, game designer, game company owner/operator.  Most important jobs - trophy wife and playmate of 2 nutty border collies and 2 fussy cats (are there any other kinds?).

PAUL STURGIS

LENOIR CITY, TN

Gaming Since:  Chutes & Ladders, circa 1973
Favorite Game:  Stop Thief!
Least Favorite Game:  Yahtzee
Type of Games Preferred:  Games where all players are interested and involved throughout the game, not just during their turn.
Type of Games I Avoid: Games with elimination (monopoly). Themeless, luckless, abstract strategy games (Chess). Games that typically take longer than 3 hours.
Most Memorable Gaming Experience:  Teaching Jennifer Magic:The Gathering in college, her loving it, and me realizing “This one’s a keeper!â€.

Brief Biographical Background:  My shaping influences have been Quantum Physics, Lucid Dreaming and Out of Body Experience research, Walt Disney World, the words of Jesus, Muhammad, Lao Tsu, Gautama Buddha, Yoda, and other wisdom teachers.

Comments:  “If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it. Anything you want to – do it. You can change the world – there’s nothing to itâ€.

SUSAN WAISNER

NEW MARKET, TN

MARK WATTS

KNOXVILLE,
TN

FRED 
WILSON

JEFFERSON CITY, TN