Meeting Minutes for August 6, 2014

ACBL Unit 143 Board of Directors

Attendees:  Debbie Romero, Pres.; George Hawley, VP; Linda Seibert, Secy.; Mary Dolan; Bob Griffin; Lee Hastings; Jennifer Luner; JoAnn Moore; Jay Shah; Helene Siegfried

Absentees:  Jeff Kopolow, Peggy Wald

President Romero called the meeting to order.

June Minutes were approved for posting.

Corresponding Secretary’s reports for June & July were accepted for file.

Tournament Reports: Registration gifts and Section Top Awards for the Regional will be at the Renaissance on Monday.

Announcements about the 0-20 event for Monday have been distributed broadly; more will be distributed at the St Louis Bridge Center tomorrow. Phyllis Siegel will assist Bruce Greenspan. 

M Carmen will get the supplies because C Patrias will arrive after the 10:00 A.M. start.

J Shah has signs in order: a new sign for Awards, all others the same. They will arrive with tables. For I/N events, he has arrows for the walls directing I/N players.  J Shah recommended selecting a spot for parking exit tickets. All bid box parts are in.

Caddies are all set.

Partnerships could use more help.  B Griffin & J Moore will be available.

I/N information sheet copies are being made on Saturday.

199er Tournament in September:  J Moore, B Griffin and J Shah will help on Saturday, L Seibert on Sunday. Post cards and flyers need review to be sure they meet ACBL guidelines which have changed.

OLD BUSINESS:  None

NEW BUSINESS:  No petitions for Board Openings have been received.

 ACBL wants Units to have a Facebook Page.  D Romero will ask Milt Zlatic to look into benefits and costs and report back to her.

D Romero proposed a Meritorious Service Award for M Carmen, to be awarded at the October Sectional. Motion to approve the M Carmen award was made by L Seibert and seconded by M Dolan. Motion carried. D Romero proposed a second motion to honor another individual with an Individual Service Award at the May Sectional.  Motion made by G Hawley, seconded by B Griffin.  Motion carried. The name of the recipient will be announced after the January Sectional.

J Luner is adapting the ACBL guide for new players for Unit 143 players new to duplicate bridge.   It was moved and seconded that copies be produced on 8 ½ x11 paper and sold for $2.00 each, with first sales to be at the 199er Tournament in September. The guide will be available on the Unit website as well.  Motion carried. The Welcome Letter will be revised to include a link to this document on the website.

The need for a 0-49 tournament was discussed This year Saturday will have two sessions (10:00 A.M. and 3:00 P.M.) and Sunday will have a single session at 10:00 A.M. Further consideration and discussion are needed prior to adding a 0-49 session.

Publicity:  The board approved the same events for the October Sectional as were held at the May Sectional.

Unit Games:  No unit games have occurred since last meeting.

Website: Unit website has a new banner header that allows more character space and two lines.

Membership:  In June, there were 8 new and 2 transfer members. In July there were 15 new and 2 transfers.

Date Book: B Griffin reported that the Date Book is ready with the exception of listing of special games, dates of which will not be known until later.  He expects to have books ready for October distribution.

Announcements: M Carmen has purchased a white board for tournament use.

Using email blast through ACBL has problems.  If one wants the blast to go out immediately and leaves voice mail message, the message could wind up on the desk of one who is on vacation and will not see it until return. No systematic delegation of duties seems to exist.  So, if there is no call back, call again and ask to speak to someone.

J Shah has email lists for blast to 0-20; 20-50; 50-99. He also distributed a list of our members in MP categories below 5, 20, 50, 100, 200, NLM, LM.  57% of our membership has fewer than 100 MPs; 68% fewer than 200.  Only 25% are in LM category.

Respectfully submitted,

Linda Seibert, Secretary