TO:             ACBL Board of Directors

ACBL Board of Governors

 

 

FROM:        Jay Baum

 

 

RE:              March 2004 - Reno, NV

                   Board Meeting, CEO Report

 

 

1.          Membership:

             Total Membership as of March 1, 2004 is 167,231.  Year-to-date February 2004 vs. February 2003 we have an increase of 1,227 more members.  Paid members are 149,855, which is up 561 over 2003. (Exhibit 1)

 

             We have a continued pattern of decreasing losses and increasing retention.  March, April and May will be very important “new member” months for us.  The Membership Bills Renewal mailing is included to convey an understanding of the monthly renewal patterns. (Exhibit 2)

 

             Also attached are pertinent reports from the year-end Q      uip report. (Exhibit 3)

 

 

2.          Information Technology:

ACBLscore conversion to windows is progressing and will be previewed here.  There remain many months of work and testing before the product will be ready for distribution.

 

Internet Masterpoints Systems is fully operational and is now available to MAC and WEB TV users.  Many other enhancements are finished and described in detail in the three-year Technology plan.

 

Work continues on the web site.  Expect a finished product by July 2004.  Real-time access for members will be finished after completion of the web site.

 

We continue to upgrade all our technology components including hardware, software and cabling.

 

Imaging of documents continues to progress in our new Scanning Department.  We have started paperless invoicing including a new auditing procedure to insure reliability.

 

Other developments are included in the updated ACBL Technological three-year plan.

 

Virus Alerts: We continue to see some “spoofing” of acbl.org messages that are infected.  Be aware these are not coming from ACBL.  Take extra care in opening any files that look suspicious.  We are doing everything we can to identify these as fast as possible and alert you.

 

 

3.          Human Resources:

Performance appraisals and 2004 goals have been completed using the new software “Performance Now”.  This has been a good addition for managers and has saved a great deal of time.  We now have a standardized method with enhanced features used by all Managers.

 

 

4.          Tournament Tables:

            Led by Regionals, the first two months saw growth at tournaments.  The average regional tables increase was nearly 300 per tournament over 2003.   (Exhibit 4)

 

 

5.          Customer Service Standards:

You received the “Customer Service Program” last week.  We will compare the 2003 survey results with this year’s survey to try to identify any areas of improvement.  This program will give us good feedback on all aspects of the ACBL.  A 24-hour turnaround will be a major focus of our monitoring.

         

 

 

 

6.          Mointoring Cameras:

ACBL is joining the ranks of other sports and games with the start of camera filming at all NABC+ events.  We will start on Wednesday with the Flight A NAPs and continue through the entire tournament.  This system will assist in monitoring the event and allow for review of each session.  This feature will help to deter inappropriate behavior in addition to providing constant monitoring of players and directors.

 

 

7.          ACBL Recorder:

            Gary Blaiss has had the duties of National Recorder added to his position.  We are working on developing better communication among District Recorders.  We are looking to these volunteers for suggestions on how to develop and refine communications.

 

            We now have a password-protected bulletin board that is available for questions and general assistance.  E-mail addresses of all recorders are listed on the forum.  This should increase contact among recorders when investigating player memos concerning members of other districts.

 

 

8.          Marketing:

            The filming of the new “Bridge! The Big Picture” is finished and in the final stages of editing.  This is a 13-week series of half-hour shows.  We hope to have the finished product for distribution in April.

 

            The “Champions of Industry” spot ran on Headline News on February 18.  The five-minute version is available online at ACBL.org.

 

            The Zonal Stage of the Educational Foundation North American College Championships was held on February 28, 2004 with 17 teams participating.  This was an increase of 8 teams over last year.  The qualifiers for the finals were Dartmouth, MIT, Ohio Wesleyan, Carnegie Mellon, Stanford and UCLA.

 

            Marketing has a number of other exciting things going on and plans are outlined in the Marketing status report.