October 2022 - 9

A MESSAGE
FROM THE
PRESIDENT
I am excited to announce a new initiative that is underway to increase ACBL
membership and to support our face-to-face teachers and bridge clubs.
Traditionally, new members were taught to play and
PRESIDENT
Joann Glasson
CHAIR, BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Georgia Heth
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Joe Jones
CHAIR, ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Doug Couchman
Board of Directors
Region 1 * Jonathan Steinberg
Region 2 * Mark Aquino
Region 4 * Margot Hennings
Region 5 * Dennis Carman
Region 6 * Barbara Heller
Region 9 * Paul Cuneo
Region 11 * David Lodge
Region 13 * Tim White
District 2 * Flo Belford
District 3 * Carlos Muñoz
District 4 * Joann Glasson
District 8 * Georgia Heth
District 9 * Jeff Overby
District 10 * Larry Sealy
District 11 * A.J. Stephani
District 14 * Deana Liddy
District 17 * Cindy Shoemaker
District 20 * Laurie Rowe
District 21 * Stu Goodgold
District 24 * David Moss
To contact a district director,
visit acbl.org/boardofdirectors.
nurtured in face-to-face bridge clubs. During the pandemic,
when that traditional path was not available,
the ACBL experienced a severe decline in membership.
In order to reverse that trend, we need to get our teachers
teaching more students.
To that end, the ACBL has partnered with the Educational
Foundation. A pilot program has launched
this fall; if successful, an ACBL-wide initiative will be
implemented in 2023.
Here's how it will work. A task force has been created,
headed by Robert Todd, the president of the ACBL
Educational Foundation. Other members from the Educational
Foundation are Kristen Frederick, executive
director, and Joel Kramer, vice president. Representing
the ACBL on the task force are Mary Stratton, director of marketing, Paul Cuneo,
Region 9 director, Cindy Shoemaker, District 17 director, and myself.
The pilot program was offered to a group of experienced bridge teachers who
JOANN GLASSON
were planning a series of beginning bridge lessons this fall. The Board of Directors
of the ACBL has committed an initial investment of $100,000 to this effort.
ACBL will provide free digital advertising to these teachers through Facebook,
NextDoor and other channels to provide leads for the teachers in an effort
to increase class size. The teachers will partner with a face-to-face bridge club
where the new students can transition to supervised play or limited duplicate
games with masterpoints. This partnership will bring increased table count and
income to our face-to-face clubs.
The success of the pilot program will be measured in every area by the Educational
Foundation, including teacher recruitment and development, curriculum
and club play.
The hope is to expand this program to teachers throughout the ACBL, beginning
in January 2023 to jumpstart membership, recruit new players to our game
and provide increased tables of play to our face-to-face clubs, bringing more
players to bridge clubs and tournaments.
Contact me with any questions or comments at District4Director@acbl.org.
See you at the bridge table,
Joann
October 2022 | Bridge Bulletin |
9
http://www.acbl.org/boardofdirectors
October 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October 2022
