Board of Directors

Alex is an associate general counsel at a private equity firm where he practices law focused on energy, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance. He was introduced to the boardgaming hobby by his dad and in 2004 attended his first WBC, which has been his annual marquee event ever since because of the quality of gaming and, more importantly, the multi-decade friendships he has cherished. Alex started off playing Grognard classics, which inspired a lifelong love of history, and now plays a diverse mix of games across genres.

AJ started attending WBC in 2017 and was Consul three straight times in 2018-2022. He manages Quirky Quarks, an educational board game he helped design. He is also a community leader and a pianist, with a background in medicine and a potential future in psychotherapy.

Pete is an environmental specialist at Cargill, ensuring that his site maintains all programs within the rules and regulations set by the government and the company. He uses the same mindset whether at work or at play especially when it comes to learning the rules and making the most of that knowledge. Pete’s first game was Avalon Hill’s ‘Stalingrad’ when his older brother introduced him to the hobby. His first gaming convention was the 1994 Avaloncon and has been gaining new friends every year since. Pete has been a GM and Assistant GM for Squad Leader and B-17 for many years.

Andy runs the day-to-day operations of a plastic wear and friction testing and test equipment manufacturing company and is VP of GMT Games responsible for Game Submissions and Development. His two jobs and growing family keep him very busy. He started gaming in 1971 with D-Day. He has attended Avaloncon/WBC for 19 years and been a GM for 17. He owes a lot to this convention since it is directly responsible for bringing his wife into the hobby. His position with GMT arose from his desire to help the hobby by playtesting for AH, and then GMT which led to developing Saratoga, Paths of Glory, and others.

Rebecca is a research scientist at the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill, specializing in evaluation and quality improvement. She began attending World Boardgaming Championships in 2000 as a junior thanks to her aunt, Kaarin Engelmann, and has attended every year since. Growing up in the boardgaming community has been immensely influential in her life and Rebecca is committed to ensuring the continued success of the WBC/BPA. She has GM’d and Assistant GM’d several adult and junior’s tournaments over the years and was awarded Sportsman of the Year in 2007.

Laurie is currently the Manager of Data and Special Projects at the Diocese of Buffalo after “retiring” from being a principal and teacher for 20 years. Laurie has been attending WBC for over 25 years. During that time she has GM’d many Juniors games and has been an assistant GM with various adult games. She also spent 10 of those years as the Junior Coordinator and developed friendships with many of the members. Her own two boys grew up at WBC and she knows how important the family atmosphere that WBC offers is to other families.

Andrew is a Manager at Rogers Communications in Toronto, ON, Canada. There he manages strategic pricing of large enterprise telecom accounts. He has been a gamer his entire life from the age of 4 constantly bugging his parents to play chess or whatever other game he could find. At age 9 he discovered Axis and Allies and in high school Diplomacy which opened him to the greater world of competitive gaming. In 2015 he wrote an article for his local game store entitled “WBC: The Nirvana of Serious Boardgaming” which sums up how he feels about the convention. While he tends much more to the Eurogaming side now, Andrew still likes to ensure that he spends some of WBC playing games that are entirely new to him. Andrew is also well known at WBC for his cosplay as he GMs various games including Orleans, Can’t Stop, Jr. Splendor, and Jr. Facts in Four.

Ken retired from CommScope in March 2017 as VP, Corporate Planning, Analysis & Systems in Hickory, North Carolina to become Convention Director for WBC. He has been gaming since 1975 when he played his first game of Panzer Leader. Ken has attended Avaloncon/WBC since its inception and has been a GM and Assistant GM for many titles. His achievements at Avaloncon led to his election in 1997 to the Avaloncon Hall of Fame. Ken was Convention Director for BPA’s Enlightenment mini-con. He is one of the BPA Auctioneers, and he handles the accounting portion of the BPA auction.

Nick is a data analyst working with an education consulting firm. He has been attending the World Boardgaming Championships since 1999 as a junior and is a regular contender for Consul. He is a board game podcaster (Friendly Ties), youtuber (Phoenicks), competitor (WSBG), and general enthusiast.