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May 2019 Meeting Minutes

Published June 2019

Minutes of the Committee Meeting of the DBA held at the Devon Hotel on 29 May 2019.

1. Present: (South) (Chair) G Clements,(Treasurer) R Edmondson, (Acting Secretary) D Dunn, (North) E Nunn, N Marsden, (East) J Harrison, (Western League) A Leslie

2. Apologies: None

3. Previous Minutes, Matters Arising

3.1 The minutes of the last meeting were accepted and signed as correct.

3.2 Matters arising. None

4. Treasurer's Report

Ruth presented income and expenditure for competitions and events from July 2018 to June 2019. Highlights include a surplus for the Devon Congress (£2,843) and a deficit for the Laura Porro seminar (£-2,945). A deficit was expected but higher than expected due to low overall attendance of the seminars (141). Western League expenditure (£1060) was similar to last year. Overall expenditure is higher because some items shown would usually appear in next year's statement.

5. Section Reports

5.1 North. North section held their AGM earlier in May. Elizabeth Nunn was returned as Chairman and Neil Marsden as Treasurer for coming year. One major expense was a laptop which can be used by all North Devon clubs if required. At the moment it is used by Barnstaple club. Main purpose for buying a more powerful laptop was for use at the North Devon Congress. Elizabeth and Neil will continue to represent the North secion at DBA meetings.  North section were unable to host the Laura Porro event due to clash in venue availability.

5.2. East. Tim and Jane Barnes are stepping down from the East Devon committee while Tony Hart is joining as the new Treasurer.

5.3. South. South league and Winter Pairs have completed. They would benefit next year by an increase in the number of teams and pairs entering.
The amount raised for the Air Ambulance this year was £3,815 which was £460  up on last season.

5.4. West. The Plymouth Congress is scheduled to run in September or October. Date to be announced.

6. Western League

6.1 Western League AGM, Sunday 12 May
The following changes were agreed:

  • To be eligible to play for a "C" team, players must be NGS grade Q or less, as at 1 September 2019.
  • A player who has played for an "A" team may not subsequently play for a "C" team.
  • Scoring in the B & C Divisions playing teams of 8 to be the teams of 4 method. (not cross-imped). "A" teams of 8 may do either, but should cross-imp to give practice for the Tollemache competition.

6.2  B and C Team composition
Devon Admin (Andrew) has now created a flyer for pair partnerships of each section to complete to join the "B" or "C" team pools. Include pair names, EBU numbers, pool to join and any match dates that cannot be cannot made. (See section contact or website for match schedules). To be completed by 1 July.

6.3 Team Selectors
Each team to have 3 Selectors. They agree team members and notify Devon Admin who will be playing prior to each match.

6.4 Criteria for selection

  1. Spreading selection across pairs in their team as much as possible.
  2. Strength of the opposition.
  3. Venue location (this applies especially to home matches).

6.5 Venues
The schedule has been agreed. However, travel implications for opponents should be born in mind when choosing the venue. For the first match (home, in September) the East section has agreed to host provided a suitable reasonably priced venue can be found. Jean and Andrew to liaise.

7. Congress Report

The Devon Congress had lower attendance than last year but made a larger profit. Thanks given to our Chairman for single-handedly organising the event. Geoff wrote to the Toorak explaining reasons for change of venue to the Livermead House Hotel. Dates booked are 3-5 April 2020 and 9-11 April 2021. Thanks given to Alan Foan for collecting payments. Thanks to those in the background who also contributed to a successful Congress. A replacement for taking bookings will be needed for next year.

8.Tournament Report None

9. Sponsorship

A club in South section has bought 10 tablets and a charging unit for bridge scoring at a total cost of £473.90. They worked hard to keep spending to a minimum. The committee agreed to pay half or one third of the cost after viewing their annual accounts statement.
A request for County Director Training in Coventry in September 2019 has been granted. Ruth to  make payment (£225) for the course and some of the expenses.

10. Education

Attendance was lower than expected for the Laura Porro workshop and seminars perhaps because she wasn't as well known as Andrew Robson. Fewer than expected competitive players attended the Sunday workshop.  However, evaluation forms indicate that participants really enjoyed the seminar sessions and improved their knowledge. Many expressed an interest in more of these sessions.

11. AOB None

12. Date of Next meeting

Date for AGM – 14th July 2019.

Date for next DBA meeting – 24th July 2019, 6pm at Devon Hotel Exeter EX2 8XU.