EVERETT UNIT 437 BOARD MEETING OF 3/23/14

The meeting was called to order by President JoAnn Smith at 8:00 pm. Present were JoAnn Smith, Marla Patterson, Ernie Staudt, Turid Fredrickson, Ron Tracy and Sharon Erwin. Mike Weber and Nick Tipton tournament directors and various club members were also present. Minutes of previous meeting are approved as corrected.

NEW BUSINESS: none

SECTIONAL:

1. Very successful Sectional--228.5 tables up from 219 last year. Lost some tables due to the Nationals in Dallas and some due to the tragic mudslide in Oso.

2. Mike's director's comments were favorable. We need to keep an eye on parking (seems to be no major problem if people do reasonable carpooling). Maybe discuss changing BCD Swiss to 7-7board matches so that they can match the clock of the A/Ax players; they ran well behind this year. (Board not particularly in favor of that--hasn't really been that much of a problem in the past; maybe just need better enforcement of the clock. If teams lose a board, they will pick up the pace.) Predups also slow things down, but the group with them wasn't holding up the show.

3. Final financial report has to wait until all bills are in. Need to send David Taylor the table count, then he will send us an invoice. At the moment, Mike has turned over to us $6856.

4. Board not happy with the quality of David's tables. Suggested seeing if we could rent Seattle's. I will also have a talk with David and see what might be done.

5. Other suggestions for Next year.

a. Need good sign out by 35th so people know where to turn.

b. Possible rent microphone/speaker setup to help communication. Turid will check into it.

c. A little more specific directions on the flyer--THIRD driveway on the left--large building at the BACK of the lot. Parking out front, on the side and in the back. All doors will be open.

d. On Saturday, 1230 and 1830 start times to get people home earlier.

e. Raise fee to $10--eliminate dollar hassle.

f. Open strats change to 500-2000, and 2000+ to be in line with other tournaments.

g. Have supply of AA batteries on hand for flame outs.

6. Free plays are not charged sanction fee, so it is OK to use them, appropriately. District 19 policy is that 16 and under are charged a $1 (but you then have to pay sanction fees) and 16-21 are always 1/2 price. We do the latter, but for the former, it would probably be easier to just let them play free; we are not talking about large numbers. For further discussion at the next meeting.

7. Thanks to Sharon for hosting a great after party; it was terrific.

OTHER BUSINESS: None

Meeting adjourned at 7:15 pm.

Next meeting TBD.

Respectfully submitted,

MARLA PATTERSON

SECRETARY