Unit 143 Board Minutes

April 8, 2009

approved 05/27/09

President Suzi Shymanski-Moore called the meeting to order at 7:02 PM. Present were Board members Bob Wheeler, Bobby Riggs, Bob Janis, Jennifer Luner, Carole Benkelman, Bill Bunn, Steve Zenk, Donna Pedrotti, Carl Clyne, Debra Romero, Jackie Baker and Ed Hale. Absent was Board member Jane Ettelson.

March Minutes

The March minutes were approved.

Corresponding Secretary‘s Report

Jack Bryant's report was received after the April 8, 2009 meeting. It is included here for information.

The database was down loaded on April 3 rd from ACBL to replace the Unit 143 database. This is done monthly.

The 2009 POTY standings were updated with the results of the April 5 th unit game. A report will be e-mailed to Milt Zlatic for posting on the unit website.

Mailing labels were printed and given to Debra Romero to mail postcards for the May sectional Tournament.

Treasurer's Report

Bob Janis provided a copy of the Unit 143 balance sheet as of March 31, 2009. This showed a balance of $8,809 in the checking account. The unit has $40,683 in current assets. The report shows a net income $1,736 for the period of October 2008 thru March 2009.

Bob reported the purchase of convention card holders to be used as prizes in the next 199er Tournament. T-shirts were also purchased from NE Bridge Supply to be used as attendance prizes for the kids' game at the May Sectional Tournament.

The Treasurer's Report was approved.

Standing Committees

•  Awards/Nominating

Donna Pedrotti will be ordering awards for the May Sectional Tournament.

•  Club Liaison

Steve Zenk is going to try to meet all with all the club directors in the near future.

•  Charity/hospitality/Caddies

Suzi Shymanski-Moore reported that Bob at Blanchette has recently retired. Over the years, he has been very helpful to the unit while we were holding our Sectional tournaments. He also provided storage space to use between tournaments. Suzi proposed giving Bob a card and cash gift for his retirement. The Board approved a $50 gift.

Suzi is trying to find someone to provide lunch for purchase on Saturday after the first round of the KO's. She has not had any success to date.

Carol Benkelman has 2 caddies lined up for the May Sectional.

Suzi proposed that proceeds from the Regional Charity game continue to go to the Backstoppers Organization. The Board approved.

•  Education

Carl Clyne indicates that a proposal to return funding for the Easy Bridge program will be submitted to Unit 143.

•  Membership

Steve Zenk reported a net increase of 5 members. Membership count stands at 1080.

•  Website

Jennifer Luner provided a proposal to upgrade the web page software because the system is more than 5 years old without any major upgrades and to allow the use of other browsers. The software would be changed from Dreamwaever & contribute to Wordpress with an online WYSIWYG editor. Andy Finkenstadt would be hired to write a bulk converter for the existing Dreamweaver content. The Wordpress software is free. The cost for the bulk converter is estimated at $240. Jennifer would like to budget $360 for 1 year for potential problem resolution. Jennifer is asking for a budget of $600 to complete this project. The proposal was tabled until next month. The Board did agree to budget money for software upgrades.

Jennifer would like to publish the names and pictures of new players on the web page for a period of 24 months. Pictures will be taken at the May Sectional Tournament.

Jennifer reported web page hits in excess of 1,420,000.

•  Publicity

Debra Romero reported that postcards for the May Sectional have been mailed. Memphis will e-mail members an announcement on the upcoming Sectional Tournament. Fliers are being sent to the clubs. The web page will have a link to the flier.

The advertisement for the upcoming regional is being reviewed by the ACBL in Memphis. This advertisement will be in the June and July Bulletins.

•  NAP/GNT

Ed Hale is starting to gather information from Memphis for the NAP.

•  199er Tournament

Via e-mail, Jane Ettelson reported the purchase of 30 bridge folders to be used as door prizes for upcoming 199er tournaments.

•  Bidding Boxes

Carl Clyne reported that the Bridge clocks are functioning properly. There was a problem with the clocks at the 199er Tournament. Carl stated that the problem appears to be with the fluorescent lighting in the room where the tournament was held. The manufacturer confirmed the problem and has a solution which appears to work.

•  Vice President

No report

•  Tournament Chairman

No report

•  Bragging Rights Match

Bill Bunn reported that Rick Bye will be the director for the Tournament. Bill is awaiting confirmation from Kansas City on the stratifications. He has proposed A-2000+, B- 750-2000, and C- 0-750. Bill is expecting an answer after the April Sectional Tournament in Kansas City.

Old Business

Last month the unit 143 Board voted to rename the POTY award to the Ed Schultz Unit Champion Award. A traveling trophy will be obtained on which the names of future winners will be engraved. The Unit 143 Board voted to also award a plaque to the winner of the Ed Schultz Unit Championship.

Jennifer Luner and Janice Van Buren of the ABA have agreed an ABA unity game on Saturday June 27, 2009. Details on cost and flighting need to be worked out. The Board agreed to provide $ 50 for refreshments.

A discussion was held on the scheduling of and sanctions for 199er & 299er silver point games at the clubs. The Unit 143 Board voted to require club owners wanting to host a 199er or 299er silver point tournament to submit their request to the Board one week in advance of the July Board meeting. The Board would vote allow or disallow the required sanctions. Those receiving approval would have their games listed in the Date Book. Games which interfere with the Unit 143 games or where there is a history of problems could have their sanction requests denied.

The Unit 143 agreed on the following Mission Statement:

Our mission is to promote and sustain duplicate bridge, especially tournament bridge, in the Greater St. Louis area. We provide benefits to members that will enhance their playing experience and skills. We will maintain publicity that attracts and informs current and prospective members to duplicate bridge and tournament play.

New Business

The Board decided that any proposal requiring an immediate vote should be submitted via e-mail to the Board at least one week prior to the Board meeting.

Meeting Adjourned 9:08 PM