Duplicate Bridge Association of Atlanta

Board of Directors – Meeting Minutes

July 2, 2008

 

 

Present:  Jack Feagin, Susan Wolfe, Allison Milhem, Judy Fendrick, Dick Browne, Marty Nathan, Kevin Collins, Dan Papineau, Bob Heller and Barbara Heller

Absent:  Richard Holland and Ralph Folkerts

 

The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. by President Jack Feagin. 

 

Prior Minutes

 

MOTION:  Kevin moved to approve the minutes of the June meeting.  Dick seconded.  Motion approved. 

 

President’s Update

 

Summer Nationals-2013 - Atlanta has been chosen as the site for the 2013 Summer Nationals.  The tournament will be held at the Hyatt Regency August 1-13.

 

ACBL Relocation - The ACBL is exploring options to relocate its headquarters from Memphis and has narrowed it down to Atlanta and Dallas as the two cities under consideration.  The board decided it would be good to send a letter to the ACBL to let them know we are pleased about the prospect of having Atlanta as the headquarters site.  We discussed ideas that could be included in the letter as reasons that Atlanta would be a good choice, which included:  Large number of bridge volunteers, most active area for youth bridge, ABA presence, strong intermediate/novice support and hosting the first Youth NABC. 

 

ACTION ITEM:  Jack will prepare the letter and send to the ACBL Headquarters early next week.

 

DBAA General Liability Insurance - As a follow-up item from our last meeting, Jack stated the ACBL offers insurance through agents that we can buy to cover sectional tournaments and the DBAA game.  It would be similar to the insurance used for Bridge Clubs and Units.  Also, Dan is in the process of obtaining new insurance for ADBC, which we may be able to add coverage for the DBAA game.

 

ACTION ITEM:  Jack will obtain a quote on the ACBL insurance before our next meeting.

 

Finance Committee Update

 

Allison presented the June Treasurer’s Report, showing the ending checking account balance of $30,380.31, and CDs values of $15,347.61 and $6,893.14, for a combined total of $52,621.06.  She also presented the June DBAA Game Report showing a net profit of $248.76, but this will be reduced once we have the final ACBL fees for the NAP and STAC games, and the regular games.  The STAC game fee is paid to District 7.

 

 

 

 

 

Bob reported that MABC pays DBAA $1,250 each year for hosting the Labor Day Regional.  Jack recently received the $10,000 advance from MABC to cover the upcoming Regional expenses.  Both of these amounts will be deposited to the DBAA account.  In the event there is a surplus for the $10,000, this amount is carried over to the next year to cover future expenses.  The MABC runs the regional tournament and follows the budget they set.

 

Judy provided a copy of the 2007 Form 990-EZ to each officer for review.  A few minor changes are needed, which will be discussed with Jack, Susan, Allison and Ralph at a time when it is convenient for all.

 

MOTION:  Marty moved to approve the Treasurer’s Report.  Susan seconded.  Motion approved.

 

Website Committee Update

 

Susan reported that Nicolas has the new DBAA domain set up.

 

DBAA board members will need to create and maintain the information pages for some of the links.   We cannot release the new site until the new links have the information stored.  Barbara agreed to develop the webpage for the Lessons link and will help keep this updated.  For the New Players link, we will include information on limited game schedules and a section for bridge terminology and concepts.      

 

ACTION ITEM:  July 31 is our target date to get the new site released.  Judy will canvass the board to make sure we have people assigned to the links.  We just need to send the information to Larry in any Microsoft format.

 

The board discussed other options of having the DBAA website link posted under the AJC bridge column, but then decided the AJC would likely not be in favor of this.  Other advertising may be available by having the community calendar section updated with club information in the local section of the paper.  The Alpharetta club has used this free advertising.

 

Night Time Bridge Promotion

 

Jack suggested we put out a flyer at the tournament to advertise the night-time bridge games at the local clubs.  For the DBAA game, we would offer a free play to anyone who has not played in the game for six months.  “Bridge After Dark” was a suggested heading.

 

MOTION:  Susan moved that we create a flyer and distribute at the tournament.  Dick seconded.  Motion approved.

 

By-Laws Committee Update

 

The Board’s discussion focused on the fact that the DBAA by-laws must be amended because they are inconsistent with our current way of operating in relation to the Unit. 

 

The DBAA/Unit reps are elected through the Unit election.  It was suggested that we could ask the Unit to allow us to oversee the election of reps.  In addition, The Board believes the Unit should not run the separate election for the DBAA officers.  We do not want the election process to be confusing or cumbersome for bridge players.

 

Based upon prior discussions, the By-Laws Committee removed the duties of the representatives from the by-laws entirely.  However, upon further discussion, it was determined these duties need to be covered and should remain in the by-laws. 

 

MOTION:  Susan moved to keep Article 7, Section C.  Marty seconded.  Motion approved.

 

The removal of officers still needs to be covered. 

 

ACTION ITEM:  Jack will work on the by-laws language for the removal of officers.

 

ACTION ITEM:  All Board members will review the by-laws and send comments to Susan and Bob.

 

Adult Bridge Lessons Flyer

 

We ran out of time to talk about the flyer that Marty drafted for the Martin’s Landing bridge lessons.  However, Marty previously sent the flyer out to everyone on e-mail, and the responses were positive, so this is ready to post. 

 

 

Meeting adjourned at 7:15 pm. 

 

Next meeting:  Wednesday, August 6, 2008 – 6:15 PM, Atlanta Duplicate Bridge Club.

 

Respectfully submitted,