District Director's Report
July 2004

New York City NABC

This NABC was the first NABC held in New York City since 1974. Attendance was 13,351 tables, which is almost 2,000 tables higher than management's pre-tournament estimate. There were both positive and negative aspects of the tournament. On the positive side, there are numerous restaurants in all price ranges within a few blocks of the hotel which made eating between sessions quite easy. There are also numerous major attractions in the city so many of the players chose to take some time off to see shows or to do other sight seeing. Finally, the combined District 24 / District 3 committee did a wonderful job on hospitality and evening entertainment. On the negative side, the $182 room rate (including taxes) at the Hilton, while not high for New York City, is certainly quite steep for an NABC. There were also numerous complaints about the lighting and/or air conditioning in some of the playing areas. To make matters worse, management inexplicably gave away some of our contracted space on the last weekend so playing conditions on the last Sunday were quite poor. Overall, I believe the tournament was a success and that we will hold another NABC in the city within the next 10 years.

TOP 10 FINISHERS IN NABC EVENTS - DISTRICT 25

NABC FAST PAIRS

GNT - FLIGHT A

GNT - FLIGHT C

SPINGOLD KO TEAMS

MINI SPINGOLD II (0 - 1500)

LM PAIRS (0 - 1500)

LM PAIRS (0 - 5000)

HIGHLIGHTS OF ACBL BOARD MEETING

Financial Status

For calendar year 2004, we budgeted for a $29,000 gain. For the first four months of 2004, revenues exceeded expenses by $187,000. Our current estimate is that 2004 will produce a gain in the range of $150,000 - $200,000. Preliminary budget estimates for 2005 are that there will be no increases in club fees, sectional or regional sanction fees or in entry fees for NABC's. Due both to 2005 salary increases and the fact that we are currently undercharging for directors' fees, we plan to increase directors' fees by about 7%.

Expenses for those items deemed to be covered by membership fees (e.g., the ACBL Bulletin) have increased over the past several years so we are planning to increase membership fees by $3 for 2005. This is the first increase in membership fees since January 2001 and, despite the fact that some Board members are opposed to any increase in membership fees, I believe the proposed increase is both modest (10% over the past 4 years) and justified. If you feel strongly about this issue, either way, please feel free to give me your thoughts.

CEO Report

CEO Jay Baum reported that the upward trend in membership is continuing. For the first 6 months of 2004, membership is up by 803. Regional attendance has also increased by almost 8% thus far this year; sectional attendance is down slightly.

Nationally Rated Events at NABC's

Based on the recommendations of a Committee which was formed to review the schedule of NABC and NABC+ events, the following changes to our NABC schedule were unanimously adopted beginning in 2005:

• The IMP Pairs on the second Thursday and Friday at the Summer NABC will be moved to the second Thursday and Friday of the Spring NABC. Open Pairs II on the second Thursday and Friday of the Spring NABC will be moved to Tuesday and Wednesday of the Summer NABC. There will now be an Open Pairs at each NABC.


• The Senior Swiss Teams at the Summer NABC will be moved from Tuesday and Wednesday to Monday and Tuesday.


• The Mixed BAM Teams and the Fast Open Pairs will be moved from the second Saturday and Sunday of the Summer NABC to the second Thursday and Friday of the Summer NABC.


• A new 4 session (2 qualifying sessions) NABC Swiss Team event will be held on the second Saturday and Sunday of the Summer NABC. Each NABC will now end with a Swiss Team on the final weekend (at the Fall NABC, the Reisinger BAM and 6 session North American Swiss will continue to start on Friday).


• A new 4 session Mini Blue Ribbon Pairs will be added to the Fall NABC on Tuesday and Wednesday for players with a Blue Ribbon qualification and no more than 5,000 masterpoints. This event will be run concurrent with the first two days of the Blue Ribbon Pairs (thus ending the day before Thanksgiving).

Life Master Categories

A new category, Emerald Life Master, is added between Diamond Life Master and Grand Life Master. This category will require 7,500 masterpoints. In addition, those who have earned 10,000 masterpoints but have not won a North American Bridge Championship will be designated as Platinum Life Masters.

2005 ACBL President

Chuck Wilkinson (District 10) was elected to the office of ACBL President for a one-year term beginning January 1, 2005. I believe Chuck is one of the strongest and hardest-working Board members and I am very pleased that he will be our President next year.

As is customary, the complete minutes of the Board Meeting will be posted on the ACBL Website within the next few weeks.

TOP 25 MASTERPOINT WINNERS –NYC NABC

Reminder: During July and August, there will hopefully be numerous North American Pairs qualifying games in your area. As I mentioned previously, the ACBL is making a strong effort to revitalize the NAPs. One important change is that the additional card fee for NAP club qualifying games is being reduced from $1.75 to $1.00. Please try to support this event so the ACBL can keep the NAPs on the calendar in the future.

The Fall NABC will be held at the Marriott World Center in Orlando from November 18 through November 28. You won't want to miss this great event in sunny central Florida. In addition to the non-stop bridge action, there are hundreds of attractions in the Orlando area that make it a travel destination for the entire family and one of the tourist capitals of the world. I'm told that the Marriott is a magnificent hotel with about 2,000 rooms, free parking and an 18 hole Championship golf course. The playing space is all on the lobby level. Hope to see you there.

Rich DeMartino
District Director