[SBU Board] Fwd: ACBL update for D19

[JC Chupack]

Forwarding this in case any of you were missed on its distribution...

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: District Nineteen <d19director.acbl at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, May 22, 2020 at 12:58 PM
Subject: ACBL update for D19
To:


Dear District 19 Unit Board members,

*MAY 2020 UPDATE *

Hello. I am writing to you today as your District 19 representative to the
ACBL Board of Directors. These are interesting times, with many new
challenges.  I want to let you know about the state of your national
organization, to inform you of upcoming initiatives, and to invite your
comments and questions.

*FACE-TO-FACE TOURNAMENT AND CLUB PLAY CANCELLATIONS*

All previously scheduled District 19 regionals have been cancelled for the
rest of 2020. At this time, to my knowledge, face-to-face bridge is not
occurring anywhere in North America, and the timeline for reopening of
regular club and tournament operations is unclear. The Spring and Summer
NABCs have both been cancelled, with relatively minor financial losses for
the ACBL. The future of the Fall NABC in Tampa, Florida remains unclear at
this time.

*FINANCIAL IMPACT*

The ACBL has three main sources of income: membership dues, tournament
revenues, and club sanction fees. It is easy to see that income will be
substantially reduced this year. In the early days of the pandemic, it
appeared that the financial losses to the organization would be more than
$2,000,000 in this year, but this estimate appears to be far too negative.
We are doing all we can to preserve our assets and to plan for the future
of our game, with some success.

*ONLINE BRIDGE*

Online bridge has become much more active. The ACBL, together with Bridge
Base Online, is offering an increasing variety of games, in which members
may participate, support their local clubs, meet their friends, and earn
masterpoints. Save Your Club games, Virtual Club Games, and various other
ACBL-sanctioned BBO games have become increasingly successful, and are
generating revenue for clubs and the ACBL (as well as for BBO). The
first-ever online ACBL Regional was held April 30 through May 3. This was
an experimental trial of the possibilities for future online tournaments.
It was also a special fundraiser for the national organization, and had
correspondingly high entry fees. The tournament ran smoothly for the most
part (with some hiccups), and the ACBL earned a profit of over $220,000.
Future special games are contemplated.  For instance, during the week of
May 25 to 31, clubs will be able to offer special silver point games, with
very generous masterpoint awards available.

*BOARD OF DIRECTORS ACTIONS*

The Board of Directors has been meeting online every other week, for
management updates and consideration of ways to deal with our recent
unprecedented challenges. In late May, there will be a special formal ACBL
Board of Directors meeting.  Items of particular interest on the agenda
include consideration of a proposal to allow districts and units to run
their own online regionals and sectionals, as well as the proposed creation
of a new oversight committee, specially created to deal with allegations of
cheating in online games. Additionally, considerable time will be devoted
to development of an action plan to carry us through the rest of 2020 (and
beyond, if needed).

*NEEDS AND PRIORITIES*

In my opinion, our priority as a bridge organization should be, above all,
to do no harm to the health of our members. Another priority is to preserve
the game of bridge for the future, in any way that we can. Additional
important goals are to promote the survival of the ACBL and our local
clubs. The financial states of our districts and units are also important.
While units and districts are not presently hosting tournaments, they
still, by and large, have some fixed costs. While units share in income
from membership fees, the districts do not. There may be a need to provide
the districts with some revenue to meet their financial obligations in this
time.

If you wish to share comments on these issues or any others, please contact
me. I welcome your thoughts, and will address your concerns as best I can.

Julie Smith

d19director.acbl at gmail.com (please note new email address)


-- 
JC Chupack
* Seattle ACBL Unit 446 <http://www.bridgeinseattle.org> President,
Web/Email Admin, & Publicity Chair
* Lead Technical Product Manager, Zulily <http://www.zulily.com>, Inc.
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