District Director's Report
December 2004

Orlando NABC

The Orlando NABC was held at the Orlando Marriott World Center, a magnificent and spacious resort hotel. The attendance was 14,642 tables, which makes this the third largest Fall NABC of all time, behind only Las Vegas 2001 and Orlando 1992. The tournament was held on one floor, which is ideal, and the playing rooms were generally well-lit and spacious. On the negative side, the Marriott World Center is fairly isolated so the only way to travel to restaurants outside the hotel was to rent a car or use a fairly expensive taxi service. Several people suggested that Management should have communicated in advance in the ACBL Bulletin that renting a car for the week would be beneficial for those who wished to enjoy attractions/restaurants away from the hotel. The blurb to that effect in the Daily Bulletin was too late.

Orlando continues to be one of the most popular sites for our NABCs. I believe that everyone who attended had a great time.

TOP 10 FINISHERS IN NABC EVENTS - DISTRICT 25

LM OPEN PAIRS

LM WOMEN'S PAIRS

SENIOR KO TEAMS

NORTH AMERICAN SWISS TEAMS

2005 ACBL President

Chuck Wilkinson (District 10), who was elected in July as President for 2005, lost his District Director election and chose to resign as President (our by-laws would have permitted him to serve). Roger Smith (District 21) was elected to the office of ACBL President for a one-year term beginning January 1, 2005. Losing Chuck as a Board member is, in my opinion, a major loss.

CEO Report

CEO Jay Baum reported that the upward trend in membership is continuing. As of October 31, membership for 2004 is up approximately 800 members. Another positive is that retention of first year (to second year) members has reached 65%, a 9% increase over 2003 and a 13% increase from two years ago.

Regional tables are up 6% over 2003 and Sectional tables are approximately the same as 2003 (total tables are up 1% but the average is lower by two tables). The club level of the North American Pairs increased from 27,822 tables to 38,224 tables, an increase of 38%, and the highest number since 1995. This is a very good result and bodes well for the continuation of this event in the future. We continue to encourage club owners to run the NAP qualifying games and players to play in the games. The lower entry fees (an extra $1.00 instead of $1.75) will be continued this year.

Hall of Fame

Several changes were proposed to the Hall of Fame Charter, the main change being that the electorate be reduced from approximately 800 voters, which includes members of the Board of Directors and the Board of Governors, to about 160 voters: all living HOF members; up to 10 bridge journalists; plus those who have won at least 5 WBF/NABC Championships including at least one +++ event (e.g., Spingold, Bermuda Bowl, etc.). The other major change is that a minimum percentage will be required for a person to be elected (50% for 2004 with the expectation that this percentage will be raised for 2005 and later after we gather more voting data from the new electorate).

The motion passed 22-3. I voted for the motion. I was selected in July to act as a liaison with the HOF Committee; this committee strongly recommended that the existing electorate of around 800 persons had to be reduced to a smaller, more knowledgeable, group.

Unit - Wide Championships

In response to a request from Don Stiegler, Unit Coordinator for CT, regarding combining morning and afternoon games into the same session, I discussed this point with Management and they put forth the following motion: For proposes of Unit-Wide Championships, morning and afternoon sanctioned games are deemed to be the same session when there is not more than a 3 1/2 hour time difference between the starting times of the games.

The motion passed without dissent.

Projected 2004 Financial Results and 2005 Budget

For calendar year 2004, we budgeted for a $29,000 gain. The current projection is that we will end the year with a profit of approximately $100,000. One of the main reasons for the excess profit is that all three NABCs (Reno, New York and Orlando) were very well attended.

For 2005, the Finance Committee recommended and the BOD approved a budgeted loss of $350,000. The primary reason we can responsibly budget for a loss of this magnitude is that we have had excess profits over the past several years and, even with the budgeted loss, we will remain well within the ACBL's financial guidelines.

For 2005, the following fee changes are approved:

• Directors' fees will be raised 6.5% (3.5 % for salary increases and 3% catch-up). The net increase will be only 3.5% because sanction fees will be lowered by an amount equivalent to the 3% catch-up.


• Sanction fees will be lowered by 4.2% (to offset the 3% catch-up in Directors' fees).

ACBL Goodwill Committee & ACBL Charity Committee Appointments

It gives me great pleasure to announce the following appointments to the ACBL National Goodwill Committee and the National Charity Committee. These are lifetime appointments honoring players who have contributed substantially to bridge in our District.

National Goodwill Committee

Members selected to the Goodwill Committee are those who consistently behave in an exemplary manner and spread goodwill among both partners and opponents. Both Helen and Ausra are always friendly, courteous and gracious at the table. Each has also done a terrific job providing hospitality to the players, Helen at the Springfield Regional for the past several years and Ausra at CT Sectionals.

National Charity Committee

Both of these Vermonters have been instrumental in promoting bridge by being heavily involved in the very successful "bridge at schools" programs in Vermont. Through these programs, the Vermont Unit has significantly increased membership among young players.

TOP 25 MASTERPOINT WINNERS –Orlondo NABC

The Spring NABC will be held in Pittsburgh from March 10 through March 20. Hope to see you there.

Rich DeMartino
District Director