CEO Report to ACBL Board of Directors
April 2003

Date: April 4, 2003

1. Philadelphia NABC: Philadelphia concluded and by nearly all accounts was an overwhelming success. Final dollar amounts are not yet available but table count was 10,851.5 vs. a budget of 11,000 tables. We were very close on room pick-up and will have no attrition charges. The survey results for preferred starting times were:

2. Partners and Sponsors: Delta Queen Steamship agreement: We are completing an agreement with the Delta Queen Steamship, which will have benefits for members in the form of deep discounts on cruises.

Bridge Pro Tour Sponsorship: We are concluding a sponsorship agreement with Bridge Pro Tour for each NABC in 2004. BPT will sponsor a Regional pair event the day prior to its event (9:00 a.m. game to run four consecutive mornings). These BPT events will not be run or sponsored by ACBL, but will be sanctioned by ACBL for MP awards.

3. Cards for Service Men and Women: ACBL is donating approximately 1,000 decks of cards to USO for distribution to troops overseas. A press release will be sent to the Memphis media and other selected media.

4. Marketing: Coop Advertising Program is alive and well and being used by many members. We had 25 requests processed last week and expect that level of activity to continue.

Election reminder notifications have been sent to all incumbents (District Board Members, Board of Governors, First and Second Alternates, etc.) whose terms expire December 31, 2003. We are also following up with Units to confirm the number of voting members in each Unit.

All membership forms and renewals forms are being revised to established uniformity. Nearly all current forms are different dependent on their location (i.e. catalog, Adventures in Duplicate, Join the Fun, etc.) When this project is completed, each form will present a uniform appearance.

New prospective member packets are being developed and new member packets are being updated. Both packages will reflect ACBL’s new, upbeat image for us. Upon completion of this project, you will receive a sample of each in your packet mail.

Senior Olympics games went well in Houston and we are working with North Carolina and New York to sanction and promote those games. Our new display case travels to the games. If you need help or information for your area, please call the Education department.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Bridge Week in North America dates for 2004 have been changed to January 12 – 18, 2004. BWNA will always begin on the 2^nd Monday in January. This is a change from previous dates. We determined it was necessary to make this a standard week without the possibility of landing on New Year’s day. There will be special programs for sectionals and regionals that fall in this week. No STaCs have been sanctioned for this week. We are also working to make this an annual event recognized in the appropriate governmental decrees (i.e. Congressional Record). We hope to organize a nationwide STaC with major prizes in three flights and additional prizes for clubs.

5. Online Automated Response: New members joining online now receive their membership number immediately via an automated response. We have also incorporated a new site for those who download "Learn to Play Bridge" (1 & 2) with links to joining ACBL, the education department and other features. We are also following up with each school teacher who have downloaded either of these programs.

Clubs: We have identified 14 separate functions, that are filed manually in the Club Department. The goal is to have our imaging software added to each file clerks computer in order to eliminate most manual filing. This will greatly improve efficiency and eliminate the need for hard copies. This is a first step in utilizing our upgraded systems. We plan to go department by department to eliminate the numerous (and I do mean numerous) antiquated hard copy filings that are currently being done.

Memberhip: The first quarter membership gained 299 members vs. year-end. Out new member gains were 3,326. This was an increase of 418 over the first quarter of ’02. Our losses for the first quarter were 3,680. This is an increase of 626 compared to the first quarter of ’02. Thus, a net loss of 354 vs. March of ’02. (Exhibit 1)

Internet: We are beta testing the new web site with 200 members randomly selected who check their masterpoints online. We are asking for input and feedback on the navigation as well as the general "feel" of the new site. We hope to open this site by mid-summer. If you are not included and would like to be, please e-mail Peter Mollemet at peter.mollemet@acbl.org. The new web site address is http://66.147.103.154 /.

New Scholarship Program: A new scholarship program through the Educational Foundation is available for ACBL Juniors. The program, which owes its funding to some very generous donations, is available to college and high school bridge players under 26 who teach bridge in schools.

The program will award $500 scholarships to those who teach the equivalent of the ACBL Bidding Series (Club Series) or an eight-week program (16 hours of lessons) to a class of 6-8 students who are under 26 years of age.

In addition, the ACBL Educational Foundation and the ACBL Education Department will provide books, t-shirts, and an additional stipend of $270 for teaching the courses.

The $500 scholarship is payable to the school of choice for the junior bridge instructor. The scholarship will be paid to an accredited college, university, or trade school for high school graduates.

Contact Charlotte Blaiss at charlotte.blaiss@acbl.org for information.

Scholarships for Junior Instant Matchpoint Game winners and NABC Caddy Competition winners will be available in the near future.

Long Beach Teacher Festival: The schedule for Long Beach is on the ACBL web site. Long Beach will be a teaching extravaganza, with offerings of our traditional TAP, presentations for Audrey Grant's new certification program and Easybridge! presenter programs. We're very excited about bringing all teaching programs together for the overall good of the game. In addition, we will present a Unit Growth Program and teaching bridge in schools workshop. This is in addition to usual offerings for club directors, bridge festivals, etc.

Bulletin Review: We are now holding "Bulletin Review" meetings (similar to an editorial board) to make our magazine the best it can be. These meetings will be held on the Wednesday nearest the 15^th of each month. If any of you have comments or ideas you would like discussed, please e-mail them to me.

Goals and Objectives: All employees performance evaluations have been finished as well as written goals and objectives for each employee and manager.

NOTE: The first quarter table counts for sectionals, regionals and Online bridge and financials for Philadelphia will be furnished in the next management report.

EXHIBIT 1

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL STATISTICS

April

MEMBERSHIP TREND REPORT

For the Period Ended March 31, 2003