We received the following press release.--RL

Since Hasbro's acquisition of Avalon Hill, there has been growing concern among the attendees of the latter's annual gaming convention, AVALONCON, regarding the continuation of the event. So widespread is the support for the convention's unique format, that we have decided to carry on in the absence of Avalon Hill as the owner and corporate sponsor.

Hasbro has decided that they will not continue the convention since they do not wish to detract from the support they give GENCON as their tradeshow of choice, but have given us the go ahead to continue our own efforts under a different name. Since a number of game companies have contacted us about the possibility of joining AVALONCON in the future, we have decided to announce this opportunity to all potential sponsors.

For those unfamiliar with AVALONCON, a little background is in order. The convention has been run annually for the past eight years by the Avalon Hill Game Company as its national championships of boardgaming. For the last six years, It has been held in Hunt Valley, MD. It draws approximately 1,000 paying participants, primarily boardgamers, plus a like number of free junior admissions, family members, spectators and participants in open gaming over the course of a five-day conference in early August. Its format is unique in that the competitions are limited to Avalon Hill games, although open gaming of all sorts occurs. This focus on a narrow brand of games draws participants from all over the world; indeed the majority of the attendees come from outside a 500 mile radius. The result is a comradery and concentration of shared interests which is unique in gaming and fiercely loyal to the conference.

This format further differs from other trade shows in that there are no exhibitors - save one. There are no auctions or seminars. There are no event tickets. Admission entitles you to play in anything you want. And for families, there are free juniors events to get the kids started. The GMs are not doing it to make a buck - but because they love the hobby and the game. They are volunteers in the truest sense of the word and their like cannot be found anywhere else on the globe. There is only non-stop gaming in over 100 tournaments drawing between 8 and 176 entrants apiece. The winners receive plaques and are recorded for posterity on the internet, in print, on perennial plaques displayed each year, and in our records which are updated annually as a basis for election to the Avaloncon Hall of Fame. The spotlight at AVALONCON is always on the gamer and what he or she can accomplish in their hobby. Designers, companies and other distractions take a back seat.

So how can this benefit you? Because Avalon Hill will no longer sponsor the event, we are looking to expand the convention coverage to include the games of all manufacturers.

I am Don Greenwood, an employee of Avalon Hill for 26 years, and a past VP in charge of New Product Development. During my stay at Avalon Hill, I originated and ran the first two ORIGINS conventions as well as two subsequent incarnations during their return to Baltimore, plus numerous Atlanticon regional shows, and the eight Avaloncons. This effort has the strong backing of over 100 volunteer GMs and 1,000 dedicated attendees. It represents an opportunity for boardgamers to strut their stuff without the stifling competition of computer games, roleplaying, and collectible card games or the distractions of auctions, exhibitors and seminars.

If you think your company would benefit from being included in our competitions, I invite you to consider the possibilities. You can start by reading the announcement of our new convention which was emailed to our membership this past week.

An Announcement of Importance to Boardgamers:

You are receiving this because you have expressed an interest in AVALONCON; the now defunct National Boardgaming Championship convention which has been held annually every summer by Avalon Hill for the past eight years. Most of you have also received and responded to a survey that polled your opinions in regards to resurrecting that unique gaming conference. What follows is the result.

If you do not wish to receive future mailings, respond with a "Remove" subject to be deleted from our mailing list.

The results were overwhelmingly in favor of preservation of our convention. Many added valuable suggestions. I've never gone wrong by fulfilling the will of the majority. That's my goal now. I am confident that out of the wake of the Avalon Hill sale will rise a better company under the Hasbro banner and the championship boardgaming convention formerly known as AVALONCON will prosper as never before freed from the restraints of a single manufacturer sponsor. There has never been a clearer case of Addition by Subtraction.

The new conference will not be controlled by any manufacturer. Instead, its policies will be made by majority vote of the people who support it: the boardgamers who pay the freight. The former Avalon Hill GM Advisory Board will be replaced by the Boardgame Players Association. Its Quarterly GM newsletter will now be the newsletter of the BPA.

BPA: The BPA will consist of all members who pay their annual dues by December 31st of the preceding year. Membership in this inaugural year must be paid by December 31st, 1998. This advance payment will provide the organization with the startup funds to meet the preliminary expenses of managing a conference of this size without relying on investments or corporate sponsors. It also provides an equitable means of allowing those who care most about the conference to have a corresponding voice in its policies. By becoming a member, you commit to support of the convention whether you attend or not.

There are five levels of membership available. All levels are entitled to Basic benefits of newsletter and voting rights:

Title Cost Benefit

ASSOCIATE: $20. Basic
SUSTAINING:$50. One non-transferable convention Admission*.
CHARTER $100. One transferable convention Admission*, Yearbook & Listing.
TEAM $200. Charter membership plus three other transferable convention Admissions*.
SPONSOR $500. Charter membership plus nine other transferable Admissions*.

CHARTER MEMBERSHIPS are available only until December 31, 1998. Charter members will gain a Yearbook listing in all years in which any level of membership remains current and will receive a free copy of the 1999 Yearbook. Team and Sponsor memberships have the same benefits as a Charter Member. See Voting Rights.

TEAM MEMBERSHIPS: There is no correlation to fielding a team in the Team Tournament.

VOTING RIGHTS: Charter members receive two votes, Teams four votes, and Sponsors ten votes on all issues. However, these votes must be registered as a single block vote and made only by the single individual who purchased that level of membership.

ADMISSIONS: *Sustaining Admissions are valid only for the person holding that membership. Charter, Team and Sponsor Admissions can be distributed by the single owner of that membership as desired. However, the owner is solely responsible for distribution of the tickets. Lost tickets will NOT be replaced and unused tickets will not be refunded. All free Admissions must be pre-registered by the required date and will be eligible for any offered pre-registration credit based on the date of pre-registration. Once pre-registered, admissions are not transferable. Pre-registration credits are not guaranteed.

>YEARBOOK: The BPA will produce a convention yearbook for sale at the annual convention. The Yearbook will include a complete record of the history of the convention including a list of all event winners by year and cumulative total. Other features will include coverage of each event with at least one page per event. Each event coverage will include photos of the last champion, a chronological listing of its winners, the previous year's finalists, and details of the previous or upcoming year's competition.

SURVEY RESULTS FYI

1. SHALL WE PROCEDE? Over 99% of those who responded answered yes. Of those, 90% voted for a return to Baltimore. The 9% opting for the "Other" choice were primarily campaigning for a rotating site to bring the convention to their particular region. While I am sympathetic to their request, my past experience with rotating sites has not been favorable.

Our current site in the HVI provides adequate meeting space, a 325 guest room block on site plus nearby access to hundreds more, light rail connections to an international airport and an affordable price in a comfortable setting. In addition, our attendees have for the most part become familiar with the area and the facility which facilitates their return. Until another site makes a presentation which can match or surpass these features, we will remain at the HVI.

Only 1% opted for Gencon. The most surprising response to this question was the number of people who did not know what or where "Gencon" was. By way of a quick explanation, I'll venture the following definition: Gencon is a gaming tradeshow which occurs annually in Milwaukee in a major convention center. It is the oldest and largest game fair on this continent, second only in attendance to the Essen game fair in Germany. The principal attraction is a large exhibit hall which houses more game-related manufacturers than anything else in the hobby, unless you count E3 or the Consumer Electronics Show which I do not believe are open to the public. The exhibits can be quite lavish. While there are all kinds of gaming tournaments, they tend to be dwarfed by the sheer number of competing events and attractions and play a secondary role. I think it is fair to say that the convention has been dominated in the past by roleplaying. In recent years that emphasis may have given way to Collectible Card Games since the show, once owned by TSR - a role playing manufacturer, is now owned by Wizards of the Coast which is the dominant publisher of Collectible Card Games. I will leave further comment about the differences to others; suffice it to say that their format is immensely different from ours and that both styles have their adherents.

2. WHAT WILL WE CALL IT? Given the choices in the survey, PLAYERCON was an easy winner with 93% of the vote as opposed to only 7% for Sponsor-XCon. However, many offered "Other" suggestions which ran the gamut from clever to ridiculous. A selection of the best of these is offered for selection in the BPA ballot at the end of this message.

3. WHEN WILL IT BE? Like all surveys, this one elicited replies that ran the entire spectrum of possibilities. While all had merit, I weighed the pros and cons of every choice for one that inconvenienced the least. Most expressed no preference and were satisfied with any summer date. Among those who were more selective the choices and major objections were:
June: 20% - avoid the end of school
July: 34% - avoid Origins in week I
August: 27% - avoid Gencon in week II and start of school, fall sports practice later
A new site the first week of August: 19%

There isn't even a consensus as to how close we should be to the dates of other cons. Most think that back-to-back weekends is a bad thing, but our European friends enjoy the chance to attend two cons in one "trip across the pond" and look upon that as a convenience. Taking all of this into consideration and weighing it against the cost of available dates with suitable facilities at this time, we have chosen July 27th-August 1st in Hunt Valley.

4. ADMISSION COST: A clear majority felt that the admission fee for past AVALONCONS was a real bargain as evidenced by their willingness to pay more than the past rate. Even write-in selections exceeding the most expensive choice outnumbered those for the least expensive choice. The point was repeatedly made that the admission was a small % of the overall cost to attend a five-day conference where travel, food, and hotel bills are far more imposing. Indeed, admission tended to be an issue only for the locals whose costs are far less anyway. I am more sympathetic with the majority who make the pilgrimage every year, but without the locals to increase the attendance levels, I suspect the overall conference would be less satisfying for everyone, so our task is to find a happy medium which still allows the best services we can provide.

Amount % % without pre-registration credit
$60+* 9 4
$50 65 47
$45 17 5
$40 8 25
$35 12
$30 6
$25 1
$20-* 1

5. FOCUS: Support for limiting the events to AH games only, AH games plus those of a sole sponsor, or games of any manufacturer was divided almost evenly among the three choices. However, an immense amount of editorializing accompanied nearly every response. Many improved options were added to the survey's three generalized choices. Most of them had the same general idea.

AH ONLY: 33%. With the future of new boardgame titles and the GENERAL in doubt, the long term prospects for such focus were not encouraging. As much as competitive gamers love the old classics, the need for new worlds to conquer demands fresh blood if we are to grow.

PLUS A SPONSOR: 31%. With Hasbro declining sole sponsorship, it was felt that no other publisher was available with the depth of titles published by AH. In addition, the possibility of changing sole sponsors over the years due to declining fortunes or change of heart would jeopordize the stability of the convention. There was also considerable distrust of the amount of influence that a sole sponsor could exhibit over the con's policies. This option is no longer under consideration.

OPEN TO ALL: 36%. This choice was almost always accompanied with a caveat. There was a great deal of concern that unlimited use of this option would result in hundreds of events and the loss of the focus which had made the comradery at AVALONCON so exceptional. The consensus was that the focus of AVALONCON had to be preserved, but that replacing the "AH games only" aspect of the competitions with "boardgames only" and limiting the events offered would serve just as well. While I have nothing against role playing, CCGs, or computer games, it was obvious that the majority of our respondents wanted a convention for boardgamers run by boardgamers and attended by boardgamers without the distractions of the other genre. Other cons cater to all venues; only AVALONCON concentrated on boardgaming (and card games of a non-collectible nature) and the BPA's replacement of AVALONCON will do so even more so. Boardgaming shall be our new focus. How we will implement this change is a matter of major concern to many. See the BPA ballot at the end of this message for some intriguing and difficult choices.

6. SPONSOR X: The long and short of this question was that there was no suitable sole sponsor if Hasbro was not interested in continuing AVALONCON although my favorite response was "Dunkin' Donuts". This option is no longer under consideration.

7. PRIZES: The survey choices between plaques and cash proved grossly inadequate and this question elicited a lot of heartfelt suggestions and opinions. Just for the record, plaques beat cash easily (82% to 18%), but that didn't begin to reflect the concerns of many who expressed lengthy treatises on why cash prizes would detract from the spirit of the convention. Fear not, cash is no longer an option.

Despite the above numbers, we won't be increasing the number of plaques either. The point was made repeatedly that "going for the wood" was a special feature of AVALONCON that shouldn't be cheapened by increasing the supply of the prized momentos and thus decreasing their "bragging rights" value.

There was even a considerable lobby for having no prizes at all and just playing for the fun of it. As altruistic as that is, I'm sure we'd be soundly criticized for being "cheap" were we to adopt such a policy. I always felt that AVALONCON's prize policy exuded a certain class and I'd like to continue that. So we'll be taking a page from the Olympics, but instead of going for gold, silver or bronze we'll substitute wood, glass and stone. Plaques will remain the prize for first place, glass etchings will be standardized as runnerup trophies, and marble paper weights will be the symbol for third. Medals are an alternative choice. See the BPA Ballot. Merchandise certificates may or may not be available to supplement these prizes as in the past depending on what arrangements can be made with a sole exhibitor.

8. BOARDGAME PLAYER'S ASSOCIATION: Many of the survey respondents missed this question because it was not numbered. Among those who did reply, 82% indicated a desire to join. And at least some declined under the mistaken impression that membership required them to be a GM. Being a member of the BPA does not mean that you must lose playing time at the convention. Rather, it means that you support the ideals of a competition-oriented convention for boardgamers run by boardgamers. Furthermore, your support is tangible because you are willing to contribute monetarily to the funds required to establish and operate it - whether you attend or not. Lastly, it gives you a vote in the policies of the convention.

Please read the ballot below. If you decide you want to be a member of the BPA, send your check or money order made payable to Boardgame Player's Association at 1541 Redfield Rd, Bel Air, MD 21015 along with your completed ballot. Do not send cash or credit card numbers.

If you do not want to become a member of the BPA but would still like to support our endeavor, please stay in touch. Advise us of any change of email or snail mail address. And please feel free to post or forward this announcement to others who might be interested. Thank you for your support.

BOARDGAME PLAYER'S ASSOCIATION Application and Ballot Please type/print application and mail to: BPA, 1541 Redfield Rd, Bel Air, MD 21015.

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