November 1, 2011 Meeting
- In attendance were: AJ
Stephani, Potter Orr, Mike Purcell, Mary Clifton, Gayle Keaney, Barb
Levinson, and Cordell Coy. Also attending were Betty Torello and Diane
Thaller.
- Minutes from October were accepted as amended. The amendment was to add Gayle as a member of the finance committee.
- Betty
Torello and Diane Thaller asked to address their concerns to the board
regarding the recent sectional. They were unhappy that while they and
their inexperienced team played very well, they did not win any master
points in the Sunday swiss. In the first two rounds they played against
two very good open teams and won the first and lost the second although
close. They fared less well in the last two rounds. They note that
the swiss game was stratified, not bracketed or strati-flighted, and
that there was no NLM swiss available. The board thanked Betty and
Diane for their comments. They told Betty and Diane that there was some
confusion by the tournament directors as the tournament committee
expected an NLM section to be offered. The differences in operation for
stratified, strati-flighted, and bracketed swiss games were
discussed/described. The tournament committee will take the comments
and decide whether a bracketed or strati-flighted swiss would be more
appropriate for the sectional next year. Also, they will discuss how to
avoid confusion between the tournament committee desires and the
tournament directors. Finally, it was noted that a strati-flighted
swiss game is scheduled to be played at the upcoming regional in May.
- As Everitt was not in attendance, the NLM award discussion was deferred.
- It
was noted that the outcome of the election held at the sectional for
new board members beginning in 2012 was completed and that all those on
the ballot were elected. Thus, for 2012, the board will consist of
those 7 in attendance plus Patrick Hoffman and Ron Manne.
- Gayle
and Barb gave a quick report on the sectional. Their summation was that
overall the Crowne Plaza was a good change of location, but there were
several items that were irritations for players. They expect to be able
to negotiate with the hotel to resolve the issues for next year.
Attendance for the sectional was up 12%, but the NAP attendance was
down 12% (different total bases) and that with the uptick in attendance
and the increased price, we should expect a small profit, though the
numbers are not yet final.
- The holiday party for this year is
slated for Wednesday evening 12/7. Diane Thaller has coordinated all
the details to make this event happen. The price of tickets will be $20
and includes dinner. The board was concerned that the price did not
include anything to cover clean-up or director costs.
- Gayle will
create an informational sheet for upcoming event coordinators to be
sure that all financial aspects are considered when events are planned.
- The
open forum for players to discuss the change in fees in 2012 was
unattended. Feedback from the sanction holders, while unhappy, was
tolerant of the change. They wished they could have been part of the
finance committee discussions as the plan was being formed.
- AJ
spoke with our insurance company and decided to cancel our D&O
insurance (directors and officers) based on that discussion. The
insurance company indicated that most other units had also cancelled
their D&O insurance since ACBL had taken out a blanket policy
covering the same.
- The restaurants of choice for our December
board meeting are unavailable. Gayle proposed Papadeaux as an
alternative and will check to see that they can accommodate us.
Subsequent to the meeting, she did check, and Papadeaux is available.
Our meeting will be held there on Monday 12/5 at 6 PM.
- Gayle
made a motion, seconded by Cordell, to amend the policy on money
collected from sanction holders to include a late fee of $0.25 per day
late. On subsequent infractions in a 6 month period the late fee would
be $50. The motion was discussed, several clarification made, and
several changes proposed. At the end of the discussion, it was
recommended that the motion be referred to the finance committee for
revision, and the motion was withdrawn.
- Meeting adjourned.