April 2017

Call to Order and Approval of March 9 Minutes: President Dave Puryear called the meeting to order at 3:42 pm. The minutes of the March 9, 2017 minutes were approved as submitted. Other directors present included Leslie Altick, Gill Barsley, Marolyn Imaoka, Todd Makler, Alan Polish, John Schwartz, and Jody Williams.

Firecracker 2017 Update – Gill reported that she had met with IFES to review last year’s Firecracker in preparation for this year’s event. Based on attendee feedback, she requested more variety in the sandwiches and they agreed to provide. The Board discussed whether coffee could be provided for free, but decided to keep the $1 fee (less than what the Hyatt charged at past events). The cost of absorbing the coffee fee would significantly reduce the profit from the tournament. IFES said they lost money on the dinner last year. We will ask them to price out serving pizza and give more information to players on nearby dinner options. We will rent additional chairs from IFES, and James Stuart-Smith will help with the layout. Parking at the Buddhist Temple is definite, but there are some details that Marolyn will handle in a face-to-face meeting.

Animal Policy – The question of Michelle Musy’s puppy has been settled, and the puppy will not be coming to the Bridge Center. Dave thanked Michelle for bringing the issue before the Board. The Board decided to adopt the District 21 policy used for Regional Tournaments, amended to apply to all games at our Bridge Center.

Reservation System – Dave negotiated pricing for using the reservation system for all Bridge Center games. The first game of each director will cost $350/year; any of that director’s other games will be $150. Paul will use it for both his games; John Schwartz for one. The Wednesday night game will be the next to use the system. After the first year the total cost to the Bridge Center if all our regular games use this system will be slightly over $1000 per year. The price could exceed this if we request additional features that the developer must build.

Promotion and Publicity – The Board discussed whether the Unit needs a marketing volunteer. Currently there are articles on the website that almost no one reads. There have been fewer players at Unit games this year. The Unit is always short of mentors; and there is very little outreach to potential new players except classes listed on the website. Directors identified three possible marketing needs: promoting the Bridge Center to prospective players, both new and existing, and to students; creating community around the Bridge Center; and promoting Unit games. The conclusion is that we need at least two volunteers. Dave will start trying to identify them.

Rental Policy Clarification – Jody pointed out that the fee schedule for students attending clases has been ambiguous. She proposed and the Board ratified a motion to clarify the wording as follows: There will be no charge for full-time students under the age of 26 who pay a discounted fee to attend the class.

Reports: President – The Unit Annual Meeting will be held on 4/22 before the Unit game. Unit game food menu will remain basic until a new volunteer is found to oversee it. The 5/28 Unit game will be cancelled due to a scheduling conflict with IFES, to be rescheduled later in the year. Unit game attendance is down from 2016, underscoring the need for more promotion. The board discussed having unit member artists have an allocated space to display their work. It would have to be managed by another volunteer and there are liability insurance issues that would have to be addressed. Given all the issues involved, the Board decided not to pursue this suggestion. The Board did agree to purchase new cards for the Unit’s bidding boxes.

Technology Committee – Jody reported that the email message asking members to reset their privacy settings in Pianola worked well. She received many requests for help in doing this. She has now removed the old directory from the Unit website.

Treasurer – Todd asked for approval to move excess balances from the Unit checking account to Vanguard’s Government Money Market Fund. The motion passed.

Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 5:08 pm. The next meeting will be on May 11th at 3:30.