"News from Fall In" Topic

>It seems that BCC is not honoring some things that were agreed upon verbally, but not in writing.
>

What do you expect from a city where the Mayor is standing trial for stealing gift cards meant for the poor? And where said Mayor is stupid enough to take her business shakedown loot in traceable instruments instead of cash?

And where is the documentary evidence to back this up, or is it simply more rumor mongering? It seems to be more hearsay based on hearsay. In law we call that double hearsay. Worthless.

except we are not in a court of law, we are at the equivalent of a cyber-saloon.

Worthless? except when the "story" is not discussed nor the "rumours" addressed by the BOD.

Neither is it discussed at all on the official society organ the Yahoo HMGS-E Issues & Announcement forum. [not just this situation, ANY issues or situation topics are rarely "seen"].

So when the admin is silent, the vacuum WILL be filled by others…some will be rumours, but not necessarily untrue.

At least back in the day, guys like James Mattes [and now I see he has separated himself from HMGS-E for reasons unknown to me]were very proactive in providing a communication link between individuals with questions/issues/complaints and the BOD. They served a purpose, like any President's Press Secretary, to get the admin's story out address questions, issues et al. Without that of course speculation and rumors will run rampant.

They do not have to respond on forums like this, but they damn sure should do so on their official group sites. But that doesn't happen because someone serves as gate keeper before posts are allowed to flow through for all to read much less be responded too.

I don't like rumors either, but I recognize they will exist and predominate until the "official press release" is made. Lets hear "the rest of the story". If not here on TMP then at least on the HMGS Issues/Announcements group site or the web site.

Rmcaras, don't bring up JM, he gets cranky. As for him being a "link", that's HIGHLY debatable.

In law we call that double hearsay.

Is that anything like Dean Wormer's "Double Secret Probation"???

Goldwyrm…beautiful figs…where are they from? I looked at the Eureka site and couldn't find them…

Lawyers are involved.

Well…looks like it's time to get a rope and find a sour apple tree with a good low branch…

Hurray, some good news. The convention won't be going back to the Lancaster Hotel.

Rich

I had a good time at Fall In. I heard none of this but I will get the real scoop from my buds. Oh you guys are my buds too. But I mean my official news buds.

kyoteblue 06 Nov 2009 6:18 p.m. PST
Thank you Allen.
Gentlemen let us not rush to judgment.

*NJH: Let's blame the Canadians! It works in South Park.

John the OFM 06 Nov 2009 7:56 p.m. PST
Geez. I hope Fall-In is still standing when I get down there tomorrow.

Did the Air Force do the traditional bombing of the Presidential Palace? Did the Minister of the Interior catch the General of the First Brigade at his Mistress's?

Coup Excuse! Coup Excuse! I can hear the engines of the First and Second Brigades roaring to life. I love that game.

I remain hopeful that this rumored dust-up has a logical and rational explanation. HMGSE, for good or ill, is the current leader gaming organization for historical miniatures. If it should fall on serious hard times, the ripple effects will probably have negative unintended consequences for our hobby. Sad, but true.

@Murphy- They were Eureka 100 Club releases. They don't get those up on the website right away and offer them at shows in a pre-release fashion and to the 100 club members, iirc.

I got the information about them from this topic
TMP link

I regret not asking my buddy on Friday to get 3 of each, as two other fellows I know were unable to get them later on Saturday as they'd sold out.

If we have attorneys representing HMGS over contract issues, how come we don't seem to know who they are? Because if we didn't have one or two to protect our interests, then shame on us.

I will throw my .02 in here even though it looks like most of the news was fairly well presented.

The move to Baltimore is not off. It is being looked into for new reasons. Apparently do to issues stemming to many items that were discussed verbally but never written down in the contract. Some of which became apparent with the little test run game day. Because of the financial interests the dealers have they were given an advance notice of what is going on.

As it stands right now, the board is running through all the numbers and has committed to making an official notice by the 23rd of November. That will give everyone who has hotel reservations more than enough time to find a new hotel.

In the event that the negotiated criteria with BCC can not be resolved the board is doing due diligence and locating an alternative site. They are using and extensive matrix that was put together during the first search. There were several options that were close seconds and they are being contacted to find out availability during the time frame we need.

As for the board changes, Orest was installed at Historicon. The new change apparently occured just before Fall In. IN PETES OWN WORDS…"I am stepping aside so that the board can move in a different direction. I am not stepping down because I have a responsibilty to those who voted for me and I want to help the new BOD members as they take over…. I will be doing what I love most and that is the GM awards program…"

After that the sensing meeting turned into a typicall BCC thread on TMP… Why are we moving…Where would have been better…Evil GW…blah blah blah

So the BOD has committed to the NOV 23rd for making a decision. If they don't meet that goal then it will be time to play whack a BOD.

What a mess. I hope the BoD is able to get a financially viable proposal together asap. Communication seems to be a big problem with the BoD, both with the membership and the dealers. Communication also seems to be a problem with the attorneys as the BCC's verbal promises to the BoD never made it into the contracts. I hope it all gets resolved soon. Not a job I envy, but I truly appreciate all the hard work.

The BoD could really use a cheerleader like James Mattes right now.

Steve

Thanks for the info "Flashman1889".

If only there had been more of this kind of information forthcoming from the BoD a year ago, we might have avoided this whole mess.

The BoD could really use a cheerleader like James Mattes right now

The BoD doesn't need a cheerleader. They need a communications expert that isn't going to sugar coat the current issues.

LIG,

Agreed. I think we've seen enough of the sugar-coating, hidden-agenda, secretive-action BoD for long enough.

"Every truth passes through three stages before it is recognized. In the first it is ridiculed, in the second it is opposed, in the third it is regarded as self evident."
-Schopenhauer, Arthur

Agreed. I think we've seen enough of the sugar-coating, hidden-agenda, secretive-action BoD for long enough.

Seen enough? Yes. But we don't have any evidence that we've seen the last.

iPat

OK, fair enough! You're on point on that!

Steve

Ya know, after all of this I'm surprised ANYONE would want to be on the BOD. Seems like regardless of what they do the BOD will be hanged for it. I agree that if there is/has been a breakdown in communications from the BOD it should be resolved right away but given what I've read on this and other threads today it seems like there are an awful lot bad feelings that have been there a long time.

If I had the time I would run for the BoD. Really. I used to be very active with the NOVAG group and helped organize their conventions for a number of years. Now, the numbers were far fewer (200-300 attendees), but many of the same issues existed. Leaving aside as to whether that experience is similar enough, the thought would never have occurred to me to NOT give out information regarding convention costs, attendance figures, future plans, etc. to a member who was interested in them.

Can anyone think of a legitimate reason why the HMGS-E BoD should not act in the same way? I can't. It's not like there is a "competitor" that is trying to get that information from them to run them out of business! Opennesss will only help this situation. The "new" BoD had better learn from the BCC episode, or things will only get worse.

First off, when I checked with my official news buds what Old North State reported was pretty much the same info that I got. It had to do with the number of guaranteed rooms and it wasn't pretty.
John, your talent at convention managing is going to waste. We did put on nice NOVAG cons as I said on another thread.
However membership here does not have as much control as the members of NOVAG had

Continuing for a moment. You knew that if you made too many members mad, they would take their toys home and no convention. Apparently it does not work the same way in HMGS-East- YET! We can only hope.

vonL,

I would dip my hand in if I had the time and inclination, but I like my hand, and don't want it bitten off!

I'd rather GM to be honest. I can do what I want, or not, and even though I probably spend almost as much time preparing the games I (we) run, I don't have to deal with politics, which is well worth the difference.

"The BoD could really use a cheerleader like James Mattes right now."

Why, so he can duck out on his responsibilities and leave us in the lurch like he did as Events Coordinator at Fall In? No thanks!

OOOOH, Nazrat!
Know what u mean firstvarty.
Everybody hang tough. Let's find out the realities and go from there. Gaming and friendship will go on regardless.

I don't think the current mess and accusations will really discourage anyone from running for the BOD. There will always be people who want to be in charge, for Good or for Evil.
It would be nice if they would openly run on the agenda they will pursue. Most run on the "I have been a wargamer for X number of years, and I think we need to grow the hobby" platform. That and kissing babies will get you far.
I would like to see honestly someone run on the "I will spend your dues and our revenues sending me to Rio de Janeiro for the Wargaming Carnival, and on free beer and cake for the hungry and thirsty gamers" platform.

For the record, I join when I can afford it. Since 1996 when I got back into the hobby and started going to conventions again, I have belonged for more than 73.2% of the time.
Since I have been regularly unemployed, HMGS membership has fallen low on the priority list.
I CAN remember when they dis something actually useful, like the membership issue, with membwers sorted bu ZIP code. We picked up some useful members in our club from that, but I have not seen an issue in years. Not as sexy as free beer and cake for the masses, I guess.

Just one more little item. When I bought my house, I believed that a little set of steps would be placed behind my house from the back door, because we needed steps if we were going to use that entrance. On settlement day, no steps. Why? I asked the settlement attorney. We called the sales woman. You didn't put it in the contract she said. And that was that. We would have had to pay extra, but we didn't realize that until too late. Show of hands. How many of you have had a contract where everything wasn't exactly spelled out as to XYZ for X number of dollars? Did you receive it? I didn't think so. It wasn't in the contract was it? See how simple this is. No go and make good negotiations with a complete contract. All of you. BTW I still don't have back steps.

The truth is, nobody knows what's going on. We don't know what the issues are with the contracts. Only the BoD knows what was allegedly promised. Some can assume the BoD decided to can the BCC because of costs (or an upset membership), but it could very well be driven by the personal choices of the new directors as well.

If it's a simple matter of breach of contract as the BoD suggests, I would be hard-pressed to figure out why a change of venue would be better than a renegotiation. If they change the venue, they are potentially on the line for twice as much money. I mean, let's say you're buying a house and the parties disagree about the oral agreement on the addition of stairs, would you then go ahead and enter into another contract to buy another house? Probably not, you'll eat the $500 USD or so for a few stairs, or split the cost. As far as I know, the decisions that are supposedly being made on alleged issues that nobody knows about is just making things worse.

As a result, the anti-BCC camp, as the OFM suggested in another thread, believes that the BoD is finally coming to its senses, being fiscally conservative and listening to the membership. Well, maybe it is, maybe it isn't. When I see it, I'll believe it.

Steve (who is hoping that Historicon is just as good as last year)

BTW I still don't have back steps.

Well, with your plans for the moat you won't need them anyway.

This is where you live, isn't it? :P
link