<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=windows-1252"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Hi Janet,<div><br></div><div>Thanks for your email and comments. I'm including Seattle Unit Board members as cc's hereto.</div><div><br></div><div>Only after much discussion and consideration did the Board decide to TRY OUT the morning and early afternoon start times chosen for Saturday of the July Bothell tournament. This is the first time for these session start times in a Seattle Unit sectional (at least in recent years) and it is an experiment. Effects, via word of mouth, written feedback, attendance figures and attendance figures by locale will be gathered, reviewed, discussed and considered going forward. We are able to review ACBL reports that tell us the number of attendees from each city within the Seattle Unit as well as from cities outside the Unit's (King County) boundaries.</div><div><br></div><div>The Board is trying out various things to understand how best to service the membership. We review, evaluate and re-evaluate venues, session start times, session events and other aspects of tournaments. During May we held a tournament in South King County for the first time in several years. We also tried slightly earlier session start times, which you might have noticed are continuing for the Friday sessions at Bothell in July.</div><div><br></div><div>Comments and suggestions are always welcome. In addition, empirical attendance data are helpful in indicating folks' preferences. The Board performs a joint post mortem following each tournament -- using feedback, attendance data, financial data and our own after-action observations -- which helps in planning for future tournaments.</div><div><br></div><div>Please understand there are no hidden agendas at work here. Seattle Unit Board members themselves often have differing views on issues; there is open debate and there are votes to resolve matters and decisions. Meetings are open to visitors. Meeting minutes are kept and available. Board members understand their duty to service the entire membership and the game of bridge at large. We value tournament attendance by league members, as well as non-members, from within and beyond (in many instances well beyond) unit boundaries.</div><div><br></div><div>I'm sorry the Saturday start times in July do not work for you. I hope you will consider attending future sessions of Seattle sectionals when start times fit your schedule and plans. </div><div><br></div><div>Tim</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><div><div>On Jul 9, 2015, at 3:22 PM, "Janet Geoffroy" <<a href="mailto:geoffroyjg@gmail.com">geoffroyjg@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite">
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<!-- Converted from text/rtf format --><p dir="LTR"><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><font size="2" face="Arial">I just got the email about the Bothell sectional on July 24-26 & clicked on the link for the flyer.<br>
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I</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">see the Seattle unit has now joined the trend of having the start times at 10:30 & 3:00 on Saturday.<br>
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<font size="2" face="Arial">So it looks like we will</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><font size="2" face="Arial"> now</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><font size="2" face="Arial"> never be checking out the Bothell playing site</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><font size="2" face="Arial"> (which seemed like it would be a convenient location for us), because</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">we boycott all tournaments with those ridiculous start times.</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><br>
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</span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><font size="2" face="Arial">I guess these must be</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">the times that most of the local people want</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><font size="2" face="Arial">, so this is democracy in action</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><font size="2" face="Arial">.<br>
But did anyone ever consider the impact on</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">attendance</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><font size="2" face="Arial"></font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">by people who have to drive</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><font size="2" face="Arial"> a distance to get to the tournament?</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><br>
<font size="2" face="Arial">If someone is a 2</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><font size="2" face="Arial">-3</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><font size="2" face="Arial"> hour drive away, they would have to</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">get up very early</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">in the morning</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">to</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">leave home</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">early</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">enough to</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">arrive</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">in time</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><font size="2" face="Arial"> & get parked, etc</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><font size="2" face="Arial">. </font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">Or they would have to drive here the night before & pay for an extra night in a motel</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><font size="2" face="Arial">. Neither of which is a very appealing option.<br>
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</span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><font size="2" face="Arial">I’ve always suspected</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">that</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">the hidden agenda for</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">some</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">tournaments</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><font size="2" face="Arial">, especially</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><font size="2" face="Arial"> in</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">some of the more remote smaller communities</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><font size="2" face="Arial">, is that</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">having</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">start times</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><font size="2" face="Arial"></font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">like</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><font size="2" face="Arial"> 10:00 & 3:00</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">(</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><font size="2" face="Arial">sometimes</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">even on weekdays)</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">will</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><font size="2" face="Arial"></font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">discourage people from out of town</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">from</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><font size="2" face="Arial"> com</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><font size="2" face="Arial">ing</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><font size="2" face="Arial"> to the tournament by</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">mak</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><font size="2" face="Arial">ing</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><font size="2" face="Arial"> it inconvenient for people from other places</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">a</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">distance</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">away</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">to</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">drive there on Saturday morning</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><font size="2" face="Arial">, so the locals</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"> <font size="2" face="Arial">can win more masterpoints.</font></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"></span><span lang="en-us"><br>
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