UNAPPROVED
Duplicate Bridge Association of Atlanta

Board of Directors – Meeting Minutes

24 April 2009

 

Minutes

Corrections were made to the minutes and they were approved.

 

Treasurer’s Report

The treasurer’s report was approved as presented.

 

DBAA Wednesday Night Game

We pay $9.50 in rent per table. Any additional fees are paid by us. (The club pays our fees and we reimburse them). The rent includes coffee and supplies.

 

The game is currently making a little money. At present, we have no rental agreement.

 

Publications and Communications

Chairman Dick Browne reported that he has up-to-date listings from all the clubs except the Atlanta Duplicate Club and Priscilla’s Club.

 

2009 DBAA Directory

We need to seek JAN’S ’s help.

We will get a list of members from the ACBL. We will distribute this list to all the club managers asking them to have their players look over the list for accuracy.

 

BOB stated we need to get a quote on the cost.

 

Barbara made a motion to give Dick’s committee full authority to go ahead with the directory. It was briefly discussed but was not voted on.

 

We need to decide what type of info we want in the directory. A bridge glossary  was suggested by  BOB. BOB assigned this as our homework! That is, we are to come to the next meeting with ideas on how to improve the directory.

 

Policies & Procedures

Ralph reported that he has checked the records back to 2002 to look for any policies and procedures that have been established.

 

We need to work on establishing policies and procedures for future DBAA elections.

 

Metro Clubs

Chairwoman Barbara Heller made a motion to consider studying the possibility  of having tournaments in clubs. This was approved (voted on and passed). This will involve multiple sites . The committee will look into this.

 

Website

Dick Browne stated his first priority regarding the website would be to get the teacher information updated and further expanded.

 

It was suggested that a new link be created listing the bridge instructors in our area.

 

A policy was established that states, “Any legitimate teacher—regardless of ACBL accreditation—may be listed on the DBAA web page for the asking.”

 

It was also discussed that others might be listed there, such as “Pros.” (The only time we would say “no” would be if we had a confirmed report of a person’s incompetence, negligence, or worse).

 

DBAA Stationery

Bill Marks brought up the idea that the DBAA should have stationery with a logo on it to be used when communicating with temples, recreation centers, and festivals.

 

Dick Myers volunteered to be the draftsman. He stated he would make several templates for the board to look at and vote on.

 

Dick asked for our ideas in designing the logo.

 

The Board unanimously approved the stationery request.

 

Festivals

Bill Marks asked for the Board’s approval to set up a bridge table (or tables) at upcoming festivals so that more people can learn about duplicate bridge by seeing the game in action. The upcoming Roswell festival and the Marietta festival were mentioned, as well as others.

 

Bill stated that he can get the necessary volunteers to do the demonstrations. The Board unanimously approved this idea and Bill was given the Board’s approval to go ahead with this.

 

Checking Account

Marty asked the Board to approve giving President Heller the authority to sign checks.

 

Marty stated that it is not a good idea to have a policy where only the treasurer could sign checks because if something should happen to the treasurer or he was out of town, we would need an alternate to negotiate DBAA business.

 

The Board unanimously approved a policy to give the DBAA president authority to sign checks. Marty will take the necessary steps to get Bob’s name on the checking account(s). (Marty stated the bank requires this authority to be stated in the minutes).

 

Email Voting

Voting by email was discussed. Some favored it and some did not. Jack pointed out the legal ramifications of email voting regarding Georgia law. Jack stated that email voting may be okay in a particular situation but not in another.

 

Free Play
It was established that anyone who has completed a beginners course—at least sixteen hours in duration—will be given a free play. This was voted on and passed.

 

Election

Marty Nathan brought up the subject of Area Rep elections. At our last meeting we deferred a decision as to whether we want to suggest to Unit 114 changes in election procedures. There was a short discussion on the many problems with the last two elections, including the confusion between Mike Kovacich and the DBAA as to supplying staff polls. Bob Heller noted that Mike has acknowledged to him that having the “significant other” of having one candidate as the monitor was not a good decision. Marty repeated his suggestion from the last meeting that we should ask the unit to make the DBAA the monitor for elections. The DBAA is the most responsive organization to the needs of the Atlanta players. Bob stated that he is chair of the Elections Committee and that they would look at this issue. As the issue will likely come up at the May 31 Unit meeting, it was suggested that our area reps should request tabling any decisions until the next meeting to allow Bob’s committee to meet. It was also pointed out that we have several area rep positions up for election early next year so we don’t really have a lot of time.

 

The meeting adjourned at 6 pm.

 

The next meeting is WEDNESDAY, JULY 1^ST  AT 5:PM

At the  July 4^th Sectional –Hilton Hotel.
 

Respectfully submitted,