Present: Board members Bonnie Bagley, Lesley Davis, Diane Graese, Karin Griffin, Darryl Helton, Allen Johnson, Ralph Liguori, Gene McDougall, Carolyn Newcomb, Jerry Ranney, Marianne Spanier, Dale Sweetwood and John Van Ness, and board member elect Barbara Dunkley.

Absent Jerry Fleming

Attending a portion of the meeting were: Dan Williams and Director in Charge, Gary Zeiger.

President's Opening Remarks
John Van Ness announced Jerry Fleming was absent due to eye surgery for a detached retina; he suggested a call be placed to Jerry later in the meeting. John said that although District 17 tournaments continue to prosper, the hotel situation is a concern. Another item of possible concern for tournaments is the proliferation of triple masterpoint games available at clubs.

Election Report
Karin Griffin reported incumbents Bonnie Bagley, Colorado at large, Jerry Ranney, Denver, Gene McDougall, Tucson, Evelyn Colson, New Mexico at large, and Ralph Liguori, El Paso ran unopposed and Barbara Dunkley ran unopposed for the Las Vegas seat, since incumbent Diane Graese did not run for reelection.

Seating of New Board Member
A motion was made and seconded to seat new board member, Barbara Dunkley. The motion passed unanimously. John Van Ness welcomed Barbara Dunkley.

Approval of 10/10/09 Minutes
A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes of the October 10, 2009 meeting. The motion passed unanimously.

Secretary's Report
Bonnie Bagley reported Ruth Pepe, former D-17 representative from El Paso, sends her greeting to all and former D-17 representative from Wyoming, Vickie Thomas' mother passed away.

Treasurer's Report
Carolyn Newcomb reported income for 2009 of $11,025.89 and a net worth of $141,679.39. There is a $100,000 Certificate of Deposit at Wells Fargo Bank which will mature February 6, 2011. The interest rate is 1.73 percent. A motion was made and seconded to approve the treasurer's report. The motion passed unanimously.

Current Regional
Karin Griffin announced the table count is up over 2009 and Gary Zeiger, DIC, will present a more detail report.

National Board
John Van Ness stated that Jerry Fleming asked the board to refer to his column in the January FORUM for the pertinent information about the November ACBL board meeting in San Diego. Of particular note is the possible effect on tournament attendance and participation in the Western Conference STaCs by the allowing of unlimited sectionally-rated triple point special games at the club level. A motion was made and seconded to support Jerry Fleming's efforts to substantially reduce the number of special games at clubs as well as the masterpoint awards for these special games. The motion passed. It was noted the ACBL board voted to approve management's recommendation to pursue negotiations to hold the 2015 Fall NABC in Denver, November 26 through December 8, 2015.

Board of Governors
Bonnie Bagley attended the Board of Governor's meeting at the San Diego NABC and reported the Board of Governor's affirmed the actions taken by the Board of Directors.

Western Conference
John Van Ness reported the STaC table count was down slightly this year, but the Western Conference is still is good shape financially and sanction fees will not be increased.

Executive Committee
John Van Ness stated the Executive Committee met and discussed the agenda items and recommendations will be noted as the items are addressed.

Old Business
There was no old business.

New Business
Allocation of additional ACBL Charity Funds
Karin Griffin announced ACBL will grant District 17 an additional $10,000, making the total amount $30,000. Karin suggested we increase the amount to the five charities selected at the last meeting from $4,000 to $5,000 and give the next charity in line $5,000. A motion was made to accept Karin's recommendation, seconded and passed unanimously. Karin reported the additional charity is Families First submitted by the Denver unit. A motion was made and seconded that in the future units be drawn randomly eliminating units that previously received charity monies. After discussion the motion was withdrawn.

8% ACBL Tournament Director Fee Increase
John Van Ness reported ACBL will increase director fees 8% April 1 which will increase tournament costs. John stated that the district can lower their sanction fee to offset the increase. When the player entry fee was increased in 2008, the intent was to lower the district sanction fee when tournament expenses increased. The director fee increase averages out to about 65 cents per table, and would cost about $8,500 per year, assuming there are no further increases next year. The Executive Committee recommended decreasing the district sanction fee by $1.00 to offset the director fee increase and eliminate the $1,000 I/N subsidy. Carolyn Newcomb reported the subsidy was intended to benefit the I/N players and according to the receipts submitted for the subsidy, few tournaments are fully utilizing the subsidy by doing additional I/N programs. After much discussion, a motion was made and seconded that the district sanction fee be lowered by $1.00 from $6.50 to $5.50 and the I/N subsidy be lowered to $400.00 effective April 1, 2010. The motion was seconded and passed.

At this point, Dan Williams, who duplicates the boards for District 17, joined the meeting. He noted that his expenses were increasing and he needs to charge more for the board duplication. A motion was made and seconded that Dan be paid $15 a set for the first 60 sets duplicated and $12.50 for each additional, with a 60 set minimum; a room in which the duplication can be done and storage of the boards and equipment is to be Also, Dan is to receive the book selling concession. The motion was passed unanimously.

Completed Tournament Reports
Ruidoso
Evelyn Colson reported the regional did not have the table count anticipated, but felt the economy was a factor. The tournament was still a success - all players had a great time. The table count was 1,303 plus 65 tables participating in the NAPs. The tournament had a loss of $1,295 which is understandable considering rental of the Convention Center has gone from $2,000 in 1997 to $7,780 in 2009. It was moved and seconded to reimburse the Ruidoso unit $1,295. The motion passed unanimously.

Future Tournaments
Five Year Schedule
John Van Ness stated with NABCs in District 17 in 2013, 2014 and 2015 the usual schedule needs some change, especially since the Ruidoso unit does not wish to host another regional in the near future. Ralph Liguori mentioned that El Paso would be interested in co-hosting a regional with Las Cruces. John Van Ness presented a tentative schedule for 2011 through 2015. John Van Ness noted that although the third week of April was Mesa's priority week, Mesa's regional shifts to avoid conflicts with the San Diego Regional, which is always Easter Week and Gatlinburg. IN 2011 the Mesa Regional will be the first week of April, in 2012, the third week, in 2013, the first week, in 2014, the first week and in 2015, the second week. A motion was made and seconded to accept the proposed schedule John Van Ness presented. The motion passed unanimously. The schedule is attached.

Barbara Dunkley said that beginning in 2016 Las Vegas would like to change their priority week to the second week in June, which could leave only 6 days between the end of the Denver Regional and the start of the Las Vegas Regional since the Denver Regional ends on Memorial Day. The Executive Committee approved the 2016 Las Vegas Regional the second week of June due to hotel scheduling conflicts. It was decided to see what the effect of the 2010 Denver Regional and the 2010 Las Vegas Regional being 6 days apart has on both tournaments' table count before taking action.

Tucson NLM
(February 25-28, 2010) Gene McDougal reported Tucson's recent sectional was held at the Desert Diamond Casino (the new location for the I/N Tournament) and everyone loved the site; the sectional was the largest in five years. The tournament is open to all non life master players with less then 500 points.

Mesa
(April 5-11, 2010) Dale Sweetwood stated that hotel reservations at this point are 30% of the guarantee; usually they are 75-80%. The contract has a room night guarantee of 785 with a 15% leeway, no penalties if room nights are 660. Everything has been done to cut costs, playing space has been cut to the max, Gary Zeiger has eliminated a director, but players need to attend. In 2011, the tournament will be held at the Convention Center at a cost of $7,000, but the host hotels have agreed to rebate $10 per room night.

Denver
(May 25-31, 2010) Carolyn Newcomb and Jerry Ranney noted that all is ready and encouraged board members to attend even though there is not a meeting in Denver this year. The hotel rate is $94 a night and flyers are available to take to your units.

Las Vegas
(June 7-13, 2010) Barbara Dunkley said negotiations have been underway to move Las Vegas' tournaments to Bally's. The sectionals will move in 2011 and the regional in 2014. Contracts for the regionals have been signed with Bally's for 2014 and 2015 and 2016.

Phoenix
(August 9-15, 2010) Lesley Davis noted everything is well organized for the tournament which will be held at the Doubletree Hotel in Scottsdale. The room rate is $99.

Tucson
(October 4-10, 2010) Gene McDougall presented the schedule and noted the starting times listed of 9 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. had been changed to 9 a.m., 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. to be consistent with District 17 policy. The Regional Tournament Committee approved the schedule with the corrected times. The budget was approved by the Finance Committee but noted that adjustments were necessary for the reduced District 17 sanction fees and I/N subsidy. A motion was made to approve the schedule, budget and offer Tucson the Baldwin Plan. The motion passed unanimously.

Albuquerque
(January 17-23, 2011) Karin Griffin stated the tournament remains at the Marriott Pyramid and a copy of the contract has been sent to John Van Ness.

Colorado Springs
(August 15-21, 2011) Bonnie Bagley reported the regional will be at the Doubletree Hotel, a new location, and the room rates are $99. At this point, Gary Zeiger, director in charge, joined the meeting. He reported that through Friday night the table count was 1,356 which is 91.5 tables above last year. He predicts the final table count to be 1,825. The Senior Pairs have been consistently down, the Prime Time Open Pairs have been consistently up. The 199er games were changed from afternoon & evening to morning and afternoon. The morning games have been slightly larger then the evening games last year, but the afternoon games have been consistently smaller. There have been some minor glitches with the BridgeMates, but they have been clearly better than last year.

Committee Reports
Elections
noted above

GNT
Jerry Ranney reported the GNT qualifying games started in September and will continue through the end of April. Jerry noted he has not received any reports from Albuquerque, Mesa, El Paso and Las Vegas.

NAP
Dale Sweetwood noted there was better support from the units this year and all of the winners were on the qualifying list and did not have to be verified by ACBL.

I/N
Evelyn Colson stated a sample of the postcard that will be sent to I/N players is in the folders. She continues to mail between 400 and 500 for every District 17 regional.

By Laws
Karin Griffin asked everyone to read the By Laws and report to her at the Las Vegas meeting any changes that might need to be made.

Regional Tournaments
John Van Ness reported above.

ScoreCard
Bonnie Bagley included the ScoreCard editor job description submitted by Jared Johnson, ScoreCard editor and one submitted by Ken Monzingo, FORUM publisher. Bonnie explained that the purpose of the FORUM and ScoreCard is to advertise the Western Conference District tournaments and publish tournament results. There are four pages (the ScoreCard) where District 17 sectional ads and sectional results appear; also the columns by the District 17 president and the National Board Representative, which alternate every other month. The front page always has an article about the upcoming regional with an attractive picture, when submitted, articles of interest are included on a space available basis. A motion was made to place an article in the March FORUM soliciting applications for ScoreCard editor. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously. Bonnie Bagley and Lesley Davis will coordinate the article and applications. Jared Johnson, the current ScoreCard editor, has indicated he still wants to be considered for the position. Bonnie asked for a vote on the color of the District 17 logo - white or red. White received the majority of votes with one abstention.

Sectional Tournament Coordination
Marianne Spanier advised Darryl Helton that Prescott needs to move their priority week in 2011 because the Las Vegas Regional that year is the last week of June. Marianne also noted that in 2011, Colorado Springs is sanctioned for April 29 - May 1 which has been Boulder's priority week. Bonnie Bagley will check with Margie Schrader and the Boulder tournament chairman to coordinate their sectionals.

Finance
Jerry Ranney will do a review of the 2009 District 17 financials. Carolyn Newcomb stated the checking account had been opened in Phoenix and the district was billed $20 every month. Carolyn discovered the only way to eliminate this bill was close the Phoenix account and open another one in Denver, which Carolyn did. Now every member of the Finance Committee has total view access for all accounts. Carolyn will redo the 2010 budget.

Baldwin Plan
Bonnie Bagley noted she will update the Baldwin Plan to reflect the reduced District 17 sanction fee and reduced I/N subsidy.

Education
Darryl Helton said beginning bridge lessons were advertised in Sedona, which has less then 20,000 people, 110 people came for the lessons. They received six weeks of free lessons and after a year 63 are still attending and 56 joined ACBL. Marsha Helton teamed Kat Gee of Albuquerque and two of her students, Barbara Ballard and Alice Martin, to win Bracket II of the Hopi Compact Knockouts. Marsha uses Audrey Grant books and has sold over 400 of them. Audrey Grant will be coming to Sedona January 28, to give a workshop and 76 people have signed up to attend. Evelyn Colson reported Las Cruces has started a teaching program in two junior high schools and in the fall will start teaching bridge at the high school and at another junior high school.

Unit Affiliations
No report

Appeals
There might be a disciplinary situation brought to the district committee.

Contract Review
Allen Johnson reported he and John Van Ness have been reviewing the contracts. John Van Ness noted the contract review process is a win-win process. Host units are reminded they are now required to submit their hotel contracts to the Contract Review Committee before signing.

Election of Officers
The following were nominated, seconded and elected unanimously:

President - John Van Ness
Vice President - Gene McDougall
Secretary - Bonnie Bagley
Treasurer - Carolyn Newcomb
Election Secretary - Karin Griffin

Respectfully submitted,
Bonnie L. Bagley