The NADF

It’s a slow news week, it’s Friday night, and I have a nursery to work on, so I’ll keep it brief.

 

Getting to the Congress for World Dip Con

We’ve posted some info on taking the L downtown for World DipCon. It’s really easy to do from either airport, Midway (slightly preferred) or O’Hare. If you’re flying in, be sure to mail your itinerary to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Once we work out the logistics, we’ll let you know whether we’ll meet you at the airport or want you to take the train.

 

The 2012 World Diplomacy Championship tips off in just 56 days. The attendee list is now up to 78. Let’s fill that 12^th board! See who’s coming here, and then make your plans to attend.

 

The event will be Aug. 10-12 at the historic Congress Plaza Hotel in downtown Chicago. The rooms in our block are going fast, so don’t wait to book. Now, the hotel has 871 rooms and 36 suites, so you may get one even if the block expires, but I can’t promise that it won’t be haunted.

 

Preregistration is now open and will save you $10. Twenty-eight players have already taken advantage of the savings. (And thanks for doing so, by the way, as we’ve already paid the first two of three installments for the venue. Your preregistrations are keeping my wife from killing me.) For more information, including lodging options, and to preregister, please visit windycityweasels.org/wdc. Check us out on Facebook here. 

 

Vintage Is to Old as Historic Is to Haunted

In its heyday, the Congress Plaza played host to presidents and gangsters. These days, some say it plays host to ghosts. Learn more about that aspect of the old hotel’s colorful history here.  Bollocks? Probably. But don’t say we didn’t warn you.

 

They’re not booing, Folks. They’re saying, “Boo.”

 

Next up on the Grand Prix Is a Massacre

Next up on the Grand Prix circuit is the Boston Massacre, which will be June 23-24 in Cambridge, Mass. Then comes the August gauntlet. In successive weeks, we’ll see the World Boardgaming Championship in Lancaster, Penn., Aug. 3-4; the World Diplomacy Championship at Weasel Moot VI in Chicago, Ill., Aug. 10-12; and HuskyCon X in Setauket, N.Y., Aug. 17-19.

 

The Grand Prix standings have been updated through DixieCon, the fifth step of the circuit. You can check out the standings here.

 

June 23-24: Boston Massacre, Cambridge, Mass., nedip.org/tournaments/boston-massacre/.

Aug. 3-4: World Boardgaming Championships, Lancaster, Penn., www.boardgamers.org/wbc/schedule.htm.

Aug. 10-12: World Diplomacy Championship at Weasel Moot VI, Chicago, Ill., www.windycityweasels.org/wdc.

Aug. 17-19: HuskyCon X, Setauket, N.Y., huskycon.com.

 

Don’t Wait for Us

It’s always news when the DiplomacyCast comes out, but don’t wait for us to report it. Like the DiplomacyCast Facebook page to hear about the latest cast as soon as it hits the airwaves. 

 

Hobby Roundup

Here’s what’s going on in the hobby hotbeds. If we’ve missed your hobby, let us know!

 

Bay Area

The Bay Area group pulled the plug on its effort to field a board on Sunday. Come on, BADAssers. You need the tune up for Worlds. Want us to send you a Weasel to get things going? (See the D.C. write-up below.)

 

The club’s Yahoo group is games.groups.yahoo.com/group/bayareadip. The BADAss website is bayareadiplomacy.org.

 

Central Iowa

Russ Dennis is trying to schedule the group’s first game since March. For more information, email Dennis at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

 

Chicago

Paul Pignotti will return to the table for the first time since August 2010 tomorrow at Dan Burgess’ home in Downers Grove. He wants to shake off the rust in advance of WDC.

 

The Weasels have also scheduled a rare Tuesday night game for the 19^th. The first board is full, and we have five for the second.

 

Learn more about the Weasels at www.windycityweasels.org.

 

Columbus, Ohio

No rest for organizer Thomas Haver. He ran another successful recruiting event a couple of weeks ago at Origins. Next up is WBC in Lancaster, Penn., Aug. 3-4, which will count for both the Grand Prix and the Central Shuffle. Then he’ll run another recruiting event at GenCon in Indianapolis the week after Worlds, and finally, yet another one at the Buckeye Game Fest, Sept. 21 to 23. Contact him at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . And remember to send him promotional material for your club and events.

 

Dallas

Doug Kent is thinking about hosting a round or two of Diplomacy at TexiCon in Fort Worth, complete with awards if there’s sufficient interest. In the meantime, he’d like to remind you that the next deadline for Diplomacy World is July 1. He needs our help to make it a good one, so when you finish reading this, send him an article. The Texas Yahoo group is here: games.groups.yahoo.com/group/texas-diplomacy.

 

D.C.

Former Weasel Peter Yeargin is hosting another game at his place in Herndon, Va., on Sunday. The PTKSers are shooting for two boards. They may also field a board on June 24 at Ed Prem’s home. The Potomac Tea & Knife Society’s website is ptks.org. You can subscribe to the group’s occasionally hyperactive Diplist at ptks.org/community.php.

 

Detroit

Greg Duenow has been too busy on Facebook to organize a game. If you’re in the Detroit area, check out their Yahoo group at games.groups.yahoo.com/group/detroitdiplomacy.

 

Houston

Nothing new to report.

 

New England

The Boston Massacre is in two weeks. Find info about the event here, nedip.org/tournaments/boston-massacre/. The group’s list is here: groups.yahoo.com/group/MADip-L. The New England website is nedip.org. Organizer Alex Amann also has created a Meetup page. It’s here, www.meetup.com/New-England-Diplomacy/.

 

New York City

Road trip, Anyone? Organizer Robert Premus has confirmed for WDC and is now trying to organize a car pool from New York.

 

Follow the New Yorkers on Twitter @DiplomacyNYC. New York has a Yahoo group here, games.groups.yahoo.com/group/NYC-Diplomacy. In addition, there’s a Meetup group here, www.meetup.com/diplomacy-6, and a Google group here, groups.google.com/group/new-york-diplomacy.

 

Pacific Northwest

The Vancouver guys are organizing back-to-back games at Jay Heumann’s place on June 23 and 24. They’re also planning to hold their first VanDipCon Sept. 21-23 at the Holiday Inn Vancouver. Stay tuned for more information.

 

Meanwhile, former Weasel Christian MacDonald is trying to drum up interest for a WDC tune-up in Seattle on either July 7 or 8.

 

The Pacific Northwest Diplomacy community has a Yahoo group here, games.groups.yahoo.com/group/Northwest_Diplomacy, but its Facebook page, the Greater Cascadia Diplomacy Consortium, is much more active. Check it out here. And Chris Brand just created a Meetup group for the region. It’s here, www.meetup.com/Pacific-Northwest-Diplomacy.

 

Philadelphia

Philadelphia’s Meetup crisis appears to have been solved. The group is now trying to organize a July event at Redcap’s Corner. Their last known game was in June 2011. Let’s get this one going. The group’s Meetup page is here: www.meetup.com/Philadelphia-Diplomacy-Club.

 

Toledo

Nothing new to report. Check out the group’s guild page at www.boardgamegeek.com/guild/1171.

 

That’s all for this week. See you next week!

 

Jim O’Kelley

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

PS Just an advance warning. I’ll be out of town on business from June 26 until July 5. This Week will go on hiatus then, unless a celebrity editor wants to step in. Be forewarned, however, that I'm a Diplomacy player. If you step in, I may not come back.