March 2018

March 9, 2018

Annual Member Meeting for Unit 503: The Unit’s Annual Member meeting took place before the Board of Directors’ Meeting. President Dan Thatte asked last year’s President, Dave Puryear, to review the highlights of the Unit’s performance in 2017. Dave reported that the Unit had nearly a $3,000 surplus in 2017. Thanks to a number of years of surpluses, the Unit’s emergency fund is above six months of operating expenses, and the Unit is in good financial condition. Table counts were down 6% from the prior year, 9,485 vs. 10,000+ in 2016. We are not sure of all the factors behind the decline, but one was lower attendance at Unit games. The Board will analyze the root causes once first quarter data becomes available. The Unit’s fixed costs remain high and are expected to increase when the lease with IFES is renewed in a few years. That increase will be tied to the increase in the Consumer Price Index for San Francisco. Even with the substantial increase, the new rental costs will be attractive relative to other options in the Pensinsula’s real estate market. Dave also highlighted the transition of the Unit website to a new technology platform that began in 2017. (A summary of progress to date appears below in the Technology Committee report.) In addition, the Unit changed to using BridgeMates during the year and expanded the reservation system to all games played at the Bridge Center.

Dan shared the initial priorities the Board has identified for 2018. The Technology Committee expects the redesign of the website to be completed in the first half of the year. There will be an intense focus on increasing attendance at the Firecracker. Also, the Board is working on finding a successor for Kevin O’Leary in his role as Building Manager. The Board is also evaluating whether the Kibitzer can be resurrected in a one-page printed version. Finally, there will be even more focus on providing games, classes, and other events to attract and retain beginner and intermediate players. 70% of the Unit’s membership has fewer than 500 Master Points. This is not the complete list of priorities, only the ones on which action has been initiated.

Dan asked for comments or suggestions from the members in attendance. One suggested that the Unit devise a simple way to have a printed version of the past week’s game results available on site at the Bridge Center. Another suggested that there be a step-by-step set of directions for fill-in directors to guide them on how to post game results. Both these suggestions will be pursued. The Technology Committee will be responsible for the latter.

With no further comments or suggestions, Dan concluded the meeting and invited members present to stay for the Board meeting.

Call to Order and Approval of Feb. 8th 2018 meeting minutes: President Dan Thatte called the meeting to order at 4:05pm. Other board members present included Leslie Altick, Kip Kado, Anne Keyser, Geri MacDonald, Alan Polish, Dave Puryear, John Schwartz, and Susan Zhang. Jody Williams also attended the meeting. The minutes of the February 8th meeting were approved as submitted.

Technology Committee Report: For Unit members unfamiliar with the project, Jody noted that we continue to work with the consulting firm the Corvette Club had used to change platforms for its website. Through those consults, we have been working with a contractor in India (with whom the Committee is pleased) to implement the design. The project has six milestones. The process is to fund work on each milestone and to proceed only when the work is satisfactorily completed. Thus far, three milestones have been reached an the fourth has just been funded. Will Watson has joined the Technology Committee to participate in the process going forward including providing feedback and testing. The Committee expects results within the next few months.

Parking Lot Lights Status: Alan reported that IFES plans to replace the parking lot lights with LED bulbs, which should be a bit brighter and will definitely last longer. IFES hopes to have these replace by the end of the first full week of March. Alan will follow-up with them to hold them to their commitment.

Finance report: Susan created an estimated monthly breakdown of the 2018 budget. She will gather actual data over the course of the year as a way to begin refining our forecasting process. She will set up both Dan and Leslie with access to Quickbooks online.

Update on the Firecracker sectional: No new news on the Firecracker this month.

New Business: One director notified the Board of an unpleasant situation at one of his games arising out of a disputed claim. The Board advised the director to refer the matter to both the Unit’s Recorder (Jim O’Neal) and Ethics Chairman (Margot Livenspargar).

John Schwartz noted that he continues to receive complaints from players assigned to play in the directors’ alcove. A drawback of that area is the sound level, due in part to the flooring. He proposed that soundproofing panels be investigated as a way to mitigate this part of the problem. The Board agreed and John will investigate the options and expenses involved.

The Health Inspector’s made an unannounced visit to the Bridge Center during a Friday game. He surfaced some regulations and limitations of which the Unit was unaware. Specifically, because IFES has a commercial kitchen on the property, the Unit as tenant cannot serve food that is not prepared in a commercial kitchen. Kevin and Paul will investigate the costs involved to upgrade the kitchen to include a commercial stove and an exhaust fan with an external vent and present a proposal to the Board.

The Board passed a motion to provide 15 free plays to be administered by Community Services Agency of Mountain View and Los Altos. The free plays are intended for bridge players who need help with table fees. This will be an experiment to determine the demand for this type of assistance.

Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 5:10 pm. The next meeting will be on April 12 at 3:30

Respectfully submitted,
Leslie Altick