Current location:	NOT GenCon
Current mood:	geeky

The 2006 Diana Jones Award
The Diana Jones award was announced last night, at GenCon.

This year's shortlist was:

* The Gamechef game-design competition
* Irish games convention charity auctions
* Magic the Gathering, 9th edition (Wizards of the Coast)
* Perplex City (Mind Candy Ltd)
* Spycraft 2.0 by Patrick Kapera, et al (Alderac Entertainment Group)
* Twilight Struggle by Ananda Gupta and Jason Matthews (GMT Games)

And the winner was (drumroll, please...)

IRISH GAME CONVENTION CHARITY AUCTIONS

Ireland has a vigorous hobby-gaming community and a strong tradition of local conventions. These often climax with a charity auction that raises astonishing amounts of money for good causes, particularly given the size of the conventions. In 2005 Gaelcon’s auction made €31,000 (US$40,000)—that's US$80 per attendee—and the smaller Warpcon raised €12,000 (US$15,000), making its parent society the biggest charity fundraiser at University College Cork. This extraordinary spirit of generosity not only helps the needy but also publicises gaming to the wider community in a very positive way, making it less obscure and more approachable, which may explain why the Irish games scene is so full of life.

All I can say is, this is terrific news! Anyone who's ever witnessed auctions at Warpcon or Gaelcon should know well how amazing these things are.