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ACBL Unit 114

Minutes of Board Meeting

Gainesville Sectional

October 11, 2008

President Tom Wight called the meeting at the Gainesville Civic Center to order at 5:45 PM.

Officers in attendance were: Tom Wight (President), Dick Myers (Vice President), Nancy Hetsko (past President) and Mary Ann Bateman (Treasurer). Area representatives in attendance were: Betty Wilcox as proxy for Len Perkins (South), Donna Parker (Northwest), Ken Parker (Northwest), Sam Marks as proxy for Dick Browne (Metro Atlanta), Maureen Mcguire as proxy for Kevin Collins (Metro Atlanta), Bob Heller (Metro Atlanta), Barbara Heller (Metro Atlanta), Bill Marks (Metro Atlanta), Marty Nathan (Metro Atlanta), Beatrice Kemp as proxy for Dan Papineau (Metro Atlanta), Jimmy Lord (South Central) and Harpe Suggs (South Central).

Also attending were:  Sandy Barrow (Education), Jack Feagin (Past Pres),Ann Hedden (Membership/NAP), Mike Kovacich (Elections), Sam Marks (GNT) Betty Myers (Publicity), Lynne Ogden (Sportsperson of the Year), Ruth Suggs, Larry Rich (Webmaster) and Debbie Wagner.

Marty Nathan served as Acting Secretary.

The minutes of July 6, 2008, which had been sent to all board members prior to the meeting, were presented and approved. 

Committee Reports

Treasurer’s – Mary Ann Bateman presented the Treasurer’s Report (attached).  It was approved.

Atlanta Junior Bridge – The President announced that Patty Tucker was unable to attend the meeting but her reports had been sent to all members via email.  There were no questions or comments.

Bylaws Review – Mike Kovacich stated that the committee addressed two types of changes in different manners.  The committee understood its charge to include only  fixing procedural issues.  These have been posted on the web site for all to review.  There were no questions or comments on these.  The second class involved substantive changes, which the committee accumulated and has brought to the board.  There are three:

1.      Should we continue to allow proxies to represent area representatives at board meetings?  There was not much discussion

2.      The bylaws allow for an area rep to have a proxy at meeting but are silent as to officers.  Mike asked whether we want to allow officers to have proxies.  There was little response one way or the other and the matter was dropped.

3.      The final issue is staggered terms for area reps.  We currently have several – Mike thought 5 from memory – whose terms start in odd numbered years and the rest start in even numbered years (as do those of our officers).  All are Metro Atlanta.  There was some discussion on the pros and cons of staggered terms, including only nominal out-of pocket cost but significant time expended to run each election.  A straw vote was taken that favored staggered terms.  Bob Heller pointed out that, in addition to the 5 area reps to be elected at the February sectional in Atlanta, the DBAA will be electing its officers at the same meeting.  While there will be coordination between the two organizations, there exists the possibility of confusion with two organizations each having elections.  Bob suggested waiting to see how this election goes.  If there are problems caused by holding two elections simultaneously, then it might be best to avoid staggered terms and have Metro Atlanta area rep elections and DBAA officer elections in different years.  No action was taken

A motion to accept the procedural changes in the bylaws was approved.

Education – Sandy Barrow announced that there is some interest in expanding bridge in Columbus and a game at Ft. Benning is also being considered.  Debbie Wagner was introduced at the director of a new game in Athens.  She advised us that it is already up to 11 tables.  She would like to have a sectional in Athens again.

Elections – Referring back his earlier committee report, Mike Kovacich stated that we would elect 5 Metro Atlanta Area Reps at the Atlanta Sectional in February.  In addition, we need to have an election in the South area – no one ran last election and the appointment of Len Perkins is only for one year – which will be held at the Macon Sectional in January.  Emory Whitaker and Nancy Hetsko will be the election coordinators for the South and Metro Atlanta areas, respectively.  The Atlanta election will be done somewhat differently, with the polls open longer hours and more days.  Mike is working with the DBAA which will provide staffing for the polls.  These volunteers however will not count ballots.  As the Atlanta Sectional will be spread over 2 or perhaps 3 locations, there will be polls at all of them.

Pursuant to a motion and second, the report was accepted.

GNT – Sam Marks stated that a lot of the drudgery has been removed from the position as he is using the Internet to communicate information to the clubs.  This will significantly reduce mailing costs.  The President suggested that, since the clubs will not receive thick packets to remind them it is GNT time, Sam should send email reminders to ensure we keep up our usual high participation in this event.

Hall of Fame – Ken Parker is continuing to work on biographies for the current members.  All are done except Edgar Gay and he has sources for that one.  There was one candidate proposed that the committee did not approve.

Ken stated that there have been guidelines for selection into the Hall of Fame but the committee felt they needed to be expanded.  Guideline 2 has been expanded so that level of service or contribution to bridge within the unit shall be considered.  Guideline 3 now includes consideration of personal qualities and character.  After some discussion it was clarified that these are considerations and not requirements.  The revised guidelines were approved and are attached.

NAP – Ann Hedden reminded all that the District Finals are at the Spartanburg Sectional next month.

Tournaments/Trophy – Dick Myers’s report for 2008 and 2009 tournaments had previously been sent to the board.  Dick stated that this has now been divided into two positions and Nancy Hetsko will be taking over the trophy responsibilities.  Dick noted that a decision had been made years ago to display the trophies at the Atlanta Duplicate Bridge club.  The plaques for the new junior trophies were given to club manager Dan Papineau months ago and still have not been hung.  Beatrice Kemp stated she would get after Dan to do this.

The board had years ago approved shifting the trophy events among various locations so that all could have the opportunity to compete for them in tournaments close to home.  He now is concerned that variable locations might be confusing to the membership, as there has been lower participation in these events.  He suggested perhaps we should go back to fixed locations.  It was pointed out that the today’s Mixed Pairs Trophy event was not on the tournament flyer.  Dick noted that he often doesn’t get a chance to see the flyers.  The president suggested that Dick assume more control here. He as Tournament Coordinator should approve all flyer drafts and he rather than the tournament chair should send them on for approval.  That way he can assure that trophy events get their due publicity.

A correction was made to the line for the KO trophy event in accord with earlier agreements.  It will read 3 or 4 sessions rather than 4.

The unit will sponsor the Covington/Conyers tournament next May, which will be held at the horse park.  The Gainesville tournament will be moving to the spring.

There will be 24 Unit Games allowed next year.  The schedule will be available in December.  Unit games carry an extra charge which goes to the ACBL, not the unit.

Tournament Committee – Dick Myers stated that the committee’s report had been e-mailed to members earlier.  This document defines the limits of authority for the Tournament Coordinator.  After reviewing the highlights, he pointed out that there was a minority dissent as to whether there should be allowance made for tournaments run by other than a not-for-profit.  Jack Feagin stated that he did not think that individuals should be sponsoring sectionals and that the wording in the report gave undue support for such games.  If there ever were the need for a privately owned tournament, the board would have to approve it anyway under the policy and could address the situation at that time.  After some discussion, the Board approved the report with two changes: 1) The ** re the minority dissent was removed and 2) the last sentence of item 3 re allowing for privately owned tournaments was removed.  The amended version was approved and is (attached).  In addition Marty Nathan recommended that a copy be maintained in the minute book.

Old Business

The President announced that the nomination of Patty Tucker for National Goodwill Person of the Year had been submitted to Memphis.

New Business

Marty Nathan introduced the following resolution.

Resolved, “The Unit Secretary shall send a letter, substantially in the form of the attached draft, to the ACBL Board of Directors asking that it change the current policy commonly known as “triple points.”

Further resolved that, “The Unit President shall instruct our representatives to District 7 to introduce a motion instructing the District Secretary write a similar letter to the Board of Directors”.

Further resolved that, “The Unit President shall instruct our District 7 representatives to introduce a motion at the next District meeting instructing the District 7 representative to the ACBL Board of Directors to actively pursue restricting the triple point policy.”

A draft had been previously sent to board members.  After a brief discussion, the above resolutions were approved. A copy of the letter is (attached).

Bob Heller announced that there would likely be three pages available in the District 7 news for our Unit News.  Part of that will go to updating the membership on the Annual General Meeting next year at the Atlanta Sectional in February as well as elections.  A motion was approved to authorize 3 pages at approximately $175 per page.

Harpe Suggs suggested that the minutes of our meetings be sent to the clubs.  It was pointed out that they are available but Harpe is concerned that there is too little communication about the unit to the clubs and this is the perfect medium.  It was agreed that the secretary after each board meeting should send an email with the minutes attached to each club manager

The President announced that his nominations for District 7 representatives were included as part of the agenda but there was one correction.  Emory Whitaker has informed him that he will not be able to do this and Jan Word has been added to replace him.  Our District Representatives will be:

Nicolas Hammond

Nancy Hetsko

Samuel Marks

Josie Mitchell

Betty Myers

Marty Nathan

Larry Rich

Janet Sherwood

Joe Sherwood

Liz Swanson

Jan Word

Due to our increased membership we will have a twelfth Representative in the following year.

Our next meeting will be Saturday, January 17, 2009 between sessions at the Macon Sectional.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:22 PM

Respectfully submitted,

Martin J.  Nathan

Secretary

GA UNIT 114

TREASURER’S REPORT – July 2008

Suntrust beginning balance:…………………… …..$               $      5,000.00

StaC refund                                                   1,259.46

Expenses:

806   Larry Rich  membership                                       54.00

807   Ann Hedden  membership                                      146.16

808   Jack Feagin corporation renewal fee                          30.00

809   Betty Myers Goodwill Committee                               40.00

810   Larry Rich  membership                                       40.00

811   Larry Rich  web master                                      100.00

812   Bob Heller  Breakfast meeting meal                          613.73

      Bob Heller  good sportsman free plays                       120.00

813   Georgia Wild Horse Federation  2009 cookie tournament       250.00

814   Atlanta Jr. Bridge   payment                              1,500.00

815   Macon DBC   good sportsman plays                            112.00

816   Bill Marks  StaC refund                                     116.78

817   Alpharetta DBC    StaC refund                                12.65

818   Ruff & Sluff      StaC refund                                16.10

819   Cummings    StaC refund                                      35.65

820   Larry Rich  StaC refund                                     251.89

821   Robins DBC  StaC refund                                      57.51

822   Macon DBC   StaC refund                                     104.67

823   Eatonton DBC      StaC refund                                24.15

824   Newman DBC  StaC refund                                      44.86

825            Lanier Land StaC refund                               29.91

826   McRae DBC   StaC refund                                      42.56

827   Southside DBC     StaC refund                                29.91

828   Valdosta DBC      StaC refund                                40.26

829   Conyers DBC StaC refund                                      18.40

830   GA State    StaC refund                                      20.70

831   Atlanta DBC StaC refund                                     216.34

                                                                =========

            Total checks written:                               4,068.23

      Suntrust account:                                         4,142.29

______________________________________________________________________________________

R. Drain Co.            Money for Nationals:                  134,200.04

R. Drain Co.            Unit 114:                              89,466.70

Suntrust                   checking account                     4,142.29

                                                             ===========

      Total of three accounts:                               $227,809.03

Mary Ann Bateman – Treasurer

641 Old Lundy Road

Macon, GA    31209-7351       478/731-0741

mabateman@cox.net

Revised 10/11/2008

Bridge Hall of Fame

Eligibility Guidelines

The Hall of Fame nominating committee uses the following guidelines in deciding whether to recommend a member for induction:

1.     Accomplishments as a player to be considered are achievements in regional, national, and international events. Accomplishments in local tournaments and club play shall be considered, but to a much lesser degree.

2.     Level of service or contribution to the game of bridge within the Unit shall be considered. A person may be eligible without regard to player accomplishments if he or she has made outstanding contributions and service to the game of bridge.   

3.     Sportsmanship and behavior as a player are to be considered, as well as personal qualities and character. 

4.     A person must have been a member of Unit 114 for a minimum of 10 years.

5.     If the person to be considered for nomination is deceased, at least one full year must have elapsed before the induction vote.

6.     Neither age nor disability shall be part of the eligibility consideration.

7.      Board members are eligible for the Hall of Fame.

Induction to the Hall of Fame requires a 60% favorable vote by the nominating committee and a 75% favorable vote by the full Board of Directors.

Tournament Committee Report  -   Approved by Board 10112008

     The Tournament Committee met on Thursday August 28, 2008.  Committee members present included Jack Feagin, Ken Parker, Marty Nathan and Len Perkins. The meeting was to discuss policy recommendations to the Unit 114 Board concerning Sectional allocations.  Previous discussion had been held by e-mail and the following is presented as a report to the Board.

Recommendations:

1.      For any historically conducted tournament, the Tournament Coordinator may approve future years for the same tournament under the same sponsorship at the same general time period as last held.  Board approval is not required.

2.      All sponsoring persons or organizations shall request a sanction number from the Tournament Coordinator twelve months in advance of the next requested date.

3.      Not-for-profit bridge organizations shall have the right to coordinate and approve sectionals within their surrounding areas.  (Currently only the Duplicate Bridge Association of Atlanta has availed itself of this right.) 

4.      Requests for new tournaments (ones not held in a general area or time frame for two or more years) shall be submitted to the Tournament Coordinator for review and submission to the Board.

5.      New requests shall be reviewed by the Tournament Coordinator and the Board to ensure that proper planning and financial arrangements are made.

6.      The Tournament Coordinator will consider new tournaments using the following criteria:

a.      Is proper financial support evident?’

b.      Will the tournament fit the annual schedule without conflicts in date or with other tournaments?

c.      Ensure that number of tournaments in any area does not interfere with normal bridge club operations.

d.      Consult with local clubs in the area of any new tournament.

7.      Tournaments may be sponsored by the Unit and all such tournaments must be approved each time held. The Board shall appoint a Tournament Chair who will submit a budget before financial commitments are made and financial reports after tournament completion.

Dear ACBL Board of Directors:

In accordance with a motion passed at our October 11, 2008 Board meeting, ACBL Unit 114 is expressing our concern for what we consider the misguided policy commonly known as “triple points”.  We believe allowing clubs to offer the equivalent of sectional points for every game violates the spirit of masterpoint competition and is destructive to our organization.  We recognize that coordinating a masterpoint structure is quite complicated and do not offer a specific remedy.  We do however feel that allowing clubs a limited number of triple-point games would be preferable.

The results of three August games highlight the problem.

                      * The cut off for “C” was 1200 points.

The Club “X” game was obviously triple points.  Had this game been run as a regular club game, first place would have received .4 points rather than 2 full points.  The Club “Y” game was just a few miles down the road.  It is the last holdout against triple points in our area.  There was an 8.5 table 0-50 game later that month at the Atlanta Regional.  The overall awards were 2 points for first and 1.50 for second.

The above are not isolated examples.  We could furnish a near endless list of such disparities.

We think the current policy is wrong for many reasons:

• It creates needless inconsistencies and debases the masterpoint system.  You recently saw fit to change the points awarded for knockouts in tournaments.  While this hurt the large regionals within our district and the supersectionals within our unit, we understand the change and applaud your effort in keeping meaningful assignment of points among events.  Yet the triple point policy has just the opposite effect.

• We fear that clubs awarding as many points as sectionals – at a lesser fee – will hurt the outstanding sectionals we have in Georgia and throughout the Southeast.  We try to encourage sectionals in smaller cities in our Unit, even to the extent of our Unit subsidizing them.  Your policy makes this more difficult.  Triple points is relatively new to our area but already our members are asking why they should attend sectionals once they fulfill their silver point requirement.

• Ace of Clubs competitions and to a lesser extent Mini-McKenneys are warped by your policy.  A member playing in an area without triple points is virtually eliminated from competition.  While there are certainly other factors beyond a member’s control that lessen her chances – number of games in her area and the size of games among them – we should be trying to level the playing field rather than creating more inequities.

• Triple points diminishes the relative value of other important ACBL functions.  How can we ask clubs to run GNT or NAOP games when they award less points than now standard triple points?  Why would a club want to run a STaC game which will now award significantly lesser points?  It makes no sense to help a few players get their silver points at the risk of irritating all the other players addicted to their triple points.  Players now complain that even if they do well, they’d rather have the triple points which count in the Ace of Clubs competition.

• Many members of the ACBL have experienced the wonderful sense of accomplishment from attaining Life Master as well as similar milestones.  Pushing masterpoints as a commodity for sale rather than a measurement of skill and success not only degrades the triumphs of the past but also minimizes those of members on their way to Life Master.  This is not an appeal against masterpoint inflation.  The stratification of games, limited games and such that have contributed to this phenomenon have certainly helped market our game.  Newer players have many opportunities to win points that may not have exited years ago.  The triple point policy, however, awards points without much relevance to the remaining structure.

• Our District Director recently emailed several of out members in an effort to defend triple points.  The justification seems to be primarily financial, that triple point games support many activities – junior competition, educational fund, and international play – the ACBL funds.  We have no quarrel with these objectives but we do disagree with the means of funding.  We believe triple points amounts to a “back door” price increase, as club after club follows the pattern of matching the first to go that direction.  If you want to raise prices, do so.  Just be honest about what you are doing.

• Our District Director also alluded to the increased competition that triple points creates.  We think the opposite will be true, as clubs may fold if they feel they cannot raise prices.  Some players, especially retirees on a fixed income, will play less.  That further hurts the prospects of individuals clubs.  We have in essence levied a tax on clubs, whereas fees are higher but none of the increase goes to the clubs.  We are all in favor of competition but we would rather see it in pricing, service and teaching.  Being the best at giving away points should not be a factor.

Please change the current policy so that triple points becomes a promotional tool for clubs rather than a regular part of their schedules.  Thank your for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Nicolas Hammond

Secretary, Unit 114

On Behalf of Unit 114 Board