[SBU Board] Fall Sectional Considerations -- Comments Sought

[Tim White]

Perhaps, however, in a largely apples-to-apples comparison of recent tournament attendance at Bothell and Kent:

May 2014 @ Bothell = 395 tables and May 2015 @ Kent = 366 tables

Sept 2015 @ Bothell = 201 tables and Sept 2016 @ Kent = 217 tables

September is just plain a bad month to run a sectional around here.


On Dec 8, 2016, at 1:28 PM, "Eng, Kim" <Keng at forestridge.org> wrote:

> I guess I have 13 more days to voice my opinions on the board and then I am out of here! :)
> 
> Tim, I think you are mistaken to think there are 2 primary contributors to our low fall sectional attendance when you haven't mentioned the elephant in the room. As much as we want to accommodate our south end folks, there are a lot of seattle/eastside/north unit members who do not like driving to Kent and won't do it for a tournament. I don't think it would be unreasonable to possibly go there every 2-3 years instead of every year. 
> 
> Now, let's talk about the holiday party! Only 4 of you have signed into my poll to tell me what you are contributing: Patti, DT, Tim and Larry- thank you! Could the rest of you please sign in and let me know so I can shop accordingly this weekend? Ann has given me a budget and I would like to be able to fill in the gaps of what is needed.
> 
> Thanks!
> Kim
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Sbuboard [mailto:sbuboard-bounces+keng=forestridge.org at mailman.celestial.com] On Behalf Of Tim White
> Sent: Wednesday, December 7, 2016 9:27 AM
> To: Seattle ACBL Unit Board <sbuboard at mailman.celestial.com>
> Subject: [SBU Board] Fall Sectional Considerations -- Comments Sought
> 
> Folks,
> 
> Looking forward to seeing everyone at the unit holiday party next week at Kim and Matt's.  
> 
> Our next board meeting is January 9.  As some board members are unable to make that meeting, I'd like to open email communication here to enable all (including those who can't make the meeting) to weigh in on a January agenda item -- plans for upcoming fall sectionals.
> 
> Attendance at the Kent sectional in September was much lower than any of our other tournaments in recent years.  Two primary contributors to this were the September date and inadequate/ineffective promotion with and by clubs and players in the south county and further southward.  Among other things, we should consider remedies for these two issues.
> 
> Traditionally, we held our fall sectional in proximity to Halloween.  In 2016 we moved it up to mid-September because that was the only fall date on which Kent Commons was available.  Our current plan for 2017 is to hold the fall sectional at Kent September 15-17.  Our Tournament Sites Committee has been exploring the possibility of alternative 2017 fall sectional dates closer to our traditional October dates.  Kent Commons is not available in October 2017, however both Bothell and Vasa Park are available the weekend of October 27-29, 2017.  (For reference, we are holding our February and May 2017 open sectionals at Bothell and our July 2017 open sectional at Forest Ridge.)  Ann reports that Vasa Park is planning renovations that might address some of the issues with that site -- especially if there are lighting and restroom improvements.  Perhaps Susie and Walt will soon have more specific information on the nature and schedule of improvements at Vasa Park.  We currently hav
>   e a fall NLM sectional planned Oct 28-29, 2017 that would need to be re-scheduled if we were to move the open sectional to that weekend; there are alternative weekends on which the 2017 fall NLM sectional could be scheduled.  2017 fall open and NLM sectional dates are presently visible to players via the yellow 2017 Sectionals save the dates flyer and the unit website, so if there is any rescheduling of these tournaments it would be best done in the near term to enable adjustment of promotional aids soon so as to reduce potential confusion.
> 
> Ahead of the May 2015 sectional at Kent (the first south end sited sectional in several years), there was substantial promotion with and by clubs in the south end and beyond.  There was less of this in 2016.  Ahead of our next tournament at Kent we should consider how we might improve promotion with clubs and players in the southerly areas.  If the board were to decide to take a break from Kent in 2017, there is the possibility of returning to Kent in fall 2018 as the facility is available October 12-14, 2018.
> 
> Your comments, thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated.
> 
> Thanks,
> Tim
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