As of the press date of this issue, I have received the following nominations:

President - Greg J. Schlosser
Vice President - Erik Arneson
Treasurer - George Phillies
Membership Secretary - Richard Gutenkunst
Director, Region 0 - Dave Bemazzani
Director, Region 1 - Steve Kurzban
Director, Region 3 - Ted Cheatham
Director, Region 4 - Craig Berg
Director, Region 7 - Andrew York
Director, Region 8 - Brion Emde
Director, Region 9 - Scott Woodard
Director, Region 11 - John Kula

Here are the campaign statements from those nominated that were received by press date:

President - Greg J. Schlosser

I am pleased and honored to accept the nomination to serve as President of the Strategy Gaming Society for a second term. I honestly feel that the SGS has made some tremendous strides in the past year and is truly in the process of becoming THE organization to represent gainers from around the world and help spread the word about our wonderful hobby to as many people as possible. Although not yet ended, my first term as President has seen quite a bit of activity. From the beginning, I set-out to provide members with a wide variety of benefits and services. One of the main objectives I sought to achieve was to line-up a list of gaming vendors who would provide discounts to SGS members. This program has been tremendously successful with Boulder Games, RC Games and Hobbies, Fair Play Games and Seriously Fun Games all offering 5% discounts to SGS members. Plus, both Boulder Games and Seriously Fun Games provided the means for folks to join the SGS when placing an order with them ... and they granted an additional 5% discount for those orders! This program has resulted in dozens of new members and has helped expand our membership to over 160 members!

Another goal I set was to substantially increase membership. When I assumed office, the SGS was floundering with less than 100 paid members. Thanks to 'blitzing the net' with a steady stream of announcements concerning the SGS, our objectives, programs and activities, we have seen our membership rolls to grow to over 160. My goal is 200 members by the end of the year 2000 ... and that objective is within reach.

Seeing a void in the recognition of outstanding games, I re-activated the SGS Awards committee and founded the Gamers' Choice Awards. The objective of these awards is to recognize outstanding games from around the world in several categories, including historical simulation games (war games) and general strategy games. I recruited some of the best names in our hobby to serve on these committees, which helped gain instant respect for these awards. Press releases were sent nearly everywhere, including newspapers, magazines, websites, etc. We received outstanding publicity for both the GCA and the SGS, including a full page article in Games Magazine about the awards and our organization. The first year of the GCA program was successful beyond my wildest expectations. The future looks extremely bright for these awards.

The next main project which is about to be unveiled is tile Worldwide Gamers Database. This database will list gamers and organizations from around the world, listed by geographical region. Now, gamers can instantly find other gamers who reside nearby and, while traveling, find garners to get together with to enjoy our hobby. This database will provide a tremendous service to our hobby and should prove a fantastic promotional tool for the SGS. Scott Alden, the brains behind the Boardgame Geek site, is designing the database and the early version is simply fantastic! Look for this in the next few weeks.

Another area which I am anxious to see the SGS become more active and involved in is in running conventions. Craig Massey has been nominated as the new Boardgaming Committee Chairman and he is already actively working to have the SGS sponsor tournaments at various conventions. This, of course, will help promote the SGS and tend support to as many gaming conventions as possible.

For the first time in quite awhile, the future is looking very bright for our hobby and the SGS. I am thrilled to be a part of this, and ask that you grant me your vote so we can continue the progress we have begun.

Director, Region 0 - Dave Bernazzani

I'll start by saying that I'm primarily an open German/Euro gamer, so it would seem that my limited interest in games may not qualify me for the position of Regional Director with the SGS. But I bring to the table the experience of having started a successful local game group here in the South Shore MA area as well as organized an eTOLIPS mailing list called Unity Games. These "Unity Gamers" are often members of smaller game groups or interested individual gamers who have formed into this larger group mainly for the purposes of keeping in touch with open game events in the area. The smaller groups have not lost their identities, but the larger group allows us to find a wider base of like-minded gamers in the region. We also attend several of the larger special events in the region - as well as scheduling our very first Unity Games I event in October, 2000.

Should I be elected as Regional Director, I hope to bring some organizational experience to the position. This will likely take the form of helping gamers locate other gamers in their area (I expect the worldwide database the SGS is working on to be key here). I can also help them in organizing or joining an "eGroups" type list where like minded gamers from a particular area can meet and discuss gaming opportunities that they might regularly attend. In addition, I hope to help the SGS sponsor some lighter tournaments in the area - much like the wonderful Rio Grande Games tournament that Craig Massey (chairman of the Boardgame Committee) had created at Con Man 8 here in NH this year - where the idea would be to try and bring new or inexperienced gamers into the fold using the guise of a light tournament format. Experienced gamers usually have plenty of opportunities to play - it's the new and potential gamers that I'm most concerned with. Finally, I hope to be available to answer general questions from gamers who are looking, to start their own group or are looking for direction in the best ways to get involved with gaming (and the SGS) in the region.

To be honest, I'm nervous about it all. But I think I can be flexible with the position with the main 'goal of promoting the hobby and the SGS.

Director, Region I - Steve Kurzban

My intent is to keep Region 4 in it's rightful place. After quashing the lowly Region '0' (New England) with scant resistance, we will launch a sneak attack on Region 7 (the Bayou), spiking their weekly ration of Jambalaya with saltpeter, to show Greg Schloesser how truly ungrateful those in region 4 can be when unprovoked. Region 4, having no chance of hiding behind varied terrain will be the next to be steam-rollered, with Region 9 (La La Land) advocating a wishy-washy appeasement policy in honor of Neville Chamberlain.

When the remaining Regions surrender we will declare wargaming to be illegal, burn all cardboard counters, and promote German/European gaming to the exclusion of all else.

I figure this will be the LAST time I'm asked to write a campaign statement. Mission accomplished, Sir!

(ed note: Steve has been admonished to remember to vote for himself')

Director, Region 3 - Ted Cheatham

I have started three game groups from scratch and I am happy to admit all are still flourishing after I have moved on. I reach out to gamers across the US and have played with people from Florida, Tennessee, New York, DC, Los Angeles, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, etc ... somewhat regularly .... just to name a few. I also helped co-found a biannual game convention that draws about 50 people at the moment. I also try to attend about 4 game convention events each year (schedule permitting).

OK, enough about me ... what can we do for Region 3 and SGS? First, I am an advocate of a gamers database. I know we are starting one. It does no good if people aren't in it. I would like to get all Region 3 gamers into a database. Second, we may want a Region 3 site and ask each group to tie into the SGS web page with regular updates to make the hobby more visible. Third, I would love to start a Region 3 weekend get together gaming session sponsored by SGS where people can meet face to race and become friends. We should do this at least once per year in a central location.

Director, Region 9 - Scott Woodard

I believe that the idea of Regional Directors for the SGS is an excellent and valuable one. With boardgame sales and their popularity on the rise particularly German Games), more and more people are looking for others who are in the same exciting hobby. As Regionai Director in Regio 9, I will make my presence known to all serious and new gamers loking for information regarding game sources, nearby gaming groups, and large scale organizations (both dornestic and global).

I believe that it is essential to have someone nearby (relatively) to contact via E-mail, phone or fax (methods I have and will happily make available) in order to enhance our growing community of fellow gamers.

Within the Los Angeles area, we have a large-scale gaming convention that convenes three times a year known as Strategicon (each individual convention bears a unique name, as well). Where CCGs and RPGs once dominated the rooms and halls there, German Games have (in the past few years) made an impressive appearance. Wargames and miniatures games are also very strong at this particular event. As a result, there are many folks there who are anxious to learn about and try new games. As Regional Director, I will make the SGS presence known at this and other cons in Southern California through demos, tournaments, flyers and other creative methods. Also, there are many gaming stores in and around Los Angeles that (at this stage) have no knowledge of the SGS. I will change all that.

My enthusiasm about gaming as a hobby can only help make me an SGS "force-to-be-reckoned-with!" Not only have I been an avid gamer for most of my life, I also run a local gaming group (the San Fernando Valley Gamers) and so I already perform many of the duties (albeit on a much smaller scale that I will perform as Regional Director including sending out regular updates to all members, arranging events and simply being available for questions.

Other personal information you might find of interest: I am 31 years old, married and employed as a TV Promo Writer/Producer for Kids' WB! (the children's television division of The WB Television Network) In other words, I write and produce the "commercials" that promote shows like "Batman Beyond" and "Pokemon."