2006 seemed to be one of the better years. The highlight for me was the re-awakening of mid-America. There was the vibrant group of Chicago area players led by Jim O'Kelley but many taking initiative to sustain and grow the activity. Chicago plans include a recruiting effort at a college game con and a Grand Prix tournament in June. A new event was announced for an Indiana suburb of Louisville KY, at the National Block Party Con chaired by Ric Manns, and Diplomacy prompted by Tom Pasko. The Minneapolis MNDip yahoogroup flickered to life after a two year dormancy, and has a game scheduled for early January. Columbus has hosted Origins at least since 1996, and the event has sustained interest in our game. Two of the Chicago players were already in my data base from prior play at Origins.

Elsewhere, Carolina Amateur Diplomats continue their 20+ year steady course. The Potomac Tea and Knife Society continues to organize play and fill cyber space with the most, on and off topic, commentary. New England is presenting a new Temple Con tournament produced and directed by Jim Burgess. Carnage gained more local support and plans to re-establish the Boston Massacre seem to be slowly forming. New England players make up the majority of Husky Con on Long Island.

The Bay Area Diplomacy Association continues to grow in numbers and depth. The Whipping featured an invasion of national players, but a solid non-traveling local player won. (Joshua Shank, it is time to venture out of the shadow of the Golden Gate). The Pacific Northwest is focused on the Vancouver BC WDC in August, and to that end is working together to re-invigorate Portland, Vancouver and to make sure that many northwest players gather to greet the national and international visitors.

2006 GRAND PRIX TOURNAMENTS

Ten of the twelve 2006 have announced a 2007 iteration. Canuck Con and Carnage organizers have not sent information. Boston Massacre is likely to revive next cycle, Temple Con and WDC have been added.

Event	Location	Boards*	Winner
WAC CON	Seattle	13	Jim O'Kelley
PREZCON (DipCon)	Charlottesville	13	Hohn Cho
CASCADE SUMMIT	Portland	6	Nathan Barnes
KUBLA CON	Burlingame	7	Louis Abronson
DIXIECON	Chapel Hill	10	Jim O'Kelley
ORIGINS	Columbus	6	Robert Zahn
HUSKYCON	Long Island	10	Jonathan Hill
CANUCK CON	Surrey	8	Micah Krabill
DRAGONFLIGHT	Seattle	9	David Norman
B.A.D. ASS. WHIPPING	Oakland	11	Joshua Shank
TEMPEST	Woodbridge	8	Chris Martin
CARNAGE BY THE LAKE	Fairlee	6	Graham Woodring

^* - Number of boards in 3 largest rounds

NADF GRAND PRIX