WHAT CAN
THE NORTH AMERICAN DIPLOMACY FEDERATION
DO FOR YOU?

by Chris Martin
President of the NADF


When Conrad Woodring stepped down as president of the North American Diplomacy Federation, I was concerned that the good work he had done in bringing together geographically diverse hobbyists to contribute their efforts to improving play in North America would begin to lose traction. As president, I hope to build upon the many good works Conrad initiated, and continue the momentum he generated.

But what, you ask, can the NADF do for me? That question really depends on who you are! Consider the various things that the NADF does now:

  • Maintains a website (www.thenadf.org) for the central organization of information about the North American hobby.

  • Administers the Grand Prix, a rating system that recognizes the player that has had the best results over at least four different tournaments. The 2012 Grand Prix is over - congratulations to Michael "Doc" Binder in his dramatic come-from-behind victory — but the 2013 schedule will be up soon under the �Grand Prix� link on the home page. Results from past years are also available — here is the 2012 spreadsheet:

    http://tinyurl.com/2012grandprix

  • Administers the Master�s Invitational, a bi-annual event where players who have finished in the top seven at a Grand Prix event can compete against each other. Information about the 2013 Master�s Invitational can be found here:

    http://www.thenadf.org/nadf-masters

  • Administers the bidding/voting for Dipcon and World Dip Con in North America.

    • Dipcon 2013 will be hosted by the Potomac Tea & Knife Society, at Tempest in a Teapot, over Columbus Day Weekend in Silver Spring, Maryland. Head over to www.ptks.org for more information about their club!

    • World Dipcon 2014 will be hosted by the Carolina Amateur Diplomats, at DixieCon, over Memorial Day weekend in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Head to www.dixiecon.com for more information about the history of the event.

This short list actually covers a fair amount of ground in a hobby as disparate and far-flung as ours. What does it mean for you? If you are a player interested in finding other players, we have a forum on our website that can be used for that — currently, it is sadly under-trafficked. If you are a member of a local hobby already, then the NADF helps incentivize travelers to come to your event, enriching your experience. If you are a travelling player, the NADF provides a means of tracking your play and recognizing your contribution to the hobby. And if you are a tournament organizer, the NADF helps to promote your event, and recognize your hard work.

Finally I ask you, the reader, two questions: What do you want the NADF to do for you, and maybe more importantly, what can YOU do to help the NADF advance the play of Diplomacy in North America?

There are a couple of things that I think everyone can do. First, head on over to www.thenadf.org and take a look around. Give us some feedback, so we can make it a better place for you.

We are building a registry of Diplomacy players! Enter yourself in the player registry:

http://www.thenadf.org/resources

…so that we can build a database of players around the country who love the game!

We are always looking for new content — would you like to blog about your local Diplomacy hobby? Are you running an event, and want to promote it? Do you publish a Diplomacy webzine, or podcast about Diplomacy, and want to promote your product? Drop me a line, and we will get you hooked up! We are especially looking for someone to fill the large shoes left by Jim O�Kelley and his "This week in North American Diplomacy" feature.

One of the questions the NADF has historically struggled with is figuring out what we can and should do to better promote this game we all enjoy. How do we bring players together into a community? And how do we bridge the gap between the Online and Face to Face worlds?

If you have ideas about what the NADF can do for you, or better yet how you can help out the NADF, I would love to hear from you.

Finally, a note about the cost to you: Nada. Zilch. Zero. Nuthin. The NADF is run on a volunteer basis! Your hard-earned pazoozas are not part of this equation! So be sure to keep that in mind when you are offering feedback — if you want us to host an app for playing Diplomacy, that�s a great idea — but if you want to CODE it, that�s going to make it a lot more likely to happen.



Chris Martin
([email protected])

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