Unit 143 Board Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, January 12, 2004

A meeting of the Unit 143 Board was held at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 12, 2004 at the Olivette Community Center . In attendance were Board members Sandy Becker, Cheryl Davis, Mary Hruby, Bill Kauffman , Don Kerry , Jennifer Luner, Doug Moore, Tom Oppenheimer , and John Samsel, with Rod Van Wyk presiding.

The December Minutes were approved as written.

I. Corresponding Secretary's Report (distributed by Rod)

John and Jack are looking into having a printer produce postcards from the database in the future to avoid the cost and time of printing and sticking labels.
The Player of the Year procedure was revised per the Board's decision.
The 2003 Corporation Registration Report to the Missouri Secretary of State was filed online January 12 at a fee of $20.

II. Treasurer's Report

Tom passed around a copy of the bank statement as requested at the last meeting. He has also obtained signature cards for the CDs.
Tom reviewed the P & L which shows a loss of $4,114, in line for this time of year, and the Balance Sheet which shows checking up to cover the 2004 rent for the St. Charles facility.
The K.C. check is in for their share of the K-O expenses. Mary successfully fought for the $250 rebate from ACBL for use of its logo in the Date Book despite a change in the rules. Tom reported that Donna Coker has recruited 41 new members through her 49er game. We receive some funds for each member.
The tax return has been filed.

III. Tournaments/Events

A. January Sectional:

Finances: Mike has projected to lose $1600 on the January Sectional. Rod has sent a letter to Rick Beye about trying to get Chris Patrias as a Director for our local tournaments as he lives in town and we would be spared travel expenses.
Marketing: there was a suggestion of free plays being offered to newcomers to the Sectionals.
Restrooms: Mike has talked to the administration at St. Charles about cleaning.
There was a question about the transfer of Board free plays to friends (Standing Rule IX).

B. August Regional:

• Schedule: Mike distributed some stats from the 2003 Regional. 1/3 of the local members played 1-3 sessions. John distributed some proposed schedules.

The Board decided to leave the 2004 event as it is.

• Room Incentives: Mike is still pursuing through the hotel. Tom suggested having some perks for locals who stay in the hotel such as rooms all on the same floor, continental breakfast, etc.

• 2005 contract with the Renaissance has been signed.

C. 199er: Mary reported on card table prices she had gathered. A motion to authorize her to spend $300 on tables was passed. There was a discussion about trying to schedule the two tournaments six months apart, rather than March and November. Mary will review the calendar for religious holidays, conflicts, etc.

IV. Old Business

• Directory: Cheryl announced the Directories will not be ready by the Sectional as she is waiting for another full page ad to come in. She will send data to Jennifer for entry on the website.

• Finance: Tom needs to order more checks which will cost several hundred dollars.

• Websites are not eligible for ACBL's cooperative advertising program which has been changed to apply only to education and new member recruiting.

V. New Business

• Rod asked all Board members to review the election process as written in the bylaws and bring suggestions to the next meeting. Bill will post in "What's New" on the website.

• Focus for Year: Rod read the Unit Objectives from the Bylaws.

• Mentoring has been proposed. Sandy suggested offering ourselves to play with beginners twice over two months. Idea is to encourage people to branch out in duplicate. Mary and he will approach Donna about working with "graduates." There was also talk about having Pro-Am events.

• There was a suggestion to start a 49er game in St. Charles , building on our success with a second game in a different population center.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Cheryl Davis