September 2017

Call to Order and Approval of August 10 Minutes: President Dave Puryear called the meeting to order at 3:40 pm. The minutes of the August 14, 2017 meeting were approved as submitted. Other board members present included Leslie Altick, Marolyn Imaoka, Todd Makler, Alan Polish, and Jody Williams.

Board Nominations: Dave has appointed a Nominating Committee, composed of the newest members of the Board, i.e., Alan Polish, John Schwartz, and Susan Zhang. They have already been soliciting names from past presidents and others. Alan expects the committee will have a slate by the end of September.

Volunteer Needs: The Unit is looking for volunteers to fill key positions. We still need a Chairman for the Firecracker. The Club Manager position will be open as will be the Unit Games Coordinator. Please contact Dave for further descriptions of these responsibilities. Friendliness Coordinator is a new position that will incorporate nominating the Unit’s Goodwill nominations for District 21. After some discussion, the directors concluded that this would be a good responsibility for the Vice President of the Board in 2018.

Query Responses: The Unit receives numerous calls and emails per month from people looking for a place to play bridge or learn about the game schedule. Currently, the President, Alan Templeton, and Jody Williams field them. Several board members pointed out that directors also routinely handle several calls a week before their games. After discussion, the board concluded the two directors on the board will handle these calls/emails in the future.

2018 Budget: Reviewing the preliminary budget, Todd pointed out that estimated table fees are probably too high, given the results of the past few months. The cost of changing the web platform will be covered as a capital expenditure and the annual cost of Pianola will be a software expense. The revenue side of the budget is still a conservative projection, as there is only one non-life master sectional and no Learn Bridge in a Day scheduled in the current estimate. The budget will be more of a breakeven budget in 2018.

Reports:

President’s Report – Dave reported that there are two potential buyers for our old Bridge Pads. Details of the sale are being finalized. The Unit 503/507 Challenge is three weeks away. Jim Harris will obtain the sanctions; Unit 507 will provide the location for the second day. Will Watson will direct on Saturday, but Unit 507 needs to secure a director for the Swiss Teams on Sunday. Marolyn will contact Unit 507 to finalize details. Dave also informed the board that the Goodwill nominee for District 21 is due by November 1. The board discussed nominees provided by members and chose one. A write-up of this person’s contributions will be submitted by the deadline.

Technology Committee – Jody is going to contact Bill Bailey for his feedback on different web platform solutions.

Treasurer’s Report – Todd said there was nothing unusual to report for August that hadn’t been covered in the 2017 Budget discussion.

Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 4:32 pm.

Note – Due to schedule conflicts, the October Board meeting will be on October 5.