Jim Burgess, New Chair of the Hobby Awards Committee: I am very honored to be taking over the chairmanship of this committee this year. The Hobby Awards have a long and proud tradition in the US Diplomacy Hobby and I am continuing an effort to expand the scope and reach of the awards. This year we have eight nominees in each category, except for the Rod Walker Award for Literary Achievement where the Founder of the Feast weighs in, so we have nine nominees in that category. Please publicize this ballot, reproduce and send it to your Diplomatic mailing lists.

_____ Stephen Agar (Diplomatic Archives & Revival of Diplomacy World)

_____ Edi Birsan (Running the Diplomatic Corps web page & organization)

_____ Manus Hand (Running the Diplomatic Pouch & Hosting DipCon XXXIV)

_____ Doug Massey (Running the JDPR Diplomatic Rating System)

_____ Ted Miller (1999 WorldMasters Tournament Director)

_____ John Schultz (Taking on Standby Positions & Hobby Participation)

_____ Matt Shields (Co-Editing the Diplomatic Pouch & Constructing the Dip Pouch

Tournament Scoring System)

_____ Tom Tweedy (Diplomacy 2000 Site)

_____ Stephen Agar (What Do You Do When You Have To Guess?)

_____ Harry Cameron Andruschak (It's All Kathy Caruso's Fault, Blame Her!)

or with more comments and updates within:

_____ Edi Birsan (The DipCon Story -- The Early Years)

_____ Allan B. Calhamer (Calhamer on Diplomacy: The Boardgame and Diplomatic History)

_____ Brandon Clarke (Playing the Bigger Picture in FTF Diplomacy)

_____ Mark Fassio (The SWAT Approach in Diplomacy)

_____ Chris Martin (Martin on Diplomacy: Play to Win)

_____ Simon Szykman (Grudges in Diplomacy)

_____ Ole Tuft (Geographical Destiny Revisited)

--2--

_____ Bob Acheson (Winning CanCon 2K)

_____ Simon Bouton (Winning World DipCon X)

_____ Christian Dreyer (Winning Demo Game Ruffians)

_____ Mark Fassio (Winning Demo Game Arsenic and Old Farts)

_____ David Hood (Winning DipCon XXXIV)

_____ Glenn Ledder (Increased JDPR 301 points from 16th to 2nd during 2000)

_____ Karlis Povisils (Increased JDPR 327 points from 19th to 1st during 2000)

_____ Lee Simpson (Winning the 1999 WorldMasters Tournament, mostly during 2000)

_____ Doug Burgoyne (Cat23 GM)

_____ Bruce Duewer (Judge GM)

_____ Greg Greenman (Judge GM)

_____ Andy Lischett (Postal GM of Cheesecake)

_____ Michael Lowrey (Carolina Command & Commentary and now Houdini Blues GM)

_____ Ted Miller (1999 Worldmasters Tournament Director and GM)

_____ Tim Miller (Judge GM)

_____ Tim Richardson (Email GM)

VOTERS!!! - PLEASE SIGN YOUR NAME LEGIBLY BELOW OR E-MAIL FROM A "DOCUMENTABLE" E-MAIL ADDRESS – ALL DIPLOMACY PLAYERS ELIGIBLE!!!

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Again, the Committee is soliciting a $1.00 donation per vote to defray costs of the awards themselves. This is a voluntary donation and does not affect your vote’s status in any way. We will continue to send the winners plaques. The Committee currently consists of myself (Chair), Fred Davis (Treasurer), Gary Behnen, Melinda Holley, Jamie Dreier, Paul Kenny, and Robert Lesco. The voting deadline is Sept. 2, 2001. Please send votes, contributions, and comments to:

Jim Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908-4327 USA, burgess@world.std.com

Thank you for your participation.