June 2018

June 14, 2018

Call to Order and Approval of May 10, 2018 Minutes: President Dan Thatte called the meeting to order at 3:47 pm. The minutes of the May 10, 2018 meeting were approved as submitted. Other board members present included Leslie Altick, Kip Kado, Anne Keyser, Geri MacDonald, Alan Polish, Dave Puryear, John Schwartz, and Susan Zhang. Alan Templeton and Carl Baeuerlen also attended the meeting. (WAS JIM HULSEMAN THERE AS WELL?)

Technology report: Alan Templeton gave the report on the progress on the new website. Completion is in sight. The Unit is about to make the final payment for the last milestone. There is one additional task that was beyond the scope of the original assignment, and Dan authorized it as it was within his authority limit. The site has a blog feature that can be used for whatever replacement emerges for the Kibitzer. The new calendar offers several layers of detail, depending on what the user requires. Dave will review this feature. There will have to be some training for volunteers who have to add events to the calendar. Cheryl Haines has found a bridge playing professional photographer who will come to the parent/child game and the Firecracker to take photos for the website gallery. Our new hosting service allows us to post as many photos as we want. In fact, we will have unlimited space and bandwidth under the 3-year contract Alan negotiated that will cost us less than our current hosting service, approximately only $8/month. The Board thanked Alan and the Committee for all the wonderful work done on this and invited Alan back to the next meeting to report on the completion and launch.

Finance report: May and YTD actuals and comparison with 2017: Susan reported that all financial results indicate things are moving in the right direction. The dip in table counts last year does not appear to be an indicator of a systemic decline. Susan will follow up with the directors to resolve when table counts do not match table fees submitted. Also, now that interest rates are higher, Susan will investigate whether it is possible for a non-profit such as our Unit can purchase either a CD or another savings vehicle.

Update on the Firecracker sectional: Carl reported that all the details are coming together well for the Firecracker. Outstanding issues: As the Buddhist Temple’s Boy Scouts are not available to help with parking this year, the Parking Chair is actively looking for another troop to assist. Also, as has been the practice, traffic cones will block the parking spots in front of the Bridge Center for additional handicapped parking. We still need more volunteers for Wednesday setup between 9 am-12 pm. Susan will pick up the cash needed for the directors to make change at check-in.

NLM results – The May NLM netted the Unit roughly $2,000. Carl said that with the Template Alan Cummings designed, and his and Jim’s help, Susan, our volunteer for the next NLM, should be well prepared for November. The sanction from the ACBL still needs to be secured. Alan Cummings is working hard on getting the ACBL to allow us a third one-day NLM for this year (an unlimited number of 2-day NLMs are permitted).

Update to the Unit Schedule – NAP: Dave scheduled the Unit Games through August. That is as far as possible to schedule them. The North American Pairs (NAP) District Finals will be at the Bridge Center on December 8-9. The Unit NAP finals will be sometime in the September – November time frame.

Mentor Mentee Program update: Anne said the challenge with this program is motivating mentors to “graduate” their mentees and accept a new mentee. She will be sending an email blast to the current mentors asking them to consider this. She will also ask them to encourage their qualified friends to consider becoming mentors.

New Business:

Club manager – Dan has spoken with Kevin, our current manager, giving him permission delegate some of his tasks (e.g., plumbing) to outside contractors. Kevin also suggested evaluating a new service, Water Logic, to replace the water dispensers in the center, which would eliminate the need to maintain the dispensers and replace water filters. The Board asked that the cost of water filter replacement be compared with the monthly cost for Water Logic.

Supplies and Inventory – Dan said we needed someone to handle ordering supplies for the next 2-3 months while our wonderful volunteer, Dave Wheeler, is temporarily unavailable. Anne said she will take the assignment.

Goodwill candidate – In order not to miss this year’s deadline for Goodwill candidate nominations, Dan asked that we name a volunteer now (early) to complete the process on time. The research was done last year, but the profile needs to be written. Paul Davis has agreed to write it. Dan will give him the specifics on the deadline.

Confirming Committee assignments – Kip is in the process of contacting all of last year’s committee heads to make sure their contact information is accurate and ascertain whether they are interested in continuing their assignments. Alan Polish has agreed to be in our newly created Liaison with IFES and the Preschool. Our long time Education Coordinator, Valerie Baldwin, has notified Dan that she would like to retire from that post. So the search for a new Education Coordinator will be conducted.

The Board approved buying new pass cards and playing cards to replace the old worn pass cards and sticky playing cards.

The Board discussed replacing the current carpet. Considering the large potential expense for replacement, the board felt that we should postpone replacement and undertake spot cleaning and washing/deep cleaning.

The Board feels that beginner and intermediate players need to be encouraged to form teams and play team games. It was decided that we would schedule a lecture for how to play team games and then have practice session at the lecture. Another suggestion was to hold a Swiss game with pairs registering for the game and the director forming random teams within brackets. This will be considered for an upcoming Swiss game.

Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 5:10 pm. The next meeting will be on July 12.

Respectfully submitted,
Leslie Altick