[SBU Board] ACBL update for D19

Tue May 26 06:58:28 PDT 2020

Well-said, kiddo.  Thanks for your efforts and obvious communication skills!
a
Ann Romeo
Personal email: annromeo at gmail.com
Local home: 206-526-0871
Work email: Ann.Romeo at ORCInternational.com
Work direct dial: 212-463-6331
My cell: 425-615-1413 (text ok)

On Mon, May 25, 2020 at 7:08 PM JC Chupack <jc.chupack at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Julie,
>
> Seattle Unit Board 446 convened tonight in a special meeting to discuss
> the letter from D25, your update, and the update from ACBL BOD President
> Heth. I am writing this letter to express comments on these issues on
> behalf of the board, insofar as they impact our unit's operations and the
> operations of clubs within our unit (our areas of concern). Please help to
> voice these concerns during the upcoming meeting, as appropriate.
>
> *Online Sectionals *
> Many units, including ours, have ongoing expenses related to unit
> operations and growing bridge participation in our area that are not
> covered by membership dues and are typically financed by proceeds from
> sectional tournaments. (I am happy to go into detail on these if you are
> curious.) Sectionals' purpose (vs. club games or other tournaments), in
> large part, is to fund operations in the unit that help bridge grow at the
> local level, as well as being events that themselves help encourage bridge
> play.
>
> We accept that logistics and necessary expertise, both in scheduling and
> actually operating sectionals online, may require that they be run at a
> national or regional level rather than by individual units. We have no
> direct objection to that proposal. However, if sectionals are to be run
> outside of the units, our expectation is:
>
>    - A substantive portion of collected entry fees are returned to the
>    associated unit(s) and their clubs, such that they continue to help fund
>    local bridge growth/play
>    - Sectionals have geographic restrictions on entries applied such that
>    players mostly get the opportunity to play with people in their own area,
>    in some practical/manner
>    - Scheduling of the online sectionals should be done with an eye to
>    minimizing impact to clubs, be it by the days of week or frequency of such
>    events
>    - There is transparency to the units in how the share of entry fees
>    are allocated between BBO, ACBL, Units, Clubs, and any third party
>    entities.
>
> We would like to see this commitment by national and/or districts if they
> are planning to run sectional events online. *If this commitment cannot
> be made, our preference is that sectionals not be held online at all versus
> that these needs are not met.*
>
> *Transparency*
> Several of our board members expressed a lack of trust in the Board of
> Directors' interests and motivations, sparked by many issues in the past
> years. We likely represent the membership in this regard. As such, it feels
> paramount that the Board of Directors begin operating with greater
> transparency to regain and build that trust, for the ongoing success of the
> ACBL.
>
> With this in mind, we were frustrated to be given less than 3 business
> days of notice of this vote that impacts our unit operations. We are
> frustrated by the lack of transparency as to how Support Your Club fees
> (distinguished intentionally from Virtual Club fees) are being allocated
> between local clubs as well as between other entities and when club
> managers can expect associated payments.
>
> Further, we are seeking transparency and notice (sufficient for comment)
> on any votes pertaining to substantively changing fee allocations between
> clubs, BBO, and ACBL in Virtual Club games and SYC games.
>
> We understand that the pandemic required a rapid response that limited
> time for discussion and planning, but patience based on that will not last
> forever. Before the Board of Directors expands online operations, it would
> be prudent to provide transparency to the membership for the operations
> already in progress.
>
> *The Future of Live Bridge Tournaments*
> The last communication we, as a unit, officially received from the ACBL
> was that tournaments were suspended through May 12 and that the summer
> national was cancelled. We have independently cancelled tournaments in the
> interim and are now hearing/learning in the communications from you that
> cancellations through end-of-year are expected.
>
> When we look to 2021, we have uncertainty still.  As a unit, if we aren't
> booking sites now, we can't hold tournaments in the first quarter of 2021,
> and so on month-by-month. At the same time, we are taking on some financial
> risk when we book sites, barring very favorable contract terms, as well as
> expending board member efforts in locating, booking, and negotiating.
>
> It would be helpful to us in planning for next year if the league would
> offer *more frequent guidance *as to the earliest "best guess"
> expectation of live play resuming, with recognition that our population of
> players are highly vulnerable to this pandemic and that live play is
> fraught with transmission potential. Similar to how Washington state has a
> phased playbook for re-opening, we would like to see a league-wide plan for
> phasing back in to club play, small tournaments, and large tournaments in
> succession.
>
> ===
> Please feel free to reach out to me and/or the board directly with any
> questions on the above. I'm happy to provide additional detail or clarity
> as needed.
>
> Best regards,
> JC Chupack
> *and on behalf of the board of Seattle Unit 446*
> --
> JC Chupack
> * Seattle ACBL Unit 446 <http://www.bridgeinseattle.org/> President,
> Web/Email Admin, & Publicity Chair
>
>
> On Fri, May 22, 2020 at 12:58 PM District Nineteen <
> d19director.acbl at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> 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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