June 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, Kevin O’Leary, and Jody Williams. Todd Makler and James Stuart Smith were absent by prior notice. Elinor Tanck, Kibitzer Editor, and John Prior, a Club Owner, also attended.

Minutes of the prior meeting were approved.

Guest Item: John Prior reported on his investigation of the costs and benefits of purchasing a defibrillator for the Bridge Center. Many of our members are in the prime demographic for the two types of cardiac events that a defibrillator addresses. John inquired with local first responders and determined that 911 response time to the Center could be between 4 to 12+ minutes. The chance of surviving a cardiac event decreases by 10% every minute. California law essentially eliminates liability for good faith efforts by Good Samaritans using a defibrillator. The cost of a defibrillator starts at $1200. The board discussed the cost of training individuals versus the cost of training a member to become a trainer. There are benefits in terms of convenience and, over the long term, to having our own trainer. A motion to purchase a defibrillator (based on advice from unit members with medical training) and ask the directors and teachers to take training passed. John Prior will oversee this project and determine whether it is better for him to become a trainer and train others, or to arrange for individuals to be trained by the Red Cross. The estimated cost of this project is $3000.

President’s Report: The July meeting was moved to July 10 due to travel conflicts. Brian highlighted a recent article in the Bulletin ranking the top clubs in the country by tables played. With 8893 tables played, Unit 503 would have ranked #16 even though games at the JCC and Walter’s game were not included in our table counts, except that the ranking is based on tables per sanction. District 21 is having an election this fall to replace our representative on the ACBL Board. One of the candidates has asked to address our board at the August meeting. Each of our board members will have a vote in the election.

Treasurer’s Report: With Todd absent, there was no report.

Non-Life Master Sectional: With roughly 40 tables, the sectional netted nearly $365, with another approximately $700 of rent to the Bridge Center. All agreed it was a success.

Unit Games: There was a pairs Unit Game on May 24, with 19½ tables. For this game, we paid to have Marty Bergen provide commentary on several of the hands, which participants enjoyed. The net to the unit was $190. There will a pairs Unit Game on June 21 and a Swiss on the 22. Both are charity games, meaning that higher master points will be awarded. Jim will also arrange to have a donation jar at both games so people can contribute to the Longest Day (Alzheimer) Fund Raiser.

Education: Val reported that Learn Bridge in a Day (scheduled for June 14) has been fully subscribed and will sell out all 144 slots. The now announced Eddie Kantar seminar is expected to sell out at 184 slots (more slots since he does not require the AV system).

Kibitzer: Elinor reported she will print144 additional copies of the Kibitzer for the students at Learn Bridge in a Day.

AV Upgrade: Jody’s assessment is that the current AV equipment, in addition having one substandard component, probably was designed to try to do more than our users need. Her recommendation is to scale back what the system is required to do – allowing only one plug-in point with the capability to show only one image on both screens in HDMI. This would bring the cost down significantly while eliminating the resolution problems. A motion passed to authorize Jody to proceed (not to exceed $2500), with the payment schedule back loaded to ensure we do not pay (hopefully, the final 50%) until the upgrade is installed and demonstrated to meet the objectives.

Old Business: 2014 Initiatives –

Member Input and Involvement: Val reported the committee decided to defer the strategic part of this project – obtaining members’ feedback on direction for the unit – until the fall, so the new board will have current data in January. The first step in involving more members will focus on seeking volunteers to help match partners, as this will also help with the initiative to increase weekend game attendance. This first step involves three different volunteer positions. The first is for someone to create a binder containing the profiles of people looking for new partners. This would be kept at the Bridge Center. The second group of volunteer positions is as partnership coordinators for individual games. Finally, we would seek volunteers willing to be stand-by partners, available to play as fill-ins for certain games. The committee proposes sending a blast email to the membership describing these volunteer positions along with estimates of the times involved.

Expanding Bridge Center: Kevin O’Leary and John Schwartz have agreed to initially absorb the cost of getting a structural engineer’s opinion as to whether the wall that would be removed in an expansion is non-weight bearing. (If this project ultimately moves forward, they would be reimbursed.) Once this opinion is obtained, the discussions will proceed with IFES. Kevin will be in this data-gathering mode for some time.

Increase Weekend Game Attendance: As members say a major need is helping them find partners for weekend games, the blast email seeking partnership volunteers (referenced above) will be a big first step in this effort. Jody and Leslie will begin working on the individual event – an event with an individual movement, as opposed to a pairs or team movement, resulting in meeting/playing with several partners – in August.

Online Bridge: Because BBO is still proving difficult to contact, Jim is planning to call on them at their headquarters in Las Vegas during an upcoming trip.

By-Laws: Jody asked that the Board approve the ballot to adopt the by-laws. The motion passed.

Firecracker: With James absent, there was no official report. Through Brian he asked that everyone do their utmost to make sure that we at least match the number of tables we had last year. We need this number to break even.

Other old business: Brian thanked Jody and her brother for completing the mounting of the bidding boxes on time and under budget.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:40 pm. The next meeting will be on July 10 at 3:45 pm.