[SBU Board] Fwd: D19Director Memphis Report

[Eric Sieg]

Just wanted to share Julie's notes below.

Eric

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: D19D- Julie Smith <District19Director at acbl.org>
Date: Sat, Apr 6, 2019 at 8:11 PM
Subject: D19Director Memphis Report
To: kathie.hoehne at gmail.com <kathie.hoehne at gmail.com>, dudley6855 at gmail.com
<dudley6855 at gmail.com>, ralph.wilhelmi at comcast.net <
ralph.wilhelmi at comcast.net>, chriscookson at shaw.ca <chriscookson at shaw.ca>,
trkwhite at gmail.com <trkwhite at gmail.com>, ngstock at telus.net <
ngstock at telus.net>, Eric Sieg <easieg at gmail.com>, demail at shaw.ca <
demail at shaw.ca>, chumstick2 at frontier.com <chumstick2 at frontier.com>, Matt
Smith <matt.smith at acbl.org>, Matthew Koltnow <matt.koltnow at acbl.org>, Marv
Norden <marv.norden at gmail.com>, Ron Krueger <rwakrueger at yahoo.com>, Marla
Patterson <navy.golf.mp at gmail.com>, Don Wallace <donjw at shaw.ca>


District 19 Director Report Spring 2019

On March 17th to 19th, I attended an orientation for new Board of Directors
members at ACBL Headquarters in Horn Lake, Mississippi. This was an
opportunity to meet staff members, and gain a better understanding of
processes and issues involved with Board of Directors activities.

Overall, the membership of the ACBL is continuing to age, and membership is
decreasing. There were significant financial losses in 2018, because of the
costs associated with the Hawaii Fall Nationals, and also because of
several legal settlements.

One highlight from this orientation was the information that a new ACBL
Live for Clubs will be rolled out by the end of 2019, and sooner, if
possible. All clubs will be required to use this program. ACBL Live for
Clubs will administer STAC games, keep track of games held, who played, how
often each member played, and how successful each player was. One aim of
this new program is to allow the ACBL to better collect information
regarding membership participation.

Another change on the way regards new temporary memberships. Instead of
requiring non-members to buy a temporary membership, the organization will,
instead, be offering temporary memberships for free, in exchange for
contact information from new players.

The acbl.org website is going to be updated in the coming year, and will,
hopefully, become more user-friendly.

Also, a new tournament estimator tool is on the way, which is promised to
be helpful in planning staffing and event scheduling for tournaments.

After the orientation, I travelled to Memphis for the Spring Board of
Directors meetings.

Here are some of the highlights of the BOD meetings:

Big issues that face our organization in the future include finding ways to
increase membership and to improve our financial situation. A number of
initiatives are underway to address these concerns.

Another significant issue regards the cheating scandals of the last few
years. Big picture questions include the possible readmission of expelled
members convicted of collusive cheating, and the voluntary relinquishment
of titles tainted by players convicted of cheating. Further, there is the
problem of what to do with titles vacated by teams that included cheaters.
Should these titles be left vacant, or should vacated titles be re-awarded
to new winners in some equable fashion? The BOD this spring passed a motion
allowing teams to voluntarily vacate tainted titles, an action which was
not possible previously. The issue of what to do with those vacated titles,
and also the opportunity (or lack thereof) for future readmission to ACBL
membership for convicted collusive cheaters have not yet been settled, and
will be placed on the agenda for the summer NABC Board of Directors
meeting.

There is a task force working to design a possible reorganization of the
ACBL governance structure. Presently, the organization is governed by a
25-member Board of Directors and a 125-member Board of Governors. The plan
for change is still being developed, but the latest proposal calls for
reducing the 25-member BOD to an appointed Executive Board of perhaps 9
individuals, selected in some manner for their expertise in areas important
to ACBL oversight, such as legal, marketing, or financial expertise. The
present Board of Governors would be reduced to perhaps 50 members, referred
to in the latest proposal as a “senate”, with members elected in some way
by the membership. The senate body would select and then oversee the
new-style Executive Board, and would also have more significant power to
set policy in bridge-related matters.

The goals for making governance model changes are to reduce costs and to
achieve greater effectiveness. There are many concerns to be addressed,
including insurance of adequate regional representation for all members,
and also ensuring that our decision makers are wisely and fairly selected.

Other actions taken at the spring meetings include:

   - A motion passed that the ACBL will seek to provide members with
   options for childcare at NABCs, when possible. (This will not be possible
   at the 2019 Las Vegas Nationals, because the host hotel does not permit
   children on the premises.)
   - A motion to reduce the number of Goodwill Receptions from three per
   year to one per year failed. There will continue to be three Goodwill
   Receptions per year. However, there will be a cash bar: no more free
   drinks.
   - A motion to designate the month of February as Education Foundation
   Fund month, to raise money for the Education Foundation was deferred to
   Summer 2019.
   - A motion to increase masterpoint awards for 4-session regional events,
   other than Knockouts, was passed. Awards for such events will be increased
   by 60%, and will not exceed 50 masterpoints. This motion will be effective
   August 1, 2019, pending a second reading in Las Vegas.
   - A motion to increase awards for the Flight C Canadian National Team
   Championship and the Canadian Mixed Team Championship to something more
   reflective of the fact that these are national championship events was
   passed. The Masterpoint Committee will determine a suitable award for these
   events, and the motion will become effective August 1, 2019, pending a
   second reading in Las Vegas.
   - Grand National Team conditions of contest have been amended as
   follows: “This is a team event in which each ACBL district will name a
   district champion in each category by means of a fair competition that is
   not necessarily the same from district to district. In districts in which
   there were at least eight teams competing in a B or C flight in the
   district final, a second team in that flight will also be considered
   eligible to compete in the national final of their respective categories.
   That team shall be either the second place finisher in a single-site
   district final or winners from both sites in a split-site district final. A
   player may represent the district in only one flight at the national final.”
   - Jane Johnson Club Appreciation Games, held in October, Club
   Appreciation Month, have previously been specifically one pairs game, and
   one team game. In future, clubs will be allowed to hold two Jane Johnson
   Club Appreciation games during the month, but may choose to have two pairs
   games, two team games, or one of each.
   - A motion was made requesting that regional events with as few as 18
   boards per session be awarded 100% of the masterpoints for a regional
   event. The intent of the motion was to allow regionals to hold a
   three-session Knock Out event in one day, with each session to be 18 boards
   only.  This motion failed.
   - The Code of Disciplinary Regulations has been amended to allow the
   ACBL BOD to have original jurisdiction in the case of disputes between
   districts, disputes between units from different districts, and in cases
   involving alleged violations by districts when circumstances make it
   impractical or unfair for a matter to be handled by the district or unit,
   or when the issues involved are of paramount importance to the ACBL.

A few items to mention:

 Ensure that contact information is up-to-date and correct for all unit and
district recorders, disciplinary chairs, and unit and district presidents.
Unit officials have access to “My ACBL” to update their contact
information.

We need two charity and four goodwill nominations per year. The goodwill
nominations are generally two per year, but additions should be made for
any deceased goodwill members. I would appreciate suggestions and
information about this from members and from units across the district.

We can disburse up to seven cheques for the $30,000.00 US we are given for
charity donations each year. I do not know what the disposition of this
money has been in the past. $1,000.00 US of this money may be awarded by
me. Once again, I would appreciate guidance and information about this
issue.

If someone from District 19 would like to be an appointee to the
Masterpoint Committee, they should apply to the chair of the Board of
Governors for such a position.

Respectfully submitted,

Julie Smith

April 8, 2019
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