District 16

The Advisory Council (AC) meeting was held by Zoom on August 4, 2024. Prior to the start of the AC meeting, President Doug Couchman shared some ACBL information. A by-law change passed allowing membership meetings to be in person or online. We also had a positive treasury report from the ACBL with growth driven by investments and a net gain on operations. This is a positive trend we hope will continue.

I know our membership is interested in the progress of our online cheating program EDGAR. We learned EDGAR has identified 242 cheating players and currently has 189 possibly cheating. There have been 44 Fast Track Discipline penalties, 36 negotiated resolutions completed, and 11 Arbitration cases pending. There is a highly informative article called “The Watcher” in the August edition of the Bridge Bulletin.

Nominations were held for new AC officers for 2025 – chair nominees were Steve Moese, Peter Marcus, and Richard Popper. Vice-chair nominee is Henry Robbin. Anyone who is not elected chair may also run for vice-chair. Secretary elections are not held – may be appointed by the chair.

Membership continues to drop – we are now down 4,729 members from last year. New members are down 9.3% but guest membership has risen slightly. Bronia Jenkins shared progress toward an online focus for all things bridge to attract and hold progress.

Once the actual AC meeting began, Chair Couchman reminded us (as I am reminding you) that the function of the AC is to serve as a pipeline to and from the membership and the management/ACBL Board of Directors (Board). ACBL President Margot Hennings continues to enjoy working with CEO Bronia Jenkins toward growing membership and ensuring a future for the game we all love. Key goals are working on strategic goals and financial stability. The Board is focusing on how to make NABC tournaments affordable and relevant. We can expect motions in Las Vegas at the Fall NABC.

Bronia went in depth on several items to entice players to the game. We need the help of people on the ground to run any recruitment and/or retention campaigns. The goal is to support recruitment initiatives, provide resources for recruiters, and make recruiters aware of resources we have that they can use.

One item I found of particular interest to our members who want to attend NABCs is the $10 per session per player discount for players staying at the host hotel. It’s quite amazing how this has changed things for the better regarding host reservations. These are essential at the national level to meet room night quotas, as tournaments get meeting spaces by guaranteeing rooms. This can represent a savings of up to $200 for a player attending an NABC.

Another AC decision was to ask the Board to reconsider BRO2-GNT and BRO3-NAP. The Board had approved levels 0-750 for C and 0-3000 for B, but allowing LMs to play in C. The Board is required to reconsider original motions when the AC moves. The AC believes that allowing LMs to play in C defeats the purpose of that level of Grassroots play.

Lastly, Chair Couchman proposed townhall meetings by the AC. I certainly would love to see this happen. Since we serve as that conduit between members and the BOD, it would help us to be able to meet directly with members from our regions. It could serve as a sounding board for all units.

As always, my thanks to Steve Moese for his comprehensive meeting notes that he shares with all AC members.