One of the two scheduled HMGS National Board of Director meetings was held on 20 March 1997, hosted by HMGS Tornado Ally at Twistercon near Oklahoma City, OK. All Chapters were represented except HMGS Pacific Northwest. I am pleased to report that progress was made in moving the Board towards more direct involvement in promoting the hobby.

The most significant action in this area was the issuance of a $750 grant to support an HMGS booth at GenCon in coordination with HMGS Midwest. The money is to defray the costs of brochures, flyers and the like, as well as the personnel expenses of the staffers themselves. GenCon, as do many adventure gaming cons, offered up the booth space gratis. Also in conjunction with this effort was an agreement to produce an HMGS Banner for display at GenCon and other conventions where an HMGS presence is thought desirable. The Board indicated that this initial grant should be considered the beginning of a long term effort to interest the general gaming public in both HMGS and historical miniature wargaming. In a related issue, the Board also voted publication support for Dana Lombardi ( Napoleon Magazine ) and his Celebrate History Convention, scheduled for next February.

The Board also took the opportunity to review the application of what should soon be the 12th Chapter of HMGS. This group, proposing to incorporate under the name HMGS West, bases itself in the San Francisco Bay and surrounding area. The Board found the group's petition for HMGS certification to be in order, but deferred a final decision until Historicon 1997 (where the next National Board meeting is scheduled) so that the HMGS West folks might send a personal representative to give a formal presentation for admission. The National Coordinator immediately dispatched a formal invitation to do so and that invitation has been accepted.

In other activity, the Board established a Standing Committee on Advertising to review costs and associated items with respect to magazine ads and the production of specific flyers or similar material. Presently the members of the Committee include Harold Johnson (HMGS Midwest), Ferkin Doyle (Great Lakes) and Scott Holder (East). In support of this effort, the National Coordinator has produced an

HMGS National Flyer which will first be presented to the public at ORIGINS in June of this year.

In other issues, the Board agreed to produce a yearly budget, to include consideration for an expense account for Yours Truly, the National Coordinator. The Board also directed all Chapters to send the National Coordinator periodic input for a quarterly report which will be forwarded for use in all Chapter Newsletters. The Board also established a Special Committee (including Dick Sossi of HMGS East and Chuck Kennedy of HMGS South) on the issue of a National Liability Insurance Policy for HMGS Cons, and directed it to make a final report to the Board on the feasibility of same. The National Board also made a page by page review of our new proposed Bylaws, and directed the National Coordinator to produce a final draft for review and concurrence prior to Historicon.

Finally, the National Board adopted an HMGS National Logo consisting of an armored knight over the letters HMGS in Algerian Script. The symbol was already in use by several Chapters and is used with the permission of the Chapter that designed it, HMGS Midwest.

To be sure, there are challenges ahead as two Chapters now find themselves on probation until they rectify a few internal problems. Nevertheless, I sincerely believe that the Twistercon meeting was a new beginning for the HMGS National Board, one that will see a more positive and active role in the world of historical miniature wargaming.