<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;"><br><div><div>On Mar 4, 2017, at 5:08 PM, Ann Romeo <<a href="mailto:annromeo@gmail.com">annromeo@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small">My weigh-in (I'm away until Tuesday, and don't think calling in makes sense at Starbucks...)</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small">A cart is a great idea--sometimes venues have these, and they may our lives a lot easier (think Vasa). However, there will always be schlepping --as coffee needs to be dumped and baskets need to be rinsed before fresh pots are made. We may want to have a 5 gallon slop bucket, but actually I think some of this needs to be done away from the maddening crowds, for both safety and aesthetics.... BUT using a combo of water pitcher/jugs and a cart will make a lot of this a lot easier. All comes down to room in the trailer.</div></div></blockquote><div><br></div>A cart takes quite a bit of space, probably more than is available in the trailer. Are there carts available that fold/break down?</div><div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small">Single session for everything? I wonder? For A events, eg, open pairs, there may be more people getting awards, but certainly the value goes down. I wonder if we can't make a compromise and make open events 2 session events, and bcd single session (but I'm not sure if that is better for things like gold rush pairs, where bigger points are awarded for pairs that can put together a good day's worth of bridge). I have a feeling that A players want the bigger pay offs (and if we're going to make a blanket change, I think we need to poll specifically As to see). Just my thoughts....I'll never forget one time doing well in both sessions of an open and number of points awarded for me and my partner's efforts--glorious.....</div></div></blockquote><div><br></div>Personally I prefer the 2-session events as they reward consistency, not to mention that the most points I've won in a sectional event was in February 2013 when Ted Bartunek and I won the 0-2000 pairs game (getting us almost twice as many as when we won the 2-session Open pairs event on Friday 2014 :-).</div><div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small">Lunch breaks are long for those who finish fast, and sometimes too short for those who don't. I've been in both situations. </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small">I like the idea of encouraging people to bring their lunch from home--but we also need to stress, NO REFRIGERATION, so that people don't expect us to store their food (this happens pretty near every time, btw--people want to store food, and take ice...)....</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small">And I can always use some help. hiring someone makes sense. Sometimes we've been lucky and I've been able to enlist the aid of Jenny Ballantyne and/or Dee Patrick. But here's something key--strength and size matters. There was a time caddies (especially Laurie's son) was able to help and was perfect, but them days are long gone. Let's talk about this when I'm back...</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small">I LOVE the idea of fast pairs on Friday when we have a 7ish start (and recommend 7:15 start,btw), and the next day a 10:30 start. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT, and suspect it will be VERY popular. Did I say I love fast pairs when we have an early start the next day??</div></div></blockquote><div><br></div>I like fast pairs as well. The Friday evening games always seem to have fewer players than the afternoon.</div><div><br></div><div>Bill</div><br></body></html>