"HMGS-Midwest BOD Elections" Topic

Since it has been about 2 weeks since the Executive VP & Secretary have resigned from the BOD HMGS-Midwest. There has been no word from the remaining BOD to the membership on how elections for these positions will be handled.

The Executive VP was also the Convention Director & Registration Manager. and resigned from that position as well. That resulted in the loss of those that volunteered to help run the Registration Desk. The Vendor Manager & Flea Market Manager also resigned in support of the Convention Director.

Since there was an election already in process for board positions, the original email sent to the membership is still in effect. Did you not receive the email, Jeff? I voted, and am looking forward to the open ballot tabulation at Games Plus.

With regard to the convention director and other positions, I know from speaking with Steve Fratt, President of HMGS-Midwest, that the duties were distributed to other board members and several volunteers (who are local or have run other conventions), so that Little Wars should be a success.

I would suggest that you (or anyone else with questions, for that matter) reach out to Steve Fratt for information (as I did) versus posting here. I was asked by Steve to volunteer at the convention, which I am doing, along with a number of other people, to make Little Wars run smoothly for the game masters, vendors and members.

this is what happens when everyone is preoccupied with the national soap opera in DC.

these local putsch's fly under the radar.

more trouble in Illinois? beyond the corrupt, bankrupt governance, now our gaming societies are infected?

Jeff has a legitimate concern. The election already in progress will result in the Executive Vice President position being left open, regardless of the results. And if the (now resigned) incumbent ends up winning the position of Secretary, there will be two open board positions.

"i would think the board would follow the bylaws to fill the open seats

Tachikoma weren't you the secretary who resigned? if you were worried how your spot would get filled, might have been best not to quit!

weird to quit and then start a thread about the concerns caused by your own quitting ha!"

I am, indeed, the Secretary who resigned. Explain to me, please, how that fact makes anything I wrote in my previous post untrue.

As a point of fact, of which you seem singularly ignorant; I did not start this thread.

Since Nap1814 seems to want things above board in this thread, it should be duly noted that lasalle012 is the Vendor Coordinator who resigned, Martian Root Canal is an associate of the remaining Board Members, and The Wargaming Company is running for the position of Secretary.

Finally, Nap1814 has been a member of TMP for 38 days and apparently does not want his real name associated with what he writes on the internet.

And I thought HMGS East had problems.

Nice to see that East does not have a monopoly on politics and drama when it comes to clubs and conventions.

Hope everything works out for all concerned. Regardless of what goes on behind the scenes at HMGS, the conventions continue to survive.

Enjoy the games.

I have stayed away from HMGS-Midwest in the past because of what is being displayed in this post. I changed my mind when Steve Fratt was elected. Steve is about getting things done; getting along with everyone and focusing on expanding the hobby. More importantly, he's about running HMGS-Midwest as an organization accountable to the members.

The board has run before with open board seats. There is a process to replace them, but the election has to happen first. As I stated before, if you have concerns, ask Steve. He'll tell you straight up. If you have a political axe to grind, sharpen it elsewhere. I'll leave you with this thought:

It's a hobby. About gaming. And gamers. Seems like a lot of people lose sight of that. Little Wars is in good hands for the upcoming event.

Full disclosure: I play games occasionally with Steve Fratt. He asked me to volunteer to run games at Adepticon and Little Wars. I have zero – ZERO – interest in a board position with HMGS-Midwest.

As an 'associate' of the current board of directors, the above disclosure must sound incredibly 'sinister' and 'ominous'.

I used the word "associate" since I knew you were friendly but did not know the extent of your interaction (and frankly, it is none of my business). No further connotations were intended.

I do believe that those that support the convention have the right to know what is going on. The resignations took place on 19th March, it is now 6 April. More than enough time to make an announcement on what has taken place and the actions taken by the BOD.

The BOD could have taken the opportunity offered by this posting to confirm the resignations and actions they have taken to move forward. An opportunity to request others to step forward and volunteer to help make the convention a success.

Those that have opted to make hostile comments towards myself and Mike (I do consider him a friend) should not that no statements were made by either of us on what led to the resignations. When I have been asked by others I have responded irreconcilable difference.

If it were my intent to undermine the convention I would not have asked those that came to me stating they were going to boycott the convention and cancel their games not to do so. That would have resulted in as many as 20 games being cancelled.

@Jeff: I made no attack. Also, the BOD has been in communications with people directly, not on a public forum. So they essentially have done what you are requesting them to do. I was quite surprised by the call I received from Steve Fratt regarding the organization's need for volunteers.

Actually, I'm a member and this is the first I've heard of it (didn't get an email). On the other hand I've been pleased with the board and quite happy to not have to deal with the politics (and live far enough away from Chicago that I don't have to get caught up in it).

The resignees need to get over themselves. First of all, the sky isn't falling. And, they are not serving anyone, but their own hurt egos, by all this muckraking. It was not only highly irresponsible of them to quit just before Little Wars, which can only be construed a few ways, the most obvious one is to sabotage the remaining members, who unlike them, aren't a bunch of controlling crybabies! I say the best thing that ever happened to HMGS-Midwest is for those who resigned, to have resigned.

As exemplified by their selfish irresponsibility, they have demonstrated at this critical juncture, their removal is not only welcome, but necessary. And, this not only taking place at the onset of an important convention, but also in the midst of the election! Very unprofessional of them to have resigned at such a pivotal time!

I've seen this same kind of thing in the re-enacting world countless times and also all over in the gaming communities where these self-impressed, self-absorbed, prima donnas, are a detriment to the hobby. It's always the same old story. It's a microcosm of the adage, that "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts, absolutely", only this is on the scale of things, that we all have to deal with in our hectic lives, as rather trivial. I say, Good Riddance, things will be just fine without their meddling ways.

There's a very good quote, one I lived by as a leader of my soldiers in the Special Ops community, a lesson these people need to get familiar with. It goes like this, "We can accomplish anything when no one cares who gets the credit!"

The three of you need to get a life and get out of the way. You've already embarrassed yourselves by resigning under the current situation and are further losing whatever respect you may have had from knowledgeable HMGS members with your muckraking and hissy fits.

What a bunch of losers. Really?!? Aren't you ashamed to be considered "adults", this is the kind of stuff one sees in high school rivalries. Gimme a Break!

Specforc12

Wow.

I think the record of the individuals involved speaks for itself. I've had the pleasure to either have attended events hosted by them, or been my honor to have them involved with events I have a role in running for years, in some cases decades.

I have a mantra as well, unless you want to do the work yourself, you have to trust the individuals you have delegated responsibility to make decisions and succeed. My role was to support the individuals, we empowered to do a job.

The people you call into question have a long history of putting on successful events for the enjoyment of thousands and in my experience have worked extremely hard, done an outstanding job, been extremely professional without issue.

I don't know or really care to know the details, but I know the character of some of the individuals involved, and they are outstanding.

People can have differences, and personalities can certainly clash.

In my opinion, LIttle Wars in recent years has turned the corner and the move to the Westin was a major move in the right direction generating a lot of positive momentum. These individuals played an important part in those developsments.

So, hopefully Little Wars continues on the upward path and with sustainable success in the years to come.

-Hank

Seems like a lot of unwarranted drama over grown men, and presumably even a few women, who still play with toys.

Enough of this!!

To the Past Board members – Thank You for your service.

To the Existing and New Board members – Thank for your service.

To the Rest of Us – it is time to step up and volunteer.

Look forward to seeing you all at Little Wars.

Once again, proof that the Intrnet is a lynch mob.

Dear Hankedly,

I would agree with you completely on the upward success that has been experienced by all regarding the HMGS making these fine conventions happen. And, as you know, it wasn't just because of their involvement, either. Of course, their participation was contributory, they were on the board of directors afterall! That's a given. But, with all due respect, the HMGS can and will live without their making problems where there shouldn't have been any. The vociferous retort to my post by lasalle012, is obviously the kind of childish behavior they are prone to.

Without, getting into details, I don't want or feel it is appropriate to expound on my comments in detail of what actually occured. What I do happen to know, is what has been going on, especially leading up to Little Wars. We as members and attendees don't need to share or go into the dirty laundry or inner workings of the directors and feed that fire.

I stand by my comments in the knowledge of what HAS been affected, and that potential threatening actions by the people in question, even by their own words, to sabotage Little Wars, specifically, has fortunately, not come to fruition. I would label their actions and their starting this thread as provocateur-ism, plain and simple.

I had respect for some of these questionable board members of whom I'm aware of, until I learned how difficult they were making things for their fellow Board members, but also doing things that were counter-productive in dealing with some vendors in a offhand way. I was aghast on how little they understand about "customer service"! Vendors are a vital component to any successful gaming convention and need to be treated appropriately, after all they pay good money to be represented.

Having said that, I am sure that current and future events will only be better served without all the internal "backbiting", for lack of a better word. So, I believe their behavior and actions DO speak for themselves.

If you read the beginning of this thread you'll notice that the individuals who resigned started this unsettling thread by not revealing who, in fact, they were, acting rather cryptically in the third person, so to speak. And, then to top it off, leveled that very claim against one of the newest members who doesn't deserve the disrespect he received, once their identities were unmasked. That should tell you something of their character.

So, sir, I would contend they are not so great an asset to HMGS, as you might think. It's that sort of passive-aggressive attitude that riles me and the hypocritical nature of perpetuating their discontent, that got me to respond and not tip-toe around what anyone "in the know" already knew.

specforc12

As a vendor at Little Wars and a Director of AdeptiCon.

I'll stand by my comments on the character and talent of those involved.

Look forward to Little Wars at the end of the month and returning to the Westin.

-Hank

For the benefit of the unenlightened would any of you stalwarts care to deal with the specific issues and points of contention or do you prefer to remain at the level of general and vituperative character assassination of the unnamed?

Or am I to understand that it's all about who stuck out whose tongue at who at the Bod meeting.

To the Officials of HMGS Midwest, past & present, who have contributed to this discussion. I know most of you very well and call you friends, some, very good friends!
I would like to welcome you all to Camp Wauconda (my home) where we can all sit down have a few (good craft) beers or wine some great food that would make the Hobbits jealous, have a good chat and work this out!
What say you ?

I wonder how many other war game clubs use TMP to debate the workings of their club committees?

Dear Friends of HMGS-Midwest,

We had a very informative meeting last night organized by Todd Fisher. Attending the meeting were Todd Fisher, Steve Fratt, Antina Richards-Pennock, Mike Pennock, Roger Kruse, and Jeff Cohen. The purpose of this meeting was to clear the air stemming from the situation at HMGS-MW that resulted in the resignation of two of our Board members. As the meeting developed, it became clear to me that much of this stemmed from miscommunication between Antina and myself. It is also clear to me that had we been on the same wavelength things might not have led to the resignations. I regret that this occurred. I understand the reasons of those who resigned and respect their decisions.

Also important are recent postings on this page that led to the impression that Jeff Cohen and others were working against the interests of Little Wars. Jeff has been a major contributor to HMGS- Midwest for many years and he cares about it and Little Wars. His intentions concerning any comments on this page were to raise concerns about issues that he felt may have damaged the cause. Hopefully this meeting has addressed his concerns.

If there are any other concerns about HMGS-MW or Little Wars 2017, please contact me via our HMGS-Midwest website – look under "contact us" and you will find my email address.

The Board's hard work, the devotion of the continuing convention staff, the
new volunteers, and the input of the group attending this meeting will make this one of the finest Little Wars ever. Thank you again for everyone willing to put their differences behind them and work for the greater good.

See you at Little Wars!,
Gratitude,

Steve Fratt
President: Historical Miniatures Gaming Society – Midwest
Little Wars 2017 Convention Director