March 2015

Jody Williams, President, called the meeting to order at 3:50 pm. Other Board members present were Todd Makler, Paul Davis, Kevin O’Leary, and Dave Puryear. Also in attendance were John Prior and Gill Barsley.

The minutes from the February 17, 2015 meeting were approved.

FIRECRACKER: Gill Barsley, co-chair of the 2015 Firecracker Sectional, reported that ACBL now had the tournament information on their website. flyers will be sent to sectionals and regionals. flyers will also be placed in the foyer of our Bridge Center as of early May.

PLAY NICE: Under the general heading of courtesy toward other players, Jody raised several issues for Board discussion. First, several players have reported that they have allergic reactions to fragrances and asked whether our Center could become a fragrance-free facility. ACBL leaves this up to individual games and tournaments. The recent Burlingame Regional posted a notice that it was a fragrance-free tournament. The Board would like some input from the membership on this issue and will conduct a survey. In the meantime, the Board voted to encourage players to attend fragrance-free as a courtesy to other players.

A second courtesy issue was attending games while suffering from any contagious illness. Individual Directors are responsible for enforcing this on a case-by-case basis, but the Board also wishes to urge players who are ill to stay home and avoid exposing other players.

A third courtesy issue involves parking. For legal and financial reasons, the Board is not able to add official handicapped parking spaces, but the Board encourages players to leave the spaces nearest the doors available for those with impaired mobility. We are investigating signs designating several of these spots as “Courtesy Spaces.” These signs will have no legal standing, but will serve as a reminder that a number of our players do have mobility issues.

A final courtesy issue involves cleaning up your table after a game. A typical game with 20 tables will leave behind 30 or more cups, mugs, water bottles, etc. and miscellaneous litter on the floor.

The Board is preparing a revised “Play Nice” code of conduct to reflect these issues.

OFFICER REPORTS: President Jody Williams reported that we will not attempt to share a license for Learn Bridge in a Day with San Jose. The savings are not worth the trouble for either unit. She also reported interest in a private game for the local chapter of SIRS. This would be scheduled when it did not conflict with existing games or classes and it would generate table fees for the Unit. The Board discussed the conditions of contest for limited games at the Center. The particular question was whether to use an individual limit or a pair average to determine eligibility for limited games. Most games at the Center use an individual limit, but the Directors have discretion except for special games such as Club Championship games. Finally, Jody reported that there have been complaints about access to the Men’s restroom when a table is too near. This is a problem for anyone with limited mobility. Kevin is working with the individual Directors to find a solution.

The Committee on the Future of the Firecracker met on March 9. It was agreed that those who select the venue need different skills than those who plan the event, so we will separate the two activities. Among the venue options to be considered are the IFES Hall (if we can manage parking issues), any new Google buildings at the Moffett site, and the use of Exhibition space at the Convention Center rather than the ballroom. The 2015 Firecracker will remain at its usual Convention Center location.

Paul Davis reported he will meet with District personnel at the Sacramento Regional to discuss the possibility of hosting future Grand National Pairs/Teams events.

Dave Puryear reported that the Communications Committee will meet March 17 at 3:45pm to discuss the Kibitzer, the Website , the use of email by the unit, and other issues related to how we connect with our members.

Kevin O’Leary reported that we are now allowed to have a commercial microwave in our kitchen and that we are slowly replacing our existing lightbulbs with LEDs.

Todd Makler reported that the cash flow to date is close to budget. Fees from February games were down from last year, but the Burlingame Regional was in February this year. Last year it was in March, so the March fees may offset that decline.

The next Board meeting will be March 31 at 3:45.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:15.