District
Director Report – August 2018
I am writing this live from the Atlanta NABC and it is wonderful. Although it is warm outside, the three area hotels and a large food court are connected by a skywalk. The playing areas are spacious and well lit and the local committee is doing a great job with food and entertainment for the players.
Special Congratulations to Donna Morgen who became a Platinum Life Master at the Atlanta, NABC.
Highlights of the Board Business
The Board passed new by-laws for the organization that include term limits for board members for the first time. Although the term limits will not apply to existing board members, it will begin a transition into an improved governance process.
The Zero Tolerance Policy was expanded to include all ACBL Sanctioned Tournaments. This regulation does not impact club games, but all ACBL events that have an ACBL director will be held to identical standards of Zero Tolerance.
Two events were eliminated from the fall NABC schedule. The Women's Board-A-Match Team and the Baze Senior KO have been removed for lack of attendance over the last few years. Any ACBL event that falls below 30 tables in attendance is subject to review and change.
The Spring NABC 0-10,000 Knockout event will be changed to a fixed three-day event, shortening the amount of time required to play.
Reno, NV was approved as the site of the Spring, 2022 NABC. The NABC will be held at "The Row" (Silver Legacy, Circus Circus and Eldorado). The hotels have been combined under new management and completely renovated.
A joint motion to clearly outline the NABC expenses funded by the ACBL and the local committee was introduced by Suzi Subeck, Chair of the NABC Committee and me, as Chair of Finance. The motion passed 25-0. This motion will provide a more sound and consistent accounting for NABCs.
In a cost-saving effort, I presented a motion, along with Finance Vice-Chair, Carlos Munoz, to end the long-standing tradition of bringing new members of the Board of Directors to the Fall board meeting prior to the beginning of their first term. The motion passed 21-3-1.
In response to a request from the Board of Governors, ACBL management will provide a Fragrance Policy for use at all ACBL events.
Any open sectional held concurrently at the same location with an I/N regional will receive credit for the tables in the I/N regional for the purpose of computing overall awards.
Masterpoint Awards for NAP and GNT have been increased. Winning the NAP Flight A (4 sessions) will pay 48 masterpoints, up from 36. Flight B awards (2 sessions) will be 22.50 masterpoints, up from 16 and Flight C awards (2 sessions) will be 15 masterpoints, up from 10 masterpoints.
GNT District Finals (all 4 session events) will pay 48 masterpoints for the Championship Flight, 40 masterpoints for Flight A, 33.50 masterpoints for Flight B and 20 masterpoints for Flight C.
NAP Conditions of Contest have been updated to allow substitutes if one partner is medically unable to play in the national final. The new partner must meet all of the eligibility requirements of the event.
Units are now permitted to schedule six one-day limited masterpoint sectional tournaments each year. The previous allocation was three.
The ACBL Board reviewed all transactions between Jay Whipple, ACBL President, his company Bridge Finesse and the ACBL and found that all were completely appropriate and no conflict of interest exists. Mr. Whipple received no financial compensation for all the work he has done for the betterment of bridge. Mr. Whipple not only contributed his time and expertise, but more than $150,000 a year of his own money to fund projects like the Common Game, Kibitz the Pros, Rank Up, Photo Library, District Partnership Desks, Thumbs Up, REACH, Club Analytics, Tournament Services, Rank Change and many others.
A complete report of the Audit Committee will be available on the ACBL website when the minutes of the meetings are posted.
DISTRICT 4 WINNERS AT
THE ATLANTA NABC IN NATIONAL
EVENTS
Von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs: 17
- Meyer Kotkin, Jay Apfelbaum
Young Life Master Pairs: 8 - Bharat
Rao; 22 - Lisa Mita, Susan Morse
0-10,000 NABC Pairs: 8 - Donna Morgen;
26 - Rhoda Prager; 41 - Barbara Rhoades
Wagar Women's Pairs: 5 - Rhoda Prager
Freeman Mixed Board-A-Match Teams:
2 - May Sakr; 14 - Mary Lee
Werner Open Pairs: 20 - Rhoda Prager
Bean Red Ribbon Pairs: 2 - David Venetianer
0-10,000 Mixed Swiss Teams: 3 - May
Sakr
DISTRICT 4 TOP 10 WINNERS
IN REGIONAL EVENTS
Thursday International Fund Pairs:
7 - Harold Singleton, III
Friday-Saturday Knockout Teams Bracket 1
- 3/4, Benito Garozzo
Saturday Evening A/X/Y Swiss Teams
- 1/2 - Benito Garozzo
Friday-Sunday Morning Side Series -
4 - Amal Dasgupta
First Saturday-Sunday Knockout Bracket 6
- 1 - Larry Plotkin, J. Brill, Steve White, Peter Schulman
Sunday A/X Swiss Teams: 4 - Howard
Kahlenberg; 5 - Bob Glasson, Joann Glasson
Sunday Evening 299er Pairs: 2 - Debbie
Carpenter, Xiang Long
Vero Beach Bridge Club Friday-Sunday Side Series:
8 - Michael Shuster
Monday Daylight Stratified Swiss:
1 - John Dickenson, Lisa Mita, Susan Morse
Monday Evening B/C/D Swiss Teams: 7/10
- Leslie Goldstein
Tuesday Open Pairs: 1 - Dan Boye,
Douglas Ross
Tuesday Fast Pairs: 1 - Barry Gorski,
Andie Sheaffer
Tuesday Gold Rush Pairs: 3 - Brandon
Fong
Wednesday Open Pairs: 10 - Mary Poplawski,
Harry Nuckols
Wednesday Zip Knockouts: 3/4 - David
Venetianer
Thursday Daylight B/C Pairs: 4/5 -
Brad Barry, David Amsterdam
Thursday Afternoon Youth Teams: 1
- Brandon Fong
Thursday Daylight A/X/Y Swiss Teams: 5
- Bob Glasson, Joann Glasson
Thursday A/X/Y Swiss Teams: 6/7 -
Miriam Harris-Botzum, John Botzum
Thursday Open Pairs: 10 - Dan Boye
Saturday Evening Swiss Teams: 5- Richard
Morgen, Donna Morgen
Saturday Daylight Open Swiss Teams: 1C
- Frank Feng, You Hu
Sunday A/X/Y Swiss Teams: 2 - Marty
Seligman
Sunday Bracketed B Teams 3: 1 - David
Venetianer