July 2016

Call to Order: Dave Puryear, President, called the meeting to order at 3:30pm. Directors Leslie Altick, Gill Barsley, Peggy Chen, Jim Harris, Marolyn Imaoka, Todd Makler, and Jody Williams were also present. They approved the minutes of the June 9 meeting as submitted.

2016 Firecracker Results: James Stuart-Smith, Tournament Chairman, detailed the tremendous success of the Firecracker. Table count increased from last year to 923. 416 members of our Unit played, again up from last year; and 227 members from Unit 507. Pairs games were up and team games were down (a national trend). The Unit’s net profit is estimated at $9,000. The tournament also raised a record $11,400+ for 2nd Harvest Food Bank. Approximately 4,133 silver points were awarded.

The feedback has been on balance, positive. One con, San Jose members found it hard to fight traffic with the 10 am start. Parking was well organized and well received. There were many positive comments about the catering, with some negative comments about paying for coffee and snacks.

The Board expressed its profound gratitude to James for his terrific leadership. Dave made one other positive announcement about the Firecracker – Gill Barsley has agreed to chair the 2017 tournament.

Decision on Storage Space: Dave received formal notification that IFES wants us to vacate the storage place east of the kitchen by August 1. To avoid “eviction” we must rent the space for $500/month without any improvements. This rate is what we currently pay for the Bridge Center. The Board believes that without the ability to remove the half wall, the space is not worth $500/month. Some directors do not believe IFES can rent it for that in the open market. The Board decided to make a counter offer asking that IFES approve the removal of the wall, for which we would pay the $500 rent. Jim and Leslie will negotiate with IFES.

Computer Maintenance: The Technology Committee has proposed that the Unit formalize a Computer Maintenance and Support agreement with Will Watson. Will has been performing substantially all the proposed tasks out of the goodness of his heart, which the Committee sees as inappropriate. The proposal recommends a $100 per month payment for completing a list of monthly and quarterly tasks, as well as maintaining the computer equipment. The only required monthly reporting for Will is to notify the Treasurer when the tasks are completed. The Board approved the proposal.

Annual Meeting: Dave reported the Unit needs to have its annual meeting in the near future. The Board agreed to schedule it before the August 7th Unit Game.

Volunteer Recognition: The Board agreed to form a committee to recommend a strategy.

Reports

President: It is the President’s responsibility to appointment a Nominating Committee for this fall’s election. Dave has appointed 4 past Unit presidents to the committee: Mike Atherton, Sue Griswold, Brian Samuels, and Lori Spaeth.

Flooring: Peggy said the flooring in the food court, directors’ area, and hallway by the kitchen will be replaced on 7/23-24. She and Dave will recruit members to move furniture (to save $300 off the installation). The good news was there was no water damage under the existing delaminating flooring.

Technology Committee: Jody and Marolyn reported there has been no progress on testing the Pianola website for the Unit’s use. This is unnecessary until the Unit vets that the principal software for reporting games and results to the ACBL and members will actually work for our games. Because the Unit’s games are so much larger, with multiple sections, compared to other current Pianola users, the Wednesday night game is exposing many bugs in the software. If this function cannot work for our Unit, we will be unlikely to use Pianola.

Finance Committee: Leslie will schedule a Finance Committee to work on the 2017 budget for the second week of August.

Education Funding: in Paul’s absence, Todd reported that having received the 501(c)3 status for the Peninsula Bridge Education Foundation, it is time to transfer the remaining balance of the Unit’s Education Fund into the new foundation’s bank account. The Board approved a motion to this effect.

Unit Games: Gill reported that income from unit games, year-to-date (YTD), is $9,900, up $5,500 from the YTD results in 2015. The table count YTD is up also, even after removing the effect of the Non-life Master tournament.

First Annual 503/507 Championship Games: Jim reported sign-ups for the 503/507 Championship will be up in early August. Because San Jose is in the process of moving, both sessions will be held in the Bridge Center.

Treasurer: Todd reported that in addition to the good financial news from the Firecracker, the Larry Cohen seminar netted the Unit $4,500. Thanks to the creativity of the Board in meeting the financial challenges the Unit faced at year-end, the Unit is in good financial condition for the remainder of 2016.

Adjournment: Dave adjourned the meeting at 5:23 pm. The next meeting will be on August 11 at 3:30 pm.