Greetings everyone,

The votes have been counted -- here and those sent via email -- and New Orleans is the clear winner as the venue for next year's forum reunion (14th Civil War Forum Battlefield Conference). I was initially surprised to see N.O. pick up so much steam in the voting, since it hasn't been near the top of the list in previous years. Any one of the five destinations listed will make for a good conference, and we'll get to them all in time.

As things stand now, the dates for our meeting are April 15-18, 2010.

I know that some people have expressed concerns about crime in New Orleans, and I'll be posting a lot of information on that as time goes on, but the information I'm getting from people who have spent considerable time in post-Katrina New Orleans is that it actually seems to be safer than ever right now, and that the places we'll be visiting are as secure as tourist areas in any American city today. But the concerns are real, and we'll certainly discuss them here.

It will be a challenging conference to set up logistically, but looks pretty doable to me. I think the depressed local economy there will give us some options we might not have enjoyed otherwise. I personally find N.O. utterly fascinating, and am excited about the opportunity to spend some time there with our group.

Here's how the voting was recorded:

12 New Orleans
  6 Perryville
  5 Bentonville/NC
  2 Mobile
  2 Red River
  2 Sherman's March