This in from Chris Martin:

Chris Martin here, with some exciting news for the North American diplomacy hobby!

Over MLK weekend some of the best diplomats in North America will meet in Austin, Texas to compete in an invitation-only diplomacy event. To date, 67 diplomats have qualified for the 2011 Masters by finishing in the top seven results at a NADF Grand-Prix event in 2009 or 2010.

Currently, I am working with Brian Shelden, Conrad Woodring, and Jeremiah Peterson to make this a premier Diplomacy event. Part of organizing a great event is assembling fabulous talent to get the behind-the-scenes details right, and with this crew, I feel certain that the 2011 Master's Tournament will be an event to remember.

You may ask why I have am hosting an event that is not open to the general public -- a fair question. Over the years that I have been in the hobby, I have often heard (and occasionally voiced) a desire for an event that guaranteed that every participant understood, at the very minimum, the mechanics of the game, and ideally really knew what they were doing on the board. This discussion usually peaks around the times of Dip-con/World Dip-con, and during a recent online discussion of the relative merits of the title, I
announced my intention to host an event where everyone involved would know, going in, that the competition would be among those who had proven themselves able to play the game. The North American Diplomacy Federation Master's Tournament is the result.

There is still time left to qualify!  7 people will qualify at Massacre, Husky, WeaselMoot, and Tempest -- will you be one of them?  I hope you will!

If you have any questions, please drop me a line at dance.scholar@gmail.com.

Stab you soon,

Chris Martin