Minutes from the Master's Regional in Mansfield
Regional Action Items
Club-Level Action Items
B's Needs Committee Roster

 

B's Needs Committee Meeting Notes

Mansfield: Saturday November 9^th 2013, 8:30-9:30 AM

 

Attendees:

 

Meeting Facilitator – Ausra Geaski

District Secretary - Carolyn Weiser

 

EMBA Representatives:    Bob Bertoni

NHBA Representatives:   Bob Eachus

CBA - Joyce Stiefel

            Mike Wavada

WMBA - Bob Derrah

 

Ausra Geaski kicked off the meeting by thanking everyone for attending the meeting. She noted that Mark Aquino, the Chairperson for this Committee, was not able to attend and she would be facilitating the meeting.

Looking back at the previous minutes it was apparent that this group over the past year has identified many action items and initiated many activities in support of the goals of the group. As a tracking tool for all of the action items Ausra submitted a spreadsheet to the group for review. This included a list of action items discussed in previous meetings.

The group reviewed the list and provided feedback on some additional action items to include and reviewed activities in progress for these efforts. The group agreed that the list would be helpful to continue to capture suggestions and track progress.

The attached spreadsheet includes the feedback from the group and is submitted as part of the minutes.

Although the group was small in attendance the participants provided many good suggestions and comments which will assist the group in future meetings. Ausra again thanked the group for their participation and helpful input.

Respectfully submitted,

Ausra Geaski
D25 President

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Regional Action Items:

 

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Club-Level Action Items:

Category	Action Item	Who	Follow-up
Publicity	Announce upcoming regionals at the club games	B's needs members and Unit reps should follow up with their club manager / directors to ensure regionals are being announced at their club games. Joyce Stiefel sends a personal email before each sectional and regional to club managers and CBA board members asking them to announce the upcoming tournament.
	Encourage novice players to attend regionals	B's Needs Committee Members / Unit Representatives to Executive Committee / BOD Members	B's needs members, Unit reps and BOD members should reach out to novice players in their clubs to encourage them to play in regional events. Club Managers have received free entries to give out to new players for a regional event which should be communicated to novices.
	Ensure that flyers for novice events contain all of the information, i.e. location	Tournament Manager	Need to proofread all flyers to ensure they have all required information listed correctly.
		B's needs members, Unit reps and BOD members should reach out to players in their clubs to encourage them to play in regional events. Wayne Hersey frequently makes calls to players who have stopped attending club games and sectionals in VT and found this is the most productive way to get players back. Need to discuss how to do for regional tournaments.
	Distribute bridge and club information at various locations (Senior Citizen's Centers, Community Centers, Doctor's offices, etc.)	B's Needs Committee Members / Unit Representatives to Executive Committee / BOD Members	Joyce Stiefel has been doing this in CT and Bob Derrah in Western MA.
	Introduce a Bridge Awareness Week at the clubs	TBD	Cecilla Borras suggested this activity which could start at the club level then roll out across Units and perhaps later  coordinate simultaneously across all Units in the district. This is an initiative to discuss further at the B's Needs meetings.
Education	Set up a Mentor Program at the clubs	Club Managers	This has been done successfully in some clubs and Units, i.e. Hartford Bridge Club, EMBA. Need to discuss at B's Need meetings of how to promote this across all Units.
	Conduct bridge lessons on all levels at the clubs (new players, novice, intermediate)	TBD	Hartford Bridge Club in CBA provides bridge lessons at various levels. The program for players who are new to bridge has been very successful.
	Conduct bridge lessons outside the clubs (Senior Centers, Adult Education, local schools, universities, Boys and Girls Clubs)	B's Needs Committee Members / Unit Representative to Executive Committee / BOD Members	Bob Derrah indicated WMBA conducted classes in middle school. CBA has tried bridge lessons at the college level and middle school level. Adam Parrish and Jim Rasmussen have headed up a New England Youth Bridge (NEYB) program.
	Conduct bridge lessons on local cable TV	B's Needs Committee Members / Unit Representative to Executive Committee / Club Managers	Hartford Bridge Club in CBA did a sessions a few years ago on their local public TV channel.
	Invite guest speakers to club to do a talk on specific bridge topic(s)	Club Managers	This has been done by various clubs successfully. Speakers can be bridge Pros or someone local who can share their expertise on a specific topic.
Transportation	Help to set up car pools for players who want to come to Regionals	B's Needs Committee Members / Unit Representatives to Executive Committee	Bob Eachus noted that they are trying to arrange rides and partnerships for their club players for the Nashua regional.
Other	Conduct '8 is enough' events at clubs	Club Managers	This has been held successfully by several clubs.
	Hold Pro-Am games (match up more experienced with novice players)	Club Managers	EMBA has held this event at their sectionals, as well, as other Units at the club level.
	Ask bridge teachers at the clubs to bring their students to some regional event	B's Needs Committee Members / Unit Representatives to Executive Committee	This has been done occasionally by some bridge teachers and provided a more comfortable approach for new players to enter the larger events at regionals. B's Need s Committee should discuss how to promote this and present to Tournament Committee, e.g. get list of bridge teachers and contact personally or through email distribution.

 

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Roster:

Unit	Member Name
Chairperson / Facilitator	Mark Aquino
D25 President	Ausra Geaski
District Secretary	Carolyn Weiser
Tournament Manager	Helen Pawlowski
CBA	Joyce Stiefel
	Bill Watson
	Mike Wavada
CMBA	Steve Diamond
	Jeanne Robillard
EMBA	Bob Bertoni
	Cecilla Borras
NHBA	Bob Eachus
	Sarah Widhu
RIBA	Lois DeBlois
	Cathie Sallar
VBA	Wayne Hersey
WMBA	Bob Derrah