Briter Bridge Club 2

Transcription

1 Briter Bridge Club 2 Annual General Meeting Tuesday 23rd August 2016 at 6.30pm at Parklangley Club Agenda 1. Attendance and Apologies for absence 2. Chairman s Report 3. Financial Report and Accounts including proposal to reduce membership subscription to 4 pa, while retaining table money at 2 per session ( 4 for visitors) 4. Webmaster Report 5. Membership Report 6. Election of Committee for Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Webmaster, Membership Secretary 7. Any other business

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3 Briter Bridge Club 2 Chairman s Report Establishment of the Club The club has now completed its fourth year. As the Treasurer will report we are in a healthy financial state. The Committee has had to consider carefully whether we can absorb new members and has monitored the situation carefully. During the year the situation arose when we had to turn visitors away and applications for new membership were suspended. Following a recent reduction in playing numbers we have recently allowed a few new members. New Purchases During the year we have continued to use our new purchases the Bridgemate scoring system and the DEALER4 Automatic Dealer. On the whole the Bridgemates have proved reliable but frustratingly we occasionally get one off problems for no apparent reason. The Dealing machine has proved very reliable. It has its little quirks but operators seem to have got use to using it very quickly. Thanks to Jan and Luke, Ann and Brian, Janet and Stuart (not to mention Margaret and myself) and more recently Howard for taking on the work of using the machine and organising getting the prepared hands to both sessions. More volunteers to use the machine would be welcomed. During the year Jan researched possible alternatives to our side tables and purchased a trial plastic option which seems to be a good alternative. We are currently contemplating purchasing some replacement bidding cards, some of which are now getting rather tatty. I think our club can be very proud that we use all the latest technology to enhance our enjoyment of the game. Training Jan held another training session in our club room during the year to train a few more in how to use the Bridgemates and to give the opportunity for those who regularly use them to learn more about them. This was very helpful as it not only helped in what to do normally but also what to do when things go wrong. A session was held at the Chairman s house on the 26 th August to train those who volunteered to operate the dealing machine. Website Jan has continued to do her sterling work with the web site. It is a mine of information which is regularly updated. Our scoring and dealing arrangements enable the scores and the hands to be immediately loaded onto the web site. The web site also shows what each player on each hand should have been able to bid and make, with best play and best defence.

4 Table and Membership fees Our last AGM agreed that table money should be 2 for members and 4 for non-members and an annual membership fee of 12. This has sustained us well throughout the year and as Ann will report we are in a healthy financial position. You will see on the Agenda that the committee has a proposal to amend the Annual membership fee which I hope you will agree. Xmas social events The Committee decided that this year we should mark the Christmas period similarly to last year with light hearted Tuesday sessions of bridge together with a separate formal sit down evening meal which was held early in the New Year. The first drink of the evening was paid for by our club. I understand the evening meal at Park Langley was again well appreciated. Location Our location seems to generally satisfy most needs and most members appreciate the facilities it offers. We have on two occasions during the year had to turn away visitors. There are varying opinions in our club as to whether we should try to do anything about this. On the whole most members seem to appreciate all the different advantageous aspects of our current location and should therefore limit our membership but others would like to see a larger venue so we could accommodate more members. However there are no suggestions at present to alternatives and the committee is not actively seeking any change. Thanks Finally I would like to offer thanks to all the Committee for the hard work they have done during the year; to Ann for all her work in keeping the accounts straight and the biscuit box full; to Jan for keeping us all informed by the web site and helping us with our technical problems; to Janet for her secretarial support, keeping our stationery supplies up to date and assisting members to find playing partners; to Steve for keeping all our membership records up to date and advising on membership levels; to all our scorers for getting to grips with the Bridgemates ; to those who have volunteered to be Duty Officer; to those who have taken turns with the dealer and to you all for continuing to support the club. Tim Burrell Chairman August 2016

5 Briter Bridge Club 2 Financial Statement (to July 2016) The forecast for the year beginning August 2016 are based on figures from the previous 12 months, and are therefore all estimated, with the expectation that any increments will be minimal. Looking at our income from table money alone during the past year, we have, on average, always covered our recurring expenditure. During the coming year, assuming we agree to reduce the membership fee to 4, I would expect the following outcome: Income from Membership fees (70 x 4 = 280) + income from table money ( 5490). Giving a total of 5,770. If we deduct our recurring expenses of 5365, we will still have a profit of around 405. Given that our current bank balance is in the region of 2,300, this sum should be more than adequate. I would therefore like to formally propose that we keep the table money at 2, but reduce the membership fees to 4 for the coming year. Ann Close Treasurer August 2016

6 ANNUAL ACCOUNTS for BRITER BRIDGE CLUB 2 For The Year Ending 31 July 2016 Income Expenditure Membership Rent: Parklangley Club subscriptions and room set-up Table Money Equipment Purchase Other Batteries, Tbl cloth & Stool Totals Refreshments Insurance Printing & Stationery Membership fee Parklangley Bridgewebs fee Voluntary Donations Gift for auditor Prizes and Christmas drinks Totals Expenditure Excess of Income Over Expenditure Cash 01/08/ Nil Cash 31/07/16 I hereby certify that the accounts are in agreement with the books and records Auditor: Nigel Marshall

7 Briter Bridge Club 2 Webmaster Report Website use continues at the same level with peaks on a Tuesday and Wednesday. No significant changes to the software, which remains good value for money. If you change your address please let me know so that you can continue receiving messages. We have continued to use the Bridgemate scoring and dealing machine with just the occasional glitch with the scoring when the unexpected occurs. More volunteers for operating the dealing machine would be welcomed. The main issue since the last AGM has been a change of ownership of the scoring software we use, PairsScorer. This was free software developed and available from Jeff Smith. In October 2015 the English Bridge Union took over the development of the software. It is still free to EBU affiliated clubs but non affiliated clubs, such as Briter, are required to pay 50 plus VAT for the initial licence and 40 plus VAT per annum for support. So far none of the changes made to the software by the EBU have affected us. We are still able to use the software with the Bridgemates and load the scores onto the website. If any of the scorers have needed to re-load the software on to their home computer they have been able to do so despite the EBU trying to prevent this. However should any future developments to the Bridgemate or website software mean that they no longer work with our version of the scoring software or the club laptop should need replacing and we are unable to load the existing software we will have to decide whether to use the EBU software or change to one of the alternatives. An initial survey made last autumn of all the alternatives (free and priced) concluded that any benefits they offered were outweighed by all our scorers having to learn a completely new system. My recommendation would be to use the EBU software as it would have the smallest learning curve and the fewest installation problems. The decision then would be whether we remain unaffiliated and buy the software or become affiliated. We initially decided as a Club not to affiliate to the EBU and their takeover of the software amounts to coercion. However I have tried to produce an objective summary of the economic and practical pros and cons: If the Club were affiliated all the members of the club would automatically become members of the EBU and receive the magazine and diary and be eligible for master points for games played at the club. The club would also receive reduced rates for insurance, training, supplies etc and publicity via the EBU directories and free use of the Pianola website software for a year as well as free use and support for the scoring software. Against this the club would have to pay an annual affiliation fee of 35 plus 42p for each player each time they play. The player fees are collected as part of the table money and paid either monthly or two monthly. There is a discount for paying by direct debit. The club also has to upload the results to the EBU and send them details of all new players.

8 My recommendation would be that when we are forced by circumstances to change that we buy the licence and pay for the support but it is open to members to debate. Jan Titcombe Webmaster August 2016

9 Briter Bridge Club 2 Membership Report We have 80 registered members the same as this time last year, albeit with a few leavers and joiners. As a general stance we welcome visitors and new members, which is important to maintain a vibrant and active club. However, our capacity is limited and on occasions we need to take measures to ensure that playing at Briter remains a comfortable experience and that members interests are protected. The order of precedence protocol has been in operation for the last year and has been successful in ensuring that members have always got to play. Regrettably there have been a small number of occasions when we ve had to ask visitors to leave due to our comfortable capacity being exceeded. Those affected have been understanding although for some it has been a disincentive to attend until they attain full membership. For a short time in the spring there was a period when our capacity limits were being exceeded for the afternoon session. In response to this the Committee decided to halt the acceptance of new joiners for 3 months and to reassess this each quarter in the light of attendance statistics and anticipated trends. In the meantime those on the waiting list have been offered reduced table money but with acknowledgement that members will take priority in the event that our full capacity is reached for any session. Over the last 3 months attendance numbers have fallen back to be within comfortable (green) bounds on all occasions, as illustrated overleaf. Even allowing for a likely upturn in numbers in the Autumn we seem likely to stay well within capacity. Accordingly the Committee has agreed that we will now accept up to 7 applicants those who have been on the waiting list the longest. These are split between afternoon & evening players with some having been playing regularly as visitors already. Hence the net impact on future numbers is anticipated to be limited to half a table for each session still within comfortable bounds. This combination of measures has been successful to date in allowing new arrivals whenever possible, whilst mitigating the potential impact on existing members. We will continue to monitor attendances every quarter and accept further new joiners only when there is space to do so. Steve Hulm Membership Secretary August 2016

10 Attendance Statistics May-July 2016 Showing the number of tables filled at each session together with monthly averages and, where applicable, the number of occasions where there has been a need for 9 tables.