Spring is here, finally. With it, passions swell and we get ready to lead our miniature armies into action at the big conventions, meet with old friends and generally have fun. Unfortunately, this is also the time of year when some of those passions get out of hand. I am of course speaking of the debate that took place awhile back on our Yahoo e-mail group. I'm not going to dwell upon the subject too much, just to make a few points that I have learned over the years, that tend to make the use of such forums so much better for everyone.

E-mail, no matter how much we try to make it otherwise, is a written, NOT verbal form of communication. This is important to remember, as I have seen numerous debates of various subjects go sour and become glorified profanity-laden insult contests due to a misunderstanding of this point. We tend to speak differently than we write. This is natural and something that ordinarily causes no problems. When we speak, we can either hear or see the other person, so we can tell by the inflection in their voice or by the body language or expressions on their faces that those statements aren't meant seriously and should be taken lightly. There is no way in most written forms of communication, without specifically stating such as humor or sarcasm, to tell whether someone does in fact mean what was just said or not. Emoticons and little lines like "lol" (laughing out loud), that mean that the preceding is meant to be taken in jest help, but can still be misread. Therefore, I have found it always easier to read carefully what I type and make sure that I am in fact not saying anything insulting or derogatory to the recipient(s), and to make sure that my original point cannot be misread.

Another important fact to remember is that people treat written works differently than spoken works in their minds. Words tend to sometimes have more meaning and power when written. This is why official documents are written, not given verbally. This is why many important military orders are written down in some form -- not just sent by courier to be parroted back verbally to the recipient. This is why court documents are written, patents are written, etc. The written word has a unique power that many of us older folks recognize faster than some of our younger members may, simply due to our being around in the "time before E-mail."

For those of you who saw the recent hullabaloo on some of the Yahoo groups over HMGS East's last election all I am going to say about it is this: I thank Almighty Providence and my fellow board members that I am a member of THIS chapter. The most excitement we've had to deal with has been this latest "passionate discussion" on our mail list. And that was considerably more civil than some of the fights I recall on USENET over some of the doings in the East.

One last item to segue into my new feature is that the board has decided to publish a brief "What's Going On "section at the end of my Oval Office to let you folks know what is happening on the board and what major decisions we have made. Thanks to ALL OF YOU for keeping our feet to the fire and reminding us about important issues related to our conventions and chapter business. This helps us immeasurably and we are not bugged by our membership asking, "What do I get for my $12?" like they do in the East. You participate and that makes this one for the best, if not THE BEST, chapter in all of HMGS. Thank you all. Good luck and good gaming!

What's Going On?

• Member Rick Schirtzinger suggested that, if possible, we publish an "electronic copy" of The Herald for members who might wish to receive it in that format (with a discount for publication costs).
• Rick also generously offered to establish a forum on his web page to replace the current Yahoo Group, which while good, does have its deficiencies.

After much debate, the board voted against both proposals. The board has also voted to sell our 2003 T-shirts at a discounted rate of $10 per shirt to clear them out of inventory (more about that later in this issue).