Dear Cindy,

The ACBL Board of Directors held its summer meetings face-to-face (F2F) Monday, July 10 through Thursday, July 13 in Chicago. The Board, working groups, task forces and committees continue to meet regularly through Microsoft Teams.   

While attending the Chicago NABC, I had the opportunity to speak with members at all stages of their bridge journeys and from different parts of the country, including our Region 10. It is of great a value to hear the negatives and the positives and to share ideas and strategies essential to the vitality of bridge.

The NABC ended Monday, July 24 with 8,343 tables. At the closing of reservations, 91.1% of the rooms reserved were sold at the Sheraton Grand Hotel, the host hotel, and 70.9% were sold at the Intercontinental Chicago Magnificent Mile Hotel. This was the first time since the pandemic that ACBL has been this significantly over the attrition rate at both hotels going into the NABC.

It's not too early to mark your calendar to attend the fall 2024 NABC in Las Vegas, November 28 - December 8, at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino. Read more.

This week, I will be attending the Phoenix Desert Empire Regional. Talking Stick is a fantastic (smoke free) location and I hope to see you there!

Respectfully,

Cindy Shoemaker

Region 10 (District 17) Director

ACBL National Board

Region10director@acbl.org

The change in net assets from January 1, 2023 to May 31, 2023 was $627K. $364K of this amount was income from operations, largely due to increased NABC income, and $263K reflects the change in the market value of investments. These numbers are $209K better than the 2023 budget and $624K better than the same time period in 2022.

There is a continued investment in technology that was capitalized in the first five months of 2023. $147K was spent on the development of the new Masterpoint Engine and $139K was spent on the modernization and migration of applications that reside on the AS400.

Management proposed fee increases in all areas that will go into effect January 1, 2024. Member dues, club sanction fees, special game fees and tournament fees will increase along with cruise and land cruise sanction fees and NABC entry fees. Many of these fees have not been increased in several years, since before the pandemic. Communications to follow.

Planning is underway for tiered regular and social memberships. The new social memberships will have an annual fee of $29 per year or a slightly higher monthly fee of $2.99, and will allow players to accumulate up to 100 masterpoints.

Management also proposed a plan for tiered patron memberships that will range from patron to silver and gold patron memberships with varying benefits associated with each level.

Item 232-FN01 moved to clarify the language and specific procedures and tools used by ACBL as referenced in the Codification, Appendix 2-A. Accounts Payable and Check Cashing Policies: Chapter II - Business Management, A. Finance. 



Carried: 17-0-0-1. One representative was absent at the time the vote was taken.

Effective: Immediate.

As of June 2023, ACBL membership totaled 132,247. New member recruitment is up 32.9% from 2022. Guest memberships continue to increase. To date, 2,576 guest members have converted to regular memberships. As of June 30, there are 1,897 active guest members. 

The Membership Building Task Force is actively reviewing the Codification relating to membership building and retention to determine synergies and whether improvements to processes, and redistribution of funding, are warranted. 

Additional initiatives for consideration by management include the implementation of a Member Referral Program, and an initiative to expand ACBL presence digitally as well as F2F within organizations and associations that appeal to youth and to the 50 to 65 age demographic. 

In Chicago, the Task Force brought forth the following motion and fostered a discussion on the utilization of the 11% of full dues payments and life master service fees paid to Units by their members. 

Item 232-ME01 moved to redefine the requirements for the Cooperative Advertising Program (CAP) reimbursements. This includes providing ACBL with program plans and evaluations and offering guest memberships to program participants. ACBL will garner best practices to support future planning efforts. 

Carried: 18-0-0.

Effective: January 1, 2024. 

A discussion (DI232-MEO) regarding the utilization of the 11% of full dues payments and life master service fees paid to Units by their members occurred in the Finance Committee meeting and in Full Board. 

In March 2022, the Board unanimously passed (Item 221-GV02) which eliminated the requirement for Units to hold at least one sectional every two years, and clarified that the 11% of full dues payments and life master service fees paid by their members is intended to supplement Unit funds for activities related to membership building and retention. Based on this clarification, discussions focused on building awareness of the intended use of funds, determining how Units are using the funds and providing Units with collaborative materials, including best practices. Management and the Board agreed that a reporting component should be added to ensure compliance with the intended use of funds.   

The Task Force will compile feedback provided by the Board, management and stakeholders, collaborate with management to communicate with Units and provide fund distribution and usage scenarios for presentation in fall 2023. 

Boost F2F Bridge, an ACBL and ACBL Educational Foundation joint pilot initiative, is aimed at building membership by providing support for F2F beginning bridge teachers and F2F bridge clubs. ACBL uses social ad campaigns to identify individuals interested in learning bridge. Leads generated from these campaigns are then funneled to participating teachers.

Selected teachers must offer guest memberships to students and have access to F2F clubs where students can take lessons and advance to in-person supervised play.

In summer, 21 campaigns generated 1,406 leads and 131 students. An additional 166 individuals expressed interest in taking classes in the near future. ACBL is accepting submissions for third quarter. Currently, over 38 campaigns are scheduled.

A Second reading (Item 231-BY01) to amend Bylaws Article III, Section 3.5 to include an expanded list of who is subject to binding arbitration, and to add Article XII detailing how arbitration will work, passed the Board by the required two-thirds majority vote. The first reading was passed by the Board in March 2023.  

Effective: Immediate upon ratification by the Advisory Council which occurred during its July 25 meeting.

Streamlined Board procedures, developed by the Governance Committee, were presented to the Full Board in Chicago. The procedures meet the requirements of the ACBL Bylaws, and provide a more flexible way of doing business, particularly for a smaller Board of 13.  



The guidelines will be in effect on a trial basis through fall meetings in Atlanta and will be refined in 2024.  

As part of its routine work, and in addition to the development of the Interim Guidelines that were based on Discussion Item DI232-GV01, the Governance Committee reviewed five motions: 

The first (232-GV01) was submitted through its Regional Director by a District concerned with expanding the criteria that would define a Member Not in Good Standing to include not serving in any club administrative capacity. Currently, a Member Not in Good Standing is not permitted to serve as a club manager or club director (among other non-allowed positions and responsibilities as detailed in the Codification, Chapter I – Membership, Section 2 – Definitions and Rights of ACBL Membership, 2.3.2, a. through j.). 

This motion was debated in Committee and brought to the Full Board with a narrow margin of approval. After considerable discussion by all Board members, the motion failed by a vote of 6-12-0-0.

The concern was that as much as the Board wanted to honor the District’s request to ensure integrity at the Unit and club level, the ability for a club to make its own rules already exists. To codify this across all clubs would be difficult, given the ambiguity about what “administrative capacity” would mean to each club.

Item 232-GV02 was unanimous in Committee and submitted to the Board as part of the Consent Calendar. This motion deleted many of the administrative requirements for the monthly ACBL Bridge Bulletin as had been listed in the Codification, Chapter II - Business Management - D. ACBL Bridge Bulletin. The Bulletin functions should be the responsibility of the Editor and editorial staff as part of the editorial decision-making process and therefore, do not need to be codified.

Effective: Immediate.

The Appeals & Charges Committee reported on hearings it held since its last report to the Board: One Automatic Review of an Online Ethical Oversight Committee matter and two reviews of Negotiated Resolutions. Hearing reports are available at the Ethics & Discipline area of the ACBL website: https://www.acbl.org/ethics/

ltem 232-AC03 moved to delete references to the American Arbitration Association (AAA) from the CDR, bringing the CDR into alignment with the Institute for Bridge Arbitration’s (IBA) actual implementation.

Carried: Unanimous. 

Effective: Immediate. 

Item 232-AC04 moved that CDR 403(d)(3) Suspension, maximum of six months, be revised to maximum of twenty-four months. 

Carried: Unanimous. 

Effective: Immediate. 

The Board engaged in several bridge-related discussions and considered the following motions:

Item 232-BR01 clarifies and provides consistency to the information presented in the Codification, Chapter X: Sectionals, and introduces bridge camps, a special instance of a local sectional, where a residential program of bridge instruction incorporates games similar to tournaments-at-sea where silver points are awarded. 

Carried: 18-0-0.

Effective: September 1, 2023.

Item 232-BR02 moved to approve the 2023-2024 GNT Conditions of Contest and to change the contact for members seeking exceptions to residency requirements from the District President to the District Director found in the Codification, Chapter XI - Special Events, A. Residency Requirements, Section 1 - Grand National Teams and North American Pairs. 

Substantive changes to the 2023-2024 GNT Conditions of Contest are: Flight C to use the Basic+ Convention Chart instead of the Basic Chart, updating the security section to permit unproctored online play and removing most COVID-specific provisions.   

Carried: Unanimous.

Effective: September 1, 2023. 

ACBL maintains a list of top lifetime masterpoint holders which is published annually in the ACBL Bridge Bulletin. A discussion (DI232-BR01) resulted in the decision to review current criteria established for inclusion or removal from the list, ensuring consistency and transparency moving forward. This review, to be conducted by management and the Bridge Committee, may result in policy and/or modifications to ACBL Codification.

In 2021, a strength of field motion (202-21 first reading and 20S6-03 second reading) was unanimously passed by the Board. This discussion (DI232-BR02) focused on concerns over the cost, the timeframe for implementation and how the implementation ranks in terms of organizational priorities. Rather than relying on an outside vendor, the IT team, headed by Jay Whipple, determined a cost effective and simplified solution for implementation to occur by year-end. 

A discussion (DI232-BR04) centered on whether to change the grass roots funding structure to invigorate these prestigious events. This resulted in an action item to management to review the financial spreadsheet as well as past motions and regulations affecting grass roots. Management will work with the Bridge Committee to propose a potential solution that will be considered at the fall meeting.

A discussion (DI232-BR05) resulted in the approval for virtual clubs to run a week of Club Appreciation games in October 2023 and a week of Charity games in November and in December 2023 with funds allocated to the ACBL Charity Foundation. Due to additional programming requirements, management will not be able to implement the extra Charity games in 2023. 

The NABC Site Selection Committee recommended Seattle, WA as the location for the fall 2027 NABC. The site visit to the Summit Convention Center and Hyatt Regency (host hotel) was conducted on June 21-22, 2023.

The committee reported the financial projection and the benefits of the space, e.g., many nearby restaurants, bars and attractions, a high walkability rating and an affordable room rate of $189. 

The Board unanimously supported Seattle, WA for the 2027 Fall NABC. 

The dual challenges of declining membership and the effects of the pandemic have prompted the ACBL Charity Foundation Trustees to propose a revised giving strategy communicated to the Board by Foundation President Jackie Zayac.

 It includes resuming the grant rotation to Districts on a two-year rather than a four-year rotation, awarding each district $10,000.

Region 1 (Districts 1 and 2) receive charity funds from the Canadian Bridge Federation and are not included in the rotation. Region 13 (Districts 18 and 19) share one grant because its membership is split between Canada and the U.S. 

The Foundation proposed continuing grants in the amount of $5,000 to a qualified 501(c)3 organization at each NABC, but to suspend individual grants. The establishment of a catastrophic relief fund, maintaining a minimum balance of $50,000, was also proposed.  

An election to fill two Trustee positions will occur at the Foundation Membership Meeting in November. Declarations are due by October 15, 2023. For details, contact ACBL Election Secretary: elections@acbl.org. 

Jon Brissman, Jan Martel, Karen Allison and Marjorie Michelin were each appointed to the Online Ethical Oversight Committee for a three-year term from the end of the summer 2023 NABC through the end of the summer 2026 NABC.