One of the objectives of the 2023-24 BPA Board of Directors is to give the membership greater visibility into the deliberations of the board and to give insight into the things being discussed. To that end, we are publishing a quarterly “Tenth Chair” update so that everyone has a better sense of what’s going on with the board and the deliberations we are undertaking for the convention. This article details board activities from April through June 2024.

BPA Vision Statement

The Board adopted a Vision Statement for the Convention that reads:

The Boardgame Players Association seeks to host a premiere gaming convention for tournament board gaming: The World Boardgaming Championships (WBC). The WBC will be a single-site, family-friendly convention that welcomes competitors of all ages with a diverse array of gaming preferences. The WBC aspires to grow based on our excellent reputation and by fostering the next generation of boardgamers.

New Quarterfinal Process

Based on member feedback for events that didn’t reach 128 players but had significantly more unique winners than a semifinal could handle, the Convention Director (CD) drafted a proposal for a new quarterfinal process using the HWO format that was presented to the Board. The Board authorized the CD to implement this change for WBC 2024.

The new process for HWO events will allow the GM to submit a request for a Qquarterfinal QF). Provided it has either A) drawn 64 or more unique players; or B) had 25 or more unique winners. If an event meets both of these requirements, the CD will automatically approve the request. If only one of the criteria is met, the CD will review the request.

The old process of requiring a HWO event to have demonstrated attendance of 128 or more unique players is no longer in effect.

With this change, the event submission form now includes four additional items that are required if a QF is requested. These items are 1) Prior Year number of unique winners, 2) Historical average of Unique winners, 3) Prior Year number of double winners, and 4) Historical average of double winners. This data will assist in the approval process of a QF request.

Safety Committee

The board was pleased to invite three members to join the safety committee for WBC 2024. They were Tricia Wolff, Tina Del Caprio, and Ashley Worley. We have worked to ensure that between the board and additional members of the committee that we are visible throughout the convention and available if anyone needs support or assistance.

New Treasurer

After many years of dedicated service, Bruno Passacantando retired as Treasurer of the BPA this year. The board is pleased to announce that it has appointed James Denam, a member since 2011, as the new Treasurer. We look forward to working with James and ensuring the continued financial security of the BPA.

Board Tech Committee

In her first months in the Project Manager position, Peggy Ng was able to distill our requirements into an RFP that was sent to 20+ companies that can fulfill the needs of the BPA in website and database development. Peggy and the committee will review the responses over the summer with a goal to start development work in the fall.

Continued Commitment to Engagement

The Board is commited to continuing to take a more active role in communicating over Social Media throughout the year. We are continuing to commit to answering questions asked in the WBC specific forums on ConSimWorld, Facebook, and BoardGameGeek. If you are not comfortable publicly asking your question, you can also contact us through email to Ken directly at conventiondirector@boardgamers.org or to the entire board at bod@boardgamers.org.