2002 MEMBERSHIP DRIVE: The Annual BPA Membership Drive is now underway. Prospective members for the 2002 calendar year are urged to check the 2002 membership terms at http://www.boardgamers.org/bpaterms.htm. We are pleased to once again be able to hold the line on annual membership prices despite rising costs. However, we have increased the cost of pre-registration (memberships purchased after December 31st) and at-the-door WBC admission prices to encourage early registration. You can now save up to 33% on certain WBC Admission costs by purchasing BPA membership prior to January 1st. Doing so also allows you to take part in the Annual Century Games Survey in which the Membership selects ten new events for WBC 2002.

SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR: The nominations for Sportsman of the Year are now posted at http://www.boardgamers.org/sportman.htm. All prospective members are encouraged to vote for their choice to receive the BPA's biggest prize when completing their Membership Application at during the Annual Membership Drive. Votes must be received with membership by January 1st, 2002.

TWO NEW MINICONS: BPA is pleased to announce two new mini-cons in the three days preceding WBC 2002. Gamers wanting to maximize their travel budget and vacation time by extending their WBC to a full nine days of gaming can do so by attending Guns of August and/or Omens for dedicated play of Paths of Glory and Hannibal respectively. Full details on this pre-con opportunity featuring the card-driven games and demonstrations of new games in the genre are available on our site at http://www.boardgamers.org

Four NEW PBeM TOURNAMENTS GETTING UNDERWAY: Check the BPA Calendar on our website for a complete list of new and ongoing BPA PBeM tournament offerings. The next three events to start are:

PBeM Successors - starting December 15th - contact firerjb@Earthlink.net
PBeM Diplomacy - starting January 3rd - contact Manus Hand at manus@diplom.org or http://www.diplom.org/manus/bpa
PBeM Bitter Woods 3rd Annual - starting January 7th - contact bobmryan@aol.com or http://members.aol.com/bobmryan/BWHome.htm
For The People - Preparations are underway to start another tournament on Jan 15th. Check out the details at http://members.tripod.com/~MarkHerman/pbem.html and contact Mike Welker at mwelker@franuniv.edu if you're interested in playing.

All BPA PBeM tournaments require BPA membership when the event starts. Associate memberships enabling play in PBeM events cost only $10. You need not keep your membership current in order to finish the event.