Meeting Minutes for June 12, 2013

ACBL Unit 143 Board of Directors

Meeting was called to order by President Romero

Attendees: Debbie Romero, Pres.; George Hawley, VP; Jeff Kopolow, Treas.; Linda Seibert, Sec’y; Mary Dolan; Bob Griffin; Lee Hastings; Jennifer Luner; JoAnn Moore; Helene Siegfried; Jay Shah; guest Mike Carmen, Tournament Director

Absentees: Peggy Wald

The minutes for May 8, 2013, were approved for posting.

The Corresponding Secretary’s report was accepted for filing.

The Treasurer’s report was accepted.

District 8 Board Meeting Report:  D Romero reported on the meeting.  The minutes are posted and available to be read.

August Regional Preparation/Assignments:

Publicity: D Romero notified the board  that the ABA had asked Unit 143 to consider placing an ad in their Souvenir Guide and that she was in the process of negotiating for a free ad   given that the unit is donating tables and chairs to the ABA for their Summer Nationals.  After discussion, the board the board authorized up to $150 for implementation costs, if necessary.  The board supported Mike Carmen’s suggestion for asking the ABA to include a separate Unit 143 recognition/thank you in their Souvenir Guide for the donated tables and bid boxes.

Registration:  L Seibert will manage.

Daily Bulletins: J Luner is in charge.  It was suggested that the first day information be included in each edition as many never see the first edition and need to know the specifics of the tournament.  J Luner will email copy of the information to be included to board members for comment.

Section Top Awards:  Peggy Wald will distribute.  There was discussion concerning who is eligible.  Only one Section Top award will be recognized.

Restaurant List/Guide: L Hastings will update from last year.

Photography and Signs: H Siegfried will be in charge of pictures, J Shah will do signs.  

Bidding Boxes and tables from storage:  J Shah will be in charge.

Caddy Assignments: G Hawley will develop this schedule.

Cleaning tables on Sunday:  All who are there will participate. 

Partnerships:  S Zenk will chair the Partnership Desk. 

Rooms at Renaissance:  Additional discussions with those who need rooms are needed before final determination.  Schedules for the various desks will be presented at the August meeting.

OLD BUSINESS:  L Hastings presented a financial report for the Spring 199er Tournament showing a profit of more than $600. The Scholarships for Youth Bridge Camp have not been requested.  Inasmuch as the camp has added an adult opportunity, should we make such scholarship available to an adult?  After discussion, the board agreed that the scholarships should be reserved for youth.

NEW BUSINESS: The Nominating Committee’s Slate of Candidates will be published on the Unit 143 website on July 1. 

D Romero reported receiving a request for publication of a directory addendum every 6 months.  No addendum will be published at this time as members may print a current directory at any time from the Unit 143 website. 

Tournament Promotions: suggestion came from J Luner that we offer a discount on Sunday for anyone wearing a Cardinal shirt. Maybe this could be extended to a red shirt to be friendlier to out-of-town guests. J Luner also suggested trying to offer a “partner guarantee” for future regionals to anyone requesting same 45 minutes before game time.  Both suggestions were tabled for future consideration.

Unit Game Committee: M Dolan reported that there have been 13 sanctions and 220.5 tables.  It is time to apply for the next group of Unit Game Sanctions.

Publicity: Post cards for the September 199er Tournament need to be mailed before the Regional—at least 6 weeks before tournament.

Website: Online Membership Directory Database Process: some members experienced difficulty in getting access upon returning to St Louis from FL.  Milt found the problem and corrected it. The update process is largely manual. Helene wants to explore mechanizing the process, but does not know if it is viable.

Banner use policy:  the banner is to be used to announce time changes and canceled games, then unit special games with annual events having priority over monthly.  Expansion of this policy was not authorized.  Advancers in rank:  J Luner has begun posting advancers at the gold level or above with a photo accompanying the announcement if one is available.  In order to be fair to all, it was agreed that a photo would be included only if provided by the advancer to gold or higher with permission/request that it be used.

Memberships: J Moore reported 15 new members and 4 transfers.

Announcements: July meeting is canceled.  Next meeting will be August 14 at 7 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Linda Seibert, Secretary