Executive Board
Position Descriptions
Vice President
The Vice President (VP) is second-in-command. The VP is often referred to as a “sponge,” because their #1 goal is to “absorb” as much knowledge as they can to develop a wide but refined skillset.
The VP must become a leader who is not afraid to delegate. That said, the VP must also be able to help the other Execs along the way. The VP must be able to ask for help, handle stressful situations, be willing to take risks, be kind and encouraging, be inclusive, and be selfless and humble.
In terms of responsibilities, the Vice President takes notes during Exec meetings, helps other Execs with their duties to break up the workload, and coordinates with administrators, sponsors, and clubs.
It is highly encouraged that you have prior leadership experience and have been actively involved with PONG. A candidate must go into this process willing and able to commit to two full years, or in other words, four semesters. For this election, you’re only eligible to run for VP if you can serve as VP from Summer 2023 – Spring 2024, and as President from Summer 2024 – Spring 2025.
Treasurer
The Treasurer manages PONG’s finances. They keep track of our budget, holdings, spending, and any income. They submit requests via CONNECT to make orders and payments, and to request reimbursement. The Treasurer catalogs any and all spending and income, as well as PONG’s inventory of equipment, tech, belongings, etc.
One of the Treasurer’s most important responsibilities comes in January when they work with the President and Vice President to prepare and submit a request for next year’s budget. Then in February, they will have to present said budget request and go through it with the financial affairs committee of SSA (student government). The Treasurer and their work can be vital for the stability of PONG.
With time, the Treasurer should build an understanding of what can and cannot be reimbursed with SSA funds, make reimbursement requests with ease and make informed adjustments for new and existing budget items and investments of equipment for the term ahead.
Event Coordinator
The Event Coordinator (Event Coord.) works with the President and Vice President to manage and plan PONG’s events. The Event Coord. usually focuses most of their efforts towards LANs. However, they also help coordinate PONG’s other events too, like the Cable Sale and the Spring Cookout.
Regarding LANs, the Event Coord. must make sure that there is all the right kind of equipment, and the right layout for each LAN. The Event Coord. also handles seating and registration, making the seating chart, and helping people find their way around LAN.
The Event Coord. also orders decorations and puts them up at the LAN, puts up instructional or
directional signage at the LAN, orders prizes with budget money, and sets up the prize tables and ticket raffle.
The Event Coord. should also take the lead on managing set-up and tear-down, assigning tasks to those who come early or stay late to help, and instructs such people in what there is to be done during setup and tear-down, as well as how to do it.
Regarding all of PONG’s events throughout the year, the Event Coord. plans out and pulls together what supplies and equipment will be needed for each event.
Server Administrator
The Server Administrator (Server Admin.) has the responsibility of configuring and maintaining all of PONG’s game servers, as well as accessing the physical servers used to host these games and our website. Currently PONG uses Bisect Hosting as our server provider. The Server Admin. must be familiar with the Linux operating system, the command line interface (CLI), and remote access via SSH.
While the Server Admin. is generally responsible for setting up servers to be used for LAN events, such as TF2 or CSGO tournaments, they are also responsible for maintaining servers that are run outside of LANs. Minecraft is currently by far the biggest use of our server, with multiple different instances running at all times that need to be updated as patches are released. Other games that we currently run continuously are Factorio, Valheim, and Satisfactory, with more games like TF2, CSGO, GMod, and Blackwake being run for specific LAN events. This list can always be expanded if a new Server Admin.
thinks another game has interest.
While not the primary responsibility, the Server Admin. should be able to assist the Network Admin. with LAN setup and teardown should they need it, as well as troubleshoot common network-related problems during a LAN if the Network Admin. is unavailable.
PONG generally expects that a potential Server Admin. has taken the CNIT 361 class (Workstation and
Server). This requirement can be waved however if proficient knowledge on the topics can be
demonstrated.
Network Administrator
The Network Administrator (Net Admin.) is responsible for making sure attendees have fast and
functional hard-wired internet access throughout the LAN event venue (likely still the Great Hall/Ballrooms in the MSC).
Specifically, PONG’s Net Admin. manages the set-up and tear-down of the LAN network infrastructure that is provided to attendees to utilize with their gaming PCs and systems.
This includes, but is not limited to:
• Cisco Layer 2 Access Switches (fixed table switches)
• The PONG Core (distribution layer/PONG Cart) which consists of 3 Stacked/Redundant Cisco Distro
Switches connected to 1 Cisco Meraki MX250 Routing/Security Appliance (LAN Router)
• Trunk connections from the Core to fixed table switches
• Accessing cable bundles to Attendee PC/Devices from table switches, etc.
You are the main point of contact for any internet-access related items. Such as assisting LAN Attendees if they are having a networking issue. Another example would be internet issues affecting the entirety of the LAN’s connection to the outside (WAN) by working with our primary (and only) ISP: UW-Stout Networking/IT.
The Net Admin. physically configures and establishes TCP/IP network access and internet layer infrastructure on-premises for LAN access to PONG game servers and the general internet. For example, you would work with the Server Admin. to diagnose and troubleshoot ping spikes to the PONG Minecraft server and understand if the ping spike lies within the local PONG network,
Stout/UW’s Network, or the cloud server network itself.
Passing CNIT 133 and 134 (Network Fundamentals I and II) are highly recommended. Prior experience
working with Enterprise IP Networks (i.e., protocols and hardware) are a plus.
Ambassador
The Ambassador’s responsibility is to manage, coordinate, and organize all of PONG’s partnerships. The Ambassador mainly reaches out to and coordinates with sponsors for each LAN. The Ambassador also communicates with other student organizations on campus, regarding event collaboration for every LAN.
As part of managing sponsors, it is also their responsibility to coordinate prizes for each LAN, as well as ensuring that events hosted by other student organizations are well planned and operated.
Due to the nature of the Ambassador’s responsibilities, most of their work happens before each LAN. Such duties include emailing, researching, and communicating with possible partners and or sponsors. All of which must usually be done in the weeks prior to each LAN.
Promoter
The Promoter is responsible for the promotion of our group and our events to the general public, hyping upcoming LAN parties and engaging with new and existing members on our social channels. Throughout the semester, the Promoter is responsible for keeping social media pages updated with posts encouraging attendance of our regularly scheduled LAN parties, general meetings and other seasonal events.
In the lead up to LAN parties, it is critical for the Promoter to conduct and coordinate the Event Poster request and distribution, Digital Signage request and submission of the LAN connect event into the Campus Life Today newsletter. Making these requests are not difficult, but an extra set of hands may be handy for poster distribution across campus. Your fellow execs should be able to lend a hand if you need it.
The Promoter is encouraged to brainstorm new activities like social media sweepstakes or other
activities to keep our members engaged between our LAN.
The beginning of the fall semester ushers in our largest membership growth period as an organization. The Promoter should be in attendance for the Backyard Bash for the purpose of encouraging incoming students to join our Connect page, Discord channel as well as our other social media pages. It’s in our best interest that new members feel welcome, get engaged with communities related to the games they play, and are excited about the September LAN party. The Promoter help in facilitating this is
greatly encouraged.
Designer
The Designer is responsible for the creation of posters, schedules, stickers, banners and other art assets for the purpose of promoting our organization and our events. These works will be used for on-campus signage as well as digital promotion on our social media platforms.
Works created to promote the LANs or other events should follow the general theme of the event and follow a consistent format, but creative liberty is encouraged for the art used for the background of the posters/schedules as well as any artistic twists that can be made to the PONG logo to promote LAN events (for a temporary time).
It is recommended that you are familiar with Adobe suite/similar art programs, and have/are taking art courses and are proficient in elements of art and design.
Art assets should be prepared about a month in advance of major events like the LANs to allow time for poster printing and digital marketing use, adjustments to the schedule before release, and changes to the media can be made with recommendations made by other members of the executive board.
Games Coordinator
The Games Coordinator (GC) helps run the scheduled games, tournaments, and activities at LANs. As a GC you will experience, more than the other Execs, how our members fare while playing games. The GC should be able to observe event participants, absorb any and all comments, and study feedback data to be able to curate the games and activities of PONG. While this does mean you won’t necessarily be able to participate in all the events, it does mean you will ultimately have a large influence on the
games and activities of PONG.
The GC is most active during the LAN parties as well as the planning stages before LAN. This does not mean there is nothing else to do when not planning a LAN or hosting one. The GC should also be available to the other execs as a resource to help assist with their projects. Specifically in regard to anything that relates to PONG’s games, tournaments, and activities. The GC should be able to work hand in hand with the Minecraft Build Team, assist the Ambassador when coordinating with Sponsors and other Student Orgs. for anything related to the activities PONG has at LANs or otherwise, and help the Web Admin. with running and hosting a Twitch broadcast.
The GC should also take the initiative to stay up to date and well informed on what games are the most popular at LAN, or seem to be gaining traction in the gaming community abroad. The GC should be able to do thorough research on current gaming news. The GC should also be able to study the data from feedback forms and polls on Discord, to determine how best to cultivate and refine the schedule for LAN.
Recommended that you are familiar with how to set-up and operate events and tournaments on
Challonge.
Web Administrator
The Web Administrator (Web Admin.) is responsible for keeping our websites up to date with working links, an updated list of our current board of execs, LAN/event details in advance of event- repealing those changes after the event has concluded.
The Web Administrator should notify the exec board if the site is experiencing any issues or outages, and work with the Server Administrator to manage where and how the server is hosted, and how it is funded.
It is recommended that the Web Administrator can assist with other executive duties between LANs or other events, and brainstorm additional website integrations and subpages that can be made to include additional information and make the website look neat and presentable.
Recommended that the Web Administrator is familiar with elements of webpage design, and can conduct updates in a timely manner.