June 2024 - 9

A MESSAGE
FROM THE
PRESIDENT
Where will ACBL be in a few more years? That is the question we all are asking.
In April, I outlined the key focus areas and strategic goals that the Board and
PRESIDENT
Margot Hennings
VICE PRESIDENT
Cindy Shoemaker
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Bronia Jenkins
CHAIR, ADVISORY COUNCIL
Doug Couchman
Board of Directors
Region 1 * Jonathan Steinberg
Region 2 * Mark Aquino
Region 3 * Joann Glasson
Region 4 * Margot Hennings
Region 5 * Dennis Carman
Region 6 * Barbara Heller
Region 7 * Larry Sealy
Region 8 * Jeff Overby
Region 9 * Paul Cuneo
Region 10 * Cindy Shoemaker
Region 11 * David Lodge
Region 12 * Jacqueline Zayac
Region 13 * Tim White
To contact a district director,
visit acbl.org/boardofdirectors.
management together will be striving for this year and
into 2025: membership recruitment and retention,
financial stability and defining the future, particularly
as this relates to the intersection of face-to-face bridge
and online bridge.
In May, Executive Director Bronia Jenkins outlined
the many initiatives for youth engagement that are currently
underway. In addition, the Board has weighed in
on the need to continue to pursue initiatives to encourage
more people of all ages to play bridge, whether they
are already ACBL members or are just now finding out
what a great game this is. This includes social bridge
as well as duplicate activities at community centers,
country clubs, online enrichment courses through
teaching programs such as Boost, Learn Bridge in a Day and others.
Volunteers are key to the success of many of these initiatives, whether they are
focused on youth, recent retirees or everyone in between. Creativity is the name
of the game. For example, for the Bridge Ambassador program where ACBL provides
financial support for outreach by individuals and clubs to introduce bridge
at non-bridge events: family barbecues, class reunions, bar mitzvahs, graduation
parties. Let your imagination drive an event in your life this summer and sign up
to be an ambassador!
In addition to recruiting new members, we need to encourage our current members
to play at clubs - the focus of the Clubs Task Force - and in tournaments.
Results of the recent NABC survey developed by the joint Board/management
NABC Business Model Task Force and sent by email to members show that 1) a
large majority of respondents have 750+ masterpoints; 2) most who attend national
tournaments also attend sectionals and regionals; 3) primary reasons for
attending NABCs include larger competition, social experience and location; and
4) reasons for not attending include cost, location desirability, travel convenience
and inconvenient dates. Based on member preferences, the NABC Task Force is
working to develop a list of locations and venues that provide more of what members
have said they want. An enhanced social experience is already underway,
with two special nights at NABCs: Beyond Bridge and Bridge Mania. These are
evening events and feature food and drink and are open for everyone to enjoy. If
you are coming to Toronto this summer, plan now to attend one or both of these.
A final note: We are measuring our progress to ensure that the goals we have
identified are what we want to continue to pursue. We track closely those who
participate in each sponsored program to determine if they become members,
if they renew their memberships, and if they start playing at clubs and tournaments.
If programs are successful, we will double down on these, and if they
are not, we will put them aside and focus on those that are. The Membership
Recruitment and Retention Task Force is working closely with management to
ensure program tracking and assessment. Stay tuned for updates on our progress
as we face our challenges head-on.
June 2024 | Bridge Bulletin |
9
MARGOT HENNINGS
http://www.acbl.org/boardofdirectors
June 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of June 2024
