February 2014

Brian Samuels, President, called the meeting to order at 3:45 pm. Other board members present were Leslie Altick, Valerie Baldwin, Jim Harris, Bob Horowitz, Todd Mackler, and Kevin O’Leary. James Stuart-Smith and Jody Williams were absent with prior notice. Elinor Tanck, Kibitizer Editor, also attended.

Minutes of the prior meeting were approved.

President’s Report: Paul Davis and Brian met with the head of the nearby homeowners’ association. She supports the Bridge Center and is not fond of IFES. She asked us to pressure IFES (unlikely to be effective) to lower the noise and be more sensitive to parking issues. We will keep this dialogue open. Due to the Burlingame regional, the Board will next meet on March 13th at 3:45 pm. Our absence in the Forum has been resolved. Printing the Kibitzer is a major annual expense. Brian will investigate using our blast email capability to help reduce the Kibitzer print run, now that more members are digitally proficient. John Schwartz has agreed to do the legal review of the revised by-laws.

Treasurer’s Report: There were 4 recommendations stemming from the annual check of our financials. The first: require more expense detail on the Firecracker. The next: require receipts for small purchases made for the club. It was agreed that our trust in the individuals making these purchases (which are always itemized) makes this unnecessary. The third: require Board approval for non-recurring expenses. However, since these items are budgeted, this was deemed unnecessary. The last: simplify expense transfers between cost centers. However, the Finance Committee and the Treasurer prefer we keep this cost center accounting. The motion to implement the first recommendation and not the rest passed unanimously.

Val noted since donations to the Education Fund are no longer tax-deductible, the amount held for us by the ACBL is not going to increase. She proposed that to slow the drain from the fund, rental charged to the Fund be set at half the rate charged to non-unit sponsored events. Discussion centered on the need to fund educational activities differently once the current fund is depleted, because members like them, and on whether there was benefit to slowing the Education Fund’s depletion. The motion to half the rent for educational activities was defeated; a motion that rent for all activities be the same passed. Val reported that an Education Fund grant proposal (totaling $3,700: for library books, support for Learn Bridge in a Day materials and advertising, and for the Tuesday lecture series) will be submitted in February to the ACBL. The motion in support of this grant passed unanimously. Funding educational activities will be address as a board project.

James led a subcommittee to consider what to do with the Jean Flock’s bequest. Brian reported that the committee recommended establishing an endowment fund rather than using the bequest for ongoing operations. (The Finance Committee concurred.) The bequest committee also recommended there be an annual game in Jean’s memory for the next 5 years, and that a small plaque be mounted on the table where Jean had her standing reservation. The motion to approve these three items passed unanimously.

The Board unanimously approved the revised 2014 budget (incorporating 2013 actuals on table fees and education income).

Jim reported the first unit game is on Feb. 16. Refreshments for the March Jean Flock’s Memorial Game will be cookies, because Jean loved them. Members may bring homemade cookies (not store bought). Dates still need to bet set for games in October – December.

Old Business: Kevin reported that attendance at weekend games still needs bolstering. Momentum is building for the Sunday game thanks in part to Debbie Rosenberg’s attracting players from Youth Bridge. Low attendance games will be addressed as a potential Board projects. Feedback on the mounted bidding boxes has generally been positive. A motion to install them on all tables passed.

New Business: Last month Brian introduced a list of potential board projects for 2014 and beyond. He gave an expanded list reflecting others’ input to the board (shown below) and asked each member to review the list during the next month and prioritize the projects. One hour of the March board meeting will be devoted to selecting a subset of the projects for 2014 and assigning board members to champion each.

There are still two open positions on the jobs list, membership and trophies.

The March membership meeting will be announced in this month’s Kibitzer. There will be an open question period. The by-laws revisions ought to be completed it the next few weeks. Jody will recommend the best process to secure membership approval.

Kevin reported that the proposed dates for the Non-Life Master Sectional to be hosted jointly with Burlingame are May 17 (Bridge Center) and May 18 (Burlingame). The director would be Lynn Yokle. Kevin will provide an estimate for the income and expenses associated with this event (to be split 50-50 with Burlingame) so that in March the board can decide whether to move forward.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:18 pm.

Candidate 2014 Initiatives to Improve Unit 503

1. Play Nice – become a friendlier place to play bridge
– Create a more welcoming & friendlier environment for playing bridge at our Bridge Center, for all players especially newcomers

2. Increase weekend attendance
-What to do about low attendance games – Sat, Sun & Mon evening Swiss
-Education day?

3. Continue to develop our relationship with our Club Owners & Directors and get them more involved in the running of our unit
– Update our License Agreement & License Fee Structure with our Club Owners?

4. Form an Investment Committee – determine if and how to:
– Use of our current ACBL Education Fund + our Education Bank Account balance
– Create Endowment Fund and “Invest” Jean Flocks’ generous gift of $20,000, publicize
– How to replace tax-deductible Education Fund and get donations
– Create something like “Building Fund” & raise money from our members while we are in good times, so we’ll be prepared for leaner times

5. Update our Bylaws to reflect the current realities for our unit – Jody

6. Document our policies and publish them online & in our Directors’ Manual – Jody

7. Determine the future of the Firecracker
– Costs are going up, venue concerns, evaluate sponsorships?

8. BBO – get unit started in online bridge, online will get really big

9. Increase member involvement in running the unit
– Conduct member surveys to help set direction & priorities. Elin Winkler has agreed to help structure, run and interpret the surveys
– Manage Volunteerism more effectively – develop a new system to improve the process for volunteering and the “management” (definition needed) of getting more members involved

10. Arrange some form of digital organization, storage and backup of all key unit financial records, contracts, agreements and other important information

11. Investigate the pros & cons of incorporating our unit
– Make a decision to do it or not?
– Professional review & recommendation on structure & protection

12. Investigate options for us to allow additional tables at our Bridge Center

13. Expand our membership by targeting non-member players
– Other ideas to increase our membership?