Minutes of Unit 174
Board Meeting
October 1, 2007
Bridge Studio of
The board meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. Board members present were Bert Onstott, Pres., Jolie Hess, VP, Karen Nimmons, Sec., Ed Groner, Joyce Ryan, John Erickson, Pat Levy, Lauri Laufman and Jo Dene Bond. Also present were Jim Woodward, Treas., Eric Snow, Pres. District 16 and Tom Stevenson, guest.
Several people have suggested that one of the primary reasons newer ACBL members do not renew is that they cannot find partners. In an attempt to address that problem, Bert asked Tom Stevenson if he’d be willing to see if he could develop a “eHarmony” type of web site to help bridge players form partnerships.
Tom demonstrated to the board what he has developed as a prototype. It is in the very early stages but looks promising.
The initial thoughts are that Tom will develop this and charge a minimal monthly fee (~$100/month) to Units that use it. Eventually, perhaps the ACBL will be interested in adopting it.
MOTION: to approve the minutes of the September Board Meeting. It was seconded and approved.
Jim Woodward reported that the unit remains in good financial condition. MOTION: to approve the Treasurer’s report as reported. It was seconded and approved.
Jim reported that the auditors will require that the NABC subcommittee books be merged with the Unit books in order to sign off on the annual audit.
He also recommended that we consolidate the NABC subcommittee books with the Unit books on a quarterly basis. The reports provided monthly by Carolyne Fox are sufficient to allow him to do that.
Lauri reported three life master plaques have been
ordered. Flyers for the Halloween
Sectional were sent out to three October tournaments outside of
Bert reported he will be teaching at
Betty reported her committee has completed most of the calls. Several of the people choose not to renew because they are no longer interested. Most of the new players are very appreciative of receiving the information.
No checks were received.
· Joyce reported the Studio is now offering an I/N game on Wednesday mornings.
· She also reported Sue Williams will be holding the new Novice/Mentor game on the 2nd Wednesday of each month but the details need to be worked out. It may be starting in November. She is working on recruiting Mentors.
· She sold 60 books.
Bert reported membership is up 22 from last month to 2320. Retention continues to improve, while the number of new members is declining somewhat.
Ed reported the NAPs are over except for the finals. The location for the GNT has not yet been finalized.
Bert reported the game is on for this Thursday. Hands have been printed and distributed to all three clubs. All is in order.
· Karen reported everything is ready for next week. All hand records were mailed and Bridge Club of Houston and the Bridge Studio received their Dup files from Tom Whitesides. The schedule is up on Arlene’s Website for those wanting to know where to play. Hopefully, there will be a big turnout at all the clubs.
· She also reported sending out 4 cards for Goodwill.
John reported he and Lauri inventoried the supplies and ordered what was needed.
Pat reported the contracts from Brazos, Hornberger and the
JoDene reported all is in order for the upcoming tournament. She has Berryhill lined up to cater the Sunday meal. Volunteers are being recruited for the set-up and break-down of tables.
· Karen passed out a copy of the proposed schedule. MOTION: to approve the April Sectional schedule as written up.
· She also passed out copies of the proposed budget. The board decided to act on that next month as some of the numbers didn’t seem correct.
A full page ad should appear in both the Nov/Dec and Jan/Feb issue.
Bert printed 500 copies and they are ready to be passed out to the clubs.
Bert sent out the letters to 59 Pros. He is awaiting responses.
Bert printed out 300 copies of the flyer and has them ready for Lauri.
Bert said he is looking for someone to sell the gift entries.
A decision on what to give out is needed. It was agreed everyone liked last year’s gift.
Bert said the board needs to get busy selling events. He said $50.00 for a single session, $100.00 for a two session event, and $150.00 for a four or more session event should be reasonable, as these were last year’s prices.
Bert produced a package for Dianna to use when trying to solicit door prizes and sell ads. A copy was passed around for commenting.
Volunteers are needed to organize each of these.
Jolie reported the Unit has $1800.00 for Charities. The board discussed various ones and came up
with three. MOTION: to divide the money three ways to: Rotary Making a Difference in West Africa,
The Houston Read Commission, and
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Bert received the signed contract with the
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He also received the signed contract with the
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He is still waiting to hear from the
· A suggestion was made we look into the Sam Houston Racetrack again. It was not considered because parking was too far away, but evidently, there is a parking lot close to the facility.
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It was also suggested we reconsider holding a
tournament at the
· Bert downloaded the procedures from the ACBL website and the board reviewed them.
· Bert also drafted a letter to all the club owners/managers detailing zero tolerance and how to handle complaints. He asked the board for comments and corrections.
The board put this off until next month.
The board put this off until next month.
The board postponed this until next month.
The board met for 30 minutes in executive session.
MOTION: Was made to adjourn the meeting. Was seconded and approved. The meeting was adjourned at 10:25 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Karen Nimmons, Secretary