ACBL Director's Report
ACBL Director's ReportHello All,
I am sorry for missing the last Advocate. I came home from Orlando with health problems that had me under the weather until December 18. The good news is I learned you can get ready for Christmas and throw two birthday parties in one week.
2011 Grand National Teams
The Grand National Teams are almost here. The District Finals are April 30-May 1, 2011 at the Eagles Club in Riverton (same site as last year). The finals will be in Toronto in July. The events will be two, three or four sessions depending on how many teams there are in each flight. We have room for 48 tables and I hope we are at capacity this year. There is no formal partnership service available, but if you let me know if you are looking for team-mates, I will let you know if anyone else appropriate has contacted me.
Reservations are not required, but I appreciate it if one person from each team contacts me with the names of the rest of the members of your team. My email address is gkheth@hotmail.com or you can leave a message at (309)263-0242 or (573)999-5969. The reservations allow me to have the right number of caddies, tables, directors and to buy the right amount of food.
This is the best event the ACBL runs (at least IMHO) and I encourage you all to get your teams lined up. The District continues to provide a travel subsidy for the teams representing District 8 in the national finals.
Orlando Board of Directors Meeting
Craig Robinson was elected President of the ACBL. Craig is a valued member of the BOD and will do a fine job. He was serving as treasurer so Bill Cook (one of the unsuccessful candidates for president) was elected to replace him as treasurer.
Joan Gerard was elected to the WBF representative position, defeating Dan Morse. Joan was later selected by the WBF to replace Dan on the Management Committee (similar to an executive committee) of the WBF. Rose Meltzer was elected as chairman of the Goodwill Committee to finish Aileen Osofsky’s uncompleted term. And Carl Sharp, from the Chicago area, was selected as Volunteer of the Year.
Chicago has finally been approved for another NABC. Unfortunately, their dates, August 6-16, 2015, conflict with the St. Louis Regional. Mike Carmen was contacted immediately and he and Chris Patrias were able to choose a satisfactory replacement date.
Those of you who attended the New Orleans NABC this summer will be pleased to hear the next one will be a spring tournament, March 12-22, 2015.
A motion by the Board of Governors to have all National Pair Events scored across the field at all times failed. ACBL Score cannot handle fields above a certain size and the mathematicians told us it is not necessary.
Slow Play Regulations were passed. This issue was 2010 President Rich Martino’s main emphasis last year. We have been assured they will be enforced in national events.
A motion to create a Non-Senior Pair event was defeated. Even though I would have been eligible to play in it, I did not think there would be enough participation by a strong enough field to justify a national event. It is possible to run such a regionally-rated event.
The motion to abolish Unit Fund/Foundation games was defeated.
ACBL is working on replacing the website and the ACBLScore software. We were given a report from the technology committee regarding the progress.
Teachers receiving stipends from the School Bridge Class Program may receive payment from an additional source so long as their total compensation does not exceed $500 per class. I did not support this motion as you might suppose since I was a co-sponsor. My computer had crashed during the time the motion was circulated and I was included as the rest of the Junior Committee was sponsoring the motion. I did rewrite the motion for clarification purposes, but I still believe the ACBL has limited resources and we should save our money for classes where the teacher does not receive payment from another source.
Policies were passed regarding Regionals at Sea and Sectionals at Sea. All newly-sanctioned Regionals at Sea will be run by the ACBL.
Philadelphia WBF Meeting
The WBF met at Philadelphia at the World Championships. Jose Damiani retired and Gianarrigo Rona took over as the new President. One of his first actions was to create a Disciplinary Commission to preside over allegations of cheating and other inappropriate behavior at WBF events. He named me Chairman of the commission. I was wavering over whether or not to run for re-election to the WBF this fall but now I have already started to campaign. We are drafting the charter for the commission now and will make the first presentation to the Management Committee in Louisville. This is the type of work I love to do and I am very excited about the appointment.
CEO Search
Jay Baum, ACBL's chief executive officer, has announced that he'll retire in July 2012. If you know anyone who would be a good candidate for this job, please share information about the opening. Full details are here.
Spring NABC in Louisville
I looked up Louisville on Mapquest and found it is only a five-hour drive, so I hope many of you are planning to take advantage of the location and attend the Spring Nationals there next month. I look forward to seeing you.
-- Georgia
If you have questions or suggestions about ACBL Board actions or other bridge matters, please contact me at gkheth@hotmail.com or 917 S. Main St., Morton IL 61550-2419.