2011 WBC EVENT PREVIEWS AVAILABLE:  The individual event previews for all WBC tournaments are now posted at http://www.boardgamers.org/yearbkex/ as only WBC does them. View the details of your favorite events and then plan your schedule using Steve Okonski's Personal Scheduler at http://www.boardgamers.org/wbc/sviewer/. You can find additional scheduling aids at http://www.boardgamers.org/wbc/schedule.htm—including both color and B&W pocket schedules, an all-in-one version, a spreadsheet and ical files for the ultimate in planning your week at WBC. More formats are being added.

WBC 2011 PRE-REGISTRATION NOW OPEN: The registration form for the 2011 World Boardgaming Championships is now available at http://www.boardgamers.org/downloads/WBC11prereg.pdf. Current Sustaining/Tribune level members need not register except to enter a team in the Team Tournament or order souvenir hats, shirts, or Yearbooks or purchase Pre-Con admission (non-Tribune members only). Pre-registration is encouraged as it saves $10 per person over at-the-door rates.

WBC LOGISTICS: So, have you registered yet? If you forgot whether you renewed your membership, you can check your status at http://www.boardgamers.org/wbc/prereg.htm. You will also be able to look for roommates, team members, rides, non-gaming excursions and Open Gaming opportunities on this page by sending your request to acd@boardgamers.org. All we ask is that you promptly notify us to remove your advertisement when your needs have been met so as not to waste others' time.

WBC VENDORS: The WBC Vendor's Room is again a sellout, assuring attendees a wide selection of new and hard-to-find games to purchase in 2011.  See the vendor links on our home page for a complete list. If the Vendor's Room is an important part of your convention experience, be sure to visit during the last three days of the conference because it does not open until Friday, Aug. 5.

GAME LIBRARY: The BPA Game Library continues to grow with additions from a wide variety of publishers—including some unable to attend our Vendor's Room. But you can still examine their products at your leisure. Check out the new additions at http://www.boardgamers.org/wbc/opengaming.htm. This year the Library will be available from Monday through Saturday in the 13,000 sq ft tiered dinner theatre of the Lancaster Showroom which will be open for the entire week. This expansion has been made possible by the generous sponsorship of Queen Games.

WBC AUCTION/AUCTION STORE REGISTRATION NOW OPEN: The drill is much the same but the site will be different as we move the auction from the Lancaster Showroom to Lampeter Hall. Check out all the details at http://www.boardgamers.org/wbc/auction.htm and http://www.boardgamers.org/wbc/auctionstore.htm. As always, pre-registration of items is required ... do not bring unregistered items.

LATE ENTRIES: WBC welcomes back Valley Games which will be sponsoring new Days of Steam and Stronghold tournaments. Check them out on our expanded event previews. WBC 2011 is now closed to new tournaments, but we remain open to late Seminar additions. Contact conventiondirector@boardgamers.org  to volunteer.

YEARBOOK & FREEBIES DEADLINE: The chance for free souvenir shirts, hats and yearbooks has passed. Those wanting these items need to order them before July 23 for delivery at WBC.  Qualifying members of record by the required deadline were mailed their Yearbook on May 6, but those wishing a look can still view the annual summary of the BPA year at http://www.boardgamers.org/yearbook10/print/. Programs with the 2011 schedule will be available later, but only online and at WBC.

Jon Lockwood	Ken Gutermuth	Kaarin Engelmann	Bruce Monnin

BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2011 ELECTION: The E-Ballot for the 2011 election is now available at http://www.boardgamers.org/election.htm. Jonathan Lockwood is again making a bid for a Board seat against the three incumbents; Ken Gutermuth, Kaarin Engelmann, and Bruce Monnin. Please take a moment to cast  your vote sometime before the July 15 deadline. Even if you're  indifferent to the results, by law a required percentage of the membership must  vote for a valid election. Failure to do so,  will require an additional election at more expense which will ultimately be passed on to the membership. While ballots can be cast by mail or email also,  true on-line voting for the ultimate in convenience is available at http://www.boardgamers.org/forms/BoardBallot.shtml.

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BOB DWYER: BPA sadly notes the passing of charter member Bob Dwyer who lost his battle with cancer last month at the age of 55. A member of the Jersey Association of Gamers, his red hair topping a constant grin was a given at every WBC and will be missed this summer for the first time. Pay your respects at http://www.boardgamers.org/memorial.htm.

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PBeM NEWS:

WILDERNESS WAR: The preliminary rounds have concluded and the top eight players out of a starting field of 50 have advanced to the elimination rounds. After four rounds, three undefeated players remained: Keith Wixson (the 8th seed and a former WBC champ), John Buse (the 9th seed and a former PBeM tournament winner) and Stefan Mecay (the 10th seed). They will be joined in the quarter-finals by the following players who each advanced with one loss on the basis of their tiebreak points: Kevin Worth (lost to Wixson), Al Owen (lost to Wixson), Adam Deverell (lost to Jean-Louis Dirion), George Seary (lost to Mecay) and Bill Peeck (lost to Mecay). The tournament should conclude by the end of the year. Notable among the top 7 seeded players who failed to advance were James "The Master" Pei (a former three-time WBC champ and the winner of two previous PBeM tournaments), Paul Gaberson (the current and three-time WBC champ), and Ron Fedin (another former WBC champ). Fedin only had one loss (to Dirion), but his tiebreakers were not strong enough to advance. Pei went 2-2, losing to Seary and Deverell, while Gaberson also went 2-2 while losing to Owen and Worth.

STONE AGE:  The Second BPA PBeM tournament for this game is scheduled to kickoff on June 15th and will be conducted through the website www.yucata.de. Entry is free to all current BPA members. The event will be run in pools of 2-player games. There will be two rounds of pool play, advancing the top players to a round robin playoff. Each pool will be composed of four players, assuring everyone a minimum of three games per pool. Players are expected to complete one round per day; a round consisting of all workers on the board, resources allocated, and worker freeing phase complete. For more information, see http://www.mrjamelli.info/maxgames/stoneage2011.html. To register, contact GM Max Jamelli at maxjamelli@gmail.com.

FOR THE PEOPLE: Veteran GM Don Chappell will be starting the 2nd BPA sanctioned For The People PBeM tournament on ACTS starting 31 May 2011. The format will be Swiss Elimination with eight players advancing to the elimination round after three rounds of Swiss play. The rounds will be 12 weeks in length and players are expected to average one card play per day. For details see http://www.angelfire.com/ny4/gmtom/FTPtournament.htm  and contact Don at don.chappell@lmco.com to register.

SPEED CIRCUIT: Our first PBeM racing tournament is being planned for a September 8th start using the special WBC rules and charts. Moves are expected every 36 hours and dice will be rolled using the on-site dice server for the event at http://lucidphoenix.com/sc/wbce/. Check it out and sign up by contacting GM Robert Rund at rbrund@verizon.net or talk to him or Doug Schulz at the WBC tournament.

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All BPA PBeM tournaments require current BPA membership when the event starts. All multi-day paid attendees to WBC are current BPA members for the balance of that calendar year. Associate Calendar year memberships enabling play in all PBeM events starting in that year are only $10. You need not keep your membership current to finish a PBeM event. You can upgrade your current membership at any time by remitting additional funds. See the BPA Terms page for details.

BPA members who would like an email tournament for a particular game are encouraged to step forward to GM such an event. BPA does not run tournaments. Rather, we are an organization of gamers lending support to one another so such events can happen. No one cares as much about your hobby as you do. Get involved. See the requirements to host a BPA email tournament at http://www.abovethefields.com/top_pbem/.

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If you are not already receiving our monthly email newsletters, please subscribe as directed below as we are unable to add you ourselves. To receive our free monthly newsletters you MUST join the BPA mailing list by visiting http://lists.boardgamers.org/mailman/listinfo/bpamail to confirm your address and your desire to be on this list. Subscribing takes only a moment, ensures your privacy, and increases likelihood of receipt. The newsletter will continue to be posted in the WBC folder in the Conventions section of Consimworld and on our website but will otherwise be unavailable to those who do not join the list in this fashion. If already receiving the BPA News you need take no additional action.

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