American Contract Bridge League
District 8 Board Meeting
Illini Regional Bridge Tournament
Saturday May 28 2016
Hawthorn Suites, Champaign Illinois

Board and Committee members present: Debbie Avery, Rick Beye, Michael Carmen, Gary Chaney, Karen Coe, Jay Coleman, Marilyn Croft, Ardythe Edwards, Margaret Hansell, Georgia Heth, Kimberly Grant, Martha Leary, Marci Meyer, Debbie Romero, Linda Seibert, Carole Sholes, Ron Sholes, Chris Shaw, Mary Beth Shaw, Neil Whittle, Hugh Williams.

Board and Committee members absent: Ron Brotherson, John Pree, Scott Davis, Karen Walker, Milt Zlatic.

Ms. Leary call the May 28, 2016 District 8 Board of Directors meeting to order at 9:30 AM. Mr. Coleman moved to accept the minutes of the July 18, 2015 as presented. Second, Ms. Coe carried.

Treasurer’s report: Ms. Avery submitted the final income and expense report for calendar year 2015, the current income and expense report for 2016, the District 8 check and money market registers, and the NABC CD statement. Mr. Coleman moved to accept the documents as presented. Second, Mr. Chaney carried.

President’s report: Ms. Leary noted that the email votes to ratify the schedules for Ft. Wayne and Champaign were unanimous. Ms. Grant moved to accept the ratification. Second, Ms. Sholes carried.
Ms. Leary reported that Crystal Lake and Effingham had expressed the desire to have different start times for their regionals. On the advice of Mr. Beye, Ms. Leary polled the board via email. All responses were in the affirmative. Ms. Leary noted that she had appointed Ms. Romero and Mr. Sholes as the first and second alternates to the ACBL Board of Directors. She announced that the three Board of Governors positions needed to be filled and indicated that there had been applications received but that if anyone else was interested in the position they would need to apply. Ms. Leary appointed Ms. Sholes as the head of the Financial Review committee. Ms. Croft moved that the District 8 Board approve the appointment of Ms. Sholes as the head of the financial review committee. Second, Ms. Coe carried.

ACBL Director’s report: Ms. Heth addressed the split regional discussion at the last meeting of the ACBL Board. She noted that restrictions on the split regionals have been lifted and that these regionals could operate in a similar manner as stand-alone regionals. She noted that she serves on the ACBL disciplinary committee and they had held numerous hearings in Reno and expects more in Washington. She is involved in work to develop an arbitration committee to address cheating issues. She noted that the CDR has been amended to include the use of lawyers and statistical evidence in cases heard at the National level. She updated the board on the issue of having fewer Districts and her role with the WBF.

Financial review Committee report: Mr. Carmen reported that based on his review the books appear to be in order.

Charity Committee report: Ms. Croft reported that the District Wide Charity game had raised $1375.00 that was earmarked for the Youth Bridge Education Organization’s use.

Goodwill Committee: Ms. Heth reported that the goodwill pins have been received.
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Minutes of the May 28, 2016 District 8 Board meeting

Judiciary Committees:
	Discipline: No report.
	Appellate: No report.

Education Committee: Ms. Shaw 

Tournament Coordinators report: Mr. Beye supplied tournament calendars for the Board. He noted that there are handicap options for knock-out events which deserve attention. He stated that in the future committee appeals at tournaments will be heard by the tournament Directors.

Education Committee: Ms. Shaw reported that the Adult Bridge Boot Camp includes players with 0-500 MPs or NLMs will be held in October. Mr. Shaw reported that while attendance has dropped from prior years the camp is still going well. They are addressing scheduling problems as best as they can.

Regional Tournament reports:
Champaign: Ms. Sholes reported that while attendance was down earlier in the week they are hoping for an influx of players over the weekend.

St. Louis: Mr. Carmen reported that the regional was down from his projections but that overall they did better financially.

Ft. Wayne: Ms. Grant reported that their attendance was down by 21 percent from 2014. She felt that the dates were not good but hopes that can be corrected.

Future Regional reports: 

Champaign: Ms. Sholes reported that the regional will be sanctioned in a timely manner. She raised consideration for scheduling changes due to falling participation in the KOs and the Memorial Day holiday. She will present the schedule in St. Louis.

Crystal Lake/Effingham: Ms. Croft reported that all was on track for the upcoming regional. She noted that they had more people playing in the pair games. She is exploring including a bracketed swiss team event.  Ms. Coe reported that all was on track for Effingham. She distributed flyers for the tournament.

Ft. Wayne: Ms. Grant distributed flyers for the tournament. She noted that they were trying out a new schedule this year.

St. Louis: Mr. Carmen reported that all was on track and they will have a book seller this year.

STaC report: Ms. Leary distributed copies of the STaC report. The report covered the years of 2011 to the present. She noted that Mr. Davis will no longer be able to act as the STaC Coordinator. She asked if there was anyone who was interested in becoming the STaC Coordinator. She reminded the Board that since the inception of the STaC event the District no longer collects a fee from the Units. 

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Minutes of the May 28, 2016 District 8 Board Meeting

STaC report continued: Ms. Leary will review any available data to see if there is a problem with games with fewer than five tables. The ACBL is increasing the fees for the STaC event which will trigger the need to raise the table fees. Ms. Romero moved that the table fee be increased to $7.00 per table. Second, Ms. Croft carried.

NAP report: Ms. Leary submitted the NAP income and expense report. She noted that the table count was down a little. She indicated that the site worked well and that she plans to hold it at the same site in 2016 on Sunday November 13.

GNT report: Ms. Heth reported that the GNT event didn’t make enough to cover expenses. She noted that she wasn’t able to continue as coordinator for the GNT event in the future. She outlined the duties of the coordinator and noted the traditional date was the first Sunday in May not to conflict with Mother’s Day. The site needs to be very central to attempt to make it accessible to the entire District. A discussion of the distribution of the Grassroots funds to the GNT and NAP events. Mr. Coleman moved to allocate $700.00 of the Grassroots funds per team for the 2016 GNT first place teams. Second, Mr. Carmen carried. 

Second reading of proposed changes to Article IV of the District Bylaws: Mr. Carmen outlined the proposed changes. Ms. Romero moved that the proposed changes to Article IV of the District 8 Bylaws be accepted as presented. Second, Ms. Croft, Ms. Meyer called for roll call vote was taken. Ayes: Carmen, Coe, Coleman, Croft, Edwards, Leary, Romero, Seibert, C. Sholes, R. Sholes. Nays: Chaney, Grant, Meyer. Bylaw changes approved.

New Business: Ms. Meyer moved that the minutes of the Board meeting be sent out within 45 days of the last meeting. Second, Mr. Chaney carried
Income and expense reports will be sent out with the agenda 30 prior to the next meeting.
A discussion of District policy regarding non participation by District 8 Units in other District STaC events will be postponed until the meeting in St. Louis.

Being no further business before the District 8 Board of Directors Mr. Coleman moved to adjourn the May 28, 2016 District 8 Board of Directors meeting. Second, Mr. Carmen carried.

Respectfully submitted
Deborah Avery
Minutes of the May 28 District 8 Board of Directors meeting